UHCL Support Staff Association (SSA) and
Professional and Administrative Staff Association
(PASA)
In consultation with Dr. Lisa M. Penney
RAs: Lisa Sublett, Dena Rhodes, Allison Martir, & Tunji Oki
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Background
 In the Summer of 2012, members of the University System Staff
Executive Council (USSEC) voted to conduct a staff morale survey
on each of the UH System Campuses with the following objectives:
1.
2.
3.
Examine staff attitudes regarding their jobs.
Identify aspects of the work environment that drive staff attitudes.
Examine potential consequences of staff attitudes.

257 staff at UHCL attempted the online survey, and 227 staff
(88%) completed the entire survey.

Results of the UHCL Staff Morale Survey are presented on the
following slides. The slides show the percent (%) of staff scoring
3.0 or above for each job attitude, which indicates high levels of
agreement or a high standing on each.
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Results 1: Overall Staff Attitudes
The results of the “overall staff attitudes” demonstrate that UHCL employees are satisfied with
their job (88% satisfied), committed to UHCL (74%), and engaged at work (74%).
100%
90%
80%
70%
60%
50%
40%
30%
20%
10%
0%
88%
Satisfied with Job
74%
74%
Engaged at Work
Committed to UHCL
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Results 1: Attitudes with Facets of the Job
Staff attitudes toward specific aspects of their jobs (pay and promotion satisfaction) were
less positive. Satisfaction with pay (25%) and satisfaction with promotions (35%) were the lowest
and thus of most concern. Employees were fairly satisfied with communication (70%) and
benefits (77%).
100%
90%
80%
70%
60%
50%
40%
30%
20%
10%
0%
70%
77%
35%
25%
Satisfied with Pay
Satisfied with
Promotions
Satisfied with
Communication
Satisfied with
Benefits
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Work Conditions: Fairness
Staff rated the perceived fairness of various aspects of their work experience.
UHCL staff members reported lower levels of fairness of rewards and procedures and higher levels
of being treated fairly (i.e., with dignity & respect).
100%
90%
80%
70%
60%
50%
40%
30%
20%
10%
0%
80%
73%
64%
66%
Fairness of
Procedures
Fairness of
Rewards
Fair Treatment
Fairness of
Communications
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Work Conditions: Communication Quality
Staff also rated the quality of communication received from 4 sources in terms of its
timeliness, accuracy, and usefulness.
Ratings of communication quality were lowest when considering the timeliness of
information received from each source.
To a great extent
To a small extent
5
4.5
4
3.5
3
2.5
2
1.5
1
0.5
0
3.77 3.72
3.44
Supervisor
3.34 3.44
3.59
Subordinate
3.45
3.60 3.66
3.57
3.45
3.20
Coworker
Upper
Administration
Timely
Accurate
Useful
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Work Conditions: Division Support
 We also asked staff to indicate the extent to which their division is
supportive. Staff rated 6 items on an agreement scale of 1 (Strongly Disagree)
to 5 (Strongly Agree). Example items were “My Division values my contribution
to its wellbeing.” and “My Division takes pride in my accomplishments at work.”
 The chart below shows the percent (%) of staff from each division scoring 3 or
above indicating high levels of division support.
100%
90%
80%
70%
60%
50%
40%
30%
20%
10%
0%
89%
60%
Office of the
President
Academic Affairs
63%
64%
Administration
and Finance
Total (Average)
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Work Conditions: Job Insecurity
 We also assessed employees’ perceptions of uncertainty about changes that may impact
their jobs.
 A primary strength of UHCL was that both perceptions of job insecurity were moderately
low.
100%
90%
80%
70%
60%
50%
40%
30%
20%
10%
0%
26%
30%
24%
0%
Office of the President
Academic Affairs
Administration and
Finance
Total (Average)
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Why are Staff Attitudes Important?
 Staff attitudes are important because they are related to important
performance-related outcomes that impact UHCL’s success.
 Specifically, staff who are satisfied with their pay and promotion
opportunities AND staff who believe that rewards and procedures are
administered fairly are:
 More engaged in their work.
 More committed to UHCL.
 Less likely to turn over.
 Staff attitudes were lowest and thus of greatest concern with regard to
satisfaction with pay and promotions. Therefore, additional analyses
were conducted to identify the most important drivers of those
attitudes.
 In addition, turnover intentions were relatively high (37.4%). Thus, we
conducted analyses to discern the drivers of turnover intent as well.
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Identifying Drivers of Staff Attitudes
 We regressed the attitude variables onto the work context
variables to determine which work context variables
account for the most unique variance in staff attitudes and
turnover intent.
Reward Fairness
Procedure Fairness
Division Support
Job Insecurity
Obstacles to Performance
Communication
Quality
Pay
Satisfaction
Promotion
Satisfaction
Turnover
Intent
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Results 3:
Identifying Drivers
 Five aspects of the work context emerged as primary drivers
of staff attitudes and turnover intent.
Reward Fairness
Procedure Fairness
Division Support
Job Insecurity
Obstacles
to Performance
Obstacles
Communication
Quality
Pay
Satisfaction
Promotion
Satisfaction
Turnover
Intent
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Results Summary
 In general, UHCL staff are very satisfied with their jobs and UHCL
but are less satisfied with pay and promotion opportunities and
report low levels of support from their division.
 These attitudes are important because they are related to important
performance-related outcomes including engagement,
commitment, and turnover intentions.
 In particular, low staff satisfaction with pay and promotions and
staff intentions to turn over appear to be driven by:
 The level of support and quality of communication that staff receive.
 Staff perceptions that rewards (e.g., pay & promotions) may not always
reflect their contributions and efforts.
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Results Summary
 Together, these results suggest that the primary issue affecting staff
morale is one of feeling underappreciated.
 The primary mechanisms through which the University
demonstrates appreciation (i.e., pay and promotions) are frequently
constrained by forces largely outside the control of supervisors and
upper administration.
 Thus, we suggest that supervisors and upper administration focus
on factors that are within their control, namely the quality and
nature of communication to staff.
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Recommendations for
Managers (All Levels)
 Be open and candid in all communications with staff,
particularly with information that pertains to:
 Raises and promotion opportunities
 Potential changes that could affect jobs, the University, or
employment practices
 Performance expectations should be communicated to staff in
clear, unambiguous terms.
 Provide staff with accurate performance feedback year-round so
that they know where they stand.
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Recommendations for
Managers (All Levels)
 Communicate important information that affects staff to them
in a clear and timely manner in order to:
 Reduce perceptions of unfairness due to inadequate or inaccurate
information.
 Reduce uncertainty about potential changes to jobs or other
employment practices.
 Monitor the organizational climate and issues faced by staff
working in Professional roles (User Support Specialist,
Counselor, Academic Advisor, etc) as they reported the highest
turnover intentions.
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Recommendations for
Managers (All Levels)
 Demonstrate concern for staff well-being and appreciation
for their contributions to the University community by:
 Utilizing all formal and informal mechanisms to acknowledge
staff efforts.
 Providing verbal praise or saying “thank you”
 Developing your own informal rewards system (e.g., Staff of
the Month)
 Acknowledging the obstacles that staff face in their jobs, and
when possible take action to remove obstacles and provide
assistance and other resources (equipment, tools) needed by
staff.
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