In January 2024, the staff survey allowed you to anonymously give your opinion on social safety, your supervisor, workload and facilities, among others. More than half of all employees (55%) completed this staff survey. Besides the average satisfaction score of 7.7 for work and 7.5 for uu77 as an employer, some focus areas came to light. Therefore, several actions were taken university-wide last year to achieve improvements. Three key points are highlighted below, along with the associated improvement actions.
Key points and improvement actions
Social safety
21% of employees reported experiencing undesirable behaviour, such as gossiping, abuse of power, sexual harassment and discrimination. To improve social safety at the university, the Prevent - Care - Cure project was launched. This has already yielded several results. For instance, the Complaints Procedure has been evaluated and adapted. In addition, since the end of 2024, employees leaving the university can share their experiences via a survey or exit interview, which also asks about any instances of undesirable behaviour. These insights will help the university make improvements.
From next summer, a campaign aimed at recognising and naming undesirable behaviour will start. The aim of this campaign is to raise awareness of (un)desired behaviour, the effect certain behaviour can have and the possibility of doing something about it. After the summer, development programmes will be launched, where employees can strengthen skills to prevent undesirable behaviour. A central contact point is also being developed, where employees and students can report cross-border behaviour.
Fulfilling leadership role
The results showed that managers, especially in academic positions, do not feel sufficiently supported in their role. University-wide, additional efforts have been made on leadership programmes. Besides the existing leadership programmes, which mainly focus on providing general knowledge and skills, a pilot for a financial management training took place. This training will be deployed in several faculties and divisions in 2025. Knowledge clips have also been developed to help managers in their operational tasks, such as finance, policy processes, and systems. All training courses and knowledge clips can be found in .
Workload experience
The staff survey revealed that the workload experience had decreased slightly compared to 2022, but it was still perceived to be too high by mainly academic staff. Despite the fact that, on average, staff are energised by the social connection with colleagues and autonomy in work, they still perceive the task load as too high. The austerity task currently facing uu77 makes it difficult to further reduce this workload. Faculties are trying to make improvements where possible, such as organising teaching more efficiently or allocating more time to supervisory tasks.
Faculty improvements
The results of the staff survey varied from one faculty to another. Since then, each faculty has adopted its own approach to determine the necessary improvement actions. See the improvement actions of your faculty or organisational unit below.
Positives:
- Inclusion & colleagues: Employees feel they can be themselves.
- Work-life balance & sustainable working: Good opportunities to coordinate work & private life and clear agreements on working together.
- Involvement in department/team: Employees feel very involved in team and department.
Areas of attention:
- Workload: Experienced workload is higher than the acceptable workload and many employees say they work more than appointment.
- Challenge and engagement: Slightly better than scores in 2022, but still relatively low.
- Undesirable behaviour: 6% experienced & 28% observed undesirable behaviour.
Implemented improvement actions 2024:
- Workload: Additional focus on workload and overtime in annual interviews and bilateral discussions between employees and managers.
- Social safety: Employees and managers were encouraged to participate in the Active Bystander Training and e-learning social safety. On a regular basis, the topic of social safety was discussed at team and departmental meetings.
Improvement actions in 2025:
- Workload: Remains a structural point of attention. Recurs in bilateral consultations between employees and managers; adjustments are made where necessary.
- Social safety: Administrative Office employees actively contribute to the project groups working on the development and implementation of the Prevent-Care-Cure subprojects. Managers follow leadership courses to ensure social safety.
Positives:
- Work-life balance: There are good opportunities to balance private and work life.
- Colleagues: Colleagues are ready to help and respect each other.
- Manager: Manager shows respect, contributes to a good working atmosphere and helps solve problems.
Areas of attention:
- Participational bodies: Awareness of and trust in participational bodies at institute and university level requires improvement.
- Undesirable behaviour: 19% have experienced undesirable behaviour and 26% have observed it.
Implemented improvement actions 2024:
- Participational bodies: Visibility of the Representative Councils increased through flyers and presentations at centre-wide meetings.
- Social safety: Work was done to improve learning to give and receive feedback. In addition, available tools were shared more often and extra attention was paid to peer coaching and calling each other to account for behaviour.
Improvement actions in 2025:
- Social safety: Training programmes focused on social safety and personal development. Onboarding programmes including monthly induction meetings to welcome new employees and strengthen social cohesion. Promotion of peer coaching as a means of mutual support.
Positives:
- Inclusion and colleagues: Employees can be themselves, colleagues and managers are there for them.
- Manager: Manager shows respect, gives appreciation and helps with solutions
Areas of attention:
- Undesirable behaviour: 25% have experienced undesireble behaviour themselves. Gossiping, abuse of power and exclusion are most commonly experienced.
- Supervisory tasks: Managers experience insufficient support in their supervisory tasks.
- Career development: A lack of career development is experienced.
Implemented improvement actions 2024:
- Social safety: A working group on social safety has been established. All departments have drawn up their own plans of action to reduce undesirable behaviour. Active participation of employees in Active Bystander Training and e-learning social safety.
