The Scottish Government

STAFF SURVEY 2004 FINDINGS

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SUMMARY

The staff survey, which has been running since 2000, provides an insight into how we view our organisation, how satisfied we are with our work and our experiences of the workplace. So how are we doing in 2004?

The trends over time since the start of the survey and comparisons with other central/local government organisations suggest there are some positive areas of working life in the SE:

The findings detailed in this paper provide a broad overview of the 2004 survey results for core departments and associated agencies. The 2004 survey was issued in June by Office of Chief Researcher to all 7,336 staff who work in the Scottish Executive and its associated agencies. A total of 3,735 staff (51%) completed the questionnaire. The overall response rate for core departments was 61% and there was a lower response rate for agencies of 32%.

WHAT DO WE THINK OF OUR ORGANISATION?

The majority agree that the SE 'promotes the interests of the people of Scotland' (90%) and 'tries to continually improve performance' (87%). However, only 56% believe the SE 'values its staff'. Agencies as a whole are more likely to agree that the SE 'earns respect and trust' (68%) and 'values its staff' (62%) than the core departments (58% and 54% respectively). Of the core departments staff in FCSD (60%) most believe the SE values its staff and least in ERAD (51%).

Between 2000 and 2004 there has been a steady, marginal, increase in agreement with the statements about how well the SE operates. The most significant increase is the proportion (73%) who agree that the SE works with and learns from others (up 12% since 2003 and up 18% since 2000). In addition, there is an increasing perception that the SE is 'open and in touch', from 53% in 2000 to 66% in 2004. Senior Civil Service expressed the most positive views of all the employee bands.

The most significant concern is about the use of resources in the SE - 40% feel that the SE does not make good use of resources and 33% assert that the SE does not have a culture of sound financial management.

Aim, Vision and Values

The vast majority (92%) are aware of the 'Aim, Visions, Values' (AVV) statement, but levels of awareness were higher across core departments (94%) than agencies (78%):

Amongst those aware of the AVV statement, 65% feel able to actually explain it and 62% reported that they can relate the AVV statement to their everyday job. Understanding of the AVV statement is greatest within OPS (71%) and FCSD (70%), and lowest within Justice (59%). While fewer respondents in the agencies are aware of the AVV statement, they are more likely to be able to relate it to their day to day work (66%) than those in the core departments (62%).

More agency respondents claim they can explain the aims of their agency (88%) than those in core departments (80%), but fewer of them feel they are given the opportunity to participate in business planning (59% in the agencies compared to 67% in the core departments).

Changing to Deliver

Questions on the impact of Changing to Deliver were introduced into the 2004 survey. The analysis of these questions only focuses on the core departments as the initiative was primarily focused on these departments.

The majority (72%) are aware of the aims and aspirations of Changing to Deliver; this is highest within Health (83%) and Development (81%) and lowest within ERAD (60%). Reflecting the fact that a significant proportion of staff are struggling with the change agenda and how it applies to themselves, only 58% agreed that the specific Changing to Deliver behaviours are relevant to their own job.

Staff attitudes towards their relationships with internal and external stakeholders are positive, with 87% reporting that they know who their internal and external stakeholders are, while 85% claim they maintain an effective relationship with them. Although 82% believe that their work is focused on outcomes, of concern is the 19% who disagree or are undecided.

Policy Making

Just over a third (37%) confirmed they have a role in developing policies which impact upon external stakeholders _ 39% from core departments and 23% from agencies. These individuals were asked to what extent they agreed that SE policy processes are realistic about implementation, joined-up, use evidence, consider sustainable development and are positively perceived by stakeholders. There were only moderate levels of agreement; the highest level of agreement (59%) was with the statement that 'stakeholders for my area say positive things about our policy process'. This agreement is more pronounced in Development (72%) and least in FCSD (43%).

The larger proportion of respondents also agreed that policy-making is realistic about implementation requirements (57%) and that it makes good use of evidence (55%). Consistent with other internal research studies, joined-up working is recognised as a problem with only 36% agreeing that our policy making is joined-up.

HOW DO WE FEEL ABOUT WORKING IN THE SE?

Just over a quarter (26%) of our staff are unsure or not proud to work for the SE. Around three-quarters (74%) claim they are proud - this is broadly similar for core departments (75%) and agencies (72%). The SE has higher levels of pride than other central government (71%) and local government (53%) organisations. Within our core departments the highest level of pride is in LPS (84%) and the lowest in ERAD (71%).

The majority in the SE find their job interesting (86%). Overall 82% are satisfied in their job (up 4% since 2003); this is higher than for other central government (75%) or local government (69%) organisations. Job satisfaction is slightly higher for agencies (84%) than core departments (82%). Within the core departments the highest job satisfaction is in LPS (90%) and lowest in Development (77%).

Reported job satisfaction is linked with the following factors:

Despite these high levels of job satisfaction, there are many with concerns about remuneration and the amount of work undertaken:

DO WE FEEL WE'RE DEVELOPING AS INDIVIDUALS?

Career Development

The majority feel that their job has developed in positive ways in the past year. However, there are 21% who state it has not developed in positive ways, but this is at the lowest level since the first survey was conducted in 2000. The greatest proportion who felt their job had not developed positively is in ERAD (25%) and the smallest proportion in LPS (16%).

There are concerns about future career development, with only 44% agreeing that their career prospects are good. The most concerned about career development are employed within band A4 and C3. Overall only 38% feel clear about their future career:

Training

More SE staff are satisfied with the training for their present job (80%), than staff in other central government (60%) and local government (58%) organisations. The majority (87%) feel it is easy to find out about training and development opportunities in the SE (up 13% since 2003). An average of 5.2 off-the-job training days were reportedly taken in the past year, this is consistent with the reported average of 5.1 days in 2003.

