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.