We're pleased to share that our overall response rate was 44%, a 2% increase from what we achieved last year. Thank you to everyone who took part and shared your views.
By department, we can share that the final update on response rates is:
- adult social care and health - 40%
- children's services - 40%
- corporate services and transformation - 63%
- place - 49%
These are our survey results in full:
- 94% of colleagues feel they are respected and trusted by their colleagues
- 91% of colleagues feel they are able to make a meaningful difference through their work
- 91% of colleagues believe that equality, diversity and inclusion are important to this organisation
- 90% of colleagues feel they are respected and trusted by their manager
- 85% of colleagues are proud to work for Derbyshire County Council
- 84% of colleagues have confidence in the leadership skills of their manager
- 83% of colleagues agree they have clear objectives and can see how their work contributes to the council’s overall success.
- 82% of colleagues agree that they are able to carry out their duties effectively from their work base location
- 81% of colleagues agree they have the tools and equipment they need to be effective in their role
- 81% of colleagues agree they have access to the learning and development they need to be effective in their role
- 80% of colleagues agree they have regular 1-1s with their line manager
- 80% of colleagues agree they are well informed about what's happening in their immediate work area. This reduces to 67% feeling informed about their division/directorate and department and 64% feel informed about what's happening across the council.
- 75% of colleagues would still like to be working for Derbyshire County Council in 5 years' time
- 68% of colleagues agree that their wellbeing is important to the organisation
- 66% of colleagues agree that they are involved in decisions affecting them and their work
- 65% of colleagues agree they have had a Performance Development Review with their line manager
- 63% of colleagues agree that they are valued and recognised
- 62% of colleagues agree that action has been taken at a corporate level as a result of last year’s survey and 61% agree that action has been taken within their team
- 53% of colleagues agree that they are rewarded fairly
In addition, colleagues were invited to comment with a new question asking, “If there was one thing that would make Derbyshire County Council a better place to work, what would it be?”
More than 2,500 colleagues responded to this question and this has provided some good insight to areas that colleagues are saying need more focus.
The biggest area of feedback, was around engaging leadership, which describes how we engage and communicate with colleagues, make decisions, manage change, comment about our culture, how we manage performance and help people feel more valued.
Other key areas were:
- pay and reward
- resources – where it is perceived we have over-stretched and under-resourced teams and our work environment, including ICT and equipment.
Next steps
Messages have been sent from each executive director sharing the results from their departments. Teams have been provided with access to their survey reports, and some great supporting materials for sharing team results and developing local team action plans.
Everyone can play a part in improving engagement within their teams.
Engagement forums have been held for each department throughout September and an organisation-wide forum took place on 26 September 2023. Colleagues who volunteered to get involved following submission of their survey were invited to these.
At these forums, we discussed the results in more detail and asked for views on what we can do as an organisation and within each department to make improvements. Once the plan has been agreed, it'll be shared across the council.
In addition, Emma Alexander and the executive directors held a live Teams event on 21 September 2023 to share our results and talk about next steps. These live Teams events will continue on a quarterly basis, so please keep a look-out for your invitations, which will be sent via the employee engagement inbox.