Yale Workplace Survey

[Alice Prochaska <alice.prochaska@YALE.EDU>]

Dear colleagues,

Please do take the time to fill in the Yale Workplace Survey if you have
not already done so, and if you have, encourage your colleagues to follow
your example.  Kenny Marone's message earlier today is spot
on:  this survey is a real opportunity to make your voice
heard.

I am pleased that, in sending out this first pilot survey to staff, the
University chose the Library as one of its first sites.  The
Library's survey of staff opinion has run for two years now, as you
know.  So in a sense we have provided a model. We will be repeating
our own survey again in the current academic year but, in order to give
everyone a bit of a break between surveys, the Library one will not take
place until January.  It is a valuable way of testing the health of
the organization, as is the new university-wide survey.  In both
cases, what we learn from hearing your views helps us to improve the work
place and enhance our services to our users.  

John Pepper, the Vice President for Finance and Administration, recently
convened a retreat for senior administrators at Yale.  We heard
about some notable successes in changing the workplace culture.  We
heard of improvements resulting directly from suggestions that you and
others at Yale have sent to the "whynot" web site. 
Economies and efficiencies have cut the university's deficit
significantly. Communications are improving noticeably.   The
President and Provost both spoke of Yale's aspiration to be "a
single university  focused on a single mission".  There is
a common purpose to eliminate divisions and barriers of distrust between
individuals and groups, to listen to each other better and thus to work
together better.  The university is emphasizing best practices, and
it is placing emphasis on training and career development.  The work
of the Library is an important part of the management transformation that
President Levin and John Pepper both explicitly place at the top of
Yale's priorities for the next five years.  

Please see the reminder message below.  We all have until next
Friday to complete the survey and through it make a difference to 
the university's work.

with best wishes for a great weekend,

Alice Prochaska



> > Dear
> > Workplace Survey Pilot Participants, 
> >
> > Please share this email with all staff members in your
> > department.
> >
> > Thank you again to you and your staff for agreeing to participate in
> > the Yale Workplace Survey. This is to provide you with a “heads up” that
> > the survey will take place from Monday, October 18 through Friday,
> > October 29. This will occur at the same time as a University-wide Child
> > Care Survey, which your staff will also be asked to complete. Details on
> > each survey follow.  You will also receive another email next Monday
> > when both surveys go “live.”
> >  
> > Workplace Survey: Your staff can take the survey from home or Yale
> > computers, and their participation will remain confidential throughout.
> > They will not be asked for a NetID or names, but will be prompted to
> > select, from a pull-down menu, what department they work in (as of
> > September 15, 2004.) This will enable each department to understand what
> > its staff considers to be important workplace issues, but the individuals
> > will not be identified.  Only our consultants, Towers Perrin, will
> > see the actual responses.  In addition, to further ensure
> > confidentiality, data will only be reported by demographic groups with at
> > least 10 people.  For example, if there are less than ten women in a
> > unit, the data will not be reported by gender.
> >  
> > To help your staff learn about the survey (and stay updated during and
> > afterwards), we have a Yale Workplace Survey website that you and your
> > staff can access at any time at
> > www.yale.edu/conversations.
> > It has a project overview, questions and answers, a demo survey for
> > practice, and locations and hours of staffed survey support sites. Your
> > staff may simply walk in to any of the support sites at their convenience
> > (no registration needed) for help, if desired. They may also take the
> > survey at that time. 
> >  
> > Child Care Survey: This is part of an initiative to evaluate
> > access to child care services. It is confidential, and staff may take the
> > survey from any computer, including the survey support sites. Only Bright
> > Horizons, our consultants in this survey, will see the actual
> > responses.  
> >  
> > Paper surveys will be available at support sites. If either you or any of
> > your staff have questions about either survey, please do not hesitate to
> > call me. You will receive updates from me as the project progresses, and
> > ongoing information will also be posted at
> > www.yale.edu/conversations.
> >  
> > Thank you,
> >
> > Laura