Today@Dal

The university is preparing to launch the 2013 Faculty and Staff Workplace Survey on April 2, and we want to hear from employees about how the university is doing. Dalhousie is committed to continuing to improve the university as a workplace, but we need you to help us get there. Please take time to respond to this year’s survey. We want to make it worth your time.

Thanks to your feedback from the 2011 survey, we listened and acted on several initiatives to enhance the working lives of employees at Dalhousie. Here are just a few that have been implemented or planned in the past two years.

In the last survey, awareness of leaders and support for them was identified as an area for improvement. With this in mind, a Leaders website (http://leaders.dal.ca/) was launched in fall 2011 to profile Dalhousie leaders, share resources and help foster opportunities for growth and connection among leaders. In addition, the development of a Dalhousie-specific list of leadership competencies is currently underway, which will be used across several HR functions from recruitment and selection to professional and career development. To offer support, there has also been an expansion of the professional development series for academic department Chairs, Heads and Directors and an academic leadership conference planned for June 2013.

Also noted from the 2011 survey results, there was an increase in the number of employees who agree that workplace health and safety should be a priority at Dalhousie. Currently, an environmental audit (Hazardous Materials Building Survey) is being conducted by Facilities Management in all buildings throughout the campuses to ensure the health and safety of Dalhousie employees. To date, surveys and identified repairs have been completed on the Sexton campus and in six buildings on the Studley campus. Additional surveys are either in progress or planned for the months ahead.  

When compared with 2009 findings, fewer faculty members believed Dalhousie supported their research needs in the 2011 survey. As a result, a survey of researchers at Dalhousie was conducted in January 2013 to obtain more information on their views and issues. The results are being analyzed by Dalhousie Research Services and will inform improvements over time and provide a benchmark for use in future years.

As you can see, changes are happening. And this is just a sample of what is taking place around the four campuses. If you have an idea or initiative that you would like to share, send us an email at workplacesurvey2013@dal.ca.

This year, we would like to improve participation and strive for a 65 per cent response rate for the survey. We want to hear from more of you on what makes a great workplace.

Corporate Research Associates (CRA) will be conducting the confidential, online survey and will contact each employee directly through email. Paper copies of the survey will be provided to those areas with employees who do not have computer access.

Stay tuned for the launch of the survey on Tuesday, April 2.