“Good leadership can be learned”

If people with leadership responsibility want to be good leaders, they need feedback from their employees. This is as true for small teams as it is for large organizations. It’s also vital for the perspective of employees at all levels to be considered at UZH.

In recent years, UZH has gone to great lengths to develop its leadership culture, and this is very much an ongoing process. The representative body associations play a key role in this: the Association of Academic Mid-Level Faculty Staff of the University of Zurich (VAUZ), the Association of Senior Researchers and Teaching Staff (VFFL) and the Association of Administrative and Technical Staff (VATP) provide a voice for any issues that UZH employees may have, stimulate dialog and by doing so help raise awareness of all aspects of good leadership.

Examples of how this can be done are the three representative body talks that have taken place over the last two years on the topics of “Leadership and Deescalation”, “Leadership and Motivation” and “Leadership and Culture” at UZH. They were open to all UZH employees and met with a huge response. Members of the Executive Board of the University also took part.

Following on from this series of talks, five delegates from the three representative body associations mentioned recently met for a joint interview that we’re summarizing here. The discussion also included Klaus Jonas, Director of the Leadership and Governance Academy at UZH.

The first topic discussed in the round table was the UZH Leadership and Management Principles, which were updated in April 2024. The new version is more detailed and specific than the previous one from 2018 and is based on the latest research findings, as Klaus Jonas emphasizes.

What impact are these principles having on the evolution of the leadership culture? For Philip Zimmermann, Co-President of VAUZ, their practical benefit is that they provide a basis for discussions of people’s expectations of good leadership that all parties involved can refer back to. Just like the other representative body associations, VAUZ also advises members of the representative body who are seeking advice because their situation at work is difficult or unclear. “The Leadership and Management Principles provide vital guidance when we’re offering advice,” says Zimmermann.

Katayoun Safi from V-ATP recommends that all UZH employees should mention the Leadership and Management Principles in any discussions with their managers. “They offer an authoritative foundation for such discussions and provide good reference points for how working relationships could be improved,” she says. Safi is convinced that discussions about good leadership are a key factor for developing a positive workplace culture at UZH. “The Leadership and Management Principles can help maintain the general discourse about good leadership.”

What are the burning issues that UZH employees are most keen to see discussed when it comes to leadership and management? Ruth Hunkeler, Co-President of V-ATP, thinks that having a good feedback culture is the top priority. “Those with leadership responsibility should clearly formulate their expectations and objectives,” she says. A good working relationship can only work if all parties feel like they’re involved and know what the managers are looking for. “Employees need to receive appreciative and critical feedback to feel like they’re relevant and can carry on developing. The annual employee appraisals are vital, but they’re not enough to create a good feedback culture,” says Hunkeler. This assessment is shared by leadership expert Klaus Jonas: “The laissez-faire style adopted by managers is the most common cause of a poor working atmosphere because it leads to misunderstandings and injustices.”

But a good feedback culture doesn’t just involve those with leadership responsibility addressing feedback to their employees; it’s also important for employees to provide feedback to their managers. They should also be open to hearing uncomfortable truths. “In good teams, employees can feel confident that they won’t be penalized for articulating their concerns, suggesting improvements or offering criticism,” says Valerie Treyer, Co-President of VFFL. “Managers must be aware that employees will sometimes hesitate to express any criticism because they’re fearful of the negative consequences they may face for doing so. The greater the relationship of dependence, the more actively those with leadership responsibility should endeavor to create a culture of open feedback,” says Treyer.

One example of a particularly strong relationship of dependence is the working relationship between PhD candidates and professors. This is why the threshold for raising awkward concerns or criticism is often particularly high for PhD candidates. Philip Zimmermann from VAUZ adds: “As a general rule, talking directly is the best option. But this requires a basic level of trust.” For situations in which this is lacking, VAUZ has taken the step of developing an anonymous questionnaire that enables PhD candidates to highlight any deficiencies in leadership or management without needing to fear the consequences of doing so. If there’s lots of negative feedback, Graduate Campus will notify the Dean Offices, which will then endeavor to find a solution.

A good style of leadership also includes involving employees in decision-making and development processes. “The greater the level of participation in a process, the more likely employees are to be willing to support decisions, and the more affiliated they’ll feel to the team or the organizational unit,” says VFFL Co-President Valerie Treyer.

Employees today are involved much more in leadership than they used to be, observes VFFL Co-President Jan Helbing: “The hierarchies at UZH have become flatter.” Helbing thinks this is down to the growing importance attached to good leadership and management at UZH. But he adds that this positive trend also comes with its own challenges: “As the expectations for good leadership rise, the amount of effort required to meet these expectations day in, day out also increases. This is why leadership tasks are now shouldered by more people than used to be the case. In many departments, for example, an increasing proportion of the leadership tasks is now delegated to academic associates.” This additional workload is not always appropriately rewarded. “Although the involvement of academic associates in leadership tasks is usually acknowledged, it has comparatively little impact on these people’s careers. In companies or public administration, employees who take on leadership tasks and perform well can hope to be promoted. This incentive is largely lacking at universities,” says Helbing.

Ruth Hunkeler and Katayoun Safi share this assessment for administrative and technical staff. “We should be more conscious at UZH of the fact that good leadership and management requires resources and make more of an effort than we have done previously to create long-term career plans and budgets for our employees,” says Hunkeler. Safi adds: “For the administrative and technical staff, the introduction of career models and a commensurate policy for internal recruitment would represent real progress.”

The importance of good leadership has long been less appreciated in universities than it has been in businesses or public administration, for example. This is because professors don’t regard themselves as managers, but instead derive their status from the research and teaching they do, explains Klaus Jonas. However, today’s professors are increasingly accepting that providing leadership and management is a natural part of their role. “The outcomes achieved in research and teaching improve when teams are managed well – this gives academics a strong incentive to invest in good leadership and management,” says Jonas.

For a number of years now, the procedures for recruiting new staff at UZH have increasingly focused on the candidates’ leadership and management skills. This very much reflects the representative bodies, as Philip Zimmermann from VAUZ affirms, because professors perform a wide variety of different leadership duties: “They are their employees’ primary contact, and often accompany them from the moment they join UZH until they leave. They need to create a good environment, mediate when conflicts arise, motivate their team and help their PhD candidates achieve their potential.” Katayoun Safi from V-ATP adds that it’s not just academic associates who are employed in departments: “Leadership and management at UZH means also promoting administrative and technical staff, knowing their career aspirations and giving them the appropriate support they need,” she says.

In recent years, UZH has done a great deal to promote leadership skills. 2022 saw the establishment of the Leadership and Governance Academy to bring together the diverse continuing education courses at UZH under a shared umbrella and develop them in a coordinated way. In 2023, a Leadership Program for newly appointed professors was launched, and there are more offers in the pipeline. Events such as the Heads of Departments and Institutes Conference (see box), which took place at the end of September 2024, also promote engagement and a shared understanding of what constitutes good leadership and management at UZH.

Can good leadership be learned or is it a question of talent? Klaus Jonas has long been researching leadership at universities. “Ultimately, it’s an enjoyment of engaging with people that provides the essence of good leadership and lays the foundation for a positive working atmosphere,” he says. “Those with leadership responsibility who feel free and secure in their role are generally able to express the joy they get from working with others in a credible way. As people’s knowledge of leadership issues grows, their level of authority and autonomy increases too. So I’m very much of the opinion that good leadership can be learned.”