Broadcast: News items

We published the results of our latest staff survey (held in October 2022) in December 2022. The staff survey is one of the ways in which the University leadership listens to the views of our community, helping us to build a workplace where everyone feels supported and can thrive.

Once the survey results are published, ongoing survey action plans are then updated. The plans include a range of short, medium and long-term activities which outline how the insights from the survey will be addressed and actioned. The plans reinforce the University Leadership Team’s commitment to act on your feedback to improve the experience of staff working at the University. 

Updated ongoing action plans for Schools and Divisions are now available to view on the staff survey webpages. The University Executive Group (UEG) actions list has also been updated.

The high-level themes emerging from the action plans include:

• workload and wellbeing
• work deadlines and allocation
• bullying and harassment, and
• career development. 

Robin Banerjee, Head of School (Psychology) and Chair of the Staff Survey Steering Group said: "The key themes that have emerged from the October survey will be reflected in our ongoing and future planning. Improving key areas of concern for staff remains our focus, and it is encouraging that a number of the issues highlighted in the recent survey relating to pay, working conditions, equalities and workload are already being addressed as a result of the joint agreement between the University and College Union (UCU) and the University. This work will continue in discussion with all three recognised campus unions at Joint Negotiating Committee and Joint Interest Group meetings.

"Hearing and understanding your views is vital as we build a Sussex for the future, one in which staff feel that they belong, are heard and are in an environment in which they have the opportunity to thrive and fulfil their potential. Thank you for sharing your views."

As you may know from previous communications, we are currently reviewing the overall approach for the staff survey, and there will be opportunities for you to share your thoughts on how it could be improved. With this review underway, we will not be holding a survey in spring 2023 and will confirm the date and arrangements for the next survey once the review is concluded.

We will use data from future staff surveys to help us measure progress against the aims set out in our new People Strategy – which has our commitment to improving the employee experience at its heart. Find out more about our survey, including results and ongoing action plans, on the staff survey webpages.