2010 UND Employer Satisfaction Survey

Transcription

1 2010 UND Employer Satisfaction Survey Sue Erickson Carmen Williams Michael Braget Office of Institutional Research University of North Dakota

2 Table of Contents Table of Contents... i Executive Summary... ii Employer Survey Dashboard... iii I. Introduction... 1 II. Methodology... 1 III. Response Rate... 2 IV. Data Analysis... 2 V. Select Results About the Respondents Employee Knowledge and Understanding Qualities Expected of Employees General Skills Specialized Skills Overall Satisfaction... 5 VI. Employer Comments... 5 VII. Summary Conclusions... 6 VIII. Data Tables... 7 Page i

3 Executive Summary In an attempt to measure whether North Dakota institutions of higher education are providing employers with the quality employees they require, the North Dakota University System requires all institutions to administer the Noel-Levitz Employer Satisfaction Survey during even-numbered years. The survey asks employers to rate a series of items twice, first with regard to the importance they place on the item in relation to successful job performance and secondly in regard to how satisfied they are that the employee meets this requirement. The 5-point scale runs from 1, equating to not at all important/satisfied through 5, equating to extremely important/satisfied. During August, 2010, the University of North Dakota mailed the Employer Satisfaction Survey to 948 employers of students who graduated with an undergraduate degree during the school year. A total of 187 surveys were returned for a response rate of 20%. Employers rate items related to qualities generally expected of employees to be the most important to them. These qualities include things such as reliability, self-discipline, flexibility, and a willingness to learn. While not explicitly taught in a college classroom, these skills can be developed throughout the college experience. Employers rate highest satisfaction with employee Willingness to learn, which scores a mean score of 4.52 on a 5-point scale. Least important to employers are items related to the international business environment, including Fluency language other than English and Understanding of international business environment, which score means of 1.74 and 1.99 respectively. When asked to rate their satisfaction, the highest scores are for Willingness to learn and Integrity (understands and applies ethical principles). Two items have satisfaction mean scores less that 3.0; these include Fluency in language other than English (mean = 2.51) and Understanding of international business environment (mean = 2.99). A gap score is calculated by measuring the difference between the importance mean and satisfaction mean. A positive gap indicates the employer s satisfaction with employee performance exceeds the level of importance they place on the item. The survey for UND graduates reports this positive mean on 23 of the 39 survey items. The largest negative gaps are in the areas of Reliability (gap of -0.30), Critical thinking (gap of -0.24), and Positive attitude toward work (gap of -0.23). Comments from employers indicate they desire increased amounts of applied job training, accomplished through increased participation in internships, cooperative learning, and clinical training. In the end, employers are asked how likely they are to hire other graduates of UND based on their experience with the employee they are currently rating. This is also done on a 5-point scale where 1 equates to not at all likely and 5 equates to extremely likely. The employers completing the survey for UND graduates score a mean of 4.13, indicating they are very likely, overall, to hire additional graduates.! Page ii

4 University of North Dakota Dashboard A total of 187 employers of UND graduates completing a Bachelors degree in Fall 2007, Spring 2008, or Summer 2008 completed the survey; response rate was 20%. Top 5 Satisfaction on Knowledge & Understanding: 1. Knowledge in employee s field of study (4.17) 2. Understanding of job related information (4.12) 3. Specific technical knowledge required for job (3.96) 4. Knowledge of specific computer applications (3.95) 5. Understanding of organizational context (3.76) Top 5 Satisfaction on General Skills: 1. Teamwork (4.30) 2. Basic computer (4.28) 3. Listening to others (4.27) 4. Customer service (4.24) 5. Verbal communication (4.24) Top 5 Satisfaction on Specialized Skills: 1. Ability to set goals and allocate time to achieve them (3.92) 2. Ability to translate theory into practice (3.85) 3. Mentoring or coaching colleagues (3.54) 4. Project management (3.47) 5. Management of organizational resources (3.36) Top 5 Satisfaction on Qualities Expected: 1. Willingness to learn (4.52) 2. Integrity (4.41) 3. Understands and takes directions (4.40) 4. Reliability (4.35) 5. Accepts responsibility for actions (4.34) Mean score for 2010 indicated in parenthesis; mean calculated on 5 point scale. Arrow indicates mean score change from 2008 survey: = mean score increase = mean score steady, = mean score decrease Employers of UND graduates report higher satisfaction than those of other NDUS institutions. Employers rate overall satisfaction in key education areas on a 5 point scale: 1 = not at all satisfied, 2 = not very, 3 = somewhat, 4 = very, 5 = extremely satisfied. General knowledge & understanding outside major field Knowledge & understanding of major field Specialized skills related to job requirements General skills related to job requirements Qualities expected of college grad Employer would likely hire another graduate UND 2006 UND 2008 UND 2010 NDUS 2010 Page iii

