The survey is formed of 23 questions grouped under nine themes, in addition to two open questions. The University-wide scores for each of the themes – including the difference from last year’s survey – are as follows: 

• Purpose – 82% (+1%) 

• Our values – 63% (0%) 

• Autonomy – 77% (+2%) 

• Enablement – 57% (0%) 

• Leadership – 57% (+1%) 

• Reward and Recognition – 54% (+3%) 

• Wellbeing – 56% (+4%) 

• EDI – 71% (0%) 

• Engagement – 77% (+1)  

Overall, the scores for each theme either improved or remained consistent with the feedback from the 2023 Staff Survey The biggest improvements could be seen under the ‘Wellbeing’ and ‘Reward and Recognition’ themes, with ‘Purpose’ scoring the highest overall score of 82%.  

By conducting the survey with People Insight, we can also benchmark our results with 67 other UK universities. The difference in scores for each theme can be seen below: 

• Purpose: +2% 

• Our values: +2% 

• Autonomy: +7% 

• Enablement: +6% 

• Leadership: +6% 

• Reward and Recognition: 0% 

• Wellbeing: +1% 

• EDI: +2% 

• Engagement: +3% 

Loughborough exceeds the higher education benchmark in eight out of the nine themes, with ‘Autonomy’, ‘Enablement’, and ‘Leadership’ significantly exceeding the benchmark.  

Find out more 

We have created a dedicated webpage that provides further details on the results of the survey, with information that breaks down response rates across the Schools and Professional Services, as well as the type of responses that were provided for each question in the survey. 

What’s next? 

Soon, Schools and Professional Services will be sharing the results at a local level with their teams if they haven’t already. They will then work alongside colleagues in their area as well as HR to develop actions based on feedback from their areas to make further improvements over the next 12 months.  

At a University level, work to address actions arising from the survey is already underway and includes: the rollout of our values and behaviours toolkit to help colleagues understand these further, embedding academic line management arrangements within Schools, and developing our leaders and managers to take action that ensures colleagues feel valued, recognised and supported with their workplace wellbeing.  

During the first half of the year, more information will be shared about how as a university we plan to develop the colleague experience even further, by implementing activities that help us to shape our culture and support one another using coaching and feedback techniques, as well as through changes to our PDR experience.  

We will continue to review our approach to reward and recognition, listening to colleagues about what matters most across our various job families and we will ensure that we are showing our continued commitment to EDI through the integration and development of our people practices.      

We are currently analysing the themes emerging from the free text comments made by colleagues. The thematic comments will then be used to shape activities, ensuring that we have taken on board colleague feedback across our continuous improvement work. 

We’d like to thank colleagues once again for taking the time to engage with the Staff Experience Survey, as well as any other feedback mechanisms you have taken part in throughout the year such as focus groups. We hope you’ll continue to take part in future initiatives to help us make further improvements.