HMRC Staff Survey Published 2010

As promised here is HMRC's staff survey (published February 2010), which has yet to appear on their website.

- HMRC Full Final
- HMRC People Survey 2010

The People Survey measures employee engagement. Engaged employees feel they belong to an organisation that motivates them to do their very best. They care about its future and will put in more effort to help it meet its goals and objectives.

Across the Civil Service, the Cabinet Office measures employee engagement in three ways:
•SAY – whether someone speaks positively about their department
•STAY – whether they want to stay with their department
•STRIVE – whether they feel encouraged to support their department to deliver and
succeedt (sic page 2 has this spelling mistake)

The results are not stunning, eg:

- 18% are proud to work for HMRC
- 14% would recommend working for HMRC
- 13% feel HMRC motivates them to achieve it's (sic an error of grammar this time) objectives
- 61% didn't have confidence in the decision made by HMRC's senior managers
- 67% didn't feel that change was well managed
- 60% didn't see career development opportunities in HMRC
- 63% don't believe that HMRC managers will take action as a result of the survey
- 24% want to leave HMRC within 1 year

Page 12 shows HMRC consistently very low/at the bottom of the pile when compared to other public sector departments eg:

- bottom when asked if work gives a personal sense of accomplishment
- bottom when asked if they are proud to tell others they work for HMRC
- bottom when asked if they would recommend HMRC as a great place to work
- 95 out of 96 (almost bottom) when comparing leadership and change management

All in all a pretty dismal performance.

However, be not alarmed, Lesley Strathie (CEO) is upbeat; as per the HMRC intranet:

"Today we are publishing the results of our latest People Survey. I would like to start by thanking everyone who took part. More than 53,000 people responded, more than last year's pilot survey, and I am grateful so many of you took the time to share your views and opinions.

I am pleased to see a big rise in the number of people who find their work both interesting (73 per cent) and challenging (59 per cent). The report also shows that we have begun to make progress in ensuring our people feel involved in the important decisions that affect their work. People across our Department clearly value their colleagues and know they will support them.

The results for line managers, who are easily the biggest influence on how someone feels about their job, have continued to increase. The number of people who receive regular feedback on their performance has risen significantly (57 per cent up from 47 per cent), while 60 per cent have confidence in their manager’s decisions and 70 per cent say their manager recognises when they have done their job well. These results are a tribute to the hard work and dedication of many of our managers.

It is also reassuring that the overwhelming majority of people are clear what is expected of them in their jobs, although the results are slightly down on equivalent questions in the last survey.

Although the results in these areas are encouraging, we clearly have a considerable way to go. The survey raises a number of significant issues around the way leadership is viewed within the Department, which we will focus on in the coming months. There is also dissatisfaction with the way change is managed.

Career development is another big issue, with fewer people believing there are opportunities for them within the Department. Although 75 per cent say they have the right skills to do their jobs, only 20 per cent think the learning and development they have done at work has helped them develop their careers.

These issues are very much on our agenda and have been highlighted by the Capability Re-Review team. There are no simple or straightforward solutions to many of these issues and your support will be invaluable in helping us address them.

There is clearly a lot of information here for our senior team to examine and discuss. ExCom will be meeting later this month to discuss what you have told us and agree action. We will let you know what that means for you and your area as soon as possible (sic no fullstop)

We will be holding a staff dial-in on 17 February. ExCom and I will be very pleased to answer any questions you have and listen to your views on the actions we all need to take.

I am grateful to everyone in our People Function for the tremendous work they have done since the pilot survey and to our Engagement Champions across the Department for their support.

Finally, thank you for your participation.

Lesley Strathie
Chief executive and permanent secretary

February 2 2010"

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