We had more than 2,600 responses, which is 21% of our workforce. We recognise that we did not hear from everyone, and will make every attempt to increase the number of people who respond next time.
We've now had the opportunity to analyse your answers and we've grouped your responses into 6 main areas. You can find out what the feedback was to the questions we asked, and what we are planning to do about what you said.
Asking our employees what they think about working for us is very important for us and is part of our enterprising council approach.
We want our employees to think and do things differently and we will support you to embrace change and the new opportunities it brings. The employee surveys are part of how we find out what support you need to do your job in a more flexible and agile way.
We recognise that we need to develop our approach to leadership. We want to develop leadership skills at all levels, and to help with this we have set up leadership forums, where we can share with our leaders and senior managers what we require from them.
You can find out more about our enterprising council approach.
Your manager
We asked several questions about your manager, and the results were really positive.
My manager supports me and my team to do a good job:
- 76% agreed
- 13% neither agreed or disagreed
- 11% disagreed
I feel confident to raise any issues and concerns with my manager:
- 77% agreed
- 10% neither agreed or disagreed
- 13% disagreed
My manager regularly reviews the quality of my work:
- 65% agreed
- 18% neither agreed or disagreed
- 17% disagreed
My manager regularly gives me feedback on how I do my job:
- 61% agreed
- 19% neither agreed or disagreed
- 20% disagreed
My manager is able to help me improve the quality of my work:
- 63% agreed
- 20% neither agreed or disagreed
- 17% disagreed
My manager encourages me to come up with ideas for doing things differently:
- 62% agreed
- 20% neither agreed or disagreed
- 18% disagreed
We're really pleased with these results and think that they reflect really well on our managers.
We recognise that it's important to make sure that all our managers have the skills to lead their teams. To do that we are:
- developing a set of expectations that all managers must meet
- workshops for managers - we're piloting these in September
- offering management apprenticeship opportunities
- making sure all our systems and processes support managers
- reviewing the My Plan approach
- bringing together all information on training into one place through the new Derbyshire Learning Online system
Learning and skills
We asked 2 questions about learning and skills, with the results both positive.
I have opportunities to take part in learning and development activities that help me to do my job:
- 66% agreed
- 17% neither agreed or disagreed
- 16.9 % disagreed
I am given opportunities to develop my skills:
- 60% agreed
- 20% neither agreed or disagreed
- 20% disagreed
We are going to look at new ways to offer opportunities for learning which do not always mean training in a classroom. These could be things like someone being coached or mentored or using appropriate eLearning.
My Plan
Sixty-five per cent of employees said they have an annual My Plan, with 5% saying they did not know what a My Plan is.
The rates for each of our departments saying they have a My Plan does vary:
- ETE – 88%
- CCP – 70%
- Children's Services – 65%
- Adult Care – 48%
We are going to:
- review the My Plan approach so that it is flexible and meets the needs of different services and the staff they employ
- support leaders to develop the skills to deliver effective My Plans
Performance and improvement
We were interested to hear the views of our employees about what they feel about performance and improvement.
The right support is in place to help me succeed:
- 51% agreed
- 26% neither agreed or disagreed
- 23% disagreed
I am given a clear set of targets to work towards:
- 56% agreed
- 24% neither agreed or disagreed
- 20% disagreed
I have a clear sense of what my service is trying to achieve:
- 73% agreed
- 13% neither agreed or disagreed
- 14% disagreed
I feel my role contributes to what we are trying to achieve as a team:
- 78% agreed
- 13% neither agreed or disagreed
- 9% disagreed
There is a culture of continual improvement in my service:
- 50% agreed
- 24% neither agreed or disagreed
- 26% disagreed
We are going to:
- make sure that all services are clearer about what they need to do to deliver the priorities of the council - this will then mean that managers are clearer about the role of their team
- continually review our systems and processes and streamline them to make things less complicated
- support our managers to introduce continuous improvement activities within their teams
Council plan and purpose
We wanted to know if you knew about the Council Plan.
The council has a clear plan:
- 44% agreed
- 37% neither agreed or disagreed
- 20% disagreed
I know what the council's plan is:
- 41% agreed
- 31% neither agreed or disagreed
- 28% disagreed
The council works as one organisation with a common aim and purpose:
- 29% agreed
- 34% neither agreed or disagreed
- 37% disagreed
We are going to:
- expect our managers to make sure that their teams understand that the council has a plan
- take every opportunity when communicating with our employees to remind them of the plan, and what it means for their services.
- expect managers to make sure their staff are aware of their own part of their department's service plan, which help to deliver the council plan
Pride in working for Derbyshire
Sixty-four per cent said they feel proud to work for us, with 25% neither agreeing or disagreeing and 11% disagreeing.
We're really pleased that such a high number of employees are proud to work for us.