Ten minutes with Ali Kteich

Last updated on 16 April 2024

Meet Ali Kteich, Senior Fitness Instructor at the University of Leeds. Ali is an ambassador of the Facilities Directorate’s Staff Voice programme, a forum where volunteer representatives from the directorate discuss ideas, questions and concerns raised by their colleagues and work together to find solutions.

Can you describe your job in a few sentences?

I work at the Edge as a Senior Fitness Instructor. I supervise a team of fitness instructors and work daily to improve the service we provide in Sport and Physical Activity.

Can you explain what the FD Staff Voice is from your perspective?

The FD Staff Voice is about coming together as a group to raise issues and improvements into the right channels, and then feeding back the actions that have been taken to improve our working environment to the wider service.

It’s almost like a bridge between the managers and the rest of the service. It’s already helping to enable two-way communication between senior people and the rest of the service.

How did you become involved in the FD Staff Voice?

Joining the FD Staff Voice was recommended to me by a manager, and I felt like it was a way I could make a difference.

I’m part of the service’s Equality Diversity and Inclusion panel, so I felt that I could bring some of my experience from that to Staff Voice to ensure everyone is being treated equally and fairly.

I also wanted to make sure that more staff felt empowered within the FD, and that more attention was given to details that would help to improve the working environment.

What does your role in the FD Staff Voice involve?

We gather the concerns and suggestions that have been raised to us by colleagues and make sure that they’re passed on to the right people and channels.

We also make sure that the right people are available to provide support for colleagues if needed.

What do you find to be beneficial about being a part of the programme?

I believe being a part of the FD Staff Voice is helping to improve my own performance. It’s beneficial for me to be able to feed back concerns and improvements from colleagues in terms of improving my own communication skills.

I work reduced hours due to my disability, so this programme is really helping me to progress on a personal level. It’s helping to meet more people and know more about the campus and how the university operates, which is really important and beneficial for me.

Why is the FD Staff Voice important for colleagues?

It is helping to improve the communication channels we have within our department, and to help facilitate communication and feedback between colleagues and their managers.

It’s also helping to make decisions easier for decision-makers, because they now have that direct channel of feedback from colleagues.

I can feel the willing among senior colleagues to resolve the issues that have been raised. I can see the impact that is being made, which makes it easier for people to tell us what they need.

What is your ambition for FD Staff Voice?

I want to make the workplace better for everybody, by making sure that it’s an enjoyable and comfortable place for people to work.

I want to see this scheme improving year after year. It’s just the first year, so I’m really hopeful that we’ll continue to get that support from managers across the department to make more genuine changes to the service.

Read our 10 minutes with FD Staff Voice champion, Matthew Whiteley and FD Staff Voice ambassador, Carla Tucker.