2020 GDOT employee survey

GEORGIA DOT RESEARCH PROJECT 19-28 FINAL REPORT
2020 GDOT EMPLOYEE SURVEY
OFFICE OF PERFORMANCE-BASED MANAGEMENT AND RESEARCH
600 WEST PEACHTREE STREET NW ATLANTA, GA 30308

TECHNICAL REPORT DOCUMENTATION PAGE

1. Report No.: FHWA-GA-21-1928
4. Title and Subtitle: 2020 GDOT Employee Survey

2. Government Accession No.: N/A

3. Recipient's Catalog No.: N/A
5. Report Date: January 2021

6. Performing Organization Code: N/A

7. Author(s): Karen DeMeester, Ph.D. (https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4924-7269),
Brian Simmons, Ph.D. (https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0016-4366), and

8. Performing Organization Report No.: 19-28

Stephan A. Durham, Ph.D., P.E. (https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6177-3491)

9. Performing Organization Name and Address: University of Georgia Carl Vinson Institute of Government/College of Engineering 201 N. Milledge Ave., Athens, GA 30602 Phone: (706) 542-6598 Email: karend@uga.edu

10. Work Unit No.: N/A
11. Contract or Grant No.: PI#0016503

12. Sponsoring Agency Name and Address: Georgia Department of Transportation Office of Performance-based Management and Research 600 West Peachtree St. NW Atlanta, GA 30308

13. Type of Report and Period Covered: Final; January 2020 January 2021
14. Sponsoring Agency Code: N/A

15. Supplementary Notes: Prepared in cooperation with the U.S. Department of Transportation, Federal Highway Administration.

16. Abstract: The research team worked in collaboration with GDOT to conduct the 2020 GDOT Employee Survey. This research study aimed to increase the response rate and the usefulness of the feedback from the GDOT employee survey to support organizational decisions about effective strategies for increasing its employees' satisfaction, retention, and professional advancement within GDOT. The employee survey was administered by the research team, who entered data from paper surveys, analyzed item and open-ended survey responses, and developed the findings and recommendations offered to GDOT. Statewide, district, and division office reports were generated and presented to the agency. The response rate for the 2020 GDOT employee survey was sixty-four percent (64%). Approximately two thirds (68%) of district employees took the survey, while slightly more than half (52%) of employees in divisions did. The survey findings were summarized in seven focus areas: GDOT Organization, Supervisor, Safety, Job Satisfaction, Human Resources/Training, Retention, and Collaboration & Innovation.

17. Keywords:

18. Distribution Statement:

Employee Survey, Organizational Evaluation, No Restriction

Satisfaction Survey

19. Security Classification 20. Security Classification (of this

(of this report):

page):

Unclassified

Unclassified

Form DOT 1700.7 (8-72)

21. No. of Pages: 19. Security Classification

(of this report):

10

Free

Reproduction of completed page authorized

GDOT Research Project No. 19-28 Final Report
2020 GDOT EMPLOYEE SURVEY By
Karen DeMeester, Ph.D. Public Service Assistant Brian Simmons, Ph.D. Research Professional Stephan A. Durham, Ph.D., P.E.
Professor University of Georgia Research Foundation, Inc.
Contract with Georgia Department of Transportation
In cooperation with U.S. Department of Transportation Federal Highway Administration
January 2021
The contents of this report reflect the views of the authors, who are responsible for the facts and accuracy of the data presented herein. The contents do not necessarily reflect the official views of the Georgia Department of Transportation or the Federal Highway Administration. This report does not constitute a standard, specification, or regulation.
ii

Symbol
in ft yd mi
in2 ft2 yd2 ac mi2
fl oz gal ft3 yd3
oz lb T
oF
fc fl
lbf lbf/in2

SI* (MODERN METRIC) CONVERSION FACTORS

APPROXIMATE CONVERSIONS TO SI UNITS

When You Know

Multiply By

To Find

LENGTH

inches

25.4

millimeters

feet

0.305

meters

yards

0.914

meters

miles

1.61

kilometers

AREA

square inches

645.2

square millimeters

square feet

0.093

square meters

square yard

0.836

square meters

acres

0.405

hectares

square miles

2.59

square kilometers

VOLUME

fluid ounces

29.57

milliliters

gallons

3.785

liters

cubic feet

0.028

cubic meters

cubic yards

0.765

cubic meters

NOTE: volumes greater than 1000 L shall be shown in m3

MASS

ounces

28.35

grams

pounds

0.454

kilograms

short tons (2000 lb)

0.907

megagrams (or "metric ton")

