The Needs and Interest Survey was developed by the Ohio University employee wellbeing team (WellWorks/Healthy OHIO) with support from PACE student employee, Lizzie Shuga. Questions utilized were developed in response to national, regional and local trends and issues facing both employee wellbeing and higher education in the face of a global pandemic. Additionally, questions were inspired by Organizational Wellness & Learning Systems (OWLS), which is a science-based consulting and training service in the area of Integral Organizational Wellness.

The survey opened on March 1, 2023 and closed on March 31, 2023. Participation in the survey was incentivized by offering entry into a drawing for one of 15 possible grocery store gift cards. Employees associated with the wellness program were ineligible for the gift card drawing. Participants were able to opt-in to the drawing at the conclusion of the survey, which remained dissociated with their survey responses. Winners were selected by two student employees of WellWorks who used a random number generator to select 15 winners. Winners were contacted in April 2023, at which time they were invited tot accept/decline the gift.

To market the survey’s availability, invitations were emailed to 3,026 eligible employees. 1,407 (46.5%) employees opened the email and 362 (11.9%) clicked the link to the survey. It should be noted that any employee who had previously removed themselves from our mailing list would not have received the email. The University does not have access to email addresses oof spouses/partners, so we did not reach out to them directly but invited employees to forward the email invitation to their spouses/partners. Additional marketing of the survey included inclusion on the OHIO Employee Newsletter and Employee News webpage, various social media posts, and news articles on the University’s WellWorks website and  Wellness website.

In all, 457 individuals took the survey, though 5 were ineligible and not all 452 eligible individuals completed all questions. Therefore, results from various questions in this report have varying participant numbers.

While we have identified the above top programmatic priorities, we can glean additional information about wellbeing priorities for our audience when framing these responses with other data points and/or trends and issues throughout the region, state, and nation.

Internally, following the survey, a manager wellbeing newsletter and an employee wellbeing newsletter were e-mailed to appropriate recipients. The data from those emails showed higher click rates to financial savings content than to any other piece of content (combined!). So, while this dimension of wellbeing falls third on the stated list of priorities, it appears to be the topic of greatest interest to the populations that are paying attention to our messaging.

We cannot simply ignore topic areas due to a limited number of responses in this particular snapshot of the University’s wellbeing culture. While Environmental Wellbeing may not climb to the very top of the priorities list for our overall respondents, we can argue that it remains a top priority of our institution, region, and nation.

In fact, the Healthy Policy Institute of Ohio identifies improvements to environmental health as a key factor in supporting long-term human health in their 2023 Health Value Dashboard. As Ohio University is positioned as a leader in environmental sustainability within higher education, we have a responsibility to continue to uplift this conversation and help employees adopt principles of environmental wellbeing into their lifestyle.

Additionally, as we work with individual divisions, departments, units, and campuses, we will filter response data and utilize the unique culture of that group to be able to identify programming and opportunities that can be most impactful to that particular group. Wellness Champions will assist us in our efforts to reach out to specific operational and geographic units of our institution. Health claims data will support preventive care and intervention programming. 

This question was available to all eligible respondents (employees of all employment types, spouses and partners). 386 individuals responded to this question. With 43% of respondents reporting that they have experienced overwhelming negative emotions and/or struggled with their mental health in the past 18 months and an additional 7% reporting that they were unsure if they have, we can deduce that mental health programming would benefit at least half of our employee/spouse/partner populations. It is obvious to the employee wellbeing team that mental health support must be a priority in our programming efforts in the near future.

In direct response to this survey, even prior to the dissemination of this report's results, communication was sent to all employees and all managers about how to access mental health counseling through the University’s Employee Assistance Program. Departments were encouraged to print/post materials about how employees can access such resources. Mental health outreach will remain an ongoing outreach effort in FY24.

Training opportunities are currently being developed to help individuals and their managers learn how to better recognize signs of stress before they become an issue and also how to respond when stress is identified as an area of concern for an individual or an operational unit.

While loneliness, isolation and lack of connection were not directly addressed in this surveying tool, shortly after its completion, the Surgeon General shared an advisory that linked isolation and loneliness to mental health challenges. With Ohio University offering over 50% of its employee base remote/hybrid work arrangements, it can be assumed that our employees would benefit from programming that supports a deep sense of connection. In FY24, Virgin Pulse, the mobile employee wellbeing platform, will be utilized to highlight this issue. More complex responses to this crisis will be addressed utilizing the Surgeon General's Workplace Mental Health and Well-Being Framework (see below) and keeping abreast of the National Strategy to Advance Social Connection as identified by the Surgeon General's Advisory. 

The following are our top takeaways from this section of the survey:

• Overall, employees carry a lack of optimism about their future at OHIO. Combine that with the fact that, earlier in the survey, Occupational Wellbeing scores low as a priority and we can surmise that burnout and rust out are a significant issue in the workplace. 
• A significant amount of filtering occurred while analyzing these results and, for the most part, the overall score coincided well with each sub-group we chose to filter against. The most statistically significant filtered response, however, occurred within employees regarding the following statement, “People at work are respectful and supportive of one another regardless of their identity or background.” The mean score among traditionally marginalized groups was significantly lower than that of those outside of marginalized groups. This result illustrates that significant programming in the area of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) is essential in improving the work culture at Ohio University. So, while individuals do report that they are adequately equipped with resources and tools to promote DEI in the workplace, it is possible that they either are unaware of the additional tools and resources they could be exposed to or they aren’t using those tools/resources in ways that are respectful and supportive of all backgrounds and identities.
• Other results from the employee section of this question reveals that manager training on providing employee feedback would be helpful to employees and that additional or enhanced employee recognition programs could boost morale among the workforce.
• With only 4 spouses/partners responding to the OHIO Spouse/Partner experience, it is unfair to make many decisions for programming based on these responses. However, the lack of responses clearly shows us that additional connection with and outreach toward spouses and partners is essential. By prioritizing their access to the resources already available to them, we can better support the households of our employees