We are writing to you today to share the results for the Blizard Institute and to explain our next steps.
We hope you have had the chance to read the latest all-staff communication regarding the staff survey. The survey was completed by 69% of staff in the Blizard, compared to 64% last year. This is a step in the right direction and gives us a stronger platform on which to develop our action plans. Through the Staff Survey Working Group, we will continue to work with you all to improve the participation rate in future surveys so that everyone has their voice heard. Thank you to everyone who has volunteered to be part of this group.
There are some real positives to draw from the Blizard Institute results:
Blizard Institute Staff Survey 2023 results [PDF 213KB]
We are pleased to see an increase in positive responses on "I feel confident reporting an incident of bullying and/or harassment" – up to 68% compared to 59% in 2022. Similarly, we saw in increase on “I am confident that appropriate action would be taken in my department, based on a report of bullying and/or harassment” – up to 55% of staff compared to 46% in 2022. This was a key focus for improvement after the results of last year’s survey. Thank you to everyone who has worked with our EDI representatives to improve our processes in dealing with bullying and harassment. We are determined to improve this further and will continue to work with you all to ensure that everyone at the Blizard feels safe, respected, and listened to when they come to work, and that appropriate action is taken in every situation.
Once again, we are pleased to see that we scored highly in “I know what I need to do to be successful in my role” and “I am able to arrange time out from work when I need to.” It’s also encouraging to see that most of you feel that you “have enough autonomy to perform [your] jobs effectively.”
There are also some themes that have scored less well and that are areas we will be focusing on as we continue to develop our action plans. The theme that saw the biggest drop compared to last year was around the physical space. We have already acted on fixing structural issues in the labs and replacing the blind fixing systems around the office areas of the building.
We understand that some of you have concerns around how the New Ways of Working project will impact you. We are working closely with the project team to ensure that this impact is minimal but allows us to grow as an Institute and accommodate future colleagues. The ‘Centre Village’ zoning concept will mean that you will be able to sit with your Centres, with buffer zones to account for days when more staff are in the building. There will also be more bookable meeting rooms, and personal lockers for all staff and PGR students.
We have established the News Ways of Working planning group to ensure your concerns are taken on board, and have already amended plans based on this, such as retaining the overhead storage cabinets for shared storage, developing protocols for some degree of desk personalisation, and allocating desks for colleagues with specific requirements or needs.
The initial pilot of the New Ways of Working project will allow us to identify any issues that arise. You will continue to have the opportunity to feed back to us, so we can amend plans and address these issues with the project team.
Another theme that is lower than we would like is “I believe action will take place as a result of this survey.” We have already established the staff survey working group that will continue analysing the results and working on our institute action plan. We want to assure you that we are fully engaged in this exercise and are committed to putting in place the right changes to address your concerns.
In terms of next steps, I am as ever available in the Blizard most days until 20th July to listen to your concerns. Please drop in, or ask Maria Caballero-Blaya (m.caballero-blaya@qmul.ac.uk) to find a time.
Kind regards,
Professor Mary Collins