October Pulse Survey Results
19 November 2020
The academic and administrative restructuring components of U of A for Tomorrow (UAT) are moving rapidly which is why it’s so important to hear your feedback.
Pulse Surveys
Every month, the UAT team sends out a short set of questions to a random selection of 700 U of A employees. This survey is an opportunity to take the pulse of our community on a few key questions relating to UAT, which includes academic restructuring and administrative restructuring with Service Excellence Transformation known as SET. Do staff and faculty have the information they need? Are their voices being heard? Do they understand the purpose?
We then analyze the responses and see how we are doing that month compared to previous months, and use your feedback to change and adjust our processes.
October’s results
October’s results (with a 36% response rate) suggest that most staff surveyed understand the reasons for UAT and the intent of academic restructuring. There is less understanding of the intent of administrative restructuring with 28% of respondents indicating that they need more clarity.
The next phase of SET will include functional reviews for each of the six administrative work streams (eg: IT, HR, Finance, Student Services, Research Administration, and External Engagement) and will require considerable engagement and feedback with staff who know the processes best. Functional reviews for each stream will start in mid- to late-November 2020 and will take approximately one year to complete. Keep an eye on the UAT Consultation page to see how you can get involved.
With planning well underway, most staff are also hopeful of a positive outcome. Compared to last month, more staff were confident that the university can achieve its future vision and are satisfied with the way we are managing the current economic circumstances.
Results also indicate that employees know where to access information; however 43% feel that their feedback is not being heard. We are committed to ensuring that you have opportunities to share your feedback, suggestions, and questions.
We realize change, especially at the pace required by the funding cuts, is difficult. Job insecurity and the associated stress, including anxieties about increased workload, affects everyone in the organization. If you are feeling overwhelmed, please ask for help.
Thank you to everyone who took the time to complete the survey. While we don’t survey everyone, this feedback is invaluable and helps us point our efforts in the right direction.
Count yourself in!
The next pulse survey will be sent on Wednesday, November 25. It should take 5-10 minutes to complete and is both anonymous and confidential (the responses will only be shared as aggregated data). If you receive one, please share your honest feedback—you’ll have a week to do so once the survey hits your inbox.