Overall, CBS employees ranked their work experiences a little higher than in 2016. Four of the five main indicators; satisfaction, motivation, pride, loyalty and ambassador willingness, improved somewhat, and all indicators scored 4.1–4.3 out of 5.

However, the figures show, for example, that both TAP and VIP staff don’t think career opportunities at CBS are transparent (2.9/5) and they don’t think that possibilities for making a career at CBS are good, either (3.2/5).

As this is the first time that the questions relating to career opportunities and transparency have been included in the questionnaire, the scores cannot be compared with previous surveys.

The career questions are one of the topics up for discussion at the General Consultation Committee (HSU) meeting on Friday December 13.

“The questions about careers have scored relatively low and it’s an important topic for discussion. Both because of the low scores but also because a revised job structure for academic staff, which will remove the professor MSO and replace it with something still very vaguely defined, will take effect in 2020,” says Ole Helmersen, Shop Steward for the academic staff at CBS and continues:

“This is not reflected in this survey, but in combination with the perceived lack of career opportunities and transparency it’s an important discussion to have.”

Tine Silfvander, Shop Steward for the technical and administrative staff (TAP) also considers career opportunities an important discussion point at the HSU meeting and in general.

“It will be interesting to look further into this topic, and it’s great that we have started talking about what careers are for individual employees. I think including careers in the strategy and appraisal interviews (MUS) would be a very good idea,” she says.

Another theme that TAP and VIP agree on is the lack of follow up on the 2016 job satisfaction survey. Regarding the statement ‘In my unit, we follow up on the 2016 employee satisfaction survey’, VIP and TAP combined score that question 3.7/5.

“We will definitely look into this in HSU. Because why do people rank this so low?” asks Ole Helmersen.

CBS WIRE has asked President of CBS Nikolaj Malchow-Møller, to hear his views on the results of this year’s job satisfaction survey, whether the increased confidence in Senior Management is satisfactory, and for a response to the lack of job opportunities at CBS indicated by TAP and VIP staff. However, it was not possible to obtain a reply.

Improvement in confidence in the Senior Management

When the previous job satisfaction survey was released in early 2017, the academic staff had rated their confidence in the Senior Management at only 2.6 out of 5. The low score resulted in the appointment of a committee to assess the job satisfaction survey and produce a report on the reasons for the low score. This also included assessing the reasons for the low rating on the question ‘I feel able to speak up and give my views/suggestions on the way things are done at CBS’ (3.3/5).

This year, the academic staff’s confidence in the Senior Management has improved by 0.7 to 3.3/5. And overall confidence in the Senior Management has improved from 3.3 to 3.5/5.

“The confidence in the Senior Management has improved, as the score is higher than last time. Although it is not a high score, it is an improvement and as such a good sign for the organization as a whole,” says Ole Helmersen.

He also, mentions the ability to speak one’s mind about CBS and criticize how things are done, and what he calls ‘life-work balance issues’ as other focus areas that will be discussed by HSU.

“The score for work-life balance is lower than I would have expected and it can be improved,” he says.

The work-life balance is also challenging for TAP staff, as sick leave due to working conditions has increased from 6% to 9%. This worries Tine Silfvander.

“Stress and sick leave have increased and must be taken seriously. We must look into this in more detail,” she says.

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