Work satisfaction survey 2015
During November - December 2015 there has been a work satisfaction survey, which involved a total of 1911 employees.
Broadly speaking the work satisfaction and general satisfaction of UM employees is good. Employees are very involved with the UM, like to work here and are enthusiastic about their work. Three-quarters of the respondents stated that they have a lot of variation in their work and that they can do this independently.
In addition there were plenty of points for attention and improvement. These are stated in the following paragraphs that briefly describe the survey results for each group of employees: managers, administration and support staff, academic personnel and PhD researchers.
Managers
Managers have a lot of pleasure in their work and do this with considerable enthusiasm; the score is twice as high as the UM average. Managers state that they find the work challenging, can put forward many creative ideas and can contribute to solving problems. The recovery need of managers is, however, a point for attention. This is because they experience a high work rate and more emotional burden.
The UM aims for supportive leadership, which is the extent to which the direct manager helps, support, listens and provides counsel and advice. The extent to which employees experience this was added as a new item to the survey 2015.
Administration and support staff (OBP)
The situation for administration and support staff has scarcely changed compared to 2013. In the survey results there is a slight tendency of administration and support staff to put forward fewer new ideas and to come up with fewer creative solutions for problems. Points of concern are that the administrative and support staff state they find it more difficult to relax at the end of their workday. They say that they are more tired and that recovery takes longer. Administrative and support staff find the work less challenging and varied than academic staff.
Academic staff
Academic staff feel more attached to their work and work with far more pleasure than the average UM employee. Large numbers of academic employees state that they contribute new ideas and can contribute to solving problems. Academic staff also feel pressure: a large proportion of them experience a high work rate, a high emotional load and consequently more tiredness and a greater need to recover after work. These risks are points for attention.
PhD researchers
PhD researchers still find their work challenging and state that they can do this with a lot of autonomy. PhD researchers are also contributing more ideas than previously; the extent to which they do this is still quite far behind the UM average though. In addition, PhD researchers state their commitment to and pleasure in their work have decreased. Other points of attention are that PhD researchers experience an increase in the work rate and the number of role conflicts (lack of clarity about content and realisation of tasks and activities).
Conclusions
Points for attention lie in the following areas:
- Monitor the recovery possibilities and the retention of pleasure in the work, especially for academic staff and some units among the administrative and support staff.
- Ensure sources of help are present and accessible for academic staff so that they experience more social support and autonomy.
- Pay attention to the content of the tasks performed by administrative and support staff because uninteresting work leads to a lack of pleasure and to demotivation.
- Pay attention to more social support from colleagues and more independence in the work for administrative and support staff.
Follow-up
The Executive Board requests all faculties to discuss unit-specific results and to actively work on these. This will be picked up on further within the units and everybody is expected to be involved in this. In the autumn consultation, the faculties will give feedback to the Executive Board about the points for attention formulated and which concrete actions have emerged from these.
Read the complete rapport on the work perception survey 2015.