The WPA results are in: It’s positive news for our work environment

Every three years, Aarhus University conducts a statutory workplace assessment (WPA) to measure how employees feel about their psychological and physical work environment. This year, 1,379 employees at Health completed the survey, which equates to a response rate of 71 per cent.

In the last WPA in 2022, the response rate for Health was 63 per cent.

“I’m delighted that so many members of staff at Health took the time to convey their thoughts about our work environment. It’s a good starting point for our future work and shows that our work environment is important. We must never be complacent,” says Dean Anne-Mette Hvas.

She highlights two topics that are particularly relevant to address.

We must continue to focus on career development

Having read the WPA report for Health, which is available on the university’s WPA webpage, the first topic the dean wishes to raise is career development.

“As the last WPA survey also showed, many early career researchers are particularly concerned about their career prospects at Aarhus University. That’s not how it should be. Regardless of whether our early career research colleagues get the chance to pursue a career at Health, we must provide clarity in our dialogue with them and ensure that they are offered opportunities for development. So we need to intensify our efforts in this area,” says Anne-Mette Hvas.

She also refers to the steps taken by the faculty to support career development at Health and encourages staff to reach out to the faculty’s career ambassadors or their line manager if they wish to discuss their employment and career prospects at the faculty.

“There are also aspects of our staff development dialogues that need addressing. Does the current format make sense, or could we do better and ensure that both managers and employees get more out of these meetings? This is something we need to look into,” says Anne-Mette Hvas.

Health must be an attractive workplace with room for everyone

The second topic the dean wishes to address is Health’s codex for gender equity, diversity and inclusion.

“I see the WPA results as evidence that our codex for gender equity, diversity and inclusion is highly relevant. The WPA report shows that in some places at the faculty there are challenges with our communication style or the respect – or lack of it – we show each other. That’s unacceptable. We need to talk more about the way we communicate with each other, and an important part of this is putting our codex into practice,” says Anne-Mette Hvas before elaborating:

“I’m confident that together we can make Health an even better place to work. Our workplace culture should be characterised by considerate and respectful ways of communicating with each other.”

Follow-up starts now

Going forward, the WPA will be discussed first by the faculty management team and then by the Faculty Liaison Committee (FSU) and the Faculty Occupational Health and Safety Committee (FAMU).

FSU will focus on the psychological workplace assessment, while FAMU will take a particular interest in the physical workplace assessment. The faculty’s WPA advisory group, headed by Head of Department Christian Lindholst, is responsible for following up on both assessments.

After that, the follow-up by the departments and the administrative centre starts. The follow-up process may differ from unit to unit, but all units will work with the local liaison and occupational health and safety committees to draw up local action plans to be ready by October 2025.

You can read more about the WPA for Health on the faculty’s staff website and access the WPA results via the university’s WPA webpage.

Contact

Dean Anne-Mette Hvas
Aarhus University, Health
Email: dean.health@au.dk