2011 Survey of Internal Service Quality PAYROLL DEPARTMENT

Transcription

1 Prince George s County Public Schools School Lane Upper Marlboro MD Website: Follow Facebook, Youtube RESEARCH BRIEF 2011 Survey of Internal Service Quality Prepared by Carole Portas Keane, Ph.D. Kola K. Sunmonu, Ph.D. DIVISION OF PERFORMANCE MANAGEMENT DEPARTMENT OF RESEARCH AND EVALUATION Phone: Fax: William R. Hite, Jr., Ed.D., Superintendent of Schools Lisa D. Price. PMP, CGPM, Performance Officer Kola K. Sunmonu, Ph.D., Director of Research and Evaluation BOARD OF EDUCATION: Verjeana M. Jacobs, Chair Donna Hathaway Beck, Vice Chair Henry P. Armwood, Jr. Carolyn M. Boston Edward Burroughs, III Patricia Eubanks Peggy Higgins Rosalind A. Johnson Amber P. Waller Faith Jackson, Student Member William R. Hite, Jr., Ed.D., Superintendent of Schools and Secretary/Treasurer November 2011 Prince George's County Public Schools

2 Table of Contents List of Tables... i Introduction...1 Sampling Method and Participation...1 Survey Description...2 Findings...2 List of Tables Table 1 Summary of Sampling and Participation... 1 Table 2 Estimated Utilization of Payroll Department s Services... 3 Table 3 Percent with Positive Perceptions of Payroll Department Service Quality... 3 Table 4 Estimated Coefficients for Regression Model, DV = Satisfaction with Payroll Department Service... 4 Table 5 Distribution of Item Responses... 5 Table 6 Perceptions of Change in Quality over the Past Year Survey of Internal Service Quality i

3 2011 Survey of Internal Service Quality Introduction Last year, the Prince George s County Public Schools (PGCPS) district restructured its existing goals to focus on what matters most and increase the effectiveness of the organization as a whole. One of the Strive for Five goals, as they are known, is Effective and Efficient Operations. This goal is focused on the non-instructional operations that are necessary to run an organization as large as PGCPS, to support its 17,000 employees, and maximize the effectiveness of resources devoted to the classrooms. To measure the extent to which PGCPS is succeeding in this area, the 2011 Survey of Internal Service Quality was added to the district s biannual Employee Satisfaction Survey. The district leadership team decided to survey employees regarding their experiences with nine departments within PGCPS whose customers are employees. This research brief presents the findings from the Payroll Department survey. Sampling Method and Participation While all employees were invited to participate in the Employee Satisfaction Survey, sub-groups of the population of PGCPS were asked to participate in the Payroll Department component of the Survey of Internal Service Quality. This was done so as to not overwhelm participants with hundreds of additional items as well as to elicit information from those groups of employees that would most likely utilize the services of the Payroll Department. Table 1 displays the sample frame, size, and ratio for each of the employee groups and the resulting number of responses and response rate. Table 1 Summary of Sampling and Participation Sample Frame Sample Size Sampling Ratio Number of Responses Response Rate ALL EMPLOYEE GROUPS 17,761 5,879 33% 1, % School-based Instructional Staff 9,539 2,385 25% % School-based Administrators % 0 N/A School-based Support Staff 1, % % Central Office Unit Heads % 0 N/A Central Office Support Staff 1, % % Supporting Services 3,941 1,979 50% % The Sample Frame refers to the number of employees who are most likely to utilize the services the Payroll Department provides. The Sample Size is the number of employees from the 2011 Survey of Internal Service Quality 1