5 I. Introduction As part of state-mandated accountability measures, the North Dakota University System (NDUS) contracted with Noel-Levitz to administer an Employer Satisfaction Survey. The goal of the survey is to determine the level to which North Dakota institutions of higher education are meeting the needs of current employers, by determining employers levels of satisfaction with the preparation of graduates for the work force. North Dakota is currently the only state to be using this particular Noel-Levitz survey instrument, therefore comparisons can only be made to other NDUS institutions. The collected information can be used by the University of North Dakota (UND) by helping to assist in measuring student outcomes. Information may also be used to identify areas for improving programs and student services. II. Methodology The survey administration is designed to measure employer satisfaction of workers who have been employed for at least a year. To this end, UND chooses to survey employers of students who graduated in Fall 2007, Spring, 2008 or Summer Sample selection for the Employer Survey is somewhat a difficult task as UND does not have a system in place to comprehensively track employment of its graduates. Several methods were utilized to collect a group of survey invitees: An initial list of employers was gathered during the administration of UND s 2009 Employment Survey. A postcard was enclosed with the survey, which is mailed to all recent graduates, asking them to return the card with their employment information included. UND s Alumni Association provided the Office of Institutional Research with any employers they had recorded in their database. Any graduates who did not have an employer identified by either of the above methods were forwarded to North Dakota s FINDET office, where a search of employees in North Dakota was conducted. In the end, 361 employers were identified through the UND s Employment Survey, 23 were identified by the Alumni database, and an additional 564 were located by the FINDET office. In total, 948 survey packets were mailed in early August, Completed surveys were mailed directly to Noel-Levitz for tabulation. UND mailed a follow-up reminder postcard to those employers located through campus sources. Page 1

6 III. Response Rate Of the 948 surveys mailed, 187 were scored by Noel-Levitz. This represents a response rate of 20%. The survey invitation directed employers to disregard the survey if they received it in error or they were unfamiliar with the particular employee, so an adjusted response rate is not available. IV. Data Analysis Descriptive statistics are used to analyze data for the Employer Survey. Noel-Levitz provided a frequency summary of item response and calculated mean scores for both UND and all NDUS institutions. Survey forms were returned to UND, where employer comments were recorded; content analysis was used to reveal themes present. Employers are generally asked to rank survey items on a 5-point Likert scale both with regard to the importance of the item for successful job performance and the satisfaction they have with the particular employee s knowledge in the item area. On the scale, 1 = not at all, 2 = not very, 3 = somewhat, 4 = very, and 5 = extremely. Mean scores are calculated for both importance and satisfaction. An importance/satisfaction gap score is also calculated by subtracting the importance score from the satisfaction score. A mean of these gaps is also calculated to represent a relative performance measure. A large positive gap score indicates the employees are exceeding employer needs in a given area, while a negative gap score indicates the employee is not meeting employer expectation. One note on the gap score: This calculation is completed at the individual survey level and then the means of all gaps are calculated. If an employer responded to only an importance side or only a satisfaction side, their gap will not be calculated and not included in the mean gap. Their importance or satisfaction score, will however, be included in the importance or satisfaction mean. Therefore, the gap score will not necessarily be equal to the importance mean minus the satisfaction mean. V. Select Results The following paragraphs summarize each portion of the survey. Data tables for each section can be found at the back of this report. 1. About the Respondents Most employers are very familiar with UND, with 65% reporting they are very or extremely familiar. One out of ten employers report being not very or not at all familiar with UND. Seventy-nine percent of the employees about which the survey was answered have been employed by the employer respondent for one year or more. Eighty-two percent of the respondents are the supervisor of Page 2

