The Scottish Government

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1 Executive Summary

1.1 Response Rate

This year's survey received a response rate of 69%, which is higher than the response rate achieved in 2005 (65%) 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 (60%).

1.2 Progress on the Corporate Priorities Identified in 2005

The analysis of the 2005 survey results enabled the SE to identify the following 4 corporate priorities for improvement action:

1.2.1 Senior Management

Perceptions of senior managers do not appear to have changed substantially since 2005, with most senior management questions showing no change since 2005. Overall, 46% of respondents feel senior managers are sufficiently visible in the organisation, which is the same result as in 2005 and may explain why their perceptions of senior managers generally have changed little. Therefore it would seem that any action taken on this corporate priority has had little impact so far.

1.2.2 Internal Communications

There have been some improvements in perceptions of internal communication within the SE with several communication questions receiving higher percentage positive results this year than in 2005. There have been particular improvements in respondents feeling they have the opportunity to contribute their views to decisions that will affect their work (52% positive compared to 45% in 2005) and changes being explained to staff so they understand them before they are implemented (40% positive compared to 33% in 2005). However, the key question identified in 2005 as a communication area for action, "I think that generally the different parts of this organisation communicate effectively with one another", has seen little change since 2005 with just 23% agreeing this is the case compared to 24% in 2005.

1.2.3 Valuing staff

There has been an improvement in positive responses to the question "I believe I am valued for what I can offer the organisation" (55% positive compared to 50% in 2005). This is more positive than the Central Government benchmark comparison (43%). Linked to this, a larger proportion of respondents than in 2005 (30% positive) feel appropriately awarded for their performance in the organisation. However, there has been a 2 percentage point decline in the proportion of respondents who feel poor performance is dealt with effectively where they work with only 24% of respondents feeling this is the case.

1.2.4 Financial Management

There has been little change in perceptions of financial management within the SE with the only noticeable change in result being a decline in the perception that checks are made about the available budget before money is committed (50% positive compared to 54% in 2005). However the low positive response to questions about financial management is in the main driven by high neutral responses and is an indication that respondents are unsure or unaware of how finances are managed within the SE.

1.3 Employee Engagement

A set of 6 questions have been identified as measuring employee engagement, to measure respondents' attachment to the Scottish Executive. 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 below lists the results of the 6 engagement questions used to measure levels of engagement amongst respondents. The overall engagement score for 2006 is 57%, which is an improvement of 3 percentage points since 2005.

1.3.1 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 SE. 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.

The Key Drivers for the SE this year are the same key drivers identified in the analysis of the 2005 results and are listed below. The key drivers of engagement that the SE is performing least well on should be considered as key priorities for improvement action.

• I feel that positive action has been taken following the last Employee Survey in 2005 (28% positive - 52% neutral);
• The SE as a whole is well managed (36% positive);
• I believe I have the opportunity for personal development and growth in the SE (51% positive);
• I believe I am valued for what I can offer the organisation (55% positive);
• My work gives me a feeling of personal achievement (60% positive).

Throughout the report the engagement questions are highlighted with blue text and the key drivers of engagement are highlighted with red text.

1.4 Key Strengths

The key strengths continue to build on those identified in 2005. There has been improvement in all the key strength areas with the addition of 'Making good use of skills and abilities' to the list this year.

Team working: The majority of respondents (84%) feel their team co-operates to get the work done and most respondents (63%) feel their line manager encourages the team to work together to do a good job.

Line management: As was the case in 2005, results indicate positive line management relationships with 76% respondents indicating they have a good working relationship with their line manager.

Influence: Most respondents (76%) feel they can influence how they do their job and are fully involved in setting their work objectives (76%).

Treatment of staff: Most respondents (75%) feel they are treated with fairness and respect and feel the organisation respects individual differences (75%).

Having and making good use of skills and abilities: Most respondents (80%) feel they and staff they manage have the skills they need to achieve their objectives and an above average proportion of respondents (75%) feel their job makes good use of their skills and abilities.

1.5 Opportunities for Improvement

1.5.1 Poor performing Key Drivers of Engagement

Performance management: Perceptions of the opportunities for personal development and growth (51%) and career progression (44%) are quite poor, which is of concern considering satisfaction with opportunities for personal development and growth within the SE has been identified as a key driver of engagement. Linked to this is the fact that it seems that more needs to be done to ensure performance reviews are used not just to assess past performance but then to help respondents identify how to develop further. These issues may also be driving the fact that few respondents believe poor performance is dealt with effectively.

