One of SAMK’s strategic goals is to be a skilled and thriving higher education community. The staff survey is used to monitor how this goal is being achieved from the staff’s perspective. The results can also be compared with those of other universities of applied sciences.
Tommi Tamminen, Vice President and Director of Finance and Administration, emphasizes that the survey is not the end goal. What matters most is what is done based on the results.
– Measurement is only a tool for striving for improvement. The results provide a framework for discussion within administrative units and teams, Tamminen says.
Based on the results, teams can identify areas for development, agree on measures and monitor their progress. The aim is for development to take place as close as possible to staff’s everyday work.
The immediate workplace community is one of SAMK’s strengths
The staff survey examines, amongst other things, staff’s experiences of their work, the workplace community, relationships with immediate supervisors and management. Overall, the results show that job satisfaction among SAMK staff is slightly above the average level of universities of applied sciences. The results have also developed in a positive direction in recent years.
One of SAMK’s strengths is the employees’ own immediate working community.
-The staff survey also shows that SAMK has been very successful in communicating its strategy and objectives, Tamminen says.
According to Tamminen, the significance of the ‘Our SAMK’ strategy is particularly evident in helping employees remember, amid the hustle and bustle of everyday work, why they do what they do.
SAMK Commitments support everyday working life
The SAMK Commitments are one of the tools used to develop workplace community. They are based on SAMK’s values and consist of shared workplace practices and commitments related to management and supervision.
The commitments can be discussed, for example, within teams, reflecting together on what they mean in one’s own work and workplace community.
– You can always come back to them. In everyday working life, especially when there’s a lot of work, pressure and stress, the basics can easily be forgotten, Tamminen says.
Staff are also involved in SAMK’s development on a broader scale. Major issues are addressed in cooperation with staff representatives, and in areas such as strategy, values and commitments, staff views have been gathered through surveys and team discussions. Based on the 2025 results, as many as 52 measures were developed across different units and teams.
Working for the benefit of Satakunta
According to Tamminen, another strength of SAMK as an employer is that employees perceive the work as meaningful. The higher education institution’s role is evident in developing the region’s expertise and working life, as well as Satakunta as a region.
– We have the opportunity to work for Satakunta and for its success. This has also been important to me personally throughout my entire career, says Tamminen.
He believes that SAMK has long played a significant role in the region, but in recent years its role and the impact of its work in Satakunta have been recognized even more clearly. SAMK receives a great deal of positive feedback about its work and its significance for the region.
Cooperation with other higher education institutions, businesses and partners also provides staff with opportunities to learn new things and develop their work. Experts can exchange ideas with others and gain perspectives from outside their own organization.
Tamminen looks to the future with confidence. Although there are challenges, he sees a great deal of positive development in recent years.
– A lot of good things are happening. I believe we have a bright future ahead of us as SAMK and, more broadly, as Satakunta. We are doing this together – this is our SAMK.