4 Sample Frame that were asked to participate in this component of the Survey of Internal Service Quality; thus the Sampling Ratio is the percentage of the Sample Frame that was asked to participate. The Number of Responses is the number of participants who submitted valid survey responses and the Response Rate is the percentage of the Sample Size that submitted valid survey responses. Survey Description The Payroll Department component of the Survey of Internal Service Quality was tailored to reflect the services and activities that are its main functions. To insure that participant responses were based on recent experiences, respondents were first asked to indicate whether they had contacted the referent department at any time during the previous twelve months (i.e., calendar year 2010). If so, participants were then asked to opine on items that are related to three factors of service quality. These factors are: Capacity to get the job done. This factor measures the extent to which respondents perceive that the employees of the department with whom they interacted were knowledgeable and competent to service their request. Courteous and Professional. This factor measures the extent to which respondents perceived that they were treated in a courteous and professional manner during the course of their interaction with the referent department. Utility of Service. This factor measures the extent to which respondents perceived that the service they received was completed within a timeframe that served their needs and/or was relevant to the work they do. Participants have four choices of response and each of these choices is assigned a value: 1 = Strongly Disagree 2 = Disagree 3 = Agree 4 = Strongly Agree Participants were further asked to indicate their overall perceptions of the service they received and whether they thought the quality of service had changed during Findings In this section the findings from the Payroll Department sub-section of the Survey of Internal Service Quality are presented in tabular form. We begin with a breakdown of respondents by employee group and then present the percent of respondents who indicated that they were satisfied with each factor of quality the survey measures. This is followed by the results of a multiple regression analysis that indicates the strength of the relationship between the individual factors and overall satisfaction. Next we present a distribution of item responses and respondents perceptions of any changes in service quality during Survey of Internal Service Quality 2

5 Table 2 presents the estimated utilization of services provided by the Payroll Department. Overall, the 589 survey participants who contacted the Payroll department made 745 requests for service. The types of requests for service are detailed in Table 2. The majority of respondents (59.7%) indicated that they did not need to contact the Payroll department because their check was always correct (see Table 2). Table 2 Estimated Utilization of Payroll Department s Services During the past year, have you contacted the Payroll Department for any reason? No. I did not need to contact anyone in the Payroll Services Department over the past year. My paycheck was always correct, and I am satisfied with the service provided by payroll. Number Percent Yes. (Indicate the reason below) I had questions about my paycheck amount or deductions (incorrect salary, withholding, deductions, etc.) My paycheck was late I needed to change my tax deductions or other withholdings. I needed to make changes to the time sheets I submitted. (For timekeepers only) Other ALL TYPES of REQUESTS Table 3 displays the percentage of respondents who expressed positive feelings about each factor of service quality and their overall perceptions of service quality. This is calculated by first averaging the values of responses to the items that pertain to that factor and then assigning a score of 1 if the average is greater than 2.5 (mid-point of response scale) or 0 if the average is less than or equal to 2.5. The percentage of respondents who expressed positive feelings about each factor is equal to the average of 0s and 1s assigned to each factor. Table 3 Percent with Positive Perceptions of Payroll Department Service Quality Factor of Service Quality Number Percent Capacity to get the job done Courteous and professional Utility of service OVERALL PERCEPTION of QUALITY Survey of Internal Service Quality 3

