Dublin Institute of TechnologyStaff Survey Highlights 2014

Presentation to DIT 2014

• Results show that staff have some positive views about DIT – 88% say they are interested in DIT and to them it is not just a job – 89% say they generally enjoy their work– 87% say their work is varied and interesting to them

• However, staff have concerns about workload and bureaucracy, teaching and research, the Senior Leadership Team, the way change is managed, communications and co-operation between different parts of DIT, training and development, and staff involvement

• Background of uncertainty and significant change is having an impact on some HEI staff survey results in the UK but HE sector remains a high performing sector in terms of staff survey results

Overview

Introduction

–Response rates–Benchmarking–Areas for improvement–Areas of strength–Other key results– Summary and acting on the results

Response rate 2014 All staff 40%

[Capita HEI average 64% in 2013]

40%

60%

Response Rates by Faculty/SchoolCollege of Arts and Tourism (Total)Art, Design and Printing

Culinary Arts and Food TechnologyHospitality Management and Tourism

Languages, Law & SocietyMedia

Music and Drama

College of Business (Total)Accounting and Finance

Graduate Business SchoolManagement

MarketingRetail and Services Management

College of Engineering and Built Environment (Total)Architecture

Civil EngineeringElectrical and Electronic EngineeringMechanical and Design Engineering

Multi-Disciplinary TechnologiesSpatial Planning and Transport

Surveying and Construction

College of Sciences & Health (Total)Biological Sciences

Chemical & Pharmaceutical SciencesComputing

Food Science and Environmental HealthMathematical Sciences

Physics

Services (Total)Academic Affairs & Registrar

Finance & ResourcesHR & Information Services

Office of the PresidentResearch & Enterprise

Student Services

33%42%

36%44%

40%22%

21%

39%70%

30%42%

26%45%

35%27%

33%53%

31%33%

23%53%

29%39%

30%29%

20%24%

31%

34%46%

19%55%

57%57%

28%

Response Rates by College/School/Service

Benchmarking

• Benchmarking is with UK HEIs surveyed in 2013

• HE is a high performing sector• NB Some slides in the presentation add agree

+ tend to agree scores or tend to disagree + disagree scores but it is important to take account of different responses and other analysis does this

UK HE Sector

Employee Engagement(high score is a good result)

Question

DIT 2014Agree %

HEI Benchmark

Agree %

StatisticallySignificantDifference

Q1.1 DIT is a good place to work 76% 88% YesQ1.7 I feel part of DIT 59% 73% Yes

Q1.9 I feel valued by DIT 35% 54% Yes

Q1.11 I feel valued by students/other service users 83% 85% No

Q2.5 I am satisfied with my current role and level of responsibility 65% 73% Yes

Q3.7 I feel safe and secure in my working environment 85% 94% Yes

Q4.2 Have you had a PMDS meeting or review in the last 12 months? Yes

33% 82% Yes

Q5.4 I am satisfied with my current level of training and development

63% 71% Yes

Q6.1 I feel DIT delivers good quality service to students/service users 81% 87% Yes

Employee Engagement(high score is a good result)

Question

DIT 2014Agree %

HEI Benchmark

Agree %

StatisticallySignificantDifference

Q6.7 I feel proud to work for DIT 72% 86% Yes

Q6.8 Would you recommend DIT to a friend as a place to work? (excludes ‘don’t know’ responses)

69% 86% Yes

Q7.1 To what extent do you agree DIT’s Senior Leadership Team manage and lead DIT well? (excludes ‘don’t know’ responses)

33% 71% Yes

Q8.9 My team leader/line manager/immediate supervisor keeps me informed about things I should know about

65% 76% Yes

Q8.14 My team leader/line manager/immediate supervisor helps me find a good work life balance‐

55% 72% Yes

Q9.2 I feel fairly paid for the work I do 58% 66% Yes

Q10.1 Do you know how to report accidents and incidents? 78% 70% Yes

Q11.2 I am satisfied with the support I get from my immediate manager

74% 80% Yes

Q14.6 On the whole, communication in DIT is effective 40% 59% Yes

* Excludes ‘don’t know’ responses.

Employee Engagement(low score is a good result)

Question

DIT 2014Agree %

HEI Benchmark

Agree %

StatisticallySignificantDifference

Q11.10 Overall I feel unduly stressed at work 28% 32% Yes

Q12.2 Are you currently being harassed or bullied at work? 8% 5% Yes

Q13.6 Have you felt discriminated against at work in the last 12 months?

14% 10% Yes

Q17.1 I often think about leaving DIT 42% 35% Yes

Q18.10 Generally, more could be done to help staff prepare for and cope with change

81% 75% Yes

* Excludes ‘don’t know’ responses.

