Response rates
We had a successful increase in response rates this year, with 42% of all employees participating in our employee survey, an increase of 7.5% from our December 2020 survey (34.5%). The response rates for the departments were as follows:
- Adult Social Care and Health – 36%
- Children’s Services – 37%
- Corporate Services and Transformation – 60%
- Place – 51%
Engagement Index score
The council Engagement Index score is 74. An index is a relative measure to enable comparison of performance across teams and over time.
This is a new measure based on a calculation which enables us to start measuring engagement year on year. The Engagement Index (EI) is not a percentage, it’s a composite score against an EI maximum value of 100. The EI is generated from the 10 questions relating to employee engagement.
The responses to these questions were based on a four-point Likert scale where: 'Strongly Agree' = 4, 'Agree' = 3, 'Disagree' = 2 and 'Strongly Disagree' = 1. This gives us a total score ranging from 10 to 40 for each employee.
Using these totals (which may be calculated at individual, team or organisation level), scores are multiplied by a factor of 2.5 (100/40) to convert to the EI value. So the score for each individual will range from 10 to 40, but the EI will range from 25 to 100. This means that the lowest possible score a team could get is 25 and the highest possible score is 100. The Engagement Index score by department is as follows:
- Adult Social Care and Health – 71
- Children’s Services – 76
- Corporate Services and Transformation – 74
- Place – 73
This is a really positive result and, though there are some areas we do need to focus on, it does show that people generally feel quite positive about working here.
Survey question results
On the 10 engagement questions, employees were asked to rate their responses using the following options: strongly agree, agree, disagree and strongly disagree.
- 'I am rewarded fairly' - 54% agreed or strongly agreed that they are rewarded fairly
- 'I am involved in decisions that affect me and my work' - 68% agreed or strongly agreed that they are involved in decisions that affect them
- 'I am valued and recognised' - 69% agreed or strongly agreed that they are valued and recognised
- 'I am supported and cared for' - 79% agreed or strongly agreed that they feel supported and cared for
- 'I have clear objectives and can see how my work contributes to the council’s overall success' - 80% agreed or strongly agreed that they have clear objectives
- 'I have access to the learning and development that I need to be effective in my role' - 83% agreed or strongly agreed that they have access to learning and development
- 'I have access to the tools and equipment that I need to be effective in my role' - 83% agreed or strongly agreed that they have the tools and equipment they need
- 'I am proud to work for Derbyshire County Council' - 86% agreed or strongly agreed that they are proud to work for Derbyshire County Council
- 'I am treated with respect and trust by my manager' - 91% agreed or strongly agreed that their manager treated them with respect and trust
- 'I am treated with respect and trust by my colleagues' - 95% agreed or strongly agreed that their colleagues treated them with respect and trust
In addition, there was a question on mental wellbeing:
- 'How would you rate your mental wellbeing right now?' - 67% felt positive about their wellbeing
Next steps
The results show that there are 3 priority areas we need to develop our organisation action plan around this year, as they are the lowest scoring. These are:
- “I am rewarded fairly” (54%)
- “I am involved in decisions that affect me and my work” (58%)
- “I am valued and recognised” (69%)
We'll be focusing on these 3 areas at our department and organisation engagement forums and producing an action plan to address these over this year. All teams will receive a copy of their results and will run engagement and action planning sessions that focus on improving their top 3 priority areas, according to their results.
For the majority of teams, this will be the same 3 priority areas we are focusing on at organisation level. However, as “I am rewarded fairly” is not something that managers can necessarily action at a local level, the advice is to select the next lowest-scoring question. For most teams, that will be the mental wellbeing question.
Leaders will be provided with supporting materials to help them get the most out of these sessions. We would encourage everyone to get involved and to work together to make improvements on the key issues arising from these sessions and the survey feedback.
Colleagues from across the council volunteered to take part in these forums and we involved them in discussing our survey results and getting their views and ideas on what we can do to improve in these key areas.