Workload

Background 

Our work on workload started following the 2023 staff survey, which revealed several key insights and highlighted the need to better understand and address the concerns of our staff. More specifically, the survey revealed the following: 

• Fair allocation of workloads: 50% of respondents felt that workloads were allocated fairly, with 28% remaining neutral and 22% expressing dissatisfaction. This highlighted a significant area for improvement in ensuring equitable distribution of tasks. 

• Work pressure tolerance: A reassuring 82% of staff reported that they could tolerate the pressure of their work most of the time, with only 8% feeling overwhelmed. This indicated a generally resilient workforce but also pointed to a minority who might need additional support. 

• Positive working culture: 77% of respondents agreed that the institute has a positive working culture, while 13% were neutral and 10% disagreed. This feedback was encouraging but also indicated room for further enhancement of our workplace environment. 

• Recognition of Equality, Diversity, and Inclusion (EDI) work: 47% of staff felt that time spent on EDI work, including Athena Swan initiatives, was recognised in their workload allocation. With 26% neutral and 27% negative responses, it became clear that we needed to better acknowledge and integrate these important contributions into our workload planning. 

Given these insights, we recognised the need to delve deeper into workload distribution and its impact across different staff groups. To address these concerns and foster a more equitable and supportive work environment, the Workplace Culture team of the IoN Culture & Wellbeing EDI Action Group, along with the support of the EDI Data Group launched 3 workload surveys which were in turn translated into 3 dashboards for our academic, research & teaching staff, our professional services staff and our technical staff.  

The workload dashboards aim to: 

• Increase transparency: We intend to publish our findings so staff members can check how people in similar, more senior or different roles tend to distribute their time. 

• Assess workload: We aim to comprehensively evaluate the workload placed on our staff members. This includes the distribution of tasks, time management, and any challenges you may face in meeting your job responsibilities. 

• Aid career progression: Staff members will have the opportunity to leverage their understanding of the workload associated with more senior or diverse positions they aspire to, enabling them to establish goals that support their advancement toward those roles. 

• Inform workload allocation: We hope that the findings of this survey will lead to fairer workload allocation across members of the same staff group and role. Staff members will have the opportunity to incorporate these findings into their performance evaluations to discuss potential workload adjustments. 

• Aid work-life balance: We want to understand how workload affects staff member work-life balance. Your feedback will help us identify opportunities to enhance staff wellbeing and promote a healthy work-life balance. 

Dashboards 

We encourage you to explore the workload dashboards to better understand workload patterns and help inform meaningful conversations on workload management. The data should not be assumed to represent a balanced or healthy workload for all individuals. Workload distribution should be assessed on a case-by-case basis, considering well-being and job role. 

You may access the dashboards through the IoN Intranet. 

Confidentiality: A minimum threshold of 5 responses is required for graphs to appear in the dashboards. Graphs or tables with fewer than 5 data points will not be displayed. In this case, please widen your search using the filters available. 

Protected Time 

We suggest that you protect, block, or defend time in your calendar for the following activities, which are essential for well-being, support, and development: 

• Breaks 

• Line Management/Supervision 

• Professional Development 

• Citizenship Activities 

Prioritising these areas helps maintain a sustainable workload, fosters personal and professional growth, and supports both yourself and your colleagues.