Employee appraisal interviews
Every year all employees should have an appraisal interview with their manager. The employee appraisal interview is an important part of the college’s comprehensive work with organisational and personal development. If USN and our employees are going to achieve our goals, each and every one of us must succeed and enjoy USN as a place of work. In many ways, this is about meeting expectations, and defining these expectations is part of the employer’s management prerogative.
This is an important tool for managers to get information on the psychosocial and physical work environment at USN. As well as employees and managers to see if they have the same expectations and if they are being met. The career plan you are working on should also be a part of the conversation. You can read more about the employee appraisal interviews here (Requires login).
Health
A good health is necessary to be able to perform at work and have a good and balanced personal life. At times a heavy workload, demand and expectations can lead to a lack in motivation, stress or an unbalanced life. If your work life is especially demanding and stressful you should have a conversation with your supervisor or manager.
If you have the need to talk to a professional to sort out work related issues (not private issues) you can get assistance from the Occupational Health Services (Requires login). They offer support conversations and psychologists.
Unpleasant experiences, speak up
To improve our services and make sure USN has a safe and inclusive work- and learning environment vi depend on our staff to express concerns. It can be issues related to teaching, faults or deficiencies in equipment, injuries, accident, bullying, harassment, discrimination or other concerning conditions. You can report unwanted experiences thru our speak up system.
So you want to join a union?
As a USN employee you are free to join any union you find suitable for you or choose to not be organized. At USN many unions have their own representatives (Requires login) (page only in Norwegian), that can be contacted for questions or concerns.
You should not be discriminated against based on being or not being a union member and culturally being part of a union is very accepted.
If you become a member of a union, the union fee will usually be deducted from your salary. Also, most unions have negotiated deals on house mortgages, insurances and other things, so make sure you read up on what the different unions can offer you, in addition to work right support.
Get involved in the Stipendiary and Postdoctoral Organization (USN SPO)
The Stipendiary and Postdoctoral Organization (USN SPO) is an independent interest organization with the goal of promoting common academic, professional and social interests for PhD research fellows and postdocs. All PhDs and postdocs are automatically enrolled as members after starting up. USN SPO is also a member of the Association of Doctoral Organizations in Norway.
Every year USN SPO host an event to shed light on relevant topics like career development, PhD mobility, rules and regulations, health, work-life balance and other relevant topics. Throughout the year they have smaller social and academic gatherings. Once a month, they invite to open Board meetings, digitally, and encourage all PhDs and postdocs to attend.
You can contact them at usndoc@usn.no
IT-services and security
As a USN employee you can access all IT-services at USN and are required to familiarize yourself with our ICT regulations. Should you need assistance, IT support is available at all campuses.
Employees that travel to high-risk countries have to only bring equipment that has been approved by the IT department.