Factors Influencing our Success

Environmental Factors

• Government Priorities

• Funding Sources

• Infrastructure: – Financial

– Information Systems

– Space

– Facilities

Human “People” Factors

• Leadership• Attracting and Retaining Talent• Workplace Culture • Engagement of Faculty & Staff

Workplace Culture & Engagement

• Focus on “People Factors”:

– Do we have the right “people” conditions and environment to achieve Work Unit/Department, Faculty/Division and Western’s Priorities?

• If we do, great ... Let’s recognize and grow our strengths; if we have gaps, how can we make improvements?

Culture: shared set of beliefs & values, reinforced by symbols & structure , manifested in the way people think and act ( 1)

Engagement: emotional & intellectual commitment to work, organization & its success; willingness to devote discretionary effort, people find meaning in their work (2)

Do we have workplaces where people...• feel encouraged to introduce new ideas,

innovate & take risks?• are excited & committed to their work?

1. Best Practices --- Employee Retention, “Organizational Culture and Retention” (2000)2. The Conference Board of Canada. “Employee Engagement: Review of Current Research and Its Implications” ( 2006)

Impact:

• individual and organizational performance • recruitment & retention• teamwork/collaboration• individual well-being

Source: K. Cameron & R. Quinn. Diagnosing and Changing Organizational Culture.(1999).

Workplace Culture & Engagement Matter

• We want Western to be a great place to work

• Purpose…

– Give every faculty & staff an opportunity to express views about their day-to-day work experience at Western

– Identify what is working well, and where there is an opportunity for improvement

– Inform the strategic plan as it undergoes renewal

– Encourage dialogue and action planning to improve the work experience within a work Unit/Department, Faculty/Division, or Western-wide

– Provide a benchmark to measure our progress over time

WE Speak: Faculty & Staff Survey 2012Purpose

Confidential SurveyAdministered by Metrics@Work

• Metrics Work - located in St. Catharines, Ontario

• Previously operated out of Brock University.

• Academic leader of the Survey Service - Dr. John Yardley

• Conducted many public and some higher education engagement surveys. For example Sick Kids, Wilfred Laurier, currently working with York University

• Western can benchmark against some of the measures used in WE SPEAK: Faculty & Staff Survey 2012

WE SPEAK: Faculty & Staff Survey 2012

• Participation is voluntary

• The survey is confidential

• The scale is 7 points from strongly agree to strongly disagree

• Three open-ended questions

• Both web-based and paper option

• Takes 20-30 minutes to complete

Survey Reports – March 2013

Western-WidePresident/Vice

President

Faculty/DivisionVice Presidents/ Vice Provosts/Deans/AVP

Department/SchoolChair/Directors

• Protect anonymity and confidentiality

• No reports produced for group with 7 or less people

• Report provided to leader and next level up leader

And the good news isyou could win an iPad mini by filling out your survey

“When you know better,

you do better.”Maya Angelou