TU Delft employees could share their ideas about a safer working environment in a meeting organised by the Works Council. “Don’t say that you want everyone to enjoy a good working environment, but say that it is your responsibility to create a good working environment.”
Members of the Works Council in a meeting in October. (Foto: Thijs van Reeuwijk)
Ideas, not experiences was what the Works Council (OR) was looking for, for the employees meeting on Wednesday afternoon, which was attended by a handful of employees. The attendees thus looked to the future, on the understanding that the past was important in doing so. What do they believe was needed to make TU Delft a safer place to work?
Some of the attendees thought about solutions that they could use. One of them expressed the need for ‘tools’ that would help her help colleagues if they experience a negative situation. “I don’t really know how to help them, although just listening could already make a difference.”
PhD candidates would certainly benefit, say those involved. They are in a precarious position and it is a big step for them to turn to a confidential advisor or PhD counsellor. “Sometimes you just want to offload if you are having a bad week.” One suggestion by the speakers is that staff members could be better equipped to act as a sort of ‘confidential advisor light’. One person added that a new onboaring programme for new employees may help, as would a TU Delft-wide version for new and current staff.
Who may attend a public meeting?
“After the meeting, it transpired that an Executive Board Secretary and a Berenschot advisor had also attended the meeting. Berenschot is the consultancy firm that the Executive Board has hired to help organise meetings about social safety.
While two attendees later told Delta that they found the presence of these two ‘surprising’, Ronald Kuil, the OR Chair, sees no problem. He does not think that they should have announced presence. “It is a public meeting. Everyone may say what they think. Every staff member is welcome, including those close to the Executive Board. By extension, public also applies to the external Berenschot advisor.”
This is in contrast to Delta’s experience, as Delta was only welcome under certain conditions. The presence of the reporter was announced at the opening of the meeting. Prior to the meeting, the suggestion was made that the reporter would have to leave if the staff would object to the presence of a journalist. Delta did not agree to this.
In answer to the question why Delta was initially only welcome if there were no objections, Kuil said “I don’t really know. There is a degree of constraint around this subject. In principle, we always stand for openness.”
Figure out what is going wrong
The attendees are also aware of the ‘many technical rather than the most social’ people at TU Delft. One person said that we think too much along the lines of ‘let’s engineer a solution’ instead of first looking closely at the problem. Is it useful to immediately create a list of points for action while the report was only publicised so recently? He argues that it would be better to first figure out what it going wrong. “You can give trainings, do onboarding and carry out stringent checks, but if we don’t first understand where things go wrong, these will not help.”
In short, rather than quickly coming up with a set of measures, first listen closely and understand. This message was echoed by several attendees. It targets the Executive Board in particular, which they believe is instrumental. The assertion that the Board members have made serious blunders is heard several times in the meeting room. The response to the report was too late and the tone was completely wrong, say the attendees. It was too defensive and showed little empathy. “The Executive Board only looked at the statistics, and showed little feeling.”
The general conclusion is that the Executive Board is currently not equipped to bring about change. To really bring about change, someone says, you need to truly understand what a safe working environment is and not just be concerned about protecting your reputation. He also believes that change begins at the door of the Executive Board. “Don’t say that you want everyone to enjoy a good working environment, but say that it is your responsibility to create that.”
Experience it to understand it
Another person suggested that the Executive Board members are unable to understand the situation. They are at the top and not in the middle of the work space. Another attendee wonders if training would help. If so, it should target the Executive Board to give them a basic understanding of what it is like to work in a socially unsafe working environment. “They need to experience it to understand it.”
The Works Council will organise more meetings
Only a handful of employees who are not involved in any representative body attended the meeting. Ronald Kuil believes that this was because of the time and day. Before the meeting, he had received about 30 emails from people who were unable to attend, he says. The emails will also be included in the advice that the OR will submit to the Executive Board.
Despite the low turnout, the OR is intending to hold more meetings in the future. When, the number and what kind of meetings are yet to be decided. “Our meetings are different to those organised by the Executive Board or higher management,” says Kuil. “It would be good if the Executive Board does not attend every meeting. The OR is primarily there for the employees.”
Findings
The Inspectorate of Education investigated transgressive behaviour at TU Delft from December 2022 to November 2023. In the resulting report, the investigators speak of intimidation, racism, sexism, bullying, exclusion, gossiping, social insecurity due to lack of leadership and a culture of fear, among other things. For instance, employees are said to be afraid to voice their opinions and hold each other accountable for behaviour.
The effects among TU Delft employees who have reported to the inspection are often long-lasting and hampering. The inspectorate speaks of psychological and physical health complaints, absence from work and a general feeling of insecurity. Stress, burnout, depression and PTSD, crying and tense home situations also occur, as do illness, vomiting at work, panic attacks and heart palpitations.
The inspectorate reports that TU Delft’s university administration has a lot of information regarding what is happening in terms of social safety, but that they ‘omit to add everything up so as to create a complete picture’. ‘The management’ also ‘does not adequately manage in terms of appropriate measures’. The Inspectorate believes that this is mismanagement.
Read the news and background articles on the Inspectorate’s report in our dossier.
- Delta is looking for current and former TU Delft staff members who are willing to share their experiences. This can be done anonymously if preferred. Email tudelta@protonmail.com.
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