Press release
Minister McGrath Launches the 2020 Civil Service Employee Engagement Survey Report
From Department of Public Expenditure, NDP Delivery and Reform
Published on
Last updated on
From Department of Public Expenditure, NDP Delivery and Reform
Published on
Last updated on
The Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform, Michael McGrath, TD, today, Friday 14th May 2021 published the 2020 Civil Service Employee Engagement Survey Report .
The 2020 Civil Service Employee Engagement Survey was conducted in September 2020.
This report is the third in a series of three surveys carried out in 2015, 2017 and 2020 to measure staff perception on a number of themes including; employee engagement, commitment to the organisation, well-being and coping with change.
This survey has gained the highest response rate to the three surveys conducted to date, with 26,822 civil servants (65% of the workforce) responding. This is a 26 point increase on the 2015 survey.
Speaking today the Minister said:
“I am pleased to announce the launch of the 2020 Civil Service Employee Engagement Survey report. This is the third report in a series of three surveys and it provides us with a rich body of data to inform future policy development”
The Minister further added:
“As we are all aware, the challenges of the last 14 months have demonstrated the necessity of a responsive, agile and professional Civil Service. This report highlights the improvements and gains that have been made as a result of the Civil Service Renewal Plan and demonstrates the worth of undertaking engagement surveys to measure staff perceptions. It also shows us that work is still needed to address challenging areas. The forthcoming Civil Service Renewal 2030 Strategy will continue to build upon the successes of the Civil Service Renewal Plan to address these challenges. I would like to thank everyone who took the time to have their say.”
The results of the 2020 survery are very positive with improvements in 21 out of the 23 themes since 2015.
The results reflect the impact of the Civil Service Renewal Plan and the interventions implemented by organisations in response to their 2015 and 2017 survey results.
It provides in a rich body of data which will inform the development of future policies and initiatives with respect to employee well-being and workplace supports.
The results compare well with the results of similarly-focused consultations held internationally.
ENDS
Notes for Editors
What is the Civil Service Employee Engagement Survey?
Under Action 25 of the Civil Service Renewal Plan, the Civil Service is committed to carrying out a series of three biennial surveys, beginning in September 2015, and followed by another survey in 2017. The survey is developed and run by the Central Statistics Office. It asks civil servants for their views on working in the Civil Service, focusing on areas such as employee engagement, well-being, coping with change, and commitment to the organisation. Departments and Offices put in place a variety of initiatives in response to the results. This most recent survey was run from Monday 14th September and ran until Friday 2nd October 2020, and included a module regarding Civil Service Departments and Offices responses to, and staff experiences of, working remotely during COVID-19. The results of this module were published at the COVID-19 Remote Working Report published in December 2020.
What are the Key Findings of the 2020 Civil Service Employee Engagement Survey Report?
Positive findings:
1. Scores for 21 of the 23 themes measured have increased from their 2015 level and reflect the impact of the Civil Service Renewal Plan and the interventions implemented by organisations in response to their 2015 and 2017 survey results. These positive results also reflect the value of the interventions implemented by the Civil Service Management Board (CSMB) since 2017.
2. The Civil Service reacted positively to the challenges of COVID-19:
The 2020 survey was held in September-October 2020 when approximately 50% of the Civil Service was working remotely. Despite these challenges staff reported feeling the same levels of competence as in 2017 (2015: 80%, 2017: 79%, 2020: 79%).
3. The Civil Service is becoming a more innovative place to work:
Innovative Climate at 55% is no longer in the top 5 most challenging results and has improved 10 points since 2015 (2015: 45%, 2017: 49%). Just under half (49%) of civil servants feel that their organisation is quick to make changes when they are necessary. This is up from 33% in 2017. Continued leadership in making innovation a core characteristic of the Civil Service will ensure that this upward trend continues.
4. Civil servants continue to feel highly engaged:
A key aim of this survey was to measure levels of engagement. Engagement levels across the Civil Service continue to be high (2015: 70%, 2017: 72%, 2020: 75%) and show that civil servants have a strong sense of connection with their work. The increase in response rates from 56% in 2017 to 65% in 2020 is in itself an indicator of increase in engagement by civil servants and an appreciation of the value of consultation and subsequent action.
5. Civil servants feel more positive about the impact of their work:
The overall theme score for Citizen Impact has improved again (2015: 68%, 2017: 70%, 2020: 73%). Feelings of making a positive difference to citizens’ lives and awareness of how their work benefits the public have both experienced significant increases. The widely publicised continuity of service delivery during the COVID-19 pandemic may have contributed to this positive increase.
6. Themes which were lowest in 2017 have all experienced positive increases:
Themes with the lowest scores in the 2017 Employee Engagement Survey have all experienced large increases. Improvements in these challenging areas are evidence of ongoing improvements as a result of the Civil Service Renewal Plan. These improvements also reflect the commitment made by the Civil Service Management Board following the 2017 Survey to continue to tackle these areas.
7. Civil servants are becoming more positive about the leadership of their organisations:
Staff are becoming more positive about Senior Leadership in their organisation (2015: 50%, 2017: 55%, 2020: 59%). Sustained interventions will ensure leadership scores continue to improve.
8. Civil servants have reported that social supports remain strong despite the challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic:
Although staff have reported that social supports have slightly regressed since the 2017 Survey (2015: 70%, 2017: 72%, 2020: 71%) this remains one of the more positive results in the survey. The slight decrease is most likely a result of not being able to work from the office during the COVID-19 pandemic which could potentially hamper relationship building.
Challenging findings.
9. Civil servants continue to feel that the involvement culture in the Civil Service could be strengthened:
Although this theme has improved by 5 points since the 2015 survey, Involvement Climate (2015: 36%, 2017: 38%, 2020: 41%) remains the most challenging result from the 2020 survey. This result shows that only a minority of civil servants feel openly involved in decision making in their organisation.
10. Civil Servants continue to feel that the public does not value their contribution:
Although this theme has improved by 11 points since the 2015 survey (2015: 33%, 2017: 38%, 2020: 44%) the majority of staff continue to feel that the public does not value the work of the Civil Service. This challenging finding stands in contrast to the results of the Civil Service Customer Service Survey 2019 and previous iterations which have consistently shown that citizens are highly satisfied with the work of the Civil Service.
11. A level of frustration with the promotion process is evident amongst civil servants:
Only 42% of staff believe that they will have the opportunity to be promoted if they perform well, while only 36% of staff believe that their Department has a clear and fair promotion process. More experienced staff are less positive about the transparency of the promotion process. Senior managers are generally more positive than colleagues at lower grades with less than 40% of EOs and COs (39% and 38% respectively) agreeing that they have all the opportunities they need for promotion.
12. Civil servants continue to feel unhappy with how performance is managed:
Scores under this theme have improved by 9 points since 2015 (2015: 44%, 2017: 48%, 2020: 53%) but it remains one of the more challenging themes in the survey. Only 20% of respondents agreed that poor performance is effectively addressed throughout their Department (2015: 12%, 2017: 15%), with just 46% agreeing that people in their Department are held accountable for achieving goals and meeting expectations (2015: 35%. 2017: 40%).
Contact:
Claire Godkin - Press Officer, Department of Public Expenditure and Reform - 085 806 3969