Job satisfaction is now checked continuously
Hello Mikael Visén, HR Specialist at the Human Resources department. You work with KTH’s employee survey, can you tell us about the results of the first one?
“We had a response rate of 63%, which is a good start. Together we can strive to get even more people involved in future surveys.”
Why is it important to regularly take part in the survey?
“By completing the employee survey, you’re helping to shape your work environment. Managers and KTH need to know what staff think about their workplace, so that improvements can be made in the right places in the right way. The higher the participation rate, the more reliable the results.”
Were there any results of particular interest?
“It was nice to see that the answers on any of the questions did not differ so much between the binary genders. This means that on a general level, as regards men’s and women’s perceptions, KTH has a gender-equal workplace.”
How has the response to the survey been?
“Several people wondered exactly what the term ‘workplace’ entails in the survey. Is it the workgroup, the department, or the entire university? The questions were purposely asked on a general level, as this particular survey method doesn’t allow for specific questions. Employees’ interpretation of the questions is subjective. The results of the survey provide basic data for discussions in the work groups. The idea of the method is to find out what’s working well and not so well, rather than extracting exact answers.”
How are the survey results fed back at group level?
“The immediate manager is responsible for feedback on results to the group. The group then works together to choose one strong area where they want to maintain a good result, and one area with weaker results with room for improvement. They should also suggest appropriate actions. In addition, all groups should suggest actions linked to this quarter’s theme of ‘treatment by others’. Managers use the templates they’ve been given to record the suggestions. Each work group should strive to achieve small improvements between each survey, rather than trying to sort everything out at once.”
When will the following employee survey be, and what’s the theme?
“The next survey will be sent out on 9 May this year, and the theme will be organisation and leadership. The reason is that it’s important to maintain a dialogue about the organisational work environment to find out what KTH employees think of it. One central aspect of the work environment, which in the long run can also affect well-being and performance, is the leadership of the immediate manager.”
Text: Marianne Norén