Senior Management: Results concerning senior management elicited high neutral scores, and over a third of respondents do not feel senior managers are sufficiently visible in the organisation. It would appear that the lack of visibility from senior managers is affecting how respondents perceive their ability to manage the organisation well (36%), and the level of confidence staff have in senior management (36%). Furthermore, perceptions of how well managed the organisation is a key driver of engagement and so it is important to tackle these issues with the aim of improving levels of engagement.

Communication: Just 23% of respondents believe different parts of the organisation communicate effectively with each other and respondents took the opportunity at the end of the questionnaire to suggest that improving communication between departments/divisions and also between management and staff would make the SE a better place to work.

Taking positive action on the results of the survey: Possibly linked to both the senior management and communication issues is the fact that only 28% of respondents feel positive action took place as a result of the last survey. Perceptions of taking positive action on the results of the survey is a key driver of engagement with the SE and so it is important that not only are positive actions taken as a result of this survey but that any action taken or not taken is communicated effectively to all staff.

1.5.2 Other Opportunities for Improvement

Financial management: Perceptions of how finances are managed within the SE are quite negative with very low positive responses to all questions about financial management in the survey. However there also appears to be a general lack of awareness of how finances are managed as these questions received very high neutral responses.

Working environment: Overall perceptions of the working environment are quite poor with a decline in satisfaction (64%) with the information and communication technology ( ICT/ IT) and noticeably below average proportions of respondents (54%) feeling their physical working environment allows them to be productive in their job.

Engagement amongst band A and B respondents: Band A and B respondents are generally less positive than band C and SCS respondents throughout the survey results and in particular are far less engaged with the SE than band C and SCS respondents - engagement index scores are far lower for band A and B respondents than band C and SCS respondents. Therefore it is crucial that improvement actions are focused towards these groups and that they are communicated with effectively to ensure they are aware of what is happening.

1.6 Section Scores

The overall percentage positive scores for each section of attitudinal questions within the questionnaire are listed in the graph below:

Note: The 2006 questionnaire included one financial management* question and 2 communication** questions not asked in 2005.

1.7 Trend Comparisons

Where possible, comparisons with previous years are made throughout the report and the graphs display comparisons specifically with 2005 to track and monitor improvement or decline on the previous year's performance.

There are 77 questions that are comparable to those asked in the 2005 survey and of those:

• 44 have improved by more than 1 percentage point
• 20 are in line with the 2005 results
• 13 have declined by more than 1 percentage point

Of the 44 questions that have improved, the 7 questions showing the most significant improvement on the 2005 results are:

• I feel positive action has been taken following the last Employee Survey in 2005 (28% positive, an improvement of 16 percentage points since 2005);
• I have the opportunity to contribute my views to decisions that will affect my work (52% positive, an improvement of 7 percentage points since 2005);
• Changes are explained to me so that I understand them before they are implemented (40% positive, an improvement of 7 percentage points since 2005);
• I feel I have job security (69% positive, an improvement of 6 percentage points since 2005);
• Information about what's going on in the organisation is relevant to me/my work (66% positive, an improvement of 5 percentage points);
• I believe I am valued for what I can offer the organisation (55% positive, an improvement of 5 percentage points since 2005);
• Information about what's going on in the organisation is communicated in a way that helps me to do my work (49% positive, an improvement of 5 percentage points).

Of the 13 questions that have declined, the 5 questions showing the most significant decline on the 2005 results are:

• I am satisfied with the training I received for my present job including coaching and on-the-job training (56% positive, a decline of 4 percentage points since 2005);
• I am satisfied with the information and communication technology ( ICT/ IT) in the Scottish Executive (64% positive, a decline of 3 percentage points since 2005);
• In my experience internal colleagues with specialist expertise are involved at appropriate stages in the development and delivery of policies (61% positive, a decline of 3 percentage points since 2005);
• I feel that I have the knowledge and skills I need to achieve my objectives (80% positive, a decline of 3 percentage points since 2005);
• Poor performance is dealt with effectively where I work (24% positive, a decline of 2 percentage points since 2005);

1.8 External Benchmark Comparisons

The results of the SE survey have been compared to two external benchmarks, where possible: the ORC International Central Government benchmark and the overall UK benchmark for all UK organisations. A list of all questions which can be compared to the benchmarks is in Appendix 2.

Of the 35 questions asked within the 2006 questionnaire that can be compared to questions within ORC International's ORC Perspectives benchmark database:

• 14 have results at least 5 percentage points higher than the Central Government benchmark;
• 17 are in line with the Central Government benchmark;
• 3 have results at least 5 percentage points lower than the Central Government benchmark;
• 1 benchmark question has not been asked by enough Central Government organisations to be able to calculate a norm.

