“This is your chance to influence your work environment”

Umeå University implements its large employee satisfaction survey once every three years. The last survey was completed in 2018 and the time has now come for the next survey.

All staff will get a link to the web survey on 2 March from the Vice-Chancellor. The survey will be open for about three weeks. As the person who holds the primary work environment responsibility for over 4,000 employees, Vice-Chancellor Hans Adolfsson is keen to get answers to the questions posed in the survey, particularly when it comes to workload, work environment and leadership.

"I really hope that as many people as possible take the time to participate in the survey," says Hans Adolfsson. "This is your chance to influence your work environment."

The pandemic has caused huge changes

The ongoing pandemic and the large-scale switch-over to remote working makes Hans Adolfsson believe that the results will differ from those of the 2018 and previous surveys.

"It may become difficult to make a direct comparison to previous employee satisfaction surveys as the current situation is so very different from what we've experienced before. But what's important is to get a good impression of how everyone is doing right now."

Building on small-scale 2020 survey

In spring 2020, Umeå University conducted a small-scale survey about staff and students' work situation after having converted to online education and working from home as a result of a decision made on 17 March.

"Last year's survey was an important way of getting a feel for the situation. I expect to see similar patterns in this upcoming employee satisfaction survey," says Hans Adolfsson.

According to him, working from home can affect the work environment in many ways, and one way in particular is the difficulty in maintaining the social ties when working online from home.

"The causal chats with your colleagues over a cup of coffee are hard to replace – I'm sure many of us share this experience."

Important tools in developing the university

The employee satisfaction survey provides a snapshot of how the organisation and staff feel in March 2021. Still, Hans Adolfsson points out that the results will be important for the next few years to come.

"This material forms basis for how we will set up our future systematic work environment activities," he says.

In the previous employee satisfaction survey, many teaching staff reported a high workload. That was an important signal that kicked off a target-oriented work to find remedies to the problem, not least on faculty level, according to Hans Adolfsson.

"These issues are important, and of a complex nature, and require us to take a long-term approach," says Hans Adolfsson.

For the 2021 survey, Umeå University has procured a new supplier of the survey tool used, which has also resulted in slight changes in the questions. But generally, the contents are very similar to previous years.

"Continuity helps us in getting a good picture that can be followed over time. For instance, when it comes to leadership in departments and offices," says Hans Adolfsson.