The Work Environment Survey is one of the tools you have at your disposal to develop a positive working environment. As a manager, you are responsible for surveying the unit you lead. The survey is conducted every two years, with subsequent development of measures, implementation of measures, and follow-up of the action plan. The next survey will be sent by email to NTNU employees on 12 January 2026. Unit reports are available to leaders in Elements from week 8.

Contact your local coordinator for the Work Environment Survey if you need any assistance in this work. See the list of coordinators at the bottom of his webpage.

Norwegian version: Arbeidsmiljøundersøkelse – for ledere

Work Environment Survey – for employees | HSE topics page | Psychosocial work environment

Why is NTNU conducting a work environment survey?

• A sound, well-functioning work environment is essential to achieving NTNU's goals.
• To learn more about how staff perceive their working conditions.
• To provide a basis for strategic work environment initiatives and organizational development measures.
• To help ensure that all NTNU staff have a safe work environment.

As a manager, you are expected to:

• Set goals for the work environment work at your unit.
• Encourage all employees at your unit to respond to the survey and participate in the follow-up work.
• Conduct a follow-up meeting at your unit before 1 June 2026.
• Develop an action plan.
• Implement, evaluate, and adjust the action plan.
• Involve safety representatives and LOSAM throughout the process.
• Dialogue in your line of management about the follow-up process in 2026-2027, evaluation, and adjustment of measures and action plans. measures.

The work environment survey is mapping the work climate in the unit and at NTNU as a whole. It gives the employees an opportunity to voice how they feel at work. This feedback helps you as a leader in your work to promote a positive work environment in agreement with NTNU's values - creative, critical, constructive, and respectful, with the aim to realize NTNU's goals.

See the schedule of work for leaders 2025-2027 in pdf format, which you may print out (PowerPoint in Norwegian). See also the Memo from the Director for Organization and Infrastructure about the Work Environment Survey 2026-2027.

The main survey themes are:

• Information and involvement
• Collaboration in work
• Leadership
• Conflicts and conflict management*Learning, development, and innovation

• Collegial cooperation and community
• Framework for tasks
• Our everyday work

More about the work environment and work climate survey on the ARK website.

Work Environment Efforts 2026-2027

Phase 1 – Motivate and Prepare

Phase 1: Motivate and Prepare – September 2025 - January 2026

Management commitment is vital to the successful implementation of the work environment survey and development process. Reserve time to planning the process at your unit and time for the follow-up meeting during winter/spring 2026. You will obtain the results of the survey in Week 8 and may organize the follow-up meeting as of Week 10 (first week of March). Here you will get an overview of your management tasks in the preparatory phase.

1. Decide at which organizational level you wish to organize the survey (department/group level), that is where the employees answer, and where the manager takes responsibility for the follow-up process (see Memo about the choice of survey units in Norwegian). The local coordinator at your Faculty must update the list of survey units in consultation with the unit managers by 31 October 2025 (see excel-sheet for the choice of survey units which shows the survey units in 2023).

• NTNU recommends a minimum of 8 employees as the smallest response unit. At least 5 employees must respond to get a report of the results. Larger departments/administrative divisions are recommended to select groups/sections as response units.
• At the departments, it is alternatively possible to run follow-up processes based on occupational category. Survey reports based on occupational categories (in the Norwegian Database of Higher Education) are given document names as follows:
  - #UN" - recruitment positions (vit.ass, stipendiater, postdok)
  - # UN2S - research fellows (stipendiater)
  - #VI - academic positions (vitenskapelige stillinger, including forskere)
  - # ST - academic support staff (ingeniører, teknikere, laboranter)
  - # AD - administrative staff
  - # TA = ST + AD
• All departments will automatically receive an occupation category report for their research fellows.
• The departments will automatically receive their reports in both Norwegian and English i the local teams channel for the work environment survey at their Faculty.

2. Quality check of the survey distribution list in November. The local coordinator will contact the unit to ensure that the list of employees who are to receive the survey in each survey unit, is correct. Note that it is likely to be errors or staff missing on the distribution lists, particularly at the group level.

3. Put the Work Environment Survey on the agenda at a management meeting (level 2) with the Local Coordinators for the Work Environment Survey. Deadline: November 2025.

