From 15th June to 30th July 2021, there will be a survey of all MLU employees on the topic of “working conditions and health”. You can find the key information in this short video and all further details in this article.
Note: If required, you can activate an automatically created subtitle at the bottom right of the video.
Why is this survey necessary?
We all have to face and overcome diverse daily challenges and difficulties. Our working conditions can foster health and wellbeing, but also might lead to illness. It depends on how the working conditions are designed. The pandemic made our everyday life challenging, and many things were, and still are, different than under “normal” conditions. However, the pandemic also showed us how quickly changes are possible and that even a few changes can make a great difference. Nevertheless, not everything is running optimally at the momemt.
Together with you, we want to continue to improve the working conditions at MLU, because the health of our employees is important for our university.
With this survey we want to get a detailed impression of what working at MLU is like in these times, but also without corona. Our aim is to examine the working conditions in the offices, in the lecture halls and seminar rooms, in the laboratories and workshops, in the botanical garden, in the library and so on. We want to get to know your working situation!
We want to know what’s going well and should be enhanced but also what’s not going well and where actions are required. You know your working situation best and that’s why we need you to take part in our survey!
Which topics are being covered?
We want to examine the following areas:
- the organization of work, for example the working hours, the amount of work, and time pressure;
- the work contents, for example the task design and your scope of action;
- the working equipment and environment, for example the equipment with hardware, software, furniture, and other external conditions;
- Furthermore, we are interested in aspects of cooperation like the support from your supervisor and colleagues;
- as well as the working atmosphere in your department and the university as a whole.
Last but not least, we want to know about your health and wellbeing. Which factors do you perceive as health-promoting and which as stressful?
These perceptions can differ heavily between departments, occupation, and your personal situation. In order to change the things that bother you and to strengthen your resources, it is important for us to gain an accurate overview of your working situation and working conditions.
Data protection and anonymity
When hearing about the aspects we want to ask you, you might be worried about your anonymity and whether you can be identified as an individual.
With the following points we want to assure you that the survey is completely anonymous. The survey instrument was constructed by Bielefeld university and is being conducted with the support of the service provider Salubris, which is a company specialized in health surveys at universities.
The data is stored on the servers of Salubris, and we as a university do not have access to the raw data. The results are only made available to us if at least 10 persons per unit took part in the survey. Otherwise, different departments will be summarized to ensure that no conclusion about individuals can be drawn.
Further information on the implementation of data protection can be found here:
How do you benefit from the survey?
After the survey, the data will be analyzed by Salubris. In fall 2021, we will present you the results of the survey. We will then work with you to determine what needs to be done to meet your urgent needs for action and improve your working conditions. Such measures can be diverse. For example: If we see a great need for action in the organization of work, it can be helpful to take a closer look at the individual work processes and optimize them.
The discussion and implementation of measures will not happen overnight; it will take a while, but it will be worth it. We will start working on the measures after the presentation of the results in fall. Later, we will also review whether these measures have been implemented and most important: whether they have actually improved the working situation.
Participation in the survey
Participation in the survey is voluntary. You only answer the questions that apply to you and to which you can and want to provide information. To get a clear and thorough impression of your work situation, it is important that as many employees as possible participate in this survey. If only a few persons take part, this only reflects the view of these few persons. However, this does not necessarily have to be your view. If many persons participate, we can also make a big difference. We want to improve your work situation so that you can stay healthy for a long time. Therefore we need your support to do so.
So please participate in our survey! It is provided in German and English.
You will receive the link to the survey by e-mail to your work e-mail address. If you have not yet received an e-mail with the start of the survey, please contact us.
If you have any further questions or comments, please do not hesitate to contact us!