An important first step in developing an approach to dealing with work pressure is gaining insight into how employees experience it. SoFoKleS has therefore analysed data taken from the 2019 employee monitor (WERKmonitor 2019) on work pressure experience at Dutch research universities. The results of this analysis and the ensuing recommendations were the primary topics of the second work pressure e-conference, which took place on 19 May 2020.

Nearly 90 participants attended the e-conference to find out what the SoFoKleS study of work pressure had yielded. The results of the analysis and the recommendations can be found in this e-magazine. The recommendations concern actions which could be taken at the team, university or sector level.

Conducive and restrictive factors

After the presentation, participants were able to indicate which factors are important with regard to how they experience work pressure. What helps to give energy and what acts as an obstacle in contacts with colleagues, supervisors as well as managers? Autonomy, social support and collaboration were often mentioned as conducive factors. Restrictive factors mentioned by participants included the organisational culture, disproportionate emphasis on excellence and excessive regulatory burden.

It is striking that the changes in work caused by the coronavirus crisis have had both positive and negative consequences for how participants experienced work pressure. Positive aspects were greater autonomy and room for manoeuvre experienced as a result of physical distancing from colleagues. The distance also means that the focus is more on expertise and less on someone’s position. However, participants also felt that the physical distance adversely affected the culture and social safety at work.

Follow-up activities concerning work pressure

Work pressure is a theme that is clearly relevant to the participants, while it is also clear that there is a need to discuss it more often. Various participants had questions or suggestions for follow-up meetings. In the period ahead, SoFoKleS will be organising a number of other conferences on work pressure. Otherwise, there are opportunities within the work pressure network to engage in discussion with one another, such as in the recently created MS Teams channel. Starting on Tuesday 26 May, you can join the discussion about a question, statement or approach every Tuesday from 12 noon until 1 p.m.

If you have yet to join our network and would like to be kept informed about all of our activities, sign up for our online work pressure network.