6 Overall, about 76% of respondents indicated that they are satisfied with the quality of service they received from the Payroll Department. Of the three factors of service quality measured by the survey, the Payroll Department s capacity to get the job done elicited the largest percentage of positive response 76.8%. About 76% were satisfied with the department s courteous and professional work habits and 73.6% of respondents found the service provided by personnel in the Payroll Department to be useful and completed in a timely manner (see Table 3). Table 4 displays the results of the multiple regression model that measures the relationship between the factors of service quality and overall satisfaction with the quality of service received from Payroll Department personnel. The three factors that the survey measured are all positively related to overall satisfaction to a statistically significant level. The model measures nearly 74% (R 2 = 0.738) of the variance in respondents perceptions of quality. Customers satisfaction with the courtesy and professionalism Payroll Department personnel exhibit is the largest contributor to satisfaction as measured by the squared semipartial correlation, which indicates the extent to which it contributes to explaining respondents satisfaction. In this case, courteous and professional is responsible for 5.0% (sr 2 = 0.050) of the model s explanatory power. The extent to which users of Payroll Department services find staff competent to get the job done is the second most important contributor to overall satisfaction (sr 2 = 0.041); while the utility of the service provided is the least important factor of perceived quality (sr 2 = 0.022) (see Table 4). Factor of Quality Table 4 Estimated Coefficients for Regression Model, DV = Satisfaction with Payroll Department Service Standardized Regression Coefficients (β) Squared semipartial correlations sr 2 Capacity to get the job done 0.335** Courteous and professional 0.354** Utility of service 0.256** R = F(3, 566) = 531.7, p < R 2 = Adjusted R 2 = ** = Statistically p<0.05 Shared Variance = Unique Variance = Individually, the factors that contribute to respondents perceptions of quality are less important than their synergy in influencing the extent to which users are satisfied with the service they receive. This is shown in the measure of shared variance (0.625), which means that the three factors together explain 62.5% of the variation in respondents perceptions; while the unique variance (0.113), which is the sum of the three individual squared semipartial correlation (sr 2 ) measures accounts for 11.3% (see Table 4) Survey of Internal Service Quality 4

7 The distribution of item responses that are presented in Table 5 show the extent to which survey respondents agree with aspects of the three factors of service quality. These data will help managers focus on particular areas if there is a need for improvement. Table 5 Distribution of Item Responses Survey Item # Survey Item Description Capacity to get the job done 1. Personnel in the Payroll Department were knowledgeable of the issue I was trying to address. 3. The Payroll Department staff member who answered my call was able to address my issue or immediately refer me to the proper person. 9. Payroll Department personnel provided me with accurate information, which enabled me to resolve the issue myself. Courteous and professional 4. Throughout my interaction with the Payroll Department, I was treated respectfully. 7. Payroll Department personnel let me know what they were going to have to do to resolve my issue. 8. Payroll Department personnel followed-up with me to make sure the issue was resolved. Utility of service 2. Personnel in the Payroll Department were able to address my issue without requiring repeated callbacks on my part. 5. Payroll Department personnel gave my inquiry appropriate attention. 6. If my issue could not be resolved immediately, I was kept aware of the status/progress by Payroll Department personnel. Number Responding Percent Strongly Disagree Disagree Agree Strongly Agree % 11.5% 57.6% 24.4% % 14.7% 54.0% 23.1% % 18.5% 52.2% 18.7% % 10.0% 57.9% 26.4% % 12.7% 58.5% 20.6% % 28.4% 41.1% 16.9% % 19.2% 47.7% 23.6% % 11.8% 56.2% 23.7% % 17.9% 52.3% 18.4% 2011 Survey of Internal Service Quality 5

8 Finally, survey participants were asked if they perceived any changes in the quality of service they received this year compared with previous years. Overall, more than 36% of respondents said service quality had improved over the past year, while about 13% perceived a decline (see Table 6). While the data from Table 4 indicate that the Payroll Department s courtesy and professional work habits is the most important individual driver of perceived quality and, thus, satisfaction, it is the combination of the three factors together that contribute to overall satisfaction. Table 6 Perceptions of Change in Quality over the Past Year How has the quality of service you received from the Payroll Department changed during this past year compared with previous years? Number PERCENT Declined Improved Significantly Somewhat No change Somewhat Significantly % 7.0% 50.4% 24.7% 12.0% Analyses presented in this data brief indicate that a large proportion of employees that utilized the Payroll Department s services throughout 2010 are satisfied with the overall quality of services received with capacity to get the job done being the factor employees are most satisfied with. Further, the percent of employees that believe the quality of services provided by the Payroll Department has increased over the past year is more than twice as large as that reporting that the quality of service has decreased. This suggests that service quality in the Payroll Department is trending upwards Survey of Internal Service Quality 6