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1 Executive Summary
1.1 Response Rate
This year's survey received a response rate of 69%, which is the same as the response rate achieved in 2006 and higher than the average response for surveys of this kind conducted in other Central Government organisations (65%). It is also above the average across all UK organisations (61%).
1.2 Employee Engagement
In early 2007 the SG commissioned some research to review their engagement model to ensure the best measure of engagement amongst SG employees is being used in the survey. As a result of this research the list of questions included at the end of the questionnaire to measure levels of engagement was updated. A set of 7 questions have been identified as measuring employee engagement, to measure respondents' attachment to the SG. Engagement goes beyond satisfaction and can be defined as employees' willingness and ability to invest their personal effort in the success of the organisation. This can be framed in terms of ORC International's 'say, stay and strive' engagement principles:
SAY: Do staff advocate the organisation as a place to work and as a provider of services?
STAY: Are staff committed to the organisation - do they intend to stay and are they committed to continuing their careers with the organisation?
STRIVE: Do staff 'go the extra mile at work' - do they invest their discretionary effort in the success of the organisation?
The graph overleaf lists the results of the 7 engagement questions used to measure levels of engagement amongst respondents. The overall engagement score for 2007 is 65% (this is the average of the positive responses to the 7 questions). This engagement score cannot however be compared to the results of the 2006 survey because only 3 of the questions were asked in 2006.
The results compare well to the Central Government benchmark norms where available (labelled 'Difference from CGBM'). However, the comparisons to the private sector benchmark are less positive with 4 of the 6 comparable questions scoring below the benchmark (labelled 'Difference from PSBM').
1.2.1 Key Drivers of Engagement
The engagement questions are overall measures of the 'output' of whether employees are engaged and give an indication of the level of engagement amongst staff. However, the engagement questions are not directly actionable to try to improve the results and so we need to identify what issues influence employees to be more or less engaged with the SG. Therefore statistical analysis called Key Driver Analysis has been conducted to identify the key drivers of engagement to help prioritise areas for improvement i.e. which issues to take action on will have the biggest positive impact on levels of engagement. A full report of the findings of the key Driver Analysis has been provided separately to the Office of the Chief Researcher.
The Key Drivers of engagement for the SG are listed below, in order of impact on engagement with the question with the greatest impact on engagement listed at the top. The key drivers of engagement that the SG is performing least well on should be considered as key priorities for improvement action:
- Q12 My work gives me a feeling of personal achievement (64% positive);
- Q44 The Scottish Government is well managed (41% positive);
- Q69 I think the Scottish Government respects individual differences ( e.g. cultures, working styles, backgrounds and ideas) (79% positive);
- Q23 I believe there are opportunities to progress in my career in the Scottish Government, Agencies and Associated Departments (not answered by those on secondment) (49% positive);
- Q15 I feel appropriately rewarded ( i.e. total reward package) for my performance in the Scottish Government (34% positive);
- Q16 I understand how my work contributes to the objectives of the Scottish Government (80% positive).
Throughout the report the key drivers of engagement are highlighted with red text.
1.3 Key Strengths
1.3.1 High performing Key Drivers of Engagement
Understanding their contribution to the SG: Most respondents (80%) understand how their work contributes to the objectives of the SG. This question has also been found to be a key driver of engagement so it is encouraging to see this receiving a high positive response.
Respecting diversity: Most respondents (79%) feel the organisation respects individual differences, which is substantially higher than the Central Government benchmark (66%).
1.3.2 Other Key Strengths
Team working: The majority of respondents (85%) feel their team co-operates to get the work done and 70% feel their team regularly looks for better ways of working with stakeholders/customers.
Line management: In general perceptions of line managers have improved slightly since 2006 and 73% feel their line manager recognises and acknowledges when they've done well in their job. There has also been an improvement in the proportion of respondents who feel their team is well managed (69% compared to 62% in 2006).
Work objectives: Around three quarters of respondents feel fully involved in setting their work objectives (77%) and feel their objectives clearly set out what is expected of them in their job.
Job satisfaction: There has been a substantial improvement in job satisfaction since 2006: 75% are satisfied compared to 62% in 2006. This is also 14 percentage points more positive than the Central Government benchmark. Perceptions of job security are also significantly more positive than the Central Government benchmark, although this has declined slightly since 2006 so this should be monitored to ensure it doesn't continue to decline.
1.4 Opportunities for Improvement
1.41 Poor performing Key Drivers of Engagement
Visibility and perceptions of Senior Management and the Strategic Board: Results concerning senior management elicited high neutral scores, and 24% of respondents do not feel senior managers are sufficiently visible in their Directorate. Just 54% have confidence in the senior managers in their Directorate and 41% feel the SG is well managed. Although this latter result has seen some improvement since 2006 it is important to continue focusing on this for improvement action as this question is a key driver of engagement. It is therefore important to try to improve perceptions of senior management with the aim of improving levels of engagement. The majority of comments made by respondents at the end of the survey were about the poor perceptions of senior management and many feel their senior managers are not visible enough - some have not even met their senior manager.
Career progression opportunities: Just 49% of respondents believe there are opportunities to progress their career in the SG. Although this has seen an improvement of 5 percentage points since 2006 and is more positive than the Central Government benchmark, this should continue to be a focus for improvement action to continue to improve levels of engagement. Many respondents also wrote comments at the end of the survey expressing their frustration at the lack of opportunities and support in progressing in the SG.