- Supervisory tasks: Knowledge sessions organised for managers and more management time allocated.
- Career development: Learning assignment plan has been drawn up.
Improvement actions in 2025:
- Social safety: The social safety working group implements the university social safety action plan. This working group also focuses on the safety of educational evaluations, both for students and teachers, and introduces more differentiated forms of evaluation.
Positives:
- Inclusion: Employees feel they can be themselves.
- Autonomy: Employees experience space to determine work approach themseleves and set the pace of work.
- Work atmosphere: Colleagues can ask each other for help and have respect and appreciation for each other.
- Manager: Immediate supervisor is respectful, appreciative, offers help.
Areas of attention:
- Undesirable behaviour: 26% have experienced undesirable behaviour themselves. Gossiping, exclusion and abuse of power are most commonly experienced.
- Workload: Mainly due to high task demands and organisational characteristics.
- Supervisory tasks: Managers experience insufficient support in their supervisory tasks.
- Administrative climate: Employees indicate having little confidence in the leadership of the faculty and University.
Improvements implemented 2024:
- Social safety:
- Social safety information sessions organised. Follow-up steps have been identified for each department.
- Exit interviews are conducted and lead to relevant insights. Analysis of the results provides important input for the Faculty Board and HR.
- The appointment and promotion policy for UD-UHD, including more attention to attitude and behaviour in relation to social safety, was finalised and has since been implemented.
- Workload: Within project NSM for Sure, frameworks and guidelines were developed for hour allocation, whereby reduction of work pressure was one of the main objectives.
- Supervisory tasks: From HR, training courses were offered to managers on absence management and financial management. As part of the implementation plan of the appointment and promotion policy for UD-UHD, a format and instruction on 360-degree feedback was prepared and shared. HR has prepared a dashboard on the basis of which HR advisers periodically discuss the most relevant HR figures with department chairs.
- Administrative climate: The new dean and director of operations did a tour of all departments, published a blog series and try to communicate and decide transparently and clearly as much as possible.
Improvement actions in 2025:
- Social safety: Managers and employees are trained in constructive and sustainable cooperation. There is a focus on increasing familiarity and awareness around reporting processes. In addition, the subject of social safety will be included in every annual appraisal.
- Workload: Developing policy for research applications, including criteria and assessment procedure, to improve direction and reduce workload. In addition, the review of task allocation continues within the NSM for SURE programme and receives attention in two specific projects (Frameworks and Strategy and Education.
- Leadership tasks: To support implementation of the new faculty regulations within FdM in 2025, all departmental MTs will be guided by an external party. Each MT will then assess what follow-up guidance is desirable and appropriate development offers will be determined based on customisation. Participation in university-wide leadership programmes is still too low; further efforts will be made in this respect.
Positives:
- Colleagues and inclusion: Colleagues can be themselves. Colleagues are ready to help and respect each other.
- Challenge and autonomy: Employees experience reasonable challenge, can decide how to approach their work and have the opportunity to take their own initiatives.
Areas of attention:
- Gossiping (as part of undesirable behaviour): 12% have experienced it, 18% have observed it.
Implemented improvement actions 2024:
- Social safety: Lunch meetings were organised in which the topic of social safety was discussed. Almost all managers followed the social safety e-learning.
Improvement actions in 2025:
- Social safety: In-depth meetings on the topic of gossiping within the faculty guided by external discussion leaders. A plan of action will follow from this.
Positives:
- Work atmosphere/colleagues: I can ask my colleagues for help and we respect each other.
- Manager: Manager shows respect and appreciation, takes into account private situation and helps solve problems.
- Annual interview: Improvement and development opportunities are sufficiently considered and the report corresponds to what was said and agreed.
Areas of attention:
- Undesirable behaviour: 26% have experienced it themselves, 25% have observed it. Exclusion (exclusion) is the most commonly experienced (11%), followed by gossiping (10%), bullying (9%) and abuse of power (9%). Academic staff generally experienced more undesirable behaviour (29%) than professional services staff (20%).
- Workload: The perceived workload remained the same compared to 2022 (7.5 on a scale of 10), with an acceptable workload of (6.3 out of 10). Mainly due to high task demands and overtime.
- Career and development: Employees are neutral about career and development opportunities within the RU. The academic staff is more positive than the professional services staff about opportunities for further specialisation (deepening of the position) and the extent to which they themselves are actively involved in their careers and education
- Supervisory tasks: managers experience insufficient support for their supervisory tasks. This seems to be linked to insufficient 1. time, 2. support, 3. tools, 4. conversations with own manager about own leadership development
Implemented improvement actions 2024:
- Social Safety:
- Employees encouraged to participate in workshops, such as the Active Bystander Training. Largest proportion of managers attended the social safety e-learning.
- Further implementation of the plan ‘a healthy academic work and study climate, 2022-2024’, in line with university Prevent - Care - Cure plan.
- Two new local confidential contact persons were appointed.
