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These graphs are based on responses to statements that assessed staff's confidence in the respective directions their departments and the University are heading.
Overall, staff reported fairly moderate confidence in the direction of their departments and the University. Between 2004 and 2008, there does appear to be a slight increase in overall confidence related to the direction the University is heading. This trend is also observed for confidence in the department’s direction.
These graphs are based on responses to statements that assessed staff's awareness of their role in the University’s mission and their clarity in what is expected of them at work. 78% employees indicated that they are aware of how their job contributes to the mission of the University, at least to some extent, while 87% of employees have clarity regarding what is expected from them at work.
These charts are based on responses to statements that assessed acts of discrimination, harassment, and hostility, and the source of, type of and reasons for these actions.
For many of the items, a majority of employees (59-97% depending on item) had never experienced these behaviors during the previous year. When individuals did report these behaviors, it was likely to be experienced fairly infrequently. Saying something bad about the individual (41%) or doing something to make the individual look bad (37%) were the most common acts reported. Those who reported experiencing incidents indicated that other staff members within their unit (32.8%) were the mostly likely sources of perpetrating acts of discrimination, harassment, or hostility. Individuals reported that they believed that these acts were most likely to be undertaken due to their gender (8%), age (6%) or other (11%).
| Behavior | Never | 1 or 2 times a year | 3 or 4 times a year | About once a month | Once a week or more |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Said bad things about you | 59% | 22.6% | 9.1% | 5.9% | 3.3% |
| Did something to make you look bad | 66.3% | 21.1% | 6.9% | 3.9% | 1.8% |
| Sabotaged your work | 81.8% | 10.5% | 3.8% | 2.8% | 1.1% |
| Made sexist remarks | 84.1% | 9.5% | 3.7% | 1.9% | .8% |
| Lied to get you in trouble | 84.3% | 9.8% | 3% | 2% | 1% |
| Made an obscene comment or gesture in front of you | 86.8% | 7.5% | 2.5% | 1.6% | 1.5% |
| Cursed at you | 87% | 8.5% | 2.2% | 1.4% | 1% |
| Made an ethnic, racial, religious or offensive slur toward you | 93.1% | 4.1% | 1.5% | .9% | .4% |
| Threatened you | 95.1% | 3.7% | 0.7% | 0.4% | 0.1% |
| Gave you unwanted sexual attention | 96.5% | 2.5% | 0.6% | 0.2% | 0.2% |
| Source | Percentage endorsing |
|---|---|
| Staff | 32.8% |
| Unknown | 17.6% |
| Other | 12.2% |
| Employee not in unit | 11.7% |
| Admin/Department chair | 11.7% |
| Faculty | 7.1% |
| Student | 3.7% |
| Someone outside University | 3.2% |
Note: Multiple options could be selected by each respondent.
Do you think these behaviors are ever due to any of your personal characteristics?
| Reason | Percentage |
|---|---|
| Other |
11%
|
| Gender |
8%
|
| Age |
6%
|
| Race |
3%
|
| Sexual orientation |
1.5%
|
| Religion |
1%
|
| Cultural Customs |
1%
|
| Disability |
0.5%
|
| Gender Identity |
0.5%
|
Note: Multiple options could be selected by each respondent.
These charts are based on responses to statements that assessed workplace misconduct such as a violation of law, workplace rules, or significant University policy.
A majority of employees (89.5%) indicated that they had not experienced or observed any significant misconduct such as a violation of law or workplace rules within their departments in the last year; 11% of employees did experience misconduct.
Of the staff who reported these problems, 51% stated that they or someone else reported these problems to the University. About 34% of the problems were not reported. Of the 51% of employees who reported these problems, 21% indicated that the University took appropriate corrective actions, while the majority stated that they did not or did not know.
In addition to questions about specific workplace problems, employees were asked about the University's mechanisms for dealing with such problems.
The majority of staff (60%) reported that they knew where to seek help for resolving workplace problems. 50% of staff indicated that they were confident they would be protected from retaliation if they reported a suspected violation; 22% of staff reported that they were not confident they would be protected. A majority of employees (65%) reported that the University leadership demonstrated integrity and ethical behavior.
A set of questions asked employees about whether they felt encouraged to promote certain characteristics of the University. This was designed to assess the perceived strengths and development areas for the University, and also serve as an indication of the University’s culture. The results indicate that staff felt supported in their efforts to encourage and demonstrate respect, integrity, high quality service and high quality work among other dimensions. Comparatively, the respondents reported less support for risk taking and promoting a sense of a common University community. This is consistent with 43% of staff employees reporting that they identify most with their department or unit whereas only 19% identify most with the University. The main reasons why employees work at the University are its benefits (74.4%), coworkers (61.1%), and the work environment (60.8%).
| In my current work setting, I am supported in efforts to… | Mean* |
|---|---|
| Provide high quality service |
4.4
|
| Operate with integrity and comply with ethical practices |
4.4
|
| Demonstrate respect toward individuals in the University community |
4.4
|
| Perform high quality work |
4.4
|
| Be collaborative and have a team orientation |
4.1
|
| Be results oriented |
4.1
|
| Adapt and change |
4.1
|
| Promote diversity of ideas, experiences, and people |
4.0
|
| Promote efforts that work towards the good of society |
4.0
|
| Be innovative |
3.9
|
| Promote a sense of a common University community |
3.6
|
| Take risks |
3.4
|
*Items are scored on a 1 (strongly disagree) to 5 (strongly agree) scale.
| Area | Percentage |
|---|---|
| My department or unit |
43%
|
| University of Minnesota |
19%
|
| My occupation |
14%
|
| My college |
7%
|
| My discipline |
6%
|
| My campus |
5%
|
| Other |
4%
|
| Reason | Percentage |
|---|---|
| Good benefits |
74.4%
|
| Enjoy working with my coworkers/colleagues |
61.1%
|
| Enjoy the work environment at the U |
60.8%
|
| Enjoy my work tasks |
60.2%
|
| Enjoy working for my responsible administrator/department chair |
43.7%
|
| Believe in the University’s mission |
41.6%
|
| Enjoy living in this community |
38.8%
|
| Job security |
36.9%
|
| Feel loyalty to the U |
32.6%
|
| Good pay |
29.8%
|
| Tuition benefits |
27.8%
|
| Lack of job alternatives |
14.6%
|
| Other |
8.8%
|
Note: Multiple reasons were selected by each respondent
Employee & Labor Relations
100 Donhowe Building, 319 15th Ave. S.E., Minneapolis, MN 55455