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Quality of Work Life Survey
Long-Form Survey Results
 
In April 2000, the Quality of Work Life Task Force conducted a survey of George Mason University employees to assess the quality of their work lives. This survey included 73 structured questions, and was sent to a random sample of 600 employees across all job categories: adjunct, restricted, administrative, and tenure-line faculty, classified staff, and wage employees. The survey achieved a high rate of response (66%), indicating that the opportunity to speak out regarding the quality of work life at GMU is important to many employees. A summary of the overall survey findings follows, along with a detailed list of the sources of satisfaction and dissatisfaction for those in each of the six employment categories. A full report of the findings will be available at http://www.gmu.edu/qwl on October 2.

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  INSIGHTS FROM THE SURVEY
 

  • Overall job satisfaction at George Mason is reasonably high, with nearly two-thirds (63%) saying they are either "satisfied" or "very satisfied." A similar percentage agree or strongly agree that the quality of their work life is good.
  • Employee perceptions of organizational support and organizational commitment at GMU are similar to what is found in other large organizations.
  • George Mason employees value their relationships with their coworkers and rate them highly.
  • The work and family items on the survey suggest that GMU is doing a reasonably good job of helping employees juggle work and family. Still, 34% agree that the demands of work interfere with family life. The availability of on-campus child care garners the most frequent "not satisfied" rating from employees across the board.
  • Most employees express general satisfaction with their supervisors and do not report this as a significant source of stress. At the same time, however, responses to certain items imply that supervisors could have an important role to play in addressing issues of great concern to staff and faculty (e.g., promoting recognition for special achievements).
  • Employees at all levels value the autonomy of their jobs. This shows up in several items, including satisfaction with flexible hours, the use of a variety of skills, the opportunity to develop new ideas, and the chance to work independently.
  • Work load is a significant source of stress for the entire sample, especially for all faculty groups and classified employees. Overall, 62% cite work load as a source of extreme or moderate stress.
  • A majority of classified staff and tenure-line, restricted, and administrative faculty identify "institutional procedures and red tape" as sources of stress.
  • Lack of promotion opportunities or the review/promotion process are sources of stress to many employees.
  • A lack of "special recognition for achievements and milestones" was a source of great dissatisfaction among classified and faculty employees (except adjunct faculty). While there are university programs that reward outstanding and exemplary performance, there is clearly a feeling that hard work is not sufficiently recognized by the university.
  • Lack of home Internet access was cited by many employees, both faculty and classified. In addition, classified employees were unsatisfied with opportunities to work from home.
  • There are fairly large and statistically significant differences in the perceptions of minority and non-minority employees at GMU, with minorities expressing less satisfaction and greater levels of stress on many items. These differences are not just a function of differences in job type or compensation plan.
  • Transportation and parking are commonly heard complaints on campus. In this survey, they were mentioned as sources of "extreme" or "moderate" stress by a large minority of respondents.

 

  SOURCES OF DISSATISFACTION AND SATISFACTION BY CATEGORIES OF EMPLOYEE
 

The sources of dissatisfaction for specific types of employees are identified below. These are listed in descending order. We have only identified items that 50% or more of the respondents are dissatisfied with.

 

Adjunct Faculty

Restricted Faculty

Job security Job security
Retirement benefits Special recognition for achievements
Health care benefits Salary
Work space Workload
Salary Opportunity for scholarly pursuits
Work load  
Availability of on-campus child care Tenure-line Faculty
  Work load
Administrative Faculty Internet access at home through GMU
Availability of on-campus child care Availability of on-campus child care
Internet access at home through GMU Salary
Opportunity to work from home Special recognition for achievements
Work load  
Special recognition for achievements Wage Employees
Salary Availability of on-campus child care
  Health care benefits
Classified Staff Retirement benefits
Salary Salary
Opportunity to work from home Work space
Special recognition for achievements Work load
Internet access at home through GMU Special recognition for achievements
  Opportunity for scholarly pursuits
  Opportunity to develop new skills

 

The sources of satisfaction for specific types of employees are listed below. We have identified items that 70% or more of the respondents were satisfied with. This list does not include the "autonomy" items, which are sources of satisfaction for all employees, and are discussed in the sixth bullet of the summary. The items below are listed in descending order for each category.

 

Adjunct Faculty

Restricted Faculty

Sense that your work is meaningful Opportunity to work from home
Relationship with supervisor Retirement benefits
Relationship with co-workers Sense that work is meaningful
Access to sporting events Relationship with supervisor
Fair & equitable performance evaluation Access to sporting events
Opportunity to work from home Health care benefits
Access to cultural events Competency of co-workers
Competency of co-workers  
  Tenure-line Faculty
Administrative Faculty Job security
Access to cultural events Opportunity to work from home
Retirement benefits Access to sporting events
Relationship with co-workers Sense that work is meaningful
Access to sporting events Access to cultural events
Relationship with supervisor Relationships with co-workers
Health care benefits  
  Wage Employees
Classified Staff Relationships with co-workers
Relationships with co-workers Relationship with supervisor
Relationship with supervisor Sense that work is meaningful
Access to cultural events Working conditions (comfort, safety)
Access to sporting events Job security
  Access to cultural events


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For comments or questions:
Contact Nancy Murphy

University Life - Quality of Work Life Task Force
George Mason University
Mason Hall, D105
Mailstop 1C2
4400 University Drive
Fairfax, VA  22030-4444

Phone: (703) 993-8760
Fax: (703) 993-8745

Page created from original document on: September 28, 2000

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