Our high scoring responses
These are the areas that colleagues felt most positive about:
- 94% of colleagues feel they are respected and trusted by their colleagues
- 90% of colleagues feel they are respected and trusted by their manager
- 90% of colleagues feel they are able to make a meaningful difference through their work
- 86% of colleagues believe they have access to all the training, resources and support they need to prioritise their safety at work.
Our most improved response
- 84% of colleagues have regular 1-1s with their manager – a 3% increase from last year.
These are fantastic results that we should be really proud of and celebrate.
Our lowest scoring responses
We do have areas that we can continue to improve on. The lowest four responses remain the same as last year, although there are some positive improvements.
We also acknowledge a reduction in colleagues who agree that action has been taken as a result of last year’s survey at an organisational level – down from 54% to 53% – and recognise we need to improve on these key areas:
- 49% of colleagues agree that they are rewarded fairly – the same as last year
- 62% of colleagues agree that they are valued and recognised – a 2% increase from last year
- 63% of colleagues agree that they are involved in decisions that affect them and their work – the same as last year
- 67% of colleagues believe their wellbeing is important to the organisation – a 1% increase from last year
It is also clear that we need to improve our communication, so you are well informed about what is happening in your division, department and the council.
In addition to these results, colleagues were asked “What one improvement would make Derbyshire County Council a better place to work?”. More than 2,200 colleagues responded to this question (60% of all survey responses), and this has provided some real insight into areas that colleagues are saying need more focus.
The key themes include:
- Pay and reward: Pay rise in line with other local authorities, cost of living and inflation; support for the continuation of flexible working; and suggestions for reviews of policies and our benefit programmes.
- Management and leadership: Improved communication; involvement, input and communication on decision making; leadership skills, behaviour and visibility; more progress towards a one council approach; top-heavy management structure; and concerns raised around our new administration.
- Communication: Improvement of council-wide communication; cross-departmental communication; and better leadership and management communication.
- Work environment: Unsuitable workspace and facilities; lack of tools and resources; and a need for investment in technology and systems.
- Wellbeing and workload: Increased workload impacting on wellbeing; and colleagues and teams not feeling valued.
- Learning and development: More quality training and development opportunities.
- Recruitment and staffing: Need for shorter recruitment times; and improved recruitment processes and systems.
- Financial challenges: Impact of service decisions and reviews relating to budget cuts; feelings of uncertainty; and more funding needed.
Next steps
Leaders will receive their team results, including the anonymous verbatim comments, in September.
They will follow this up with you and your team to discuss the results and develop a local action plan, outlining how you will work together to address any possible issues or improve the things that already work well in your team.
Through the survey, more than 200 colleagues volunteered to more regularly share their views throughout the year and we have already been in contact with these individuals.
We will shortly invite our volunteers to focus groups to help shape our organisation-wide engagement roadmap.
We’re now taking some time to plan how, as one council, we can build on the positive responses and make improvements where you’ve told us we need to.
Thanks again for your contribution!