Areas for Improvement

Workload & Bureaucracy• 86% say they have had to put in a lot of extra time in the last

12 months to meet the demands of their workload • 70% say they often worry about work outside their working

hours • 51% find their workload too much and are struggling to cope • 73% say that too many approvals are needed for routine

decisions • 51% feel priorities are changed too frequently for them to

work efficiently• 58% do not have adequate resources to complete their work• 54% are required to do unimportant tasks which prevent

them completing more important ones

• 74% do not believe they are given sufficient time for undertaking research to fulfil DIT’s expectations

• 68% say they do not have adequate support to undertake their research

• 56% do not believe DIT places sufficient emphasis on the importance of academic staff being able to carry out high quality research

• 53% do not believe that administration is shared in a fair way across their School; 47% do not believe teaching is shared fairly

• 46% say facilities for teaching students are not generally goodNB questions answered by staff who teach students or carry out research

Teaching and research

Leadership

Communication

Managing Change

Managing Change

Training and development• 71% say their training and development needs are not regularly

reviewed• 46% say, overall, training and development has not helped them to

do their job more effectivelyNB: 69% say they have taken part in some form of training, learning or

development paid for, or provided by, DIT in the last 12 monthsCatering facilities• 57% say food and catering facilities for staff are not goodHealth, safety and welfare• 49% say DIT does not provide good support to help them balance

their work and personal commitments• 55% do not feel DIT is interested in their wellbeing

Other key areas for improvement

Feeling valued• 65% do not feel valued by DIT• BUT 82% feel valued by their colleagues and 83% feel valued by

students or other service usersStaff involvement• 63% do not feel there is good co-operation between different Schools

or Services BUT 68% feel there is good co-operation between teams in their School or Service

• 56% are not confident they will get feedback on their ideas or suggestions; 52% are not confident these will be listened to

Culture and values• 49% do not agree the values of DIT are moving in a direction they

support• 48% do not agree there is a Collegiate spirit within DIT

Other key areas for improvement

• Senior Management – 145 comments• Communication – 102 comments• Feeling more valued/supported – 91 comments • Pay and benefits – 83 comments• Training, development and progression – 67

comments• Facilities/environment – 64 comments

Comments on improvements needed by theme

Areas of strength

Equality and diversity

Equality and diversity

Job Satisfaction

Work Experience/Quality of Service

Roles and responsibilities

Immediate Managers/Supervisors

BUT

Work Environment

Other key results

• 33% of respondents (who have been employed by DIT for over a year) have had an individual PMDS meeting or review in the last 12 months [HEI benchmark 82%]– 33% found this useful – 47% agreed clear objectives – 32% said PMDS left them feeling their work is valued by

DIT– 51% agreed a PDP as part of their PMDS

Performance Management & Development System (PMDS)

• 3% always and 29% frequently feel stressed at work while 61% occasionally feel this

• 237 staff or 28% respondents say overall they feel unduly stressed at work– 86% say stress is due to work; 14% due to both work and home– Main causes: work demands 75%; workload 71%; insufficient

staff 61%; insufficient resources (other than staff) 56%; organisational change 49%

– 40% reported feeling stressed– Main reasons for not reporting: Nothing would happen 62%;

concerns about being labelled a troublemaker 48%; concerns about confidentiality 45%

Stress at work

• 92% are aware of DIT’s Dignity at Work and Anti- Bullying & Harassment Policy

• 71 staff or 8% of respondents say they are currently being harassed or bullied at work [5% HE benchmark]– 62% said this was by a manager; 42% by a colleague; 6% by staff from

other orgs/visitors; 6% by students– Main forms: selective application of the rules; hostility; patronising

language, unwelcome looks or remarks; or being singled out for unfair treatment or

– 45% had reported this – Main reasons for not reporting: nothing would happen 74%; possible

victimisation 66%; concerns about confidentiality 55% or concerns about being labelled a troublemaker 47%

Harassment & Bullying

• 127 staff or 14% of respondents felt discriminated against at work in the last 12 months [10% HE benchmark]– 87% said person responsible was more senior; 7% at the

same level as them; 19% junior to them; 2% from outside the organisation

– Discrimination because of role or level in the organisation 54%; gender 22%; age 13%; part-time working 9% ; caring responsibilities 6%

Discrimination

• 58% feel fairly paid for the work they do [HE benchmark 66%]

• 61% feel, overall, DIT offers a good pay and benefits package

• 60% feel fairly paid in relation to other staff at DIT doing a similar job

Pay and benefits

• Job satisfaction – 257 comments • Job security – 179 comments• Relationships/co-operation – 148 comments • Role and responsibilities – 66 comments• Other – 53 comments• Pay and benefits – 47 comments

Comments about what is good about working for DIT by theme

“DIT is a good place to work” 76% said it is

[HEI benchmark 88%; range from 68% to 96%]• Score of 2.99 for this question on a scale of 1 to 4

ranks DIT 48th out of the 50 HEIs surveyed by Capita in 2012/4 (scores range from 2.81 up to 3.61)

• Score places DIT 127th out of 333 organisations in the Capita database for 2013/4

Good place to work

• Corporate ownership and commitment • Share results widely with staff and try to involve them in seeking

solutions • Identify areas of good practice within the organisation• Focus on key issues• Action planning at DIT, College/School/Service levels• Use survey results as evidence for existing projects/groups• Link actions to staff survey results – You Said, We Did• Provide regular updates on progress and lack of progress – there

may be some quick fixes but other things will take time• Some things may not be fixable – explain why

Acting on the results