How are we addressing the issues raised in the last Staff Survey?

Following the 2017 Staff Survey, Library Services established a new group to coordinate a response and address the issues which were impacting on Library Services staff. This group is the Staff Survey Action Group. The Group devised a Staff Survey Action Plan, which was signed off by the Library Senior Management Team and is being implemented. You can view progress against the actions at the link above.

As one example of an initiative developed in response to the Staff Survey, ‘Welcome to Library Services’ sessions were introduced with Paul Ayris and some SMT members since November 2018. This allows new starters to meet SMT members, and get a sense of the libraries’ key priorities, and also an opportunity for SMT members to get to know new members of the Library. It will become part of the induction process for LS staff, in a similar way to the Provost’s Welcome. To help staff understand Library Services’ place in UCL, new charts have been made available on LibNet to illustrate the Library’s place in the Office of the Vice-Provost (Research) and how the Library reports to UCL Council, the university’s governing body, via Library Committee.

Another need identified from the Staff Survey was to provide accessible formal procedures, implementation and monitoring within Library Services on bullying and harassment. This was done last December with guidance on how to respond if you witness bullying or harassment. This has since been complemented by the UCL Full Stop campaign, calling on our community to come together and say Full Stop to unacceptable behaviour.

Thirdly, as a final example, the Staff Survey highlighted Leadership and Staff Engagement as an area for improvement within Library Services. This has been a significant area where Library managers have taken action through the engagement of Library staff in developing our new strategy, through visits to Library sites and through training schemes to enable Library staff to thrive in the fast-changing environment we operate in. The Library SMT discussed how we might engage more effectively with colleagues at an Away Day in December. We have established a working group to look at making the work of SMT more transparent. We are also exploring ways for colleagues across the service to be able to share the challenges of working in Library Services and raise issues that concern them.  Further information will be forthcoming in the next few months.

All of this work would not have been possible without the members of the Staff Survey Action Group, including Library Services staff and representatives from UNISON. Members attend quarterly meetings and analysed the Staff Survey results last year and continue feed in contributions, in terms of what measures would help to improve the work environment. Members also liaise with Library colleagues on the work of the Staff Survey Action Plan.

There is still a way to go before the actions are all delivered, so that the issues which were identified in 2017 are effectively addressed. If you would like to get involved, there are currently 3 vacancies on the Staff Survey Action Group. If you are willing to devote half-a-day a term to help make UCL Library Services a better place to work, please speak to your line manager to obtain approval and contact me to join. Colleagues at all grades and from all sites across Library Services are welcome to get involved. Find out more about the Staff Survey Action Group on LibNet.