Dear Colleagues,
Thank you for helping achieve a new record high response rate to our State of the Workplace survey - a whopping 3,000 of you shared your experiences with us! In addition to our standard report, you can now view a data visualization of the results of this survey, and the two prior surveys, in the State of the Workplace Dashboards which contain the Workplace Experience Index (What is it like to work at UC Berkeley?) and the Equity Index (Is it Equitable?). To the highlights:
- This continues to be a good place to work: Most responses were positive, with 75% of you Agreeing or Strongly Agreeing with the questions as compared to 76% in Summer 2023.
- A slight improvement: 56% of you Agree or Strongly Agree that you trust your Division Leader, up by 2%. Trust in your Immediate Supervisors remains notably higher at 76%.
- A continuing concern: only 66% of you Agree or Strongly Agree that you have an equal opportunity to succeed at UC Berkeley, a 2% decline from the prior survey.
- When asked what immediate supervisors could do to help ensure an equal opportunity to succeed, your top response was that immediate supervisors were not the source of inequities (such as racism, sexism, favoritism, lack of upward mobility, and lack of diversity in leadership), or were unable to help ensure equal opportunities (21%). Systemic issues, campus culture, and senior leadership seem to be overriding factors in response to this question.
- When asked what senior leaders could do to ensure an equal opportunity to succeed, your primary suggestion is for them to enhance personal connections by just getting to know their employees better (10%).
Differences among Demographic Groups
Race/Ethnicity
Generally, we are still seeing improved average ratings for our historically marginalized populations, but the following stood out:
- Positive responses from Black staff members have increased across nearly all questions, often by more than 10% and surpassing those of their white colleagues in many areas. Nonetheless, their confidence in equal opportunities for success saw a 10% decline.
Gender Identity
- Responses from men and women closely align with the overall campus trends, with minor differences in certain areas. Nonbinary individuals reported significantly lower agreement rates (by 10-20% or more) on several questions, most notably on equal opportunities for success (31% lower) and the ability to be their authentic selves at work (24% lower)
Sexual Orientation
- Responses from gay staff members are often equal to or slightly better than those from heterosexual colleagues. However, bisexual and queer staff members reported lower agreement levels, though not as markedly as the differences seen in nonbinary individuals compared to men and women.
Disability Status
- There has been little change in the agreement levels among individuals with disabilities compared to the previous survey. It remains important to note that this group consistently reports lower agreement levels (averaging 8%) across all questions.
We are still exploring ways to enhance our support for employees with disabilities, particularly with respect to providing necessary accommodations. In March 2024, we hired an ADA Specialist who will take responsibility for helping employees and managers navigate the interactive process for accommodations. This facilitated process, which will officially launch on July 1(stay tuned for more details), will improve the experience for all concerned.
New DashboardsWe are proud to announce that our new State of the Workplace Dashboards are now live! These dashboards allow you to view the workplace experience scores for every division and the campus as a whole, including an equity index that calculates whether or not people are being treated equitably. I’ve recorded a ‘Grow On The Go’ short introduction video that explains just what these dashboards do - take a look for some quick guidance and explanations.
There are also new tools and enhancements in our Staff Workforce Dashboards, including how long-term job trend categories are moving. An example of this is how over the past 10 years operational/technical jobs have become a smaller part of our workforce by 8% while higher-level professional jobs have increased by 7%. You can also now see how job categories have trended by race/ethnicity over the years.
We can help
You can find strategies, based on work we have done at Berkeley, to improve your team’s workplace experience on the employee engagement website and guidePlease do not hesitate to reach out to provide feedback about your experience so that we can continue making the workplace experience better for everyone at Berkeley.
- Eugene Whitlock, Chief People & Culture Officer
Haz click aquí para leer este mensaje en español
This message was sent to all Staff - If you are a manager who supervises UC Berkeley employees without email access, please circulate this information to all.