What do you, Mr Vice-Dean, consider as the most significant benefit of the HR Award?
The HR Award is an award that universities and other research institutions receive when they prove that they have high-quality HR strategies and care for their employees. It means that institutions support them in their professional growth, create an attractive and transparent working environment, leading to becoming employers of choice for talented job seekers. Besides, the HR Award improves the institution's position in grant competitions (e.g. Horizon 2020 or TA ČR).
What activities related to HR Award are currently taking place at the Faculty?
At our Faculty, we have been working with people for a long time. On the one hand, employee evaluation takes place every year, support of employees in their development takes various forms, internal guidelines cover support for our decision making and acting. On the other hand, there is always room for improvement. Employees would welcome even more forms of support, as well as greater transparency and information. The HR Award activities allow the faculty the opportunity to address all these issues. The first stage will be to find out how faculty employees perceive working conditions, what gaps they see, and what needs they have to develop, etc. This stage is to be followed by the second stage, in which specific measures aimed at improving the working environment are to be designed and implemented.
How can we imagine this in more details?
Since we need to map the situation at the moment, we are creating platforms where employees can express their views and make suggestions for improvement. We have focus groups with representatives of staff groups (e.g. faculty executives, researchers, researchers from abroad, PhD students). From representatives of all levels of academic career, from masters to professors, we have formed a permanent working group in which we discuss the principles of a quality approach to working with people at our faculty or the University. Significant activity is a questionnaire for our academic staff.
Can you tell us more about the questionnaire?
It aims to get the opinions of employees on working conditions - the questionnaire contains questions in regards to the selection of new employees, ethics in research, professional approach, etcetera. The survey takes place from 10 February to 25 February 2020 in the Information System of MU, and we will be happy if as many as possible of our colleagues will be involved.
Why is it important, and how is it going to work?
Employee opinions are important for considering and setting up the following steps that should lead to the HR Award, should be reflected in the faculty's strategic goals and should result in improvement and thus higher satisfaction of people at the faculty.
