Staff survey

Our staff survey helps us understand what matters to you and take action based on your feedback.

Staff survey results now available

The results of our recent staff survey, held between 30 September and 20 October 2024, are now available. You can view the results for the University overall and Faculties, Schools and Divisions.

In November 2024, The Vice-Chancellor wrote to all staff to share key themes and findings from the staff survey – read the message in full.

Survey timeline and next steps

Our staff survey is held every two years and the latest staff survey took place between Monday 30 September to Sunday 20 October 2024. The detailed results are currently being shared in local areas and priority areas identified ahead of action planning in spring 2025.

Survey timeline

• 30 September to 20 October 2024 - survey was open
• Mid November 2024 - survey results presented to University leadership
• Late November 2024 - survey results available for Faculties, Schools and Divisions to share with staff
• December 2024 - full results reports published on staff survey webpages
• Spring 2025 - results reviewed in detail, priority areas identified and action planning begins.

There will be a number of ways you can share your thoughts throughout the year in between surveys and further information will be available soon. Take a look at other ways staff and students can have their say at Sussex.

Survey confidentiality

All survey responses are completely confidential. Our external partner, People Insight, administer the survey and all responses go directly to them. When the survey closes, People Insight provide results data and reports for the University based on the overall feedback. At no point is anyone at the University, including senior leaders and managers, able to view individual responses. Find out more about survey confidentiality and data protection.

Results and action plans

You can view the results of our latest and previous surveys and find out about our ongoing action plans for the University and our Schools and Divisions following feedback from the last survey. 

Case studies

Find out how Schools and Professional Service Divisions are using survey feedback to improve the staff experience at Sussex.

Read the case studies.

Support for managers and leaders

Explore guidance on survey results, communication and effective action planning in our survey toolkit for managers and leaders.

Why sharing your views is important

• Why do we hold staff surveys?

  The survey is an important way for us to measure employee engagement at Sussex. Asking all staff directly about their working life at the University gives us a broad overview of the staff experience, offering an opportunity to hear feedback and take action. Some of the survey results tell us how we are performing against our People Strategy aims and other insights gathered contribute to shaping the future of the University.

• Why is employee engagement important?

  Employee engagement is the connection staff feel with their jobs and their organisation. It reflects whether colleagues enjoy their role, feel secure, developed, respected and recognised. Engaged staff tend to feel a sense of achievement from their job, know where the organisation is headed and believe in its objectives. Positive employee engagement benefits the individual and it benefits the organisation too. Having engaged staff helps an organisation in terms of increased productivity, less absence, and lower employee turnover. At Sussex, we aim to support and engage staff, enabling everyone to work to the best of their ability and thrive. This, in turn, helps to create a better experience for students.

• Will what I say make a difference?

  Sharing your honest feedback about your work helps to drive real change, and your thoughts and views are unique – so we want to hear from everyone during our staff survey. The survey is a way to voice opinions openly and to help improve the staff experience at Sussex. You can read more about action plans underway as a result of survey responses to the staff survey held in October 2022 and case studies from Schools and Divisions about how they have used survey data to bring about positive change for staff.

• Who are People Insight and why are they involved?

  People Insight are employee engagement specialists and we have partnered with them to conduct the survey, following a competitive tender process in spring 2024. We also worked with People Insight for previous staff surveys between 2021 and 2022. People Insight have extensive experience in running employee surveys with other organisations across the UK and internationally. They are also higher education sector specialists, working with many UK universities, which means they have robust, reliable external benchmarking data.

Staff survey news

Staff survey 2024 full results now available

13 December 2024

Full survey results reports are now available to view on the staff survey webpages

Infographic: view staff survey 2024 results highlights at a glance

21 November 2024

Thank you to everyone who took part in our recent staff survey. You can view survey results in brief on this infographic

See more news