Concerned about more resignations by administrative staff members
Claus Palle, joint union representative for all the administrative staff members in the central administration and those employed in the centres is concerned that many more administrative staff members – than is already the case – will resign as a result of the constant changes in AU Administration.
"Many employees have left of their own accord following after the round of dismissals. They say: "I’m out of here, this isn’t somewhere I want to be any longer!" and this is not least the case in AU IT. This is something that can be felt in the administrative division, as those positions will not be filled again because they want to achieve the full savings.
All the changes naturally place a strain on employees. But you can cope with this if you have the opportunity to settle in again after the changes. But if the changes just continue without end then it’s clear that many employees will search for greener pastures, somewhere where they will have the chance to focus on their profession, instead of constantly being moved around in an organisation. Because that just wears you out in the long run. And I know that there are many sickness absence interviews at the moment. Of course, we’re entering the influenza season, but when we talk about sickness absence interviews, we are talking about long-term absence from the workplace.
But we just have to recognise that there is almost always something brutal about what happens when management carries out large-scale strategic changes in an organisation. But management can do much in this connection by involving the employees – and their representatives – in the process. And here I am thinking of all groups of employees.
Not least in relation to clarifying who it is that makes the decisions and also in clarifying the consequences of those decisions, so academic staff do not end up with the impression that it is us in the administration who are at a loss as to how things work – and call us idiots and worse – when the explanation is perhaps the fact that the management has not been willing to allocate the necessary funds to solve a problem."
Translated by Peter Lambourne
”You should avoid relocating employees so they end up sitting on their own desert island with a specialist function. Three years of experience from the front offices shows that sparring with colleagues provides critical professional results as well as considerably higher job satisfaction and motivation."
Excerpts from responses from representatives of the Administration Liaison Committee’s staff
Response from ASUs B-side (Administrationens Samarbejdsudvalg)