- Discussions within departments/team meetings on both social safety and work.
- Workload: MT within Professional Services established. PS-departmental issues are thus addressed integrally. In addition, the Future-proof Support Organisation Programme: 6 faculty-wide projects were started, working on a more efficient design of the working and decision-making processes.
- Supervisory tasks: HR team has been expanded with a senior advisor who acts as a business partner for managers. In addition, the leadership programme for department heads, chairmen and members of the FB continued: meetings took place in 2024, led by an external process supervisor.
Improvement actions in 2025:
- Workload: The hours model has been worked out and will be implemented by 2025-2026, with the expectation that more time will become available for the remaining courses, partly due to the streamlining of the course curriculum. Remain in conversation within departments/team meetings about both social safety and workload.
- Career and development: Led by the newly appointed senior HR advisor, the promotion policy will be reviewed, in conjunction with RU-wide projects such as Recognition & Rewards. The revised policy will be ready during 2025. After that, the professional services policy will be reviewed.
Positives:
- Inclusion: Employees feel they can be themselves.
- Work-life balance: Employees experience good opportunities to balance private and work life.
- Workload: Although still 0.6 higher than what is considered acceptable, a decrease compared to the 2022 staff survey.
Areas of attention:
- Undesirable behaviour: 21% have experienced some form of it. Gossiping, abuse of power and exclusion scored highest.
- Administrative climate and participational bodies: Trust in central and faculty administration could be improved, especially by academic staff. The same pattern applies to trust in participational bodies.
- Career and development: Although more than in 2022, staff still experience relatively limited opportunities for career and development. Also relatively little feedback from supervisor, especially among professional services staff.
Implemented improvement actions 2024:
- Social safety: The faculty strongly encouraged participation in trainings to prevent undesirable behaviour, such as Active Bystander Training. Local confidential advisors were set up.
- Board climate and participational bodies: Lunch meetings planned ‘meet the dean’ in which the board could be approached in a low-threshold manner during the lunch break. In addition, faculty board members periodically wrote blogs.
- Career and development: the career guidelines for academic staff were renewed. A communication campaign was conducted to inform all academic staff about the renewed career guidelines.
Improvement actions in 2025:
- Social safety: Continue to invest in social safety through trainings, such as Active Bystander Trainings and meetings within institutes to promote awareness and action. Several initiatives around social safety are ongoing within institutes. Social safety initiatives are actively highlighted.
- Career and development: the academic staff guidelines will be further adapted again this year, with explicit attention to the elements from Recognition and Rewards.
Positives:
- Colleagues: Ready to help, respect and appreciate each other.
- Work-life balance: Very positive about possibilities.
- Challenge and autonomy: Employees learn and are challenged by the work experience opportunities to arrange work themselves
Areas of attention:
- Undesirable behaviour: 10% have experienced it, but 26% say they have observed it. It is important to find out why.
- Experienced workload: The experienced workload is higher than the acceptable workload.
Implemented improvement actions 2024:
- Social safety: Attention was paid in the newsletter to the various social safety modules that can be followed in gROW. Colleagues were informed about the new ombuds officer and the available support structures were used.
- Workload: Attention was paid to experienced workload in annual interviews (including recovery time and sources of workload).
Improvement actions in 2025:
- Social safety: When recruiting for key positions, priority is given to candidates with leadership in social safety, in addition to substantive qualities. In addition, agreements are made on cooperation in a socially safe working environment, focusing on psychological safety, openness, trust, and respect. These agreements are supported by training such as the Active Bystander Training, Masterclass in Leadership (gROW), and leadership training. Employees are further informed about the code of conduct and available help structures, such as contact points and roles.
Positives:
- Work-life balance: Employees experience good opportunities to balance private and work life.
- Inclusion: Employees feel they can be themselves.
- Colleagues: Colleagues are ready to help, respect and appreciate each other.
Areas of attention:
- Undesirable behaviour: 16% have experienced undesirable behaviour. Gossiping, exclusion and abuse of power are most commonly experienced.
- Administrative climate and participational bodies: Trust in central and faculty administration could be improved. The same pattern applies to trust in participational bodies.
- Clarity: Clarity in work was not rated negatively, but could be improved. Particularly determined by lack of information, specifically also on how much time there is for tasks.
Implemented improvement actions 2024:
- Social safety: Managers have been actively encouraged to participate in the Social Safety E-learning. Active Bystander training was also actively promoted. HR advisors participated in the special training around Social Safety for HR managers and HR advisors. Teams with social safety issues from the staff survey have had a conversation about it.
- Administrative climate: Extra attention was paid to managers in view of the changing (financial) circumstances, such as organising management meetings and customised support. In addition, talks were held with the Executive Board and the Joint Assembly on mutual relations, mutual expectations and working methods.
Improvement actions in 2025:
- Social safety: In the coming period, new managers will be encouraged to participate in the social safety e-learning. Once more training has been developed from the Prevent Care Cure project, this will be actively rolled out within Radboud Services.