Staff Survey - 2011/12

In Autumn 2011, we commissioned Capita Surveys and Research to conduct a staff survey to find out how staff feel about working for the University and gather views about the changes we've experienced since our last staff survey in 2007.

The survey was available online, on paper and via the telephone between 1st November 2011 and 3rd January 2012. For each completed survey, we pledged to donate 50p to Student Community Action (SCA) to help their work in our local communities.

In total 2,044 completed surveys were processesd and validated by Capita, giving a University response rate of 52% and a donation to SCA of £1,050. Overall, staff who completed the survey were very positive:

• 92% are interested in the University; to them it's not just a job
• 90% say it is a good place to work
• 92% say they generally enjoy their work
• 85% feel valued by colleagues and 85% by students/other customers

In the final section of the survey, staff were asked to note up to three things they think are good about working for Durham University, the most common were:

• University has a good reputation/is highly thought of
• Job satisfaction derived from working with students
• Happy/friendly working atmosphere/environment
• Friendship/camaraderie of team/colleagues
• Job security is good

The survey responses also highlighted some general issues raised by staff, our action planning activities will aim to address these:

• Workload and approval processes
• Communication and co-operation
• Managing change
• Staff involvement and feedback

During 2012, Divisional Heads and Faculty PVCs were given Staff Survey Results and Reports for all their departments, asked to help communicate the results to staff and initiate action planning to address the issues or areas for improvement. Alongside departmental action planning, work commenced to address the University-wide issues.