Focus on stress and workload pressure in the administration
The recently approved AU Administration workplace assessment action plan is meant to reduce stress and workload pressure among the staff. Among other things, the plan focuses on management, the prioritisation of work assignments and establishing a collegiate spirit.
The AU Administration WPA action plan promotes initiatives on an individual, group, management and organisational level.
- For instance, on the level of the individual: “Each employee is responsible for asking his or her immediate superior for help with prioritising work assignments and duties. There should be an open dialogue regarding the assignment of tasks and assessing whether there is a need for additional training or competency development.”
- On a group level, the plan recommends that employees “Establish and follow the rules of conduct regarding meetings and emailing.”
- On a management level, there is warning of a “Break with the culture of urgency and putting out fires.”
- On an organisational level, there is emphasis on: “Realistic planning and prioritisation of duties under consideration of the available resources.”
Each administrative division is responsible for prioritising the focus areas and for implementing the initiatives.
Read the entire AU Administration WPA action plan here
Matters will be pursued further
The liaison committees and the occupational health and safety committees will review the efforts and initiatives that take place in the AU Administration following the WPA action plan. Each local review will be distributed to the WPA advisory group, who have been in charge of developing the AU Administration action plan. In February 2014, the WPA advisory group will consider and discuss all contributions.
Members of the WPA advisory group are:
Jørgen Jørgensen (University Director), Knud Holt Nielsen (union representative, AU Communication), Søren Dam (union representative, AU Studies Administration), Jens Winther Kristensen (union representative, AU IT), Louise Gade (Deputy Director, AU HR), Christina Breddam (Deputy Director, AU Communication), Ole Rahn (occupational health and safety representative, AU IT), Lisbeth Lauritsen (HR partner, AU Administration), Iben Skrydstrup Vejen (Development Consultant, AU HR).
The process towards a WPA action plan
The priorities of the WPA action plan are clear and derive from the Psychological WPA 2012, in which 20 per cent of administrative employees stated that they “always,” “almost always” or “often” experience severe stress symptoms. For this reason, stress and workload pressure are the most important focus areas across all administrative divisions.
The AU Administration action plan has been established by the WPA advisory group based on input from the local WPA action plans in all administrative divisions. The AU Administration action plan functions as a general and interdisciplinary framework for psychological workplace assessment in the AU Administration and should be seen as parallel to the local WPA follow-up work in the administrative divisions.