In February, we shared headline results from the survey , highlighting some of the valuable feedback provided and our next steps to drive meaningful improvements across four key institutional areas.
Nearly three quarters of staff reported feeling a sense of belonging in their department. There is a sense that staff are clear about what is expected of them and find their performance-related discussions to be important and helpful. And staff can access learning and development opportunities that support them to perform their job effectively.
However, we also heard some important recurring themes requiring further attention, and we know that we all’have an important role to play in facilitating genuine improvements in these areas. Across the university, senior leadership are now focused on how to best support the work that is needed across all four areas.
Senior leadership teams across UCL have been exploring the survey data in more depth and identifying key priorities in their areas, and we’d now like to provide an update on progress so far, share more details of the institutional survey results, and let you know what to expect in the coming weeks and months.
In this update:
1. Institutional improvement areas
Based on staff feedback from the survey, the four institutional improvement areas that we are prioritising are:Through our conversations so far, it has been reassuring to see significant work already underway across UCL to address concerns in these areas.
Over the past few years, we have actively invited feedback from you through town halls, all-staff surveys, and consultations on our strategic plans. Listening to our community through these has helped inform the setting of plans and priorities and led to the development of a number of initiatives in these areas.
There is further information about these steps below, but we know that there is more work to be done to progress these and to incorporate new feedback from the survey results. As we work to improve your experience working at UCL and ensure ways to keep track of progress, we are mindful of existing workload challenges and will be considering the best way to measure what we can do to bring about meaningful changes at UCL without adding additional pressure to our community.
2. Institutional actions
Strengthening an inclusive culture
When asked about whether there is an inclusive culture at UCL, nearly three quarters of respondents reported feeling a sense of belonging in their department, however, some communities - notably disabled colleagues, staff from Black and Mixed ethnicity backgrounds and Muslim staff - reported a less positive experience.When asked about experiencing or witnessing harmful behaviours, the majority of staff reported that they had not witnessed or experienced any such incidents. However, of those who had, fewer than half had chosen to report it, and, among those who did, up to half felt unheard and unsupported.
We are committed to fostering a positive working environment where all staff feel respected, included and able to have open and constructive conversations. To support this, we recognised the importance of delivering on the following actions:
Finalising the EDI Strategic Plan , which will set our institutional direction. The EDI Strategic Plan will bring together all the invaluable work and efforts on EDI from across UCL, enabling us to collectively increase our impact, avoid duplication of work and ensure we are taking a consistent but tailored approach across our university. As part of this:
We published our first Inclusive Environments Policy and Action Plan in October 2023. Since then teams from across UCL have been working to remove barriers to access so that everyone can participate equally, confidently and independently in their activities across our campuses and venues wherever possible.
Ensuring fairer and clearer pathways for career progression and promotion
Staff feedback from the survey suggests that when appraisal and developmental-related discussions take place, colleagues find them valuable and effective. However, these discussions appear to happen inconsistently for Academic staff, highlighting an area for further improvement.And while many staff reported that they were happy with the learning and development opportunities available to support them with their roles, more work also needs to be done to clarify available career progression pathways. Feedback from the survey highlighted concerns with the fairness and transparency of progression and promotion processes at UCL, particularly among Professional Services staff, disabled colleagues, and staff from Black and Mixed ethnic backgrounds.
We want to ensure staff have clearer career development opportunities and pathways for progression. As part of this, we agreed on the following actions:
Undertake a pilot to support transparent and fair career development for Early Career Researchers, as part of the Research Culture Roadmap. One of the goals of The pilot is currently underway at the Faculty of Engineering with a view to considering lessons learned before wider rollout.
Improve and align the experiences of people delivering and using UCL’s services through our Services Simplification initiatives. We’ve listened to professional services colleagues’ experiences and are on a journey to make UCL a better place to work - which was a commitment in our Strategic Plan 2022-27 . This includes making sure our processes are clear, compliant and meet regulations; exploring ways we can be more efficient; investing in our people’s professional development; and creating professional pathways for staff working in services.
