Turning Feedback into Action

Background: Library staff completed two surveys to assess workplace satisfaction. The first survey was administered as part of the university-wide satisfaction assessment and took place in 2019. The second survey was administered to library staff only in October 2020, and focused on staff satisfaction during the extraordinary circumstances of COVID-19. The Workplace Satisfaction Survey Action Planning Team was formed to assess results from both surveys, identify areas for improvement, and develop recommendations for moving forward.

Description: The Workplace Satisfaction Survey Action Planning Team reviewed both survey results and comments and then conducted listening sessions and collected email responses for additional feedback. This feedback helped the Team understand why some areas scored poorly and identify other topics not covered by the surveys that could pose challenges to becoming a better workplace.
The Team then compiled a Workplace Satisfaction Report which organized the feedback from focus groups, interviews and emails. The feedback was sorted into six categories and each category included an executive summary, common themes, selected comments that elucidated each theme, and a list of recommendations for remediation.

Conclusion: The final document was emailed to all library staff and discussed during an all staff meeting. Library leadership categorized the document’s recommendations into three areas: library-specific, system/university-level, and needs more discussion. Recommendations and policy changes that could be implemented locally helped inform the library’s 2021 action plan for improving the workplace. Recommendations for improving the library system or university are being brought to senior library and university leadership to raise awareness of the issues. Recommendations that needed further discussion have been covered at subsequent staff meetings to determine appropriate steps to remediation.