CXI Satisfaction Survey reveals motivation and other employee needs

As we do every year, we conducted a satisfaction survey among the employees of the Institute for Nanomaterials, Advanced Technologies and Innovation (CXI) in autumn 2023. This year was the sixth time. And how did it turn out? The survey showed a high level of employee motivation for personal development and a strong interest in building a successful future for CXI. At the same time, the survey's findings highlighted additional needs: the strongest ones being securing better funding for the department, as well as strengthening team collaboration and improving recognition. Respondents also expressed a desire for additional employee benefits and changes to the work environment. These are many areas, and our Chief HR Officer Alena Kábová talks about them in more detail.

What key information did CXI employees share in this year's satisfaction survey?

In general, it can be summarised as our colleagues at CXI are satisfied, which makes us very happy and helps us in our future work. The hot topics this year were mainly computerisation and parking.

How do you personally perceive the situation when our employees feel an imbalance between their workload? As (not only) the survey discovered: some people feel overworked and some feel underworked.

Unfortunately, this is typical of our environment and the way we are funded. For those overloaded, I guess I have only one advice: say STOP early and look for solutions, e.g. ask the manager to redistribute work, expand the team, etc. For those not overloaded I would probably advise them to think about the reasons. Maybe they can be more active, maybe they have reservations about their manager's activity, then they need to talk about it. Everything is solvable. We would like our work to bring us joy, which is not the case if we are overloaded or feel underworked. 

What improvements in the working environment at CXI with regard to employee demands are realistic? There has been a wish to have a special room dedicated to lunch and snacks, but also suggestions for other employee benefits.

From my point of view, anything that makes sense for all of us is realistic. We've been working on a room to provide a quiet lunch for quite some time, and we've been working on efficiency and the possibility of other employee benefits as well. The downside, of course, is that TUL is one institution and requirements and opinions on various topics vary. Some of our plans or changes will be more difficult to implement, but we are working on it. I have a new team, CXI4LIFE, which is working on improving the working environment at CXI.

What positive findings did the survey reveal to you?

This year, the satisfaction survey had the highest return rate ever, at 68%. Those who regularly express their opinion know that this is the sixth year the survey has been conducted. I firmly believe that it makes sense and that we can work together to solve things. In general, we can see from the survey results that people like being here, want to develop and care about the stability of CXI.

One of the questions was about employee interest in a 4-day work week. What was the prevailing opinion and what do you personally think about it?

Of course, most colleagues would welcome a 4-day work week. I admit that I am one of them. Reasons such as work efficiency and higher motivation to work were mentioned. But in general, I think that any benefit can only be effective if it is in the hands of a competent person.

How do we support the personal development of employees, even though some perceive barriers to development due to workload or other factors?

We try to work with various experts who could develop our colleagues personally. Specifically, we are involved in the implementation of such projects, either at CXI or across TUL. Every training event that comes to our attention is published in the "calendar of events" on the CXI website. I understand that sometimes this is SPAM for some colleagues, but it is important to remember that many people are interested in the topic. Perhaps for those who fundamentally reject certain topics, attending such personal development training would help "open their eyes" and the barriers cited might disappear.

Do you have any good tips on how to deal with an oft-repeated problem: increasing demands on administration?

I do. I often deal with it myself. The tip is: give your attention and time to what makes sense. Some of the administrative demands are really pointless. Sometimes you just need to pass the matter on to the person responsible, sometimes you need to devise or set up a different process, and sometimes you just need to communicate that it is nonsense.

Good and positive information is better repeated more than once. The Institute is financially secure for next year, and better than last year. The stable economic situation is sufficient guarantee that the future of CXI and the individual departments is secure and we can focus on our work and personal development. Some of CXI's projects are still in the evaluation process, which is a hope for further success and a reason for optimism.

The complete results of CXI's employee satisfaction survey can be found here:
https://cxi.tul.cz/en/people-career/employee-survey

Thank you for the interview.

Happy new year to everyone.