7 the particular employee, and 61% report they have the opportunity to observe the particular employee daily. Employers are asked how important seven qualifications were to them when they were hiring for the position currently held by the particular UND graduate. Items are rated on a five-point scale (1 = not at all, 2 = not very, 3 = somewhat, 4 = very, 5 = extremely). Mean scores were calculated for each item and they are displayed in Table 1. Having a Bachelor s degree and a degree in a specific major field were ranked the most important criteria for hiring a particular employee. Specialized training or skills were also highly coveted by employers. 2. Employee Knowledge and Understanding The survey asks employers to rate eight items pertaining to types of knowledge and understanding with regard to how important the knowledge is for successful performance on the job and their satisfaction with the particular employee s knowledge. Both importance and satisfaction are ranked on a five-point scale (1 = not at all, 2 = not very, 3 = somewhat, 4 = very, 5 = extremely). Table 2 summarizes the results for employee knowledge. Items in this category are similarly ranked for both importance and satisfaction, with employers of UND graduates placing the greatest importance and reporting the greatest satisfaction in the areas of understanding of job-related information and knowledge in employee s field of study a close second. On the other end of the spectrum, understanding of international business environment rates lowest on both the importance scale and the satisfaction scale. Similar results are seen over time and when employers of all NDUS graduates are tallied. When measuring the importance-satisfaction gap, UND scores a positive gap for all eight categories, meaning that employers are rating higher satisfaction than the importance they place on any particular item. Employers of UND graduates rate very high overall satisfaction with employee understanding in knowledge both in their major field of study and outside their major field. On the five-point scale, satisfaction scores are 4.24 within the field of study and 4.11 outside the field of study, indicating employers are more than very satisfied. UND scores higher than the NDUS average mean on both these areas. 3. Qualities Expected of Employees Qualities generally expected of employees (things such as reliability, flexibility, a willingness to learn, and a positive attitude toward work) are not explicitly taught in the college classroom, however these traits which are essential in the work place are also beneficial to success in college. In terms of this survey, the items listed in this area are, as a general rule, the items rated to be most important for employers. All qualities listed in this section score quite high, with all ten items recording Page 3

8 mean scores higher than 4.0 (very important on the five-point scale). Leading the way are Reliability, Willingness to learn, and Integrity. Similar rankings are seen historically (Table 3). With regard to satisfaction on these employee qualities, Willingness to learn scores the highest satisfaction mean with a 4.52, while Creativity scores the lowest mean (4.06). UND mean scores are higher than the NDUS mean score for satisfaction on all ten items. One item scores a gap score larger than 0.25; Reliability scores a mean gap of -0.30, indicating employers have a higher expectation than they currently rate incoming employees as having. UND comes closest to meeting employer expectation in the areas of Empathy, Creativity, and Willingness to learn. UND scores smaller gap scores for all ten items than the NDUS average. With regard to overall satisfaction on qualities expected of a college graduate, employers of UND graduates record a mean of This is higher than the 4.29 recorded in 2008 and higher than the 4.12 recorded by all employers of NDUS graduates. 4. General Skills General skills include the ability to read and write, basic math and computer knowledge and the ability to lead and get along with others. When asked to rate the importance of twelve basic skills on a 5-point scale, employers of UND graduates rate the following highest: Teamwork (Mean = 4.49) Verbal communication (Mean = 4.44) Listening to others (Mean = 4.40) Customer service (Mean = 4.37) Employers rate Advanced computer skills, Use of equipment or technology specific to the job, and Computation (math) to be least important. Table 4 summarizes scores for General Skills items. Employers are overall satisfied with the general skills of UND graduates, with nine of the twelve items scoring satisfaction mean scores greater than 4.0 on the 5-point scale. The greatest satisfaction is reported in the areas of Teamwork, Basic computer, and Listening to others. The three items scoring lower than 4.0 include Leadership, Advanced computer, and Organizing information for presentation. When evaluating the gap between employer-rated importance and satisfaction, UND graduates exceed employer expectation in seven of the twelve general skill categories; Advanced computing shows the greatest surpassing of employer need. On the other hand, Critical thinking is the area where employers report UND graduates are least equipped to meet employer expectation; this item has historically been the item with the largest gap score. Gap scores indicate UND is performing better when compared to other NDUS institutions with regard to meeting employer expectation for general skill preparation. Overall, employers of UND graduates rate their satisfaction in the area of general skills 4.29 on the 5- point scale. This measure is nearly even to the 4.28 scored in 2008 and 4.23 scored in The 2010 mean for all NDUS institutions is Page 4

