Emory Report homepage  

April 6, 2009
‘Great workplace’ survey returns

By Katherine Hinson

For the second year in a row, Emory has been invited to participate in The Chronicle of Higher Education’s “Great Colleges to Work For” program. Last year the Chronicle of Higher Education named Emory one of the “2008 Great Colleges to Work For.” The University was in the unranked top five in 13 of 27 categories for institutions with 2,500 or more employees.

“We learned a lot about ourselves through last year’s survey. By being able to participate for a second year, Emory will have the ability to compare the last year’s results with this current year results and, as a result, further refine the steps we need to make to continually improve our workplace,” says Peter Barnes, vice president of human resources.

The “Great Colleges to Work For” initiative is designed to recognize institutions that have built, and desire to maintain, great workplaces, especially in these difficult times. The assessment includes an institution questionnaire, and an employee survey distributed to a randomized sample of each institution’s full-time faculty, administrators and professional staff.

The survey was designed specifically for higher education and measures the strength of certain organizational competencies and relationships that most directly impact and influence an institution’s culture and workplace environment. The collected information will be combined to produce a detailed analysis of the strengths and opportunities of the participating institutions.

On Friday, April 3, the survey will be distributed via e-mail to a random selection of 600 employees. Answers are anonymous and will be processed by research and consulting firm ModernThink LLC. Emory will not be given any, nor will it seek, information that would enable the University to trace survey data back to any one individual.

After the Chronicle publishes the findings this summer, Emory will receive a report that summarizes responses to the survey questions. This will allow Emory to compare its results to others, see best practices, and perhaps make improvements that will further enhance the University’s reputation as a great place to work.