A WIDE-ranging survey of Inverclyde Council staff has revealed mixed results including nearly 80 per cent saying they had job satisfaction but nearly two thirds of managers saying they had too much work to do and a third believing they did not have the tools and equipment needed for their job.

Almost a third of workers – nearly 1,400 – completed the questionnaire.

Positive results included:

-- Ninety-six per cent of respondents saying they clearly understand their job and 92% understand their duties.
-- A high percentage of employees (89%) understand how their performance affects the council’s performance, and awareness of how the work of employees contributes to the council’s aims was also high (83%). This was a significant increase from a 2009 Employee Survey when 50% of respondents said they understood how their work contributes to the council’s aims.
-- Overall job satisfaction was high (79%) and the majority of respondents said that their work gives them a sense of personal achievement (81%).
-- Communication between employees and their line manager is good -- 77% of respondents said they have good communication with their line manager.
-- A high percentage of respondents (75%) believe that the council is committed to training and developing staff.

The survey also highlighted a number of areas that could be improved:

-- Forty-two per cent of respondents don’t have a say in decisions that affect their work and 35% don’t get an opportunity to make suggestions to improve the service or to make it more efficient.
-- Fifty-per cent of respondents said they don’t get any praise for doing good work and 38% don’t get feedback on the work they do.
-- Only 39% of respondents said they had received a performance appraisal and, of them, 50% said they did not find it useful in helping them with their job.
-- Sixty-two per cent of respondents said they learn first from gossip about what is happening in the council

Forty-seven per cent said morale isn’t good within their team. A report outlining the survey findings to councillors states: “This result can partly be attributed to concerns that employees would have had over the Clyde Valley Shared Services proposal at the time the employee survey was carried out. While this is still an area of concern, the results have improved since 2009. In the 2009 survey 50% of respondents rated their own personal morale as low and 62% rated morale in the workplace as low.”

A third of staff said they don’t have the tools and equipment necessary to do their job. The report to councillors states: “This is a concern that we will have to look into in order to find out exactly what the issues are.”

Employees were, on the whole, satisfied with their working environment. Areas that employees were unhappy about were air conditioning (52%), heating (38%), ventilation (32%) and space (30%).

Almost a quarter of employees said their workload isn’t manageable. In 2009, 61% of respondents said that their workload was too heavy.

In general the relationship between members of staff and their line managers appeared to be good. However 64% of line managers said their current workload is excessive. This situation was worst in the Education and Communities Directrorate (79%).

Policy and Resources Convener and Leader of the Council Councillor Stephen McCabe said: Councillor McCabe added: "It is vital that we use all of the information gathered through the survey to address areas where improvements are needed. Inverclyde Council cannot deliver the quality services that are so important to our communities if employees are not empowered or indeed listened to. They are at the centre of everything we do and as such their views and opinions must be listened to. We are committed to addressing concerns raised by the survey and to build on our successes.”

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