9 5. Specialized Skills Specialized skills are those less-frequently required in general day-to-day job performance. They include things such as management skills, negotiation, and mentoring. Table 5 summarizes employer response for these items. As these tend to be more specialized, it is not surprising that employers tend to rate these items as having lower importance when compared to other items asked on the survey. The greatest importance is placed on Ability to set goals and allocate time to achieve them with a mean of The least important specialized skill is Fluency in a language other than English with a mean of just When asked their satisfaction on how UND graduates perform these specialized skills, employers rate the highest satisfaction in the area of Ability to set goals and allocate time to achieve them with a mean of Ability to translate theory into practice and Mentoring or coaching colleagues also record means on the satisfied end of the 5-point scale. Low satisfaction is reported in the area of Fluency in a language other than English and Negotiation. Employers only report one area in which their satisfaction level does not exceed the level of importance; Ability to set goals and allocate time to achieve them has a negative 0.11 gap score. As in other areas, employers of UND graduates report better gap scores when compared to employers of all NDUS institutions. 6. Overall Satisfaction When evaluating the five summary areas above, employers of UND graduates rate the highest satisfaction in the area of Qualities expected of a college graduate (Table 6). The lowest level of overall satisfaction is in the Specialized skills. Employers of UND graduates score significantly higher mean satisfaction scores when compared to the mean scores reported by employers of NDUS graduates. As a final survey question, employers are asked how likely they would be to hire other graduates of this school on a 5-point scale (1 = not at all likely, 2 = not very likely, 3 = somewhat likely, 4 = very likely, and 5 = extremely likely). UND employers are very likely to hire additional UND graduates, rating a mean of 4.27 on the 5-point scale. This is just slightly lower than the 4.30 mean achieved in 2008, but higher than the 4.13 mean achieved by employers of graduates from all NDUS graduates. VI. Employer Comments Of the 187 survey forms returned, 51 (27%) contained a comment pertaining to the employee hired and/or education UND is providing. The most common theme presented is the request that UND graduates come into the workforce with more training applicable to the workforce. Fifteen of the comments were employers indicating they would like to see incoming employees have a greater ability to apply knowledge to real-life job applications. In Page 5

10 particular, employers in the medical field would like to see more clinical training, educators see a need for more classroom time for teachers-in-training. Employers also note the importance of internships. Four employers commented that students need to come in with the expectation they will need to work hard in order to be successful, and that they are seeing a lack of work ethic in newly hired employees. Lastly, it is worth noting that employers who did not have a positive experience with the particular employee they were asked to survey, they realize these are typically a personality conflict as opposed to anything UND s educational experience has or has not provided. A listing of comments can be found on UND s Office of Institutional Research website. VII. Summary Conclusions In general, the 2010 Noel-Levitz Employer Satisfaction Survey presents a very positive picture for UND. It appears employers are pleased with the education graduates receive and would hire additional graduates in the future. When compared to the other institutions in North Dakota, UND also appears to be holding its own with regard to preparing employees for the work force as nearly all of UND s scores exceed the summary scores when all NDUS institutions are combined. With all this being said, there is always room for improvement. In particular, UND is not meeting employer expectations with regard to preparing students with qualities generally expected of employees. While these qualities are not generally linked to college-level curriculum, employers still place high importance in the areas of reliability, positive attitude toward work, self-discipline, and flexibility. Noting that these traits are important to employees may lead faculty and staff to examine ways to assist students in realizing the importance in developing these traits. Gap scores also indicate a need for graduates to improve critical thinking skills prior to entering the work force. Increasing emphasis on critical thinking, through the move from the general education requirements in place for this particular class of graduates to the Essential Studies criteria, with its emphasis on critical thinking, may better prepare graduates in this area. Page 6

11 Table 1. Importance of Hiring Criteria How IMPORTANT were each of the following when you were hiring to fill this employee's position? (1 = Not at all, 2 = Not very, 3 = Somewhat, 4 = Very, 5 = Extremely) UND NDUS Previous work experience Specialized training or skills Specialized certification Degree in a specific major field Associate's degree Bachelor's degree Graduate degree Page Employer Satisfaction survey