4. Fill out the form Preparation for the Work Environment Survey in collaboration with the safety representative. The completed form should be archived in the unit dossier in Elements (see list of "saksnummer" 2026 in the archive). Use the dossier for your unit for the archiving of your preparatory work, the survey results and follow-up action plan to fulfil the documentation requirements of the Work Environment Act. When you search in the archive, the title of your dossier will have a name on a form similar to this example: Arbeidsmiljøundersøkelse 2026 AD ID IDGJO. The unit abbreviations used by the archive in 2026 will be attached here. This link provides a list of the unit abbreviations that the archive used in 2023 (unit abbreviations that were used in the 2021 survey).

5. Inform all employees at your unit of the upcoming work environment process (for example at a general meeting). Deadline: January 2026

• Presentation in English and in Norwegian will be made available

Phase 2 - Survey

Phase 2: Survey – January - May 2026

I advance of the survey, your most important task as a manager, is to encourage your employees to respond to the survey. It is recommended to collaborate with the members of your management group and the safety representative to motivate as many as possible to answer. Use your regular information channels such as e-mail, regular meetings and other available arenas.

1. The survey will be distributed by e-mail to all employees on 12 January 2026 with a response deadline of 2 February.

2. As a supplement to the survey, a qualitative mapping will take place in Phase 3 at the follow-up meeting with the employees of the unit.

Follow this link for more detailed information about the survey and the result reports, including:

• Who is participating
• Distribution of the survey
• Anonymity and use of the results
• Reports from the survey

Managers will find the reports for their response unit in the unit dossier in Elements from Week 8 (see list of "saksnummer" in the archive). The reports will have the same format as the NTNU-level report. The results should be reported to the unit staff at a follow-up meeting (organized from Week 10 and onwards).

With respect to GDPR, reports for very small response units (less than 10 answers) are not for public disclosure (cf. Freedom of Information Act Section 13) and must only be shared with the employees at the follow-up meeting in printed version. For larger response units, digital distribution to the employees can be considered such as the unit's local teams channel.

If there is a request for access to the report as a public document under the Freedom of Information Act, contact your local coordinator. NTNU may postpone the request until the results have been presented to the employees (cf. Freedom of Information Act Section 23), but no longer than till after 1 May. Request of reports for the smallest units will be declined (cf. Freedom of Information Act Section 13).

Reports for response units that have been temporarily stored/shared in local teams channels, on NTNU servers and the like, should be deleted after phase 2 and 3. This is obligatory for reports from the smallest response units (less than 10 answers) which only can be stored in the Elements archive. If you forgot to delete the survey distribution list in February (namelist with email, position, unit etc), delete them now from local servers.

Phase 3 – Develop Measures

Phase 3: Develop measures – March - May 2026

1) Hold planning meetings with safety representatives. See the planning meeting template (Norwegian).

• Develop a timetable for the follow-up meeting. See the template for a standard follow-up meeting (Norwegian)
• For larger groups, the world café method is suitable. See description of a follow-up meeting using the world café method (Norwegian)
• Tools for preparation: How to read the report from the ARK-survey , Themes and questions - ARK questionnaire (The questions in Norwegian)

2) Hold a follow-up meeting with all employees at your unit. Deadline June 1. Key unit personnel may assist in planning the meeting. In the meeting, you will:

• Inform staff of the process to use if they experience or have experienced unacceptable conduct, and direct them to the web page: Unacceptable behaviour – harassment and conflict
• Review and discuss the unit's results from the survey questionnaire.
• Identify the areas of strength and those needing improvement. (template for individual reflection)
• Develop an action plan with goals and measures. PPT template for the action plan (Norwegian and English)

3) The action plan will be discussed at the faculty/administrative division level. Consider whether any shared assistance or measures are needed for further action plan follow-up.

Phase 4 – Implement

Phase 4: Implement and adjust – Spring and autumn 2026

As a unit leader, you are responsible for following up and ensuring that the measures in the action plan are implemented in collaboration with the safety representative and employees.

The follow-up meetings and the initial process is to be assessed in an evaluation meeting with the safety representative, while the action plan is to be constantly evaluated. Consider if the measures still meet the needs of the work environment and if there is a need for other or more measures. Make adjustments to the action plan as needed in consultation with the safety representative and employees. The follow-up of the Work Environment Survey will also be on the agenda at dialogue meetings and in HSE annual reports.