TEMPERATURE (exact degrees)

Fahrenheit

5 (F-32)/9

Celsius

or (F-32)/1.8

ILLUMINATION

foot-candles foot-Lamberts

10.76 3.426

lux candela/m2

FORCE and PRESSURE or STRESS

poundforce

4.45

newtons

poundforce per square inch

6.89

kilopascals

Symbol
mm m m km
mm2 m2 m2 ha km2
mL L m3 m3
g kg Mg (or "t")
oC
lx cd/m2
N kPa

Symbol
mm m m km
mm2 m2 m2 ha km2
mL L m3 m3
g kg Mg (or "t")
oC
lx cd/m2
N kPa

APPROXIMATE CONVERSIONS FROM SI UNITS

When You Know

Multiply By

To Find

LENGTH

millimeters

0.039

inches

meters

3.28

feet

meters

1.09

yards

kilometers

0.621

miles

AREA

square millimeters

0.0016

square inches

square meters

10.764

square feet

square meters

1.195

square yards

hectares

2.47

acres

square kilometers

0.386

square miles

VOLUME

milliliters

0.034

fluid ounces

liters

0.264

gallons

cubic meters

35.314

cubic feet

cubic meters

1.307

cubic yards

MASS

grams

0.035

ounces

kilograms

2.202

pounds

megagrams (or "metric ton")

1.103

short tons (2000 lb)

TEMPERATURE (exact degrees)

Celsius

1.8C+32

Fahrenheit

ILLUMINATION

lux candela/m2

0.0929 0.2919

foot-candles foot-Lamberts

FORCE and PRESSURE or STRESS

newtons

0.225

poundforce

kilopascals

0.145

poundforce per square inch

Symbol
in ft yd mi
in2 ft2 yd2 ac mi2
fl oz gal ft3 yd3
oz lb T
oF
fc fl
lbf lbf/in2

*SI is the symbol for the International System of Units. Appropriate rounding should be made to comply with Section 4 of ASTM E380. (Revised March 2003)
* SI is the symbol for the International System of Units. Appropriate rounding should be made to comply with Section 4
of ASTM E380. (Revised March 2003)

iii

TABLE OF CONTENTS Page
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY ................................................................................................ 1 INTRODUCTION .............................................................................................................. 2 SURVEY DISTRIBUTION................................................................................................ 2 SURVEY INSTRUMENT.................................................................................................. 3 RESPONSE RATE ............................................................................................................. 5 DATA ANALYSIS AND REPORTING............................................................................ 5 RECOMMENDATIONS .................................................................................................... 5 ACKNOWLEDGEMENT .................................................................................................. 6
iv

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
The research team which included faculty from University of Georgia's College of Engineering and Carl Vinson Institute of Government worked in collaboration with GDOT to conduct the 2020 GDOT Employee Survey. This research study aimed to increase the response rate and the usefulness of the feedback from the GDOT employee survey to support organizational decisions about effective strategies for increasing its employees' satisfaction, retention, and professional advancement within GDOT. The research team administered the employee survey, analyzed item and open-ended survey responses, and developed the findings and recommendations offered to GDOT. Statewide, district, and division office reports were generated and presented to the agency.
The response rate for the 2020 GDOT employee survey was sixty-four percent (64%). Approximately two thirds (68%) of district employees took the survey, while slightly more than half (52%) of employees in divisions did. The survey findings were summarized in seven focus areas: GDOT Organization, Supervisor, Safety, Job Satisfaction, Human Resources/Training, Retention, and Collaboration & Innovation.
1

INTRODUCTION The Georgia Department of Transportation (GDOT) contracted with the University of Georgia (UGA) College of Engineering and the Survey Research and Evaluation Unit in the Carl Vinson Institute of Government (Institute of Government) to administer the 2020 GDOT employee survey. GDOT and UGA personnel worked together to update the survey instrument from the previous survey year (2018) and to improve distribution methods in order to increase the survey response rate.
SURVEY DISTRIBUTION Consistent with 2018, the Institute of Government collaborated with GDOT personnel to create both online and paper versions of the 2020 survey. Institute of Government staff used a dedicated email account to serve as the communication channel for survey purposes. GDOT provided Institute of Government with office-level distribution emails for division personnel and employees in district offices. Institute of Government invited employees via email to take the survey online on March 3, 2020. The email from the lead researcher at Institute of Government invited employees to participate, described how their confidentiality would be protected, and provided a link to the online survey. The survey remained available online until April 3, 2020, with reminder emails sent on March 12, March 19, March 25, March 31, and April 2. The use of email groups rather than specific employee emails did not allow for individualized survey links; thus, it was not possible to ensure that participants did not complete the survey more than once. To safeguard against this, however, survey reminders stressed that respondents should complete the survey only once. A total of 1,166 online surveys were completed.
2