12 Table 2. Employee Knowledge and Understanding This section concerns an employee's knowledge and understanding. For each item, first indicate how important this type of knowledge is to the successful performance of the job for which this employee was hired, and then rate your satisfaction with how well this employee had leraned this type of knowledge at the time they were initially hired. (1 = Not at all, 2 = Not very, 3 = Somewhat, 4 = Very, 5 = Extremely) IMPORTANCE SATISFACTION GAP UND NDUS UND NDUS UND NDUS Mean Rank Mean Rank Mean Rank Mean Rank Mean Rank Mean Rank Mean Rank Mean Rank Mean Rank Mean Rank Mean Rank Mean Rank Mean Rank Mean Rank Mean Rank Knowledge in employee s field of study Understanding of job-related information Specific technical knowledge required for the job (other than computer applications) Knowledge of specific computer applications required for job (other than work-processing, spreadsheets, database applications) Understanding of organizational context (industry regulations, competition, etc.) Understanding of international business environment Understanding of systems and organizations (e.g., political systems, market, cultures) Knowledge of peoples and cultures from other countries OVERALL SATISFACTION - Employee's knowledge and understanding of their major field of study OVERALL SATISFACTION - Employee's knowledge and understanding (outside the major field) NA NA NA NA Page Employer Satisfaction survey

13 Table 3. QUALITIES GENERALLY EXPECTED OF EMPLOYEES This section concerns the qualities generally expected of employees. For each item, first indicate how important this quality is to the successful performance of the job for which this employee was hired, and (1 = Not at all, 2 = Not very, 3 = Somewhat, 4 = Very, 5 = Extremely) IMPORTANCE SATISFACTION GAP UND UND UND NDUS 2010 NDUS Mean Rank Mean Rank Mean Rank Mean Rank Mean Rank Mean Rank Mean Rank Mean Rank Mean Rank Mean Rank Mean Rank Mean Rank Mean Rank Mean Rank Mean Rank NDUS Flexibility (responds well to change) Creativity (identifies new approaches to problems) Empathy (understands feelings or motives of others) Reliability (can be depended on to complete work) Integrity (understands and applies ethical principles) Self-discipline (exhibits control of personal behavior) Positive attitude toward work Willingness to learn Understands and takes directions for work assignments Accepts responsibility for consequences of actions OVERALL SATISFACTION - Employee demonstrates the qualities expected of a NA NA college graduate Page Employer Satisfaction survey

14 Table 4. GENERAL SKILLS This section concerns the general skills that are typically expected of most employees with education beyond high school. For each item, first indicate how important this quality is to the successful (1 = Not at all, 2 = Not very, 3 = Somewhat, 4 = Very, 5 = Extremely) IMPORTANCE SATISFACTION UND NDUS UND NDUS Mean Rank Mean Rank Mean Rank Mean Rank Mean Rank Mean Rank Mean Rank Mean Rank Mean Rank Mean Rank Mean Rank Mean Rank Mean Rank Mean Rank Mean Rank GAP UND NDUS Written communication Verbal communication Listening to others Organizing information for presentation Critical thinking Computation (math) Reading Basic computer Advanced computer Use of equipment or technology specific to the job Leadership Teamwork Customer service OVERALL SATISFACTION - Employee's general skills as they relate to the requirements of the job Page Employer Satisfaction survey

15 Table 5. SPECIALIZED SKILLS This section concerns the specialized skills that are not typically expected of all employees, but may be required for some. For each item, first indicate how important this quality is to the successful performance of the job for which this employee was hired, and then rate your satisfaction with how well this employee demonstrated this quality at the time they were initially hired. (1 = Not at all, 2 = Not very, 3 = Somewhat, 4 = Very, 5 = Extremely) Management of organizational resources (budgets, subordinates, etc.) IMPORTANCE SATISFACTION GAP UND NDUS UND NDUS UND NDUS Mean Rank Mean Rank Mean Rank Mean Rank Mean Rank Mean Rank Mean Rank Mean Rank Mean Rank Mean Rank Mean Rank Mean Rank Mean Rank Mean Rank Mean Rank Fluency in a language other than English Project management Negotiation (contracts, sales, alliances) Mentoring or coaching colleagues Ability to set goals and allocate time to achieve them Ability to translate theory into practice OVERALL SATISFACTION - Employee's special skills as they relate to the requirements of the job Page Employer Satisfaction survey

16 Table 6. OVERALL SATISFACTION SUMMARY (1 = Not at all, 2 = Not very, 3 = Somewhat, 4 = Very, 5 = Extremely) Employee s knowledge & understanding of their major field of study Employee s general knowledge & understanding (outside of the major field) Employee demonstrates the qualities you would expect from a college graduate Employee s general skills as they relate to the requirements of the job Employee s specialized skills as they relate to the requirements of the job Based on your experience, how likely are you to hire other graduates of this school SATISFACTION UND NDUS Page Employer Satisfaction survey