Pitt conducted its first Staff Engagement and Climate Survey, which opened in late 2017 and closed in January 2018. The Office of Diversity and Inclusion and Office of Human Resources’ Employee and Labor Relations planned and conducted the survey, which was open to staff members at all of Pitt’s campuses, including the regional campuses.

The purpose of the survey is to assess the current state of Pitt’s employment culture from the eyes of staff members. Some aspects of the environment that affect the work culture include morale, trust, leadership, diversity and inclusion, teamwork, rewards, recognition, benefits and compensation and conflict resolution. This survey will provide the University with a baseline measurement, supported by data, of how Pitt’s staff members view their working environment.

The following are questions and answers that may be helpful in explaining the reasons for the survey, as well as what will happen after the close of the survey.

Why am I being asked to take this survey?
At the University of Pittsburgh, it’s people who help fulfill our mission and achieve our strategic goals. When you read Pitt’s strategic plan, “The Plan for Pitt,” it’s the critical role that the staff plays on all of our campuses is clear. Here are a few goals from the strategic plan for which staff will be essential to the University’s success:

• We aspire to be a university that strengthens our communities—from the Pitt community, to our region and the world around us—by expanding engagements, supporting collaborations, and embracing a global perspective.
• We aspire to be a university community that embodies diversity and inclusion as core values that enrich learning, scholarship, and the communities we serve.
• We aspire to be a university that supports success through a foundation of strong internal culture, a robust capacity to partner, outstanding infrastructure, and effective operations.

As we strive to fulfill our mission and strategic goals, we need to acquire knowledge of the staff experience so that we may assess our strengths and weaknesses.
Your feedback on this survey will help us understand what is going well and where we have opportunities for improvement. Please share your honest feedback so that we have the best information possible. Survey results will be used to identify ways to enhance the overall climate of the work experience at the University.

Who is Qualtrics?
Qualtrics is the world’s leading enterprise survey technology provider hired by the University to conduct the survey. Qualtrics provides their technology to over 8,000 organizations, including many institutions of higher learning, in order to create and distribute surveys. Using Qualtrics’ software will enable Pitt leadership to identify engagement drivers and create strategic action plans to improve engagement and climate.

Can all staff take the survey?
Yes, all full and part-time staff are included. Students and student workers are not included because they participate in other surveys geared towards their experiences as students, amongst other reasons. Faculty are not included due to their participation in the COACHE survey. Visit the COACHE website for more information: http://www.pitt.edu/coache.

How long will it take to complete the survey?
The survey contains 35-40 statements and several open-ended questions. It should take about 25 minutes to complete.

How do I access the survey?
You can take the survey at work or at home on any desktop or mobile device. The survey can be accessed by clicking on the link in the email invitation. If you have any problems accessing the survey, please email engagement.survey@pitt.edu.

Who will see my survey responses?
Your supervisor and/or any other University employee will never see your individual survey responses. Survey responses are combined and only reported back at the aggregate/grouped format. Your responses are 100% confidential.

Will you know who I am when I’m responding?
One of the most important reasons that Pitt contracted with a third-party provider like Qualtrics was to protect confidentiality so that staff would feel comfortable providing honest survey responses.

Qualtrics uses unique links for staff members when taking the survey. This means that Qualtrics pre-codes some demographic information against your survey response so that you do not have to answer demographic questions on the survey. The only reasons for this are to save you time and to give the University accurate and consistent data so that we may analyze the results. Neither Qualtrics, nor the University, does this to isolate individual responses. Survey response information will never be reported out in groups of less than 10. For example, if you are the only 25 year-old female on a team, we will never show age AND gender information that could isolate you. We would only show that information if there were more than 10 people on a particular team that fit into these demographics.

Why can’t I forward the survey link?
The survey link is unique to you to ensure that only one survey is completed per staff member. The unique link is also used by Qualtrics to obtain the demographic information necessary for reporting trends. As the confidentiality of your responses is critical, Qualtrics will not report your individual demographic data. Group demographic data will only be reported when there are 10 or more respondents in a particular group.

Once I start the survey, can I access it again?
Your answers will be stored each time you select the forward arrow button at the bottom of a survey page. If you are interrupted while completing the survey, you can come back to the survey and pick up where you left off.

Am I required to answer all of the survey questions?
You are not required to answer all of the questions on the survey. If a question does not apply to you, you can skip to the next question. There are some questions that will require you to answer if you answer the prior questions in a certain way.

What if I have problems accessing the Qualtrics survey site?
For technical questions or problems with the survey site, please contact Qualtrics via the Qualtrics support form or by calling 800-340-9194 (available 24/7). You may also contact engagement.survey@pitt.edu.

How will I find out about survey results?
The University will publish survey results. Your responsibility center may hold feedback sessions to share the results for the organization and your department. Additionally, the Office of Diversity and Inclusion and Office of Human Resources may hold town halls to discuss the results and the University’s action plans.

Who can I contact with additional questions about the survey?
If you have any questions, concerns or suggestions regarding the survey and/or the survey process, please do not hesitate to contact the Office of Diversity and Inclusion or the Office of Human Resources, Employee and Labor Relations.