The Institute of Government also distributed 2,360 paper versions of the survey to all district personnel (except those in District Offices) and Highway Emergency Response Operators (HEROs). GDOT identified a survey coordinator in each Area to receive paper surveys. These coordinators were responsible for receiving, distributing, collecting, and returning the materials to the Institute of Government. The Institute of Government emailed each survey coordinator and provided them a summary of the survey process and instructions for their role. A package was mailed to the survey coordinator containing the following: employee surveys, pens, envelopes, instructions for administering the survey, a survey site collection report, and return postage. Institute of Government mailed the packages so they arrived around the same time as the email invitation to all employees. Each survey coordinator distributed the surveys in his or her office. Employees were instructed to seal their completed surveys in one of the provided envelopes and either return it to the contact or mail it directly to Institute of Government themselves. The GDOT survey coordinators used the provided return postage to send the surveys they collected back to Institute of Government in the original box in which they had been mailed. Institute of Government mailed 2,360 paper surveys to 40 survey coordinators, with 1,420 completed surveys returned. Ten additional paper surveys were provided for each unit in case any were accidentally destroyed or damaged.
SURVEY INSTRUMENT The survey instrument contained a total of 60 items. Forty-six items asked participants to rate their level of agreement on a four-point scale, generally from "strongly disagree" (1) to "strongly agree" (4). These items were divided into five general headings on the survey: 1) Your Satisfaction, 2) Your Safety, 3) Your Work Environment, 4) Your Professional
3

Development Opportunities, and 5) Your Career. From the five general headings on the survey, seven focus areas were identified:
GDOT Organization items that measured employees' attitudes about the agency
Supervisor items that measured employees' judgments of their supervisor Safety items that measured perceptions of the organization's commitment to
worker safety Job Satisfaction items that measured how employees felt about their work
experience Human Resources/Training items that measured employee knowledge of the
professional opportunities available to them Retention items that measured how likely employees are to remain with
GDOT Collaboration & Innovation items that measured employees' attitudes of the
Collaboration & Innovation initiative These groups were identified as being the most useful in identifying areas of employee satisfaction and areas needing improvement. Five items addressed changes employees would like GDOT to implement to improve their work experience. For each of these five items, employees were provided with three to five options and asked to identify their top choice. The survey contained five demographic questions for district employees and four for division employees. District personnel identified their district, area, and job function. Division personnel first identified their division and were then asked to select their office from those within the identified
4

division. All employees were asked their GDOT tenure and position level (supervisory or non-supervisory). Finally, an open-ended question was also included in the survey so that respondents could describe any issues or concerns they had, whether those were covered by the survey or not.
RESPONSE RATE In 2020, 2,586 of the 4,051 active full-time GDOT employees completed a survey, a response rate of 64%. By location, nearly two-thirds (68%) of district employees took the survey, while slightly more than half (52%) of employees in divisions did. Forty-seven (47) respondents did not provide their work location. The overall response rate of 64% is a slight increase from the 63% in 2018.
DATA ANALYSIS AND REPORTING Survey responses were analyzed using IBM SPSS Statistics software. In addition to a description of the frequency of responses, UGA used SPSS to examine associations between item responses. The UGA team collaborated with the GDOT Office of Performance-based Management and Research (OPMR) to tailor the analysis to address specific areas of interest and relationships across the data. The UGA Team provided the recommendations based on findings to OPMR at the completion of the study. To maintain confidentiality of the survey findings, the complete report with all survey findings is available internal to GDOT.
RECOMMENDATIONS At the completion of the project, the study team provided the following recommendations to GDOT:
Explore the continued improvement of internal communication in the organization.
5

Explore professional development opportunities and career advancement pathways for employees.
Explore team building training and flexible work schedules as methods to improve productivity and success.
Continue the ongoing efforts to support innovation and collaboration. Explore retention methods for employees. Use the survey results to guide further exploration.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT The University of Georgia gratefully acknowledges the financial support provided by the Georgia Department of Transportation for this study. The authors thank the many GDOT personnel who assisted with this study, with a special thanks to Ms. Alma Mujkanovic, GDOT Office Head, Mr. Ryan Gorham, Business Support Analyst, and Mr. Brennan Roney, GDOT Research Engineer.
6