1. August-September 2026: Conduct an evaluation meeting with the safety representative about the process thus far. Fill out together and submit the evaluation form from ARK. You will receive a link to the online form from ark-kontakt@ntnu.no. The form serves as documentation of the first part of the process, and the units should archive the form for later reference.

2. Implement measures throughout the period and adjust the action plans along the way as needed.

3. September 2026: Tertiary report in the NTNU management system (PBO), including questions about the follow-up of the Work Environment Survey and action plans. Assignment to all level 2 units from the Division of Governance and Management Systems (Virksomhetsstyring).

4. November 2026: Annual HSE report from all level 3 managers. The HSE report will include questions about the collaboration with the safety representative and the follow-up of the Work Environment Survey.

Phase 5 – Evaluate and Adjust

Phase 5: Evaluate and Adjust - Spring and Autumn 2027

Evaluation and learning are important. Toward the end of the two-year process, the whole process and the effect of the measures are to be evaluated. The aim is to transfer learning lessons to the conduct of the next Work Environment Survey starting in spring 2028.

Conduct the final evaluation meeting with the safety representative in September 2027. Fill out together and submit the evaluation form from ARK. You will receive a link to the online form from ark-kontakt@ntnu.no. The evaluation form (pdf to come) will serve as documentation of the whole work environment process from 2026-2027.

Results from 2026 and previous surveys

• NTNU results 2026 (pdf) (in English)
• NTNU results 2023 (pdf) (in English)
• NTNU results 2021 (PDF) (in Norwegian only)
• NTNU results 2019 (PDF) (in Norwegian only)
• NTNU results 2017 (PDF) (in Norwegian only)
• NTNU results 2014 (PDF) (in Norwegian only)
• NTNU results 2012 (PDF) (in Norwegian only)

Role of Safety Representatives

As a leader, you must involve the safety representative in all phases of the work environment improvement. The minimum meeting points are:

1. Meeting: Jointly fill out the form "Preparation of the Work Environment Survey 2026" (Deadline: 12 December 2026)
2. Planning the follow-up meetings at the units (February-March 2026)
3. First evaluation meeting about the follow-up meeting and action plan: The managers receives the digital form from ARK by e-mail (August-September 2026)
4. Second evaluation meeting about implementation of measures and adjustment of action plans (January-February 2027)
5. Implementation and adjustment of action plans is the responsibility of the unit and line management. The safety representative ensures that the action plan is followed-up (spring and autumn 2027)

At units with multiple safety representatives, the safety representatives themselves should decide who will represent them. Where several units share one safety representative, the safety representative and the deputy safety representative should divide the units between them.

The unit / line manager shall give the safety representatives the survey reports for the units they are responsible for.

The safety representative’s tasks | Contact your safety representative

Available help

• Occupational Health Services – offering independent assistance to management and employees.
• HR and HSE section – cultivating organizational and psychosocial work environment.
• Whistleblowing: Guidelines for reporting problematic conditions at NTNU
• Guidebook: The ARK-survey - health promotion in academic institutions

Contacts

Management:

• HR and HSE Director Arne Kr. Hestnes
• HSE Section Head Rasmus Hugdahl

Coordination:

• Nathalie Gaulin Brovold, HSE section (organization and communication)
• Kristin Wergeland Brekke, HR NTNU section (organization)

Resource people

Local Coordinators for the Work Environment Survey:

• AD: Erik Lunde | Marion Sandnes Wohlen
• HF: Christen Torvik
• IE: Oddrun Husby | Cathrine Haugan Grønvik
• IV: Roar Eriksen | Kristine Rognlid Hagaseth
• MH: Hanne Mattson
• NV: Nina Sandberg | Julie Elisa Wang
• SU: Marie S Hågensen | Ina Grønbech Halvorsen
• EAC: Svein Olav Antonsen | Randi Holvik
• University Museum: Anne Karin Henning
• FA: Trine Dahl | Kristine Frøset
• FA – Property division: Marianne Schjølberg | Cecilie Holen
• Ålesund: Harald Jan Skarstein (Building Management)

Coordinators for the Work Environment Survey have a shared network: "Network for the Work Environment Survey at NTNU". See the network mandate here (norwegian).