The results of how university members of staff experience their work situation form basis for the continued development of the work environment and the university's activities using 'a sustainable work life' as the key to success.
"The employee satisfaction survey is an important part of our systematic work environment undertakings as it provides support in not only highlighting strengths, but also areas to improve. The results also contribute to us being able to follow the development of the work environment over time in relation to the measures of improvement we undertake," says Vice-Chancellor Hans Adolfsson.
Early indications of results
The work now continues to conduct deeper analysis of the gathered material, with careful attention and quality assurance. This will lead to more results further on. However, the analysis group can already at this point provide some early indications.
According to the supplier of the survey, Springlife, and their model, Umeå University distinguishes through positive results in three areas: Learning Through Work, Social Climate and Efficiency. This shows that university staff generally experience an opportunity of growing in their roles and that their knowledge is made use of. Social Climate concerns how things work between people, if the atmosphere is positive, that there is a sense of community and that staff feel they have support from their colleagues. The area of Efficiency revolves around how the work flows with planning, setting joint targets and utilising resources correctly.
Areas that have proven challenging to Umeå University are: Target Quality and Work-Related Exhaustion. Target quality concerns if your nearest targets are clear, realistic, can be influenced and evaluated. In this field, there are some differences within the organisation, which means that there could be room for learning from each other internally in future. Work-related exhaustion is a field that catches how emotionally drained or worn out employees feel from working.
Employee satisfaction index
The university's employee satisfaction index, which at the university is referred to as the NMI (nöjd medarbetarindex), provides a comprehensive indication of how pleased members of staff are with their work and their work situation. The scale is 1–6, and the higher number indicates a more satisfied member of staff. This year's results have decreased somewhat compared to last time, in 2018, and the number has reduced from 4.39 to 4.23. As a further comparison, the 2014 number was 4.36. It is yet too early to draw any general conclusions at this point, but the indication is a slight change for the worse. A reflection is that the index has changed marginally in both ends, with more employees expressing a lower grade of satisfaction and fewer in the positive pool of being very satisfied. As usual, there is also a substantial variation when the results are broken down into more levels.
"The work environment for university staff is incredibly important from several perspectives. If you enjoy and develop at work, it contributes to your well-being and it means you perform better. Our main objective is to maintain a sustainable working life," says Vice-Chancellor Hans Adolfsson.
Assessment of the work environment during a pandemic
This year's survey was conducted after having lived with a massive spread of COVID-19 for about a year and which has affected us all both as citizens and employees. The pandemic required a rapid transition of the entire university in which managers and employees took a joint responsibility. The results of this year's employee satisfaction survey point towards a somewhat increased variation in how members of staff experience their work situation. This goes hand in hand with what is being reported through managerial discussions and through other contexts. The pandemic has meant a huge transition for everyone, but a more demanding work situation for some, in which we are affected differently based upon our work tasks and life situations. This area requires a deeper analysis and joint teamwork in finding measures for improvement.
"The fact that university employees, despite a demanding situation, conduct their work in such an excellent way indicates a strong loyalty and clear commitment. I'm extremely grateful for the huge leaps we have taken together to achieve this transition to online and remote activities. Based upon the present technological development, I believe that we would have been faced with some whole other challenges just five to ten years ago," says Hans Adolfsson.
The next step
From 12 April 2021, managers at Umeå University can take part of the results for their part of the organisation through the management portal Springlife Online (SOL). Each manager is responsible for presenting the results to their members of staff at a workplace meeting (APT) during the spring. At the same time, the important work to jointly find suitable measures of improvement sets off. These measures are summarised in the Action plan for systematic work environment and active measures and must be added to the operational plan (verksamhetsplanen) for 2022.
About the university's employee satisfaction survey
The web-based survey for the 2021 employee satisfaction survey was open between 2 and 23 March. The response rate of 84 per cent was the highest ever among Umeå University employee satisfaction surveys so far.
The results have been summarised by the survey supplier Springlife, who has supported Umeå University and the Human Resources Office throughout the implementation of the employee satisfaction survey. As this year's survey was accompanied by a newly procured supplier, a number of extra questions was added to the supplier's model to strengthen the opportunity to make comparisons over time, not least when it comes to the employee satisfaction index.
Do you have questions?
Read about the employee satisfaction survey 2021
Welcome to contact Pernilla Jansson, human resources strategist at the Human Resources Office: pernilla.jansson@umu.se, +46 90 786 62 25