Taking action on Staff Survey issues
04 Apr 2017
Faculty of Biology, Medicine and Health
The Faculty of Biology, Medicine and Health (FMBH) was created in August 2016 with the merger of the Faculty of Life Sciences (FLS) and the Faculty of Medical and Human Sciences (FMHS).
Below is a summary of the common themes arising from the Staff Survey 2015 that were identified within the two legacy Faculties.
Managing change
You did not feel consulted about the changes that may affect you and your team, and you felt that change in general is not managed well.
We have:
- Established a full time project team to manage the transition to the new Faculty of Biology, Medicine and Health
- Consulted staff on the changes taking place via a series of formal presentations and drop-in sessions
- Launched a dedicated restructure website
During the transition to the new Faculty, 45 weekly bulletins and five FAQ documents were issued to staff.
Work-life balance
You said that you have to put in extra time to manage your workloads and you do not have a good work-life balance.
We have:
- Promoted the University’s family-friendly policies via existing communication channels from both Faculties
- Run a series of wellbeing and resilience sessions
- Held a number of courses for staff on coaching, leadership, prioritisation and time management as well as wellbeing events and other training on work-life balance
- Set core working hours to 10am till 4pm, Monday to Friday
Communication
You think communication is ineffective, you feel poorly informed; and there are no mechanisms to feedback your concerns.
During the transition to the new Faculty structure we:
- Established a regular series of open consultation meetings for academic and Professional Support Services (PSS) staff as well as ‘meet and greet’ sessions
- Gave staff the ability to feedback face-to-face at the open sessions or electronically via a dedicated online feedback box that informed a regularly updated FAQ document
Within the new Faculty we have:
- Established new communication channels including a targeted announcements system, fortnightly Faculty newsletter, monthly School newsletters and bi-monthly research bulletin
Training and development and effective line management
You do not always receive the training and development identified in your Performance & Development Review (P&DR). You have identified issues relating to effective line management, including support for work-life balance, and dealing with poor performance.
We have:
- Reinforced the importance for line managers to offer P&DR to all staff via a message from the Dean and Director of Operations
- Offered additional training for new line managers
- Set up additional training for line managers in Pharmacy
- Flagged training opportunities in the former Institute of Brain, Behaviour and Mental Health (IBBMH)
- Clearly defined line manager role and responsibilities in a new guidance document and circulated in the former Institute of Cardiovascular Sciences (ICVS)
Personal development and career opportunities for researchers
You thought that there are limited opportunities for career progression for researchers; and there is lack of transparency or fairness in the promotions process.
We have:
- Continued to develop the Faculty Fellowship Academy and provide career support for research staff in FMHS
- Promoted the researcher staff forum in Dentistry
- Promoted the Fellowship Academy in the former Institute of Cancer Sciences (ICS) and Pharmacy, established a peer-support group for applicants and offered training for aspirant Principal Investigators (PIs)
- Established a Researchers Forum in the former Institute of Human Development (IHD)
- Introduced improved processes around fixed-term contract consultations in in the former Institute of Population Health (IPH)