The 14 questions that are notably higher than the Central Government benchmark are:

• I feel that I have job security (69% positive, 18 percentage points higher than the Central Government benchmark);
• The Scottish Executive does a good job of keeping me informed about matters affecting me (61% positive, 12 percentage points higher than the Central Government benchmark);
• I believe I am valued for what I can offer the organisation (55% positive, 12 percentage points higher than the Central Government benchmark);
• I have the opportunity to contribute my views to decisions that will affect my work (52% positive, 9 percentage points higher than the Central Government benchmark);
• I think this organisation respects individual differences (e.g. cultures, working styles, backgrounds and ideas) (75% positive, 8 percentage points higher than the Central Government benchmark);
• My job makes good use of my skills and abilities (75% positive, 7 percentage points higher than the Central Government benchmark);
• Overall, I think the Scottish Executive is a good organisation to work for (70% positive, 7 percentage points higher than the Central Government benchmark);
• I think it is safe to speak up and challenge the way things are done in the SE (51% positive, 7 percentage points higher than the Central Government benchmark);
• Senior Managers are sufficiently visible in this organisation (46% positive, 7 percentage points higher than the Central Government benchmark);
• The Scottish Executive as a whole is well managed (36% positive, 7 percentage points higher than the Central Government benchmark);
• I believe there are opportunities to progress in my career in the Scottish Executive, Agencies and Associated Departments (NOT SECONDEE) (44% positive, 6 percentage points higher than the Central Government benchmark);
• I am confident that, on important matters, my feelings and thoughts are communicated upwards by my manager (61% positive, 6 percentage points higher than the Central Government benchmark);
• Our team co-operates to get the work done (84% positive, 5 percentage points higher than the Central Government benchmark);
• I feel the level of stress in my job has a negative effect on my work (46% positive i.e. those that disagree with the statement, 5 percentage points higher than the Central Government benchmark).

The 3 questions that are notably below the Central Government benchmark are:

• The physical working environment allows me to be productive in my job (54% positive, 9 percentage points below the Central Government benchmark);
• Poor performance is dealt with effectively where I work (24% positive, 7 percentage points below the Central Government benchmark).
• My line manager communicates effectively to give me the information I need to do a good job (62% positive, 5 percentage points below the Central Government benchmark).

In comparison to the UK benchmarks:

• 6 have results at least 5 percentage points higher than the UK benchmark
• 17 are in line with the UK benchmark
• 12 have results at least 5 percentage points lower than the UK benchmark

The 6 questions that are notably higher than the UK benchmark are:

• I feel that I have job security (69% positive, 15 percentage points higher than the UK benchmark);
• The Scottish Executive does a good job of keeping me informed about matters affecting me (61% positive, 11 percentage points higher than the UK benchmark);
• My work gives me a feeling of personal accomplishment (60% positive, 9 percentage points higher than the UK benchmark);
• I have the opportunity to contribute my views to decisions that will affect my work (52% positive, 9 percentage points higher than the UK benchmark);
• I think this organisation respects individual differences (e.g. cultures, working styles, backgrounds and ideas) (75% positive, 5 percentage points higher than the UK benchmark);
• I am confident that, on important matters, my feelings and thoughts are communicated upwards by my manager (61% positive, 5 percentage points higher than the UK benchmark).

The 12 questions that are notably below the UK benchmark are:

• My last performance review helped me to identify ways I can develop further (44% positive, 16 percentage points below the UK benchmark);
• Overall I have confidence in the senior managers in the Scottish Executive (36% positive, 11 percentage points below the UK benchmark);
• The physical working environment allows me to be productive in my job (54% positive, 11 percentage points below the UK benchmark);
• Overall, the team is well managed (62% positive, 11 percentage points below the UK benchmark);
• My work gives me a feeling of personal achievement (60% positive, 9 percentage points below the UK benchmark);
• I am satisfied with the training I received for my present job including coaching and on-the-job training (56% positive, 8 percentage points below the UK benchmark);
• I feel that change is managed well in the Scottish Executive (26% positive, 7 percentage points below the UK benchmark);
• I receive regular and constructive feedback on my performance (50% positive, 7 percentage points below the UK benchmark);
• Overall, I am satisfied with my job (62% positive, 6 percentage points below the UK benchmark);
• I believe I have the opportunity for personal development and growth in the SE (51% positive, 6 percentage points below the UK benchmark);
• I am proud to work for the SE (NOT SECONDEE) (60% positive, 6 percentage points below the UK benchmark);
• My line manager communicates effectively to give me the information I need to do a good job (62% positive, 6 percentage points below the UK benchmark);

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