Being rewarded appropriately for their performance: Possibly linked to the career progression issues is the fact that only 34% of respondents feel they are appropriately rewarded for their performance in the SG. This has seen a slight improvement of 4 percentage points since 2006, but there is still room for improvement as this is a key driver of engagement and still scoring very poorly. Perceptions amongst band A and B respondents were significantly less positive than those in bands C and the SCS.
1.4.2 Other Opportunities for Improvement
Performance management: Only 28% of respondents feel poor performance is dealt with effectively. Although this has improved by 4 percentage points since 2006 it should still be focused on for improvement as almost a third of respondents do not feel poor performance is dealt with effectively. This may also be linked to the dissatisfaction with being appropriately rewarded for their performance identified as a key driver of engagement. This can often be due to those who feel high performers and under performers are being treated in a similar way and not differentiated by the organisation.
Pressure in their job: 29% of respondents feel the level of pressure in their job has a negative effect on their work. Just 41% do not feel this is the case, which is a decline of 5 percentage points since 2006, although in line with the Central Government benchmark.
1.5 Cluster Analysis - who are the most and least engaged respondents?
Though the level of engagement and the key drivers of this engagement are known, this is of little use unless we can gain a greater understanding of the characteristics of those who tend to be highly engaged and those who tend to be disengaged to enable actions to be identified to improve levels of engagement across the SG. Therefore, cluster analysis, a statistical technique to cluster respondents based on how they respond to the survey, was conducted to identify clusters of respondents based on how engaged they are.
Based on responses to the engagement questions, 5 distinct clusters were identified and the pie chart below shows these clusters and the proportion of respondents they represent:
Clusters of respondents based on levels of engagement
These clusters of respondents were grouped this way based on the following pattern of responses to the engagement questions:
- Highly Engaged: Very positive in response to all engagement questions. Engagement Score: 97.8% positive
- Engaged: Positive in response to all engagement questions, but not quite as positive as those in the 'Highly Engaged' cluster. Engagement Score: 71.6% positive
- On the fence, motivated, non-advocates: Respondents in this cluster gave quite low positive responses to the questions about whether the SG is a good place to work, recommending the SG as a good place to work and feeling proud to work for the SG. However, they were very positive in response to the questions about whether they are personally motivated to help the SG achieve its objectives and whether they feel inspired to do their best at work, and intend to still be working for the SG in 12 months' time. They also gave quite a high neutral response to the question about feeling valued Engagement Score: 42.1%.
- On the fence and unmotivated: These respondents don't feel valued for what they can offer the SG and gave quite high negative responses to the questions about whether they are personally motivated to help the SG achieve its objectives and whether they feel inspired to do their best at work. However, they gave very high neutral responses to the questions about their perceptions of the SG being a good place to work and being proud to work for the SG. Engagement Score: 17.2%.
- Disengaged: These respondents gave very high negative responses to all of the engagement questions. Although they were a little more positive in response to the intention to stay question than the other engagement questions. Engagement Score: 5.9%.
1.6 Progress on the Corporate Priorities Identified in 2006
The analysis of the 2006 survey results enabled the SG to identify the following corporate priorities for improvement action:
- Performance Management
- Senior Management
- Communication
- Financial Management
- Working Environment
It is encouraging that there has been some improvement since 2006 in perceptions of all of these priorities, particularly for the key communications question "I believe different parts of the organisation communicate effectively with each other" (positive score up 5 percentage points on 2006) and the question about whether respondents feel the SG has a culture of sound financial management (positive score up 8 percentage points). However, senior management and performance management remain corporate priorities for improvement in this year's survey (see section 1.4).
1.7 Trend Comparisons
Where possible, comparisons with previous years are made throughout the report and the graphs display comparisons specifically with 2006 to track and monitor improvement or decline on the previous year's performance.
There are 52 questions that are comparable to those asked in the 2006 survey and of those:
- 32 have improved significantly since 2006
- 14 are in line with the 2006 results
- 6 have declined significantly since 2006
Of the 32 questions that have improved, the 8 questions showing the most substantial improvement on the 2006 results are:
The 6 questions that have declined since 2006 are:
Note: The % positive result for question 71 is the proportion of respondents who do not feel the level of stress in their job has a negative effect on their work, and the % negative result us the proportion of respondents who feel the level of stress in their job does have a negative effect on their work.
1.8 External Benchmark Comparisons
The results of the SG survey have been compared to two external benchmarks, where possible: the ORC International Central Government benchmark and the Private Sector benchmark.
Of the 32 questions asked within the 2007 questionnaire that can be compared to questions within ORC International's ORCPerspectives benchmark database:
- 12 have results at least 5 percentage points higher than the Central Government benchmark;
- 17 are in line with the Central Government benchmark (between +/- 5 percentage points of the average);
- 3 have results at least 5 percentage points lower than the Central Government benchmark;
The 12 questions that are significantly higher than the Central Government benchmark are:
The 3 questions that are significantly below the Central Government benchmark are:
Of the 29 questions in the SG questionnaire that can be compared to the private sector benchmark norms from the ORC Perspective's benchmark database:
- 4 have results at least 5 percentage points higher than the private sector benchmark;
- 17 are in line with the UK benchmark;
- 8 have results at least 5 percentage points lower than the private sector benchmark.
The 4 questions that are significantly higher than the private sector benchmark are:
The 8 questions that are significantly below the private sector benchmark are:
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