University of Wisconsin-Madison
PA-12: Assessing Employee Satisfaction

There are three primary efforts that UW-Madison has conducted in order to assess employee satisfaction and engagement: - Women in Science & Engineering Leadership Institute (WISELI) Study of Faculty Worklife at UW-Madison (https://wiseli.wisc.edu/research/sfw/) * The Study of Faculty Worklife is a longitudinal climate survey of faculty at the UW-Madison. The original (2003) instrument was developed by WISELI staff and evaluators, and was based on extensive interviews with women STEMM faculty at UW-Madison. Data collection is accomplished via a postal survey, administered by the University of Wisconsin Survey Center. The survey primarily measures faculty attitudes about their department climate, hiring and promotion processes, and job satisfaction. On some survey years, the survey also measures incidence of sexual harassment and hostile/intimidating behavior, faculty productivity and/or faculty morale. - Academic Staff (AS) Worklife Survey (https://kb.wisconsin.edu/images/group171/72259/649-2016AcademicStaffWorklifeSurveyReport.pdf) * In order to assess worklife balance and identify factors that contribute to a positive workplace environment, the AS were surveyed in Spring 2016 using a nearly identical instrument to the Faculty Worklife survey created by the WISELI. The survey is currently being conducted (2019) for a second time. - Vice Chancellor for Finance and Administration (VCFA) Engagement, Inclusion and Diversity (EID) survey (https://hr.wisc.edu/eid/survey/) * The VCFA EID initiative was developed to address campus priorities of recruiting and retaining the best faculty and staff and enhancing diversity to ensure excellence in education and research. The EID Survey, administered every 2 years beginning in 2012, is distributed to all VCFA employees. Topics addressed by the survey include work environment, relationship with co-workers, tools and opportunities, work unit, supervisor and overall satisfaction.

All survey results are used by the campus community. The WISELI survey data have been instrumental to their efforts to transform the institution. A number of reports, presentations, and publications have resulted from the survey data, and more are planned as the climate survey data have become an important campus resource on faculty and staff attitudes on satisfaction, climate, and more. The AS survey is presented to the AS Assembly and used throughout shared governance processes. The EID Council uses results of the survey to provide advice and assistance to the VCFA for creating, launching, and sustaining organizational change on matters relating to the design and implementation of the EID Initiative in an integrated manner.

Of the 22,365 employees at UW-Madison (by headcount, in 2018) the above surveys directly targeted the following populations: - WISELI * Total and Unique (all faculty): 2,133 - Academic Staff * Total and Unique (all academic and limited staff): 9,825 - VCFA EID * Total (all VCFA staff): 2,430 * Unique (all VCFA employees classified as University staff): 1,881 In total, 13,839 (63%) unique employees are targeted across these three instruments.