Skills

The majority (89%) agreed that they have the knowledge and skills to do their job effectively. However, nearly a quarter (24%) feel that their skills and abilities are not used effectively in their work. Of the three-quarters (75%) that are satisfied the highest satisfaction was in ETLLD (87%) and Health (81%), and of the agencies highest in SASA (89%) and Communities Scotland (88%).

HOW WELL ARE WE COMMUNICATING?

Relationships at Work

The majority are satisfied with their relationships with their colleagues (93%) and clients (90%), and to a lesser extent managers (83%). Staff are pleased with the way in which their team works, with 92% agreeing that 'staff in my team work in a customer focused way' and 88% agreeing that 'staff in my area work well together'. Three-quarters are clear about what is expected of them in their job (75%), this is lower than other central government organisations (78%) benchmarked. The majority in the SE agree that their line manager recognises the work that they do (85%), this compares well with other central government (71%) and local government (67%) organisations benchmarked.

Line Management

Just under half (46%) reported that they have line management responsibilities. The vast majority (90%) of these respondents agreed that they frequently review the performance, objectives and duties of each member of their staff. The majority (83%) also reported that they frequently discuss the development needs of each member of staff. However, there is a notable discrepancy between staff and managers views:

Local Communication

A quarter (25%) do not feel informed about management decisions that affect them personally and a third (33%) do not feel involved in formulating the objectives of their section/team/unit. The majority (67%) agree that they often meet with their line manager to discuss the aims of their section, but a significant minority (31%) disagree. Notably this level of agreement has fallen 9% since 2003, having remained constant since 2000. Within the core departments staff in LPS most agreed that they meet often with their line manager to discuss the aims of the section (74%), this agreement was lowest in Justice (64%).

In 2004 65% are satisfied with communications to help them to do their job effectively. This satisfaction has steadily increased since 2000 and up 8% since 2003.

Corporate Communication

80% believe it is personally important to them to find out what is going on in the wider organisation. However, there are clear indications that a significant proportion of staff do not feel that they are kept informed.

Only half (50%) agree that the SE has effective leadership from the Senior Civil Service, although this was higher than the average for other central government organisations (29%). Of further concern, is the fact that only 36% agree that the SE Senior Civil Service effectively communicates its key priorities to staff. Of the core departments this is most pronounced in OPS, with only 30% agreeing. The highest level of agreement is in ETLLD (42%).

Only around a quarter (26%) believe that key strategic discussions are undertaken in a transparent and accessible way. Furthermore, only 39% feel in touch with wider organisational developments within the SE. This is lower compared to local government organisations (53%) and other central government organisations (41%). As may be expected, staff in OPS (53%) had the greatest feeling of being in touch with wider organisational developments. Of the core departments this was least felt in ERAD (27%).

ARE WE EXPERIENCING STRESS, DISCRIMINATION OR BULLYING?

Stress

The majority (69%) reported that they have experienced stress at work over the last year. Of these 22% were stressed at work on a regular basis, whilst 47% felt that it was more of an occasional concern. 30% stated that the level of stress experienced has a negative impact on their work. As in 2003, respondents in the lower bands were found to be generally less stressed than those placed higher up the hierarchy

These findings on stress do not vary significantly from previous years, although there is a slight but steady decline in the proportion reporting experiencing regular work-related stress.

The core departments experiencing the highest levels of regular stress were LPS (29%) and FCSD (27%) and the agencies experiencing the highest levels were HMIE and Communities Scotland (both 27%).

Discrimination

81% agree that the SE currently ensures all staff are treated equally. This was more favourable than for other central government (70%) and local government organisations (73%). However, 7% of staff reported that they had experienced some form of discrimination at work in the last year. This proportion has remained constant for the past 3 years, and is marginally lower than the proportions reporting discrimination in 2000 (10%) and 2001 (8%). Within the core departments reported discrimination was slightly higher in Development and FCSD (9%), and lowest in Justice (4%).

Amongst the low proportion who experienced discrimination, approximately one in four (26%) went on to report the incident. Respondents reported varied forms of discrimination these included:

Bullying

For the first time in 2004, staff were asked if they had been subject to bullying or harassment at work within the past year - 6% of respondents reported that they had been the victim of such behaviour, compared to 12% in other central and local government organisations benchmarked. Staff were found to be more likely to report bullying or harassment than discrimination at work. Of those who had experienced bullying or harassment, 39% stated that they had reported the incident.

HOW DO WE VIEW OUR WORKING ENVIRONMENT AND FACILITIES?

Working Environment

Overall 67% are satisfied with the physical and environmental aspects of their work. This is the same as other central government organisations (67%), but higher than local government organisations (57%). Those in agencies are more satisfied with their physical environment (74%) than respondents in core departments (65%).

The majority of respondents are satisfied that they have the facilities and equipment to do their job (76%) and that lighting (67%) and cleanliness (66%) are good. Specifically, 80% are happy with the availability of ICT facilities and 77% satisfied with their ease of use. Of the physical and environmental aspects of the workplace the highest levels of dissatisfaction are with temperature/ventilation (41%), noise levels (25%), available space (25%) and working in an open-plan office (21%).

There were variances by location. Those most satisfied with physical and environmental factors were based in Thomas Thomson House (82%) and Thistle House (78%). Those least satisfied were based in Victoria Quay (60%) and Meridian Court (62%).

Both in 2003 and 2004 the vast majority of staff (94%) agree they feel 'safe at work' (the highest level of agreement since 2000). There was broad agreement (70%) that health and safety training is good at the SE, an increase of 9% since 2003.