WPA: Level of well-being still high despite the pandemic and heavy workloads

The vast majority of employees at Aarhus University are satisfied with their job, which they also find meaningful, and there is a climate of constructive communication and respect for each other’s differences. Stress and the balance between available time and tasks continue to challenge us as much as they did in 2019. This is shown by the latest WPA, which 75 per cent of AU’s employees completed.

[Translate to English:] Foto: Lars Kruse

Two years of Corona have not had a significant impact on the university’s comprehensive workplace assessment, which has just been published. Our sense of community has declined slightly since the last assessment in 2019. On the other hand, key indicators such as overall satisfaction, motivation and commitment have remained the same. Similarly, our desire to remain employed at AU and our willingness to recommend AU as a good workplace have scored as highly as they did in 2019. In addition, our assessment of our physical working conditions has taken a notch upwards.

Rector Brian Bech Nielsen has commented on the overall results: 

“After more than a year behind the computer screen in our home offices, I had expected a significant fall in the level of satisfaction among employees. Since this is not the case, I believe this shows that employees and managers have worked constructively in their units to ensure well-being and a good working environment, despite the difficult circumstances. The senior management team would like to recognise this and to thank those at AU for handling the situation in an exemplary manner”, says Brian Bech Nielsen.

Staff development dialogues are popular

6,280 employees (75%) completed the assessment, which is slightly more than in 2019 (71%). This rise was mainly due to higher participation in the faculties, whilst the response rate in the administration fell from 82% in 2019.

The topics that score highest are commitment and finding work meaningful. In addition to finding their job meaningful, according the results of the WPA, employees also feel they have the necessary competences to do their job well. The results also show that employees appreciate having a compulsory staff development dialogue. In 2022, more people than in 2019 agreed that their MUS was a ‘good and relevant’ part of their development.

The questions that scored lowest concern future job prospects, stress, and the balance between available time and tasks. These are important areas that we need to work on in the organisation, and stress in particular is a serious problem that we still need to work hard to find a solution to”, says Brian Bech Nielsen.

“It is completely wrong that some of our employees become ill as a result of going to work. Stress is difficult to tackle, because it shows itself in different ways, and there is no one way to help everyone. We will need different initiatives. But it is important that we deal with the issue of stress, and it will continue to be a particular focal point for our future work across the university”, says Brian Bech Nielsen.

One instance of offensive conduct is one too many

The WPA shows that 10% of employees have experienced offensive conduct in the form of abusive, offensive or condescending remarks. Four per cent have experienced bullying. One per cent have experienced unwanted sexual attention, and one percent have been exposed to threats of violent behaviour whilst at work.

“The figures are on a par with figures from similar institutions. But this does not make them acceptable. We will not accept offensive behaviour or unpleasant communication at AU, and managers have a particular responsibility to prevent, intervene in and act on instances of such behaviour if an employee contacts them for help. And we all have a duty to take a stand against offensive behaviour if we witness it”, emphasises Brian Bech Nielsen. 

According to Brian Bech Nielsen, the WPA provides a valuable insight into the challenges AU is facing with regard to work environment. 

“The WPA results give us a really good starting point to work further on local dialogues and to prepare action plans in order to continue to improve our work environment. This is a very important task, which I encourage local managers and employees to engage in wholeheartedly. It is about creating a framework to increase the level of well-being for all of us at AU”, says Brian Bech Nielsen. 

Here you can read more about the WPAand the action plan process.