Results of the survey

Strengths:

• Supervision/leadership: One particularly welcome result is the positive feedback received by professors and managers at ETH Zurich (81 points) and the positive assessment of their field expertise (87 points), both in general and compared to the 2016 survey. Here employees see room for improvement when it comes to clarity in decision-making processes (71 points).
• Work content/freedom of action: Employees at ETH Zurich particularly enjoy the content of their work (80 points) and the opportunity they have to apply their skills and knowledge within their roles (86 points). Good feedback was also given to the ability to implement one's own ideas (72 points) and take on responsibility (82 points).
• Attractiveness and image: This year's survey also gave high marks to the attractiveness of ETH Zurich as an employer (84 points).
• Working climate: Ratings for the working climate at ETH have increased (77 points), and employees appreciate the atmosphere of respect in their teams and research groups (81 points).
• Appraisal interviews, objective-setting meetings, status reviews and personal development meetings: The results from 2021 show that more appraisal interviews, objective-setting meetings, status reviews and personal development meetings are being conducted (78 points), which is viewed by employees as positive.
• Respect and diversity: Respect and diversity enjoy high priority at ETH Zurich. This is reflected in the university's efforts regarding respect and ETH Diversity issues. This makes the results of the survey on these topics even more encouraging: respondents gave especially high marks to being treated respectfully by their direct superiors (88 points) and to whether people at ETH Zurich treat one another with respect (82 points). The survey responses made it clear, however, the university still has work to do when it comes to strengthening people's confidence in the complaints process regarding violations of the Respect Code of Conduct (such as sexual harassment, bullying or discrimination) so that they trust that their complaints will be handled appropriately and that they will receive the necessary support from the university.
• Working conditions: Employees feel that the conditions at their workplace are good (79 points), particularly regarding the technical tools and facilities that are available (84 points).
• Internal communication: Employees feel well informed about ETH Zurich and the decisions that are made at the university (78 points). Ratings for internal communication improved compared to 2016.
• Work/life balance: Work/life balance received high marks from ETH staff (82 points), with flexible working hours and remote working possibilities (rising from 77 to 80 points) and childcare (from 66 to 80 points) showing significant improvements compared to 2016.

Room for improvement:

• Cooperation: Overall, cooperation was rated more highly in 2021 than in 2016, increasing from 69 to 72 points. Employees indicate that they feel supported by their colleagues in their work (80 points).
• Health: The mental and physical health of employees is a top priority for ETH Zurich. The coronavirus pandemic has impacted all of us on many different levels, especially when it comes to challenges to our mental well-being. It is therefore hardly surprising that employees rated their mental health lower than in 2016, dropping from 83 to 78 points. Respondents felt that the measures taken by ETH Zurich to address mental health during the pandemic were rather on the unsatisfactory side (59 points). ETH Zurich is aware of this situation, which is why Vice President for Personnel Development and Leadership Julia Dannath has launched the "Well-being in challenging times” town hall series and the external page LunchLottery program. The latter offers the chance to meet and mingle with colleagues from other parts of the university.
• Development possibilities: ETH Zurich considers it important to develop their staff and offer them good development and continuing education opportunities. Overall, employees feel that their development opportunities are good (73 points). Here the survey revealed differences between different employee categories. Professors rated their development opportunities with 80 points, compared with 85 points in 2016. The rating from scientific staff remained constant at 75 points, while the rating from technical-administrative staff rose from 70 to 71 points. Of all staff categories, senior scientific assistants rated their development opportunities the lowest (69 points).
• Change: Staff at ETH Zurich feel that changes are not always implemented in an ideal fashion (64 points). They do not feel well informed particularly when it comes to the university-wide organisational development project rETHink (56 points).
• Company commitment: From an overall perspective, the Company Commitment - i.e. the extent to which ETH stands behind its employees as an employer and knows and takes their needs into account - is rated slightly lower than in the last survey (72 points in 2021 vs. 77 points in 2016).
• Workload: Employees, particularly scientific staff, find their workloads to be rather high (65 points). They often feel disturbed by interruptions at the workplace (49 points).
• Remuneration: ETH staff rated their salaries as good overall (71 points), with additional benefits receiving higher marks (76 points) than whether their salaries are appropriate for the market (67 points). Doctoral students and IT staff tend to be less satisfied with their level of compensation.

• Attractiveness/image: Employees experience ETH Zurich as an attractive employer (87 points) that stands for innovation (84 points) and has a convincing public presence. A quarter did not report a strong sense of solidarity (mean value of 65 points)
• Diversity: Employees feel that they are treated equally (77 points) and a majority feels well represented by the relevant authorities and university groups (KdL, AVETH, VSETH and PeKo).
• Attractive work content: Employees appreciate the fact that they can make use of their skills and knowledge in their work (84 points) and that their work is varied (82 points).
• Reconciliation of work and family: Employees experience ETH Zurich as a family-friendly employer (76 points).
• Working environment: Overall, the working environment was evaluated positively (75 points) and seen as respectful (81 points), but problems could be addressed more openly (69 points).
• Workload: ETH Zurich employees are able to handle their workload well, but almost half of them feel that they are often interrupted and disturbed.
• Cooperation: Mutual support within teams is stronger (78 points) than cooperation with other teams (64 points).
• Leadership: Overall, managerial staff at ETH Zurich received positive feedback (78 points), particularly for their technical expertise (85 points). Employees identified room for improvement in clear decision-making (68 points).
• Development: ETH Zurich offers its employees good development opportunities overall and attractive options for training and continuing education, although further improvement could increase satisfaction levels even more. Around two thirds rated their appraisal/objective-setting meeting positively (76 points).
• Health: Health was evaluated well overall (73 points). Potential for improvement was identified in work resources such as flexible working hours.
• Remuneration: ETH Zurich employees evaluated remuneration as good overall (71 points), although they rated supplementary benefits (75 points) higher than market competitiveness (69 points). There was room for action in this area, particularly for doctoral students.
  

The full results of the survey can be found in the protected page Analysis report.

The Executive Board has also identified a number of areas with a need for action as well as measures to be taken. These are aspects that can have a positive influence on job satisfaction and where there is potential for improvement.  

Based on the results of the employee survey, the Executive Board approved the following four areas with a need for action:

Working environment

Appropriate areas for improvement would be, for example, a more active approach to problems and conflict situations within the team. Options for counseling and advice such as tailored workshops or team building could also provide support. A relaunch of the Respect campaign could promote an appreciative and trusting working environment.

Health

The interplay between stressors and work resources has an influence on work-related health. Supporting the use of work resources can lead to improvement in the area of health. Relevant measures include expanding the scope for decision-making and providing more room for manoeuvre, increasing opportunities for participation, enabling flexible working arrangements such as facilitating the use of a home office, and better access to knowledge and technical support. Existing health promotion activities to support stress management should also be continued and developed further.

Use of salary levels for doctoral students and consideration of teaching activities

Internal discussion within departments on remuneration of doctoral students can be stepped up, particularly with regard to the use of salary levels and consideration of teaching activities.

Leadership and development

Meetings to set objectives, provide status updates and discuss development should be encouraged for academic staff (doctoral students and postdoctoral researchers) as well as administrative and technical staff. In this respect, leadership should be seen as a joint activity carried out between employees and supervisors, and employees’ personal responsibility should be supported.