A presentation will be given concerning the Results of the Staff Survey.
Minutes:
Matthew Hodges (Project and Practice Support Officer: Legal Services) gave a presentation to the Committee regarding the results of the Staff Survey. It was noted that 62.2% of staff had completed the survey. The presentation commenced with an update regarding Demographics, New Starters, Communication and Public Facing Roles. It was noted that 70% of staff were in a role which involved some form of public contact; staff were confident in their engagement with the public but many had encountered hostility. Resultantly, staff felt that they would benefit from de-escalation training and more robust working policies. They felt that the Council should provide clearer information to the public and that there should be more informed communication from Members and managers. Staff also felt that there was a need for safer meeting spaces and better equipment.
The survey showed that staff experience with the BT Helpdesk was positive and that Sharepoint usage was limited. Staff felt that more time was required to attend training sessions.
With respect to Safety, Support and Wellbeing, staff felt generally safe, but 13% reported not receiving the necessary equipment which consisted of mainly alarms and PPE. Start requested more robust lone working policies and increased security in the Civic Centre. They felt that there should be a greater investment in the office environment. About half the staff surveyed said that they were regularly unable to take breaks. A discussion took place amongst Members and officers as to why staff felt that they were unable to take breaks. It seemed to be the case that there was no one actually preventing staff from taking breaks, but some staff may have felt unable to do so because of pressures from workload. A Member asked how the Staff Survey was conducted and it was reported that it was done through Microsoft Forms.
It was reported that 56% of staff had caring responsibilities, but 12% of those with responsibilities were not able to work flexibly. In terms of Equality, Diversity and Inclusion, the majority of staff felt that they were being fairly treated but over 1/3 had reported that no EDI conversations had taken place within their team meetings. Only 41% of staff knew who their Departmental Representatives were and only 18% knew who their Trade Union representatives were.
Some comparisons with the previous survey were undertaken and the data showed that 62% found it hard to connect with teams remotely in 2021, but this had fallen dramatically to 22% in 2022. In 2021, 56% of people had struggled with mental and physical health but this had improved and was now down to 30%. The number of people who had felt lonely or isolated in 2021 had now also decreased.
A summary was provided of the next steps that would be taken in communicating the results of the survey across the Council. The presentation ended with a summary of recommended actions based on the results of the survey which were as follows:
· Review and raise the profile of staff representatives, EDI Champions, Departmental Representatives and Mental Health First Aiders.
· Make sure that staff are made aware of who the EDI Champion is and what their role is and that they're able to talk to them regarding issues of unfair treatment.
· Repromote the ‘It's OK’ campaign to help encourage people to talk about mental health issues.
· Reintroduce the ‘Telephone Lottery’.
· Greater promotion of the expected public contact standards/protocols both to the public and staff--on site and online.
· Continue to share the Flexible Working Policy to managers with a dedicated Managers’ Briefing
· Ensure that ‘Equality’ is on the agenda at individual and departmental meetings, starting with COE and CLT
· Promotion of Departmental Representatives by the new corporate graduates
· Ensure that the cleanliness and hygienic resources at the Civic Centre remain at good levels and that disrepair is addressed to help the site feel welcoming.
Mr Carver said that actions to raise the profile of Departmental Representatives were already underway and progressing positively.
A discussion took place regarding the nature and frequency of staff surveys. The Director of HR expressed the view that staff surveys should be bi-annually and should be thematic. The Chairman felt that short surveys were more popular and the Assistant Director for HR said that it was important to allow plenty of time for a response. A Member commented that ‘tick box’ questions should be avoided and that there should be space for comments. The Project and Practice Support Officer pointed out that if the survey used spaces for additional comments the downside of this was that it made analysis more difficult.
RESOLVED that the Results of the Staff Survey be noted.