Seven focus areas

Leiden University aims to create realistic task assignments, norms for task load, and a good balance between teaching and research tasks. The Leiden University action plan (Dutch only) defines seven focus areas:

1. Focus on improving resource deployment in the primary process
2. Reduce regulatory pressure (‘keep it simple’)
3. Attention for staff resilience and vitality
4. Organise smarter support for academic staff
5. Create regulatory space for staff members
6. Better harness ideas coming from the organisation
7. To measure is to know: use the staff monitor

Work Balance Community of Practice

The Work Balance Community of Practice is a forum consisting of Faculty and central HR advisers, aimed at exchanging best practices for reducing work pressure. In an effort to translate policy development into practical measures, the Work Balance Community of Practice has started bundling measures into a ‘work pressure toolkit’.

Some of these measures are implemented at University level, such as the ‘Leidse kwartier’ (the practice of starting lectures 15 minutes late) at the start of a meeting, or managers acting as role models. We expect faculties, institutes, and units to use the toolkit to address local bottlenecks.

If you have an idea for reducing work pressure, and you would like to share it with the Community of Practice, please contact your HR adviser.

Approach and initiatives

E-mail free weeks, working hours to be used at the employee’s discretion, and protecting private time: these are some of the measures we implement to reduce work pressure. Other initiatives include

• Leiden Research Support

  Academic staff is receiving better support, for example via the Leiden Research Support initiative. This programme strengthens research support in applying for, managing, and offering accountability for externally financed research projects.

• Harmonisation of educational logistics

  The Harmonisation of educational logistics programme aims to reduce work pressure among lecturers by improving educational processes

• P&D interviews

  Work pressure has been added as an item for discussion in P&D interviews.

• Training programmes

  Staff members can follow training programmes to help them work more efficiently: project management for PhD students, management, leadership, and coaching/career coaching options from the HRM Learning & Development department.

• Healthy University

  In addition to the annual Healthy University Week, the Healthy University programme also offers activities, and tips & tricks to remain healthy and relaxed at work.

• Confidential counsellors and university doctors

  If staff members and managers cannot reach an agreement, they can get help from confidential counsellors or university doctors.

To measure is to know

We use a number of methods to investigate the impact of our policy and initiatives:

• Staff monitor
• P&D interviews
• Risk inventory and evaluation
• Signals from HR departments and confidential counsellors

This allows us to measure whether the gap between the current and the desired work pressure level is decreasing, overtime hours are being reduced, and the general task load is manageable. We also check whether specific job groups or units are suffering from work pressure, so that we can adjust our policy aims accordingly.