To Executive Summary

Exit Interview Monitoring Report, Full Report

1993-94 through 2002-03 as of 3/30/03

Prepared by Meridith Wentz and Angela LeCompte, Equal Opportunity/Affirmative Action Office

The following report highlights the results from the exit interview surveys received between the 1993-94 fiscal year and the 2002-03 fiscal year as of 3/30/03. This report is a condensed version of the annual exit interview report. Every other year, a full report is written and in the alternate years, a more condensed “monitoring” version of the report is developed.

In this report, trend data is organized by “year category.” Year categories are the combination of several years of data, and they were developed because sample sizes for individual years were too small for meaningful analysis.

Method

Survey

All classified and unclassified employees who left UW-Stout were mailed an exit interview survey. The survey asked for information on retention, satisfaction, discrimination, harassment, and comments related to these issues. Retention questions included identifying reasons for leaving UW-Stout and factors that influenced decisions to leave. Satisfaction questions asked for information regarding recognition, relationships with supervisors and co-workers, level of challenge, opportunities for training and professional development, and overall ratings of satisfaction with experiences at UW-Stout. Respondents were also asked to evaluate how much they felt they were discriminated against or harassed in a number of different areas.

• The classified and unclassified versions of the survey were combined into one version, so that all employees that leave UW-Stout complete the same survey.
• An invitation from the Equal Opportunity/Affirmative Action Office was attached to the survey instrument inviting people to come for an in-person exit interview.
• The demographic section was expanded to allow for more detailed analysis.
• A follow-up process was initiated in order to increase the response rate on the exit interview survey (see Figure 1).

Respondents

Fully 361 employees completed exit interviews between the 1993-94 fiscal year and the 2002-03 fiscal year as of 3/30/03. In 2002-03, the average age of the respondents was 44 and respondents reported working at Stout for an average of 11 years. Additional demographic information for the 2002-03 respondents is found in Tables 1a-1e.

The approximate response rate for the exit interviews has varied from year to year (see Table 2a-b). The response rates in Table 2 are approximate because it is not possible to link exit interview surveys with the year that employees are terminated. Therefore, response rates are calculated by comparing the number of exit interviews received in a given fiscal year to the number of terminations per year. It is possible, however, that a person retiring at the end of one fiscal year may return their survey in the next fiscal year. In this case, the survey would be counted in the wrong year and the response rate would be inflated for that year. The overall response rate for 2002-03 is 75%.

Results

Reason for Leaving

Unclassified respondents in 2002-03 continue to report that “found a job with a higher salary” was the top factor that influenced them to leave UW-Stout (see Table 3). This response option has been among the top three factors that influenced unclassified employees to leave UW-Stout for each year category since 1993. However, in the 2000-03 year category, “geographic location” was chosen as frequently as “found a job with a higher salary” (see Figure 2).

Likewise, for the classified staff, “dissatisfaction with salary” was the most frequently reported reason that they left UW-Stout (see Table 4). This response option, however, was not among the top three reasons in the 1999-2002 year category.

Satisfaction

Satisfaction ratings for the unclassified staff continued to increase in 2002-03 on questions dealing with: relationships with co-workers and supervisors (see Figures 3 and 4), satisfaction with experience at UW-Stout (see Figure 5), and recommending UW-Stout as a good place to work (see Figure 6). Satisfaction decreased, however, on ratings of recognition received (see Figure 7). Ratings on this recognition question were lower than any of the other questions. There were also three new satisfaction questions added to the unclassified exit interview. Mean ratings in 2002-03 for these new questions were as follows: 4.47 for “my work at UW-Stout was interesting,” (see Figure 8), 4.00 for “there were adequate opportunities for training and professional development (see Figure 9), and 2.00 for “my job at UW-Stout was NOT challenging (see Figure 10).

For the classified staff, ratings increased in 2002-03 on questions dealing with: relationships with co-workers and supervisors (see Figures 11 and 12), receiving recognition for work (see Figure 13), satisfaction with experience at UW-Stout (see Figure 14), and recommending UW-Stout as a good place to work (see Figure 15). Satisfaction dropped in 2002-03 on ratings of opportunities for training and/or professional development (see Figure 16). Overall, ratings were lowest for opportunities for training and/or professional development and receiving recognition for work. There were also two new satisfaction questions added to the classified exit interview. Mean ratings in 2002-03 for these new questions were as follows: 4.31 for “my work at UW-Stout was interesting,” (see Figure 17) and 2.69 for “my job at UW-Stout was NOT challenging” (see Figure 18).

