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Sociological survey as a tool for meaningful dialogue

The results of the next survey of social satisfaction of personnel have been summed up at the Joint Institute. In 2025, 750 employees took part in the survey, the highest figure for all the years of the survey. For comparison: in 2023, 630 people participated in the survey, in 2022 - 572, in 2021 - 524. Thus, the JINR survey not only becomes traditional, but also involves an increasing number of employees every year.

"The increase in the number of respondents was largely made possible thanks to the indifference of the Institute's employees that understand the importance of such a survey and offered their help in distributing questionnaires among colleagues Sociological survey as a tool for meaningful dialogue. It was equally important to make participation in the survey as convenient and noticeable for employees as possible: advertisements with QR codes were posted on the Institute to switch to an electronic questionnaire and paper versions were available in the Institute's canteens and buffets for several weeks," the lead analyst Olga Krupa, responsible for organizing the survey is commenting.

As stated in the previous publication of the JINR weekly "Dubna: Science, Commonwealth, Progress" (No. 18-19 of 16 May, 2024), such a survey is not a formality, but a serious feedback tool that allows one to see how employees evaluate various aspects of work and life at the Institute. Its importance refers not only to the diagnosis of problem areas, but also to the ability of making more accurate management decisions that affect staff satisfaction and ultimately, strengthen the personnel component of the Institute.

One of the most notable features of the current survey was the extent of comments on open questionnaire questions. Thus, 210 comments concerned supporting measures to improve housing conditions, at least, 115 touched on the housing topic in other open issues. On urban infrastructure, 252 meaningful answers were obtained about the most significant problems and 208 comments were about what facilities and services Dubna lacks; problems of public transport were mentioned at least 88 times, health care - at least 70 times. Behind these figures is the sincere concern of employees for the future of the Institute: people are ready to spend time filling out a voluminous questionnaire in order to indicate in detail what, in their opinion, requires urgent focus. All proposals have been systematized and included in the final analytical report prepared by the senior lecturer at the Department of Sociology and Humanities at Dubna University Tatyana Balueva.

Even with problematic issues in many aspects of work at the Institute, there is positive evaluation. The total social satisfaction index of employees in 2025 amounted to 67.74% that is higher than the indicators of previous waves of research. Among the most highly appreciated by JINR employees are working conditions and organization, as well as the organization of scientific activities. On average, 86.6% of respondents are satisfied with the organization of scientific activity, 77% - with the conditions and organization of labor, 79.9% - with the social infrastructure of the Institute.

There is a high level of professional attachment to the place of work. According to the survey, 81.5% of employees would choose to work at JINR again and 56% would not want to move to another organization. Employees still evaluate their work primarily as interesting and significant: 66% called it interesting, 59% - significant. Such results are especially important for a scientific centre, where the content of labor and the possibility of professional self-realization is one of the key factors of motivation.

The block dedicated to the JINR social infrastructure is of special importance. Compared to the previous wave of the survey, the level of satisfaction with it has increased and reached almost 80%. The employees positively evaluate many aspects of the Institute's daily environment, but at the same time, very substantively indicate the areas for further development. First of all, we are talking about the quality of the daily working environment: food on the sites, landscaping, the state of jobs, the availability of household services and understandable navigation. In the comments, the employees first of all focus on the need to modernize canteens and buffets: expanding the assortment and establishing such working time of food outlets that would take into account not only daytime, but also evening and night shifts. An equally relevant topic is the quality of the working infrastructure itself. We are talking about improving ventilation and air conditioning, repairing premises and creating more comfortable conditions in the workplace. Along with it, the employees emphasize the importance of developing recreation areas and general landscaping of sites so that the Institute's territory is convenient, understandable for movement and more adapted to the daily needs of people.

Moreover, the employees speak not only in general, but also on special situations. The report details proposals for individual sites and laboratories: from modernizing the VBLHEP canteen and improving the sanitary conditions and working hours to meeting the problem of queues in the DLNP canteen, landscaping paths, lighting, places of rest, bicycle stands, recreational areas and internal navigation on the sites. In many comments, an important thought sounds: improving social infrastructure is not a secondary economic issue, but part of the modern working environment that directly affects the comfort, loyalty and retention of employees.

A large array of proposals also applies to the urban environment, since for JINR employees, the quality of life in Dubna is an important part of overall social well-being. On average, satisfaction with urban social infrastructure was 62.1%. At the same time, increase is noticeable in a number of areas - for example, satisfaction with healthcare and public transport has increased compared to 2023. But at the same time, it was on urban topics that the employees left a very large number of comments. Most often we are talking about transport, health care and education. Among the most frequent proposals are improving intra-city and intercity transport links, increasing the availability of medical care, developing educational infrastructure and creating new leisure and family facilities.

Informing is still an important topic. Formally, 73% of respondents are satisfied with the information system, but employees still talk about the need for a unified, understandable and accessible system, where you can quickly find answers to practical questions - from benefits and support measures to services, seminars and organizational procedures. Among the proposals are a single employee portal, a set of materials for new workers, a single map of services and support measures, more understandable bilingual navigation.

Separately, the attitude of the employees to the survey is also highlighted in the report. It is generally positive: respondents ask to carry out survey more often, to talk more broadly about its results and to bring conclusions to the entire staff. In the comments, there are words of gratitude for the very possibility of feedback. And this is perhaps one of the most important results of the survey: in a large international scientific centre, the survey is gradually becoming not just a form of monitoring, but a full-fledged channel of meaningful conversation about what is already working out well and what can be done better.

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