Northern Territory Public Sector : People Matter Survey Report 2014
Office of the Commissioner for Public Employment reports; Reports; PublicationNT
2015
Made available via the Publications (Legal Deposit) Act 2004 (NT).
English
Northern Territory. Office of the Commissioner for Public Employment -- Periodicals; Civil service -- Northern Territory -- Personnel management -- Periodicals
Office of the Commissioner for Public Employment
Darwin
2206-0235
Check within Publication or with content Publisher.
https://hdl.handle.net/10070/259019
https://hdl.handle.net/10070/499901
68 NORTHERN TERRITORY PUBLIC SECTOR PEOPLE MATTER SURVEY REPORT 2014 0 8 | A P P E N D IX 1 UNDERSTANDING THE DIFFERENT RESPONSE SCALES USED IN THE SURVEY For most of the questions in the survey, respondents are asked to select an answer from a small number of set responses. Different response scales are used within the survey for different types of questions. Each set requires a slightly different way of reading and interpretation. Yes/No Interpreting the yes and no responses is reasonably straightforward as they provide a clear answer to the question asked. However, you should note that a yes answer is not always positive. For example, a yes response in answer to the question have you been bullied? is a cause for concern and action. The dont know answers mean that the respondent does not know if what they have experienced fits with what the question is about. In other words, the respondent is unclear about definitions. The dont know responses are worth paying attention to. In most instances, the fact that the respondent doesnt know if they have experienced something (such as receiving feedback) is significant. In the example given here, if someone doesnt know whether or not they have been given feedback, then it is likely that whatever feedback they have been given has been poorly delivered and probably ineffectual. Agreement (including dont know) In all questions with this set of answers, agree and strongly agree produce a positive result. The larger the percentage, the better. Conversely, disagree and strongly disagree responses represent a negative result. The larger the percentage for these options, the greater the cause for leadership concern and the need for leadership action. It is also important to consider the dont know responses. Having staff who do not know, for example, whether or not the workgroup strives to achieve customer satisfaction, or whether or not they should avoid conflicts of interest in their work, represents a risk. A large number of dont knows to these questions should be a cause for leadership concern and a prompt for leadership action (usually involving making staff aware of particular practices). Agreement (including neither agree nor disagree) Survey questions about employee engagement do not allow respondents to select dont know. Instead, there is the opportunity to say that they neither agree nor disagree with the statement. The percentage of respondents who select the neither option is significant. They represent staff who could easily go either way in terms of being committed to, and willing to go the extra mile for, the agency. This is particularly significant if the agency is about to experience difficult times (such as major organisational change) which may place extra demands on staff. In terms of leadership responses, actions should be developed to address both the disengaged (people who disagree or strongly disagree with the statements) and those who could easily become disengaged (people who neither agree nor disagree). Both groups represent a risk for the agency, which the latter group represents an opportunity to strengthen the agency. Engagement index These questions were sourced from the UK Civil Service (and also appear in the People Matter Survey equivalents in both the NSW and the Australian Public Service) and were developed from research performed by the UK Civil Service. The index measures five key aspects that an engaged employee should exhibit: pride, advocacy, attachment, inspiration and motivation. The higher the score, the higher the level of engagement the staff have with the agency. As a basic benchmark, in 2014, the UK Civil Service recorded an overall engagement index of 9, the Australian Public Service 62, NSW 5. In 2014 Northern Territory Sector organisations that participated in the People Matter Survey recorded an overall engagement index of 4per cent. In future years, it is expected that more emphasis will be placed on the engagement index in the reporting of People Matter Survey results including the presentation of drivers of engagement. 08 | APPENDIX 1 READING THE RESULTS