Discrimination and Harassment

Classified and unclassified ratings on freedom from discrimination and harassment continue to be higher than 4.5 on a 5-point scale (1=always discriminated against; 5=never discriminated against) for all areas except gender (see Figures 19-22). In 2000-02 and 2002-03, ratings on freedom from discrimination on gender were 4.20 and 4.16, respectively, for the unclassified staff.

Qualitative Analysis

Comments were organized according to the four themes that were identified in a previous Exit Interview Report: 1) solutions/recommendations/prevention; 2) discrimination/harassment issues; 3) likes and 4) dislikes. This analysis focuses on the comments that were made in 2002-03.

In 2002-03, there were 16 comments dealing with “solutions/recommendations/ prevention” (see Table 5) Within this theme, comments dealt mostly with organizational structure and money. In 2002-03, there were 15 comments dealing with discrimination/harassment issues. Within this theme, the greatest number of comments was in the gender category. In 2002-03, there were 12 comments dealing with likes and 12 comments dealing with dislikes. Within the “likes” theme, comments were mostly non-specific and respondents indicated that they liked everything about UW-Stout. Within the “dislikes” theme, the greatest number of comments dealt with money/promotion/tenure issues.

Figures

• Figure 1. Exit Interview Process Flow Chart
• Figure 1 continued Exit Interview Telephone Follow-up Script
• Figure 2. UW-Stout Unclassified Exit Interview Survey: Factors that influenced Unclassified Employees decisions to leave for 2000 – 2003
• Figure 3. UW-Stout Unclassified Exit Interview Survey: My co-workers and I had a good working relationship
• Figure 4. UW-Stout Unclassified Exit Interview Survey: My supervisor and I had a good working relationship
• Figure 5. UW-Stout Unclassified Exit Interview Survey: I was satisfied with my experience at UW-Stout
• Figure 6. UW-Stout Unclassified Exit Interview Survey: I would recommend UW-Stout as a good place to work
• Figure 7. UW-Stout Unclassified Exit Interview Survey: I received recognition for the work I did
• Figure 8. UW-Stout Unclassified Exit Interview Survey: My work at UW-Stout was interesting
• Figure 9. UW-Stout Unclassified Exit Interview Survey: There were adequate opportunities for training and professional development
• Figure 10. UW-Stout Unclassified Exit Interview Survey: My job at UW-Stout was NOT challenging
• Figure 11. UW-Stout Classified Exit Interview Survey: I got along well with my co-workers
• Figure 12. UW-Stout Classified Exit Interview Survey: I got along well with my supervisor
• Figure 13. UW-Stout Classified Exit Interview Survey: I received satisfactory formal and informal recognition for the work I did
• Figure 14. UW-Stout Classified Exit Interview Survey: I was satisfied with my experience at UW-Stout
• Figure 15. UW-Stout Classified Exit Interview Survey: I would recommend UW-Stout as a good place to work
• Figure 16. UW-Stout Classified Exit Interview Survey: There were adequate opportunities for training and/or professional development at UW-Stout
• Figure 17. UW-Stout Classified Exit Interview Survey: My work at UW-Stout was interesting
• Figure 18. UW-Stout Classified Exit Interview Survey: My job at UW-Stout was NOT challenging
• Figure 19. UW- Stout Unclassified Exit Interview Survey: Freedom from Discrimination
• Figure 20. UW-Stout Classified Exit Interview Survey: Freedom from Discrimination
• Figure 21. UW-Stout Unclassified Exit Interview Survey: Freedom from Harassment
• Figure 22. UW-Stout Classified Exit Interview Survey: Freedom from Harassment

Tables

• Tab1e 1. Demographic Breakdown of Respondents
  • Table 1a. Employment Category for 2002-03 Respondents
  • Table 1b. Gender for 2002-03 Respondents
  • Table 1c. Disability Status for 2002-03 Respondents
  • Table 1d. Race/Ethnicity for 2002-03 Respondents
  • Table 1e. Department of 2002-03 Respondents
• Table 2. Response Rates of Respondents
  • Table 2a. Classified Exit Interviews Response Rate
  • Table 2b. Unclassified Exit Interviews Response Rate
• Table 3. UW-Stout Unclassified Exit Interview Survey: The Top 3 Factors that Influenced Unclassified Employees to Leave UW-Stout by year
• Table 4. UW-Stout Classified Exit Interview Survey: The Top 3 Factors that Influenced Unclassified Employees to Leave UW-Stout by year
• Table 5. 2002-03 Unclassified and Classified Comments

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