Last month, 68 per cent of us filled in the Staff Engagement Survey and at the beginning of this month the much-anticipated detailed results were made available on the Strategy SharePoint site. Southampton Connects finds out about the next steps in the review process – putting the findings into action.

Following release of the detailed results, President and Vice-Chancellor, Professor Sir Christopher Snowden commented:

I am extremely grateful to all staff who took the time to voice their opinion in this year’s Staff Engagement Survey. The results have highlighted some wonderful positives about working life here at the University, which we should all be proud of.

However, it would do us no good to focus solely on the positive views expressed by our colleagues, and so our attention must now turn to those areas which have been identified as requiring work. Undeniably, this is the more difficult part of the process, but it is also the one which stands to benefit us the most. Rather than being content to accept current practice, we must now come together to transform the comments and trends revealed by the survey into tangible, department-specific action plans.”

In keeping with the University’s desire for transparency, within the presentation of results you will also find details of some of the more challenging findings of the survey, which feature highly on the priority list of areas to address. Sir Christopher adds:

“The survey findings provide us with the ideal opportunity to open ourselves up to the discussion and resolution of sensitive issues, ultimately enabling us to create a positive working environment in which we can all thrive.

Results Forums will be taking place in October this year. Within these Forums, the findings of the survey – both positive and negative – will be discussed by survey champions, colleagues and HR business partners. Faculty and professional services colleagues will also be involved in the analysis of results, and will help to prioritise those areas which need development. Following the Forums, plans will be drawn up to bring about positive change.

Outlining the next steps for his own department, Professor Bashir Al Hashimi, Dean of Physical Sciences and Engineering, said:

“The individual results for our three departments will be shared via each head, who will then discuss the detail at departmental level, seeking views and observations from colleagues to consider areas for improvement going forward.

“Each head will then bring this feedback to our Faculty Executive Group, where we will collectively discuss potential changes from the faculty perspective and how colleagues’ good ideas and suggestions may inform this approach, underpinned by our strategic plans and the University’s vision more widely.”

Already looking ahead to the Results Forums is Sarah Pook, Director of Finance:

“We received the results for our directorate and shared them as soon as possible with everyone through our monthly newsletter,” she said. “We received an excellent response rate and engagement score for the directorate, and so I know how enthusiastic everyone will be to review the survey results in their team meetings and work together to build our action plan. It is a process that worked well for us after the 2014 survey and has secured some important improvements in how we work. We also look to learn from the good practice in other areas of the University, which gave us some good ideas.”

Echoing Sir Christopher’s previous comments on the importance of staff engagement, Professor Jane Falkingham, Dean of Social, Human and Mathematical Sciences, described it as: “an essential part of the faculty and University strategy.”

Jane adds:

“Creating an environment where staff feel motivated and valued at work, and are proud of what they do, feeds into all the goals of the strategy – not only collegiality, where the connections are obvious, but also sustainability, quality and internationalisation. Happy people are productive, motivated and proud, and deliver quality work. Valued staff from all ethnicities and backgrounds are the essence of a world-class University.”

We look forward to reporting more on the plans and initiatives developed by our colleagues in the coming months, and will be providing further information on the Results Forums in the near future. If you are interested in getting involved with the Forums, please contact: strategy@southampton.ac.uk