Agenda item - Staff Survey 2016 - Results and Actions

Agenda item

Staff Survey 2016 - Results and Actions

Minutes:

The Head of Business Transformation and Human Resources and Development Officer presented a report detailing the feedback provided in the staff survey undertaken in April 2016.  Whilst presenting the report the following matters were raised for Members’ attention:

 

·                The latest staff survey had followed the format of the previous survey in order to enable officers to compare and measure the results.

·                There had been a decline in the proportion of staff completing the survey, from 33 per cent of staff in August 2013 when the survey was last conducted to 25 per cent in 2016.

·                Efforts had been made to disseminate information about the survey and to encourage staff to respond, including provision of paper copies to staff who did not have access to a computer.

·                When comparing the results it emerged that a number of improvements had been achieved since the previous survey including an increase in awareness of the Council’s strategic purposes and underpinning operational purposes.

·                The feedback was also encouraging in respect of staff confidence about reporting mental health and wellbeing difficulties.  Officers suggested that the significant action taken in the past few years to address this, including the Time to Change initiative, had had a positive impact on this.

·                However, some areas had been identified which were concerning including a reduction in staff reporting that they had the skills to do their job well, a decrease in staff reporting that they felt they could meet the needs of their customers and a fall in the number of employees reporting that they had a good working relationship with colleagues.

·                A programme board, to be chaired by the Chief Executive, had been established to co-ordinate work to address these problems.

·                There had also been 3 working groups established to address people management, meeting customer needs and organisational culture respectively.

·                Heads of Service had been provided with data pertaining to staff within their teams, though all responses had remained confidential and had not identified individual respondents.

·                The Heads of Service would be expected to identify 3 areas requiring improvement for their service areas and to devise action plans to address these.

·                All action plans would need to be presented to the programme board for consideration.

 

Once the report had been presented Members discussed a number of areas in detail:

 

·                The reasons why there had been a reduction in response rates and the extent to which this was concerning.

·                The comparable level of response rates at other local authorities and within the private sector and the potential to obtain benchmarking data.

·                The organisational culture at the Council and the impact that this might have on willingness amongst staff to complete the survey.

·                The potential to offer incentives to encourage a greater proportion of staff to complete the survey in future.

·                The approach that had been taken to comparing responses in 2013 to those in 2016 and the need to take into account the differences in the number of respondents when doing so.

·                The inclusion of data from staff employed by both Bromsgrove District Council and Redditch Borough Council in the completed responses.  Members were advised that this survey had been conducted jointly as the majority of services were shared between the 2 Councils.

·                The number of questions that had been included in the survey and the extent to which this might have discouraged some employees from taking part due to concerns about the time that would be required.

·                The potential for different sections of the survey to be circulated on a quarterly basis in order to reduce the number of questions that staff needed to answer at any given time.

·                The resource implications of undertaking staff surveys on a quarterly basis.

·                The focus of the 3 working groups and whether these would address every area of concern in terms of the organisational structure at the Council.

·                The provision of status meetings for staff, the frequency of team meetings and the extent to which this impacted on employees’ willingness to take part in initiatives like a staff survey.

·                The arrangements in place to ensure a consistent approach across the organisation to Personal Development Reviews.

·                The implications of the staff survey results for overall performance at the Council.

·                The possibility of using a traffic light system in future reports to help Members assess progress compared to previous staff survey results.

·                The potential to set targets to address in respect of the survey feedback, which could be monitored in relation to future surveys.

·                The option for the survey to be facilitated by an external independent body and the extent to which this might encourage more staff to complete those surveys.

·                The cost implications of working with an external body and the need for any costs to be clarified before taking a decision about future facilitation arrangements for the survey.

 

During consideration of this item Members discussed the potential suitability of this subject for further scrutiny.  Particular concerns were raised about the progress that had been achieved since the previous survey was circulated and the decrease in the number of responses and Members commented that a detailed investigation might help to address some of the underlying issues.  The appropriate forum for this investigation was considered and whilst Members acknowledged that the Board could review the matter there was general consensus that a Task Group would be in a better position to review this subject in detail. 

 

The specific focus of an investigation of this matter was also considered.  As part of the investigation Members agreed that it would be useful to review the feedback contained in completed surveys.  This would include considering the work of the programme board.  It would also be useful to consider lessons that could be learned in order to influence future versions of the survey and to improve participation.  In line with standard practice the terms of reference would need to be outlined in a topic proposal form.

 

The relevance of the subject to Redditch Borough Council, due to the shared nature of the survey, was also briefly considered.  Members concurred that as this involved staff working for both authorities and a scrutiny investigation could have implications for both Councils the subject might be appropriate for consideration as a joint scrutiny Task Group.  The Overview and Scrutiny Committee in Redditch was due to meet on 25th October and could be invited to consider the Board’s suggested terms of reference and to decide whether to take part in this proposed joint exercise.  In advance of this date the Chairman confirmed that he would contact the Chair of the Redditch Committee to discuss the matter further.

 

Following further discussions the Board

 

RESOLVED that

 

(1)       A Task Group review of the staff survey be established;

(2)       Councillor S. R. Colella, in consultation with the Democratic Services Officers, complete a Topic Proposal form detailing the proposed terms of reference for the review;

(3)       The proposed terms of reference be circulated electronically for the approval of Members of the Board in early October; and

(4)       Redditch Borough Council’s Overview and Scrutiny Committee be approached about the possibility of undertaking this review as a Joint Scrutiny Task Group exercise.

 

Supporting documents: