2012 Staff Survey

90%

18/19 Departments >8 respondents1 not reported had 8 members

Highest: 100% (5 departments)

Lowest Three:1st Lowest 69%2nd Lowest: 77%3rd Lowest: 80%

Additional DemographicsGenderYears of ServiceJob Grade

”

Generally speaking, a Wharton staff or faculty member has higher standards than people at other organizations that I've worked for or with.  I appreciate working with a large group of smart people who are always willing to work collaboratively across departments.  I also greatly appreciate the fact that the staff survey was done the first time, and that its results were taken seriously and acted upon.  I'm seeing results already, and the fact that we're following up with another one now is a reason I consider Wharton to be a first-class organization that it is a privilege to work for.  I don't know of any other large organizations who even pretend to care what their staff think about the issues touched upon in our survey.  It really means a lot that Wharton does this.

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Researcher DefinitionKahn (1990)

The harnessing of organization members to their work roles

People employ and express themselves physically, cognitively, and emotionally during role performances

Baumruk (2004)

The amount of discretionary effort exhibited by employees in their job

Truss et al (2006)

Passion for work

We averaged the responses to the following two questions to determine how engaged respondents were, which we used to analyze which dimensions are most important to engagement.

1. My work energizes me.

2. My work environment is place where people want to go the extra mile.

Measuring Engagement Itself

Dimensions are interconnected.

What’s most important varies from place to place.

Organizations CANincrease engagement.

Leadership

Supervisors

HR

Coworkers

You

HighlyEngaged

Disengaged

ModeratelyEngaged

Spector Dimensions

• Departmental Communication

• Organizational Communication

• Recognition and Rewards

• Coworkers

• Salary and Benefits

• Nature of Work

• Operating Conditions

• Advancement

• Supervision

Wharton-Specific Dimensions

• Association with Wharton

• Professional Development

• Training

• Collaboration

• Organizational Support

• Respect

• Diversity

• Wharton is a good place to work

56 agreement questions plus text questions

17 Dimensions

The Survey Scale

All ratings questions employed the scale below. The color coding is used to chart the responses throughout the reports.

Notable Changes Since 2009

Sustained Strengths

The Wharton brand is recognized all over the world. The faculty is world class, and the work I do is academically challenging. What I like best however, is my group of colleagues. It is diverse in terms of interests, backgrounds, age, experience etc.—and that keeps work very interesting.

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In general, the amount of policies, procedures and layers of bureaucracy found in a large institution can often times serve to stifle swift solutions to problems. This can be frustrating for administrators who support/serve academics and other more entrepreneurial types. Solutions often times require input from multiple players which results in slow resolution. While this may spur creativity, problem solving takes up time that could otherwise be spent on more fruitful endeavors.

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Work is often a reflection of the people around you as much as the things you actually do. Great departments (such as this one) make you want to work harder and do more.

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Wharton remains siloed although it is clear that some attempts are being made to change this. The Open House forums for staff are great and perhaps could just be scheduled differently so as not to take place during the busiest time for the division or on the same day as other staff events. The Dean's Town Hall Meetings are also helpful when they highlight the work of different divisions.

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Often high performers are "rewarded" only with more work. Rather than addressing poor performance issues, the work gets moved from the poor performer to someone who is capable of handling that responsibility, without an appropriate adjustment to that person's workload elsewhere.

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I believe my immediate supervisor recognizes and appreciates the good work that I do. I do not believe that it is recognized or appreciated by others above that or at the school.

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Communication is a still a weak point within a number of parts of our division. If I have the time to actively seek out the information that I need, everyone provides answers readily, but I am still surprised by the number of times that I am unaware of changes to projects, services, and resources that are weeks or months old. I find that I am not alone and many colleagues experience the same issues.

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”“ Communication has definitely improved.

Shortcomings are not for lack of effort, but it's a big place with a lot going on.

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I have found there has been an increased effort to distribute communications to not only the school as a whole but also at a department levels, which I believe is a direct result from our last survey. For that I commend Wharton's efforts. However, I still find it hard to find a balance between my own departments goals and communication and those of the department that my work actually directly effects.

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Wharton Spector National

Coworkers Work Itself

Nature of Work Supervision

Supervision Coworkers

Communication (Org. and Dept.) Benefits

Recognition and Rewards Communication

Benefits Contingent Rewards

Operating Conditions Conditions

Salary Salary

Advancement Promotion

Top Improvement Opportunities

Play to strengths:• Inspired by association with Wharton• Tight knit local communities• Work that matters• Managers who care

Address the concerns:• Silos• Opportunities for personal development• Rewarding extraordinary efforts• Recognizing sustained excellence

Top Improvement Opportunities

Leadership

Supervisors

HR

Coworkers

You