A major survey of the psychological workplace environment recently carried out at Aarhus University shows that satisfaction, commitment and cooperation are in top form,even though the staff work very hard.

“Our investigation shows that the psychological workplace environment is generally good at Aarhus University,” says Chief Consultant Anders Kragh Moestrup. In collaboration with Associate Professor Torben K.Jensen, he was responsible for the very extensive APV survey at the university. APV stands for the Danish word ArbejdsPladsVurdering , which means workplace assessment.Both men are extremely pleased with the response rate, as more than 5,000 members of staff (corresponding to 77%) filled out the forms.

“More than 70% replied that they – to a great or very great extent – feel comfortable at work, experience job satisfaction, and are generally pleased with their work, while only 3–4% answered that they feel comfortable to a minor or very minor extent.And there is no difference between the responses from the two categories – academic staff and technical and administrative staff,” concludes Torben K.Jensen.

Vice-Chancellor Lauritz B.Holm-Nielsen emphasises that this is a really good result for the staff at Aarhus University.

“This APV, which is probably Denmark’s most thorough survey of the psychological workplace environment, has provided us with a fantastically good tool for further work on creating an even better workplace environment at the university,” he says.

The APV of the psychological workplace environment at Aarhus University covers issues such assatisfaction, cooperation, management, working hours, burnout, stress, loneliness, harassment, threats, bullying, violence and the impact of the major mergers the university has just been through – and which still take up considerable resources.

“All in all, we have a low rate of stress, harassment, bullying, and other such factors. However, there are certain places where action must be taken regarding these factors.If we look at bullying and harassment, for example, the management has a clear attitude to zero tolerance at Aarhus University, regardless of how well we rate compared with the average for Denmark,” says Lauritz B.Holm-Nielsen.

The survey shows that Aarhus University has a fantastic “job satisfaction resource” at its disposal, in the form of very committed members of staff, who have obliging colleagues and good cooperative relations both within the same category of job and cutting across other positions.However, the university staff also work very hard, averaging 45 hours per week. Staff involved in teaching activities are particularly busy.According to the survey, 25% of the staff work so much that it affects their private lives, and 10% state that they experience symptoms of stress.

“This is one of the major challenges as far as the good workplace environment at Aarhus University is concerned.Stress and an undesirable impact on the staff’s private lives are unacceptable.The survey very clearly shows that we must work with the management and especially a visible management that can look into these work-related problems.I have no doubt at all that good management is practised at a great number of places at the university, but there are some places where there is room for improvement,” says the Vice-Chancellor.

As early as last year, in its strategy, Aarhus University pinpointed management as one of the core fields to be worked on.

“We’ve now got a fantastically good tool at hand for further work involving management at the university.And we mustn’t forget that the university’s staff are both committed and hardworking, which provides us with a really good starting point for creating an even better workplace,” says Vice-Chancellor Lauritz B.Holm-Nielsen.

The entire survey is now available (in Danish only) at www.arbejdsmiljo.au.dk

More information about:

• Reactions to the survey:Vice-Chancellor Lauritz B.Holm-Nielsen +45 8942 1141
• What the survey shows:Associate Professor Torben K.Jensen, Faculty of Social Sciences, +458942 1345, mobile +45 2162 3471
• The APV at Aarhus University:Chief Consultant Anders Kragh Moestrup +458942 6750, mobile +45 2778 2850

The following can also be referred to:

• Finn Folkmann, joint union representative for the academic staff, +45 8942 3793, mobile +45 2338 2197
• Aase Pedersen, union representative for the technical and administrative staff, +458942 3441, mobile +45 2899 2515

For questions about the individual main academic areas, please contact:

Faculty of Humanities:Dean Bodil Due +45 8942 1241

Aarhus School of Business, Aarhus University:Dean BørgeObel +45 8948 6210

Faculty of Theology:Dean Carsten Riis +45 8942 2236

Faculty of Science:Dean Erik Meineche Schmidt +45 8942 3376

National Environmental Research Institute:Director Henrik Sandbech +45 4630 1390

Faculty of Agricultural Sciences:Dean Just Jensen +45 8999 1680

Faculty of Social Sciences:Dean Svend Hylleberg +45 8942 1592

Faculty of Health Sciences:Dean Søren Mogensen +45 8942 176

Head of Press Affairs Anders Correll +458942 2331, mobile +45 2899 2235

The APV of the psychological workplace environment at the Danish School of Education, Aarhus University, is being carried out at present and will be made available at a later date.