Modernization Readiness Poll

The Modernization Initiative sent out a poll in the fall of 2019 to measure general awareness and understanding surrounding the initiative among employees.

More than 11,500 faculty, graduate assistants, and staff received the poll, with 1,974 responding.

The purpose of the poll was to assess areas where the Modernization Initiative needs to make progress in helping employees feel prepared for the upcoming implementation of Workday. The poll brought attention to the gap between general awareness and understanding of the project.

Here are some stats:

• 59 percent of respondents polled stated that they had a general awareness of the project, while 14.41 percent stated that they were unaware of the project.
• 1,084 respondents selected that they felt they had “a full to fair understanding” of the project, while 816 respondents reported having “poor to no understanding.”
• 565 respondents said that they had attended an event for the Modernization project, while the remaining 1,200 had not.

The poll found that awareness does not equate to understanding of the change in our systems. More needs to be done to increase consciousness of the change along with what this actually means for WSU employees.

This poll was important because it gave the Modernization Initiative an opportunity to gauge which areas we need to improve for WSU members to be better prepared for this forthcoming change. We are taking specific actions to bridge the gap between awareness and understanding surrounding the project, including broadening communications to more audiences and using channels like the WSU Insider more regularly, sharing facts and figures, emphasizing the launch date, redesigning the website homepage and navigation to make it easier to find key information, and producing and sharing resources like videos to explain new concepts.

Help us increase awareness and understanding of the project. Here are some things you can do:

• Take the next Modernization Readiness Poll this February.
• Open the conversation with your colleagues about the Modernization Initiative.
• Share concerns and questions with Change Network members in your area.

The same survey will be distributed in late February. This will give us a better idea of which actions have helped employees prepare for the change and which areas need further attention.

Written by Deyanira Tovar