The staff survey results clearly indicate that respondents feel appraisal conversations are helpful, and we hope that with the introduction of MyAppraisal , the first feature of Thrive, this process will be made easier. MyAppraisal has been designed to enhance how we manage appraisal conversations and will enable us to improve how we identify learning opportunities and support colleagues to progress in their careers.
Addressing institutional workload challenges
We have heard that workload-related pressures are affecting staff wellbeing.Nine percent of staff who responded to the survey reported taking sick leave due to work-related stress. Fewer than half of respondents feel their workload is manageable within normal working hours. These findings were particularly evident among Academic staff, and PS managers and employees at Grade 9-10.
We understand that workload is an important issue and acknowledge its potential impact on staff wellbeing if it is not managed effectively. We are committed to making improvements to address workload challenges where possible, and are supporting efforts to:
Providing greater clarity around our strategic direction
While managers and colleagues at Grades 9-10 reported feeling a sense of clarity around UCL’s strategy, feedback suggests that more work is needed on building awareness across areas, particularly amongst faculties. Staff have also expressed a need for more transparent communications from senior leadership.Ensuring that everyone has clarity on UCL’s strategic vision and direction is a key priority area.
We are developing a communications plan to ensure that staff receive regular and accessible updates on progress against key performance indicators (KPIs) and the Strategic Plan. Currently, progress against the Strategic Plan is reported to UCL Council and shared with our community on an annual basis, and in September last year we shared the KPIs agreed by UCL Council which will help to measure and drive this progress.
3. Local activity
In addition to the institutional-level actions outlined above, we are encouraging senior leadership teams to reflect on their own local survey results and consider how they align with the four key institutional improvement areas. Insights raised through the survey provide a valuable opportunity for senior leadership teams to build on local strengths, identify areas for improvement within faculties and professional services teams, and embed meaningful actions into local people plans.Across UCL, conversations are already underway about the survey results, exploring what they mean in practice and identifying next steps. Your engagement in these discussions, whether or not you completed the survey, plays a vital role in shaping positive change at UCL. To help support Faculties and VP Offices with these local conversations, HR Business Partners have developed a Next Steps Guide which includes guidance on having open and transparent conversations about local results and creating simple, achievable next steps.
4. Results of the survey
PS, Institutional Academic and Faculty Academic leadership, as well as Academic Heads of Department and Department Managers, now have access to the results of the survey for the areas they are responsible for and for those that sit below them in UCL’s organisational structure. UMC and a number of other senior leaders have access to the full results from across the institution.We have published a report on the institutional results on the Staff Experience SharePoint site. This includes:
The top and bottom scoring questions for each of the categories:
By sharing this report, we want to highlight the evidence and data behind our decisions and the areas we have chosen to commit to prioritising. We also hope that it provides a useful context in which to explore results locally.
5. Next steps
Institutional updates - tracking progress
We are committed to keeping you informed as we move forward with feedback raised from the Staff Experience Survey. We will be engaging with the owners of the work that has been identified within the four institutional themes and reach out to better understand how we are engaging with the survey data and how it is supporting local-level actions. Updates on our progress will be shared in communications via the Staff Experience Survey SharePoint site.Local-level actions: what’s next?
Alongside institutional-level actions, leaders have been encouraged to discuss the results from their areas with their teams. We encourage local teams and senior leadership to reflect on their own local survey results and consider how best to take forward feedback from their staff in alignment with the four institutional improvement themes noted above.Keep informed: visit our dedicated SharePoint
To keep staff informed of key updates and resources around the survey, we’ve created a SharePoint site with a range of helpful resources - like guidance documents and updates from around UCL. We encourage you to check in regularly as new information, key developments and helpful guidance are shared.Visit the Staff Experience Survey SharePoint site.
