Agenda item

This report provides an update to Members of the People, Performance and Development Committee (PPDC) on the results of the Staff Survey.  This is the first SCC Staff Survey undertaken by Best Companies and will be used as a benchmark for future staff surveys.  The next survey is due to be launched in October 2016 and the results will be brought to PPDC in early 2017. The Council Overview Board has also considered the results of the survey and recommended that individual scrutiny board review the data for areas within their remit.

Declarations of interests:

None

Witnesses:

Rachel Crossley, Chief of Staff

Key points raised during the discussions:

1.    The Chief of Staff introduced the report, highlighting that the results of SCC’s first staff survey since 2011 had been largely positive, prompting Best Companies, who conducted the survey, to give SCC a ‘One to Watch’ rating. Members were informed that there were a number of areas of the survey where staff rated SCC highly including in team management and team ethic. The Staff Survey also outlined some areas where employees felt less positive about SCC. Specifically, the results of the survey demonstrated that staff perceptions of senior management; how employees felt they were remunerated by the Council as well as staff wellbeing were areas that needed to be addressed. The Committee was told that steps were already being taken by SCC through the Pay and Reward Consultation  to understand and address concerns about staff perceptions of whether they received a fair deal from the Council.

2.    The Committee requested further detail on what measures were being taken to improve perceptions of senior management among staff. The Chief of Staff stated that there may have been some ambiguity regarding who employees viewed as the leader of the organisation and this could have had some impact on the results of questions in the survey relating to senior management. Members were advised that Directorate action plans were being developed and being used to improve engagement between senior managers and staff. A significant proportion of respondents gave neutral responses (neither agree nor disagree) to questions regarding senior management of the organisation and this group is seen as critical to engage through the action plans.

3.    It was acknowledged that a significant amount of money and resources had already been committed to improving leadership culture in the organisations through coaching programmes designed to strengthen management engagement with staff across SCC. The Committee stressed the importance of ensuring that members of the senior management team are engaging with staff throughout the organisation, particularly those working in more remote parts of the County.

4.    Members highlighted the Staff Survey’s low response rate and asked what steps would be taken to improve the number of responses for the Survey that would take place in October 2016. The Committee was informed that Best Companies required that staff not be excessively encouraged to take part in the survey which had limited the extent to which SCC was able to promote the Staff Survey. This meant that awareness of the Staff Survey among employees was not as high as it could have been which therefore impacted negatively on the response rate. Plans were in place to increase awareness of the next Staff Survey primarily by highlighting the email about the survey to staff and ensuring that it doesn’t end up being treated as spam. Members emphasised the importance of informing employees how their responses to the Staff Survey will be translated into organisational change – the results and the subsequent action plans would continue to be communicated through Directorates, the intranet and the Chief Executive’s weekly email.

5.    The Committee indicated that they were encouraged by the results of the Staff Survey stating that SCC performed well in a number of important areas. Members highlighted that pay and senior leadership were often the biggest sources of complaint for employees and so it was little surprise that SCC scored lowest in these areas. Concern was expressed in regard to results in relation to the staff wellbeing and Members stressed that it was important for employees to feel they had an appropriate work/life balance. The Chief of Staff highlighted that measures were being taken across the organisation to improve wellbeing which included signing up to the Workplace Wellbeing Charter.

Actions/ further information to be provided:

i.      Chief of Staff to undertake detailed analysis of the areas of improvement identified in the results of the staff survey and to provide feedback on this analysis to the Committee (Action Ref A14/16).

RESOLVED:

The People, Performance and Development Committee noted the results of the 2015 Surrey County Council Staff Survey.