Using the WEIS-SR to evaluate employee perceptions of their college work environment.

BACKGROUND: Colleges have been experiencing reduced resource allocations, shifting student expectations, and organizational change. These changes increase employee stress at all levels. Ensuring that employee needs are being met and promoting a healthy and productive workforce has never been more important.

OBJECTIVE: To investigate employees' current perceptions of their work environments using the Work Environment Impact Scale-Self Rating (WEIS-SR).

METHODS: Full and part time employees on a small college campus in the United States were surveyed using the WEIS-SR through an online survey program to protect their anonymity.

RESULTS: Perception of staffing levels, workplace support for a healthy lifestyle, number of supervisors, and personal health ratings contributed to employee perceptions of their work environment. There were also differences between staff, administration, and tenured and non-tenured faculty.

CONCLUSIONS: From an occupational performance perspective, valuable information on employees' levels of volition, performance capacity and habituation, and perceptions of their physical and social environment in relation to their work environments was obtained. Further support for the use of the WEIS-SR and psychometric properties of the instrument (reliability and validity) was obtained.