For the first time all government departments will ask their staff the same questions, giving Civil Service leaders the chance to get the best possible picture of what works and what doesn’t across the entire organisation.
Senior managers will then use the results to focus resources and expertise where they are most needed, making frontline public services more efficient and effective.
The efficiencies begin with the survey itself – in previous years departments have carried out their own engagement surveys, but sharing the same system across the whole Civil Service will save around 35 per cent in administration costs.
Mervyn Thomas, director of HR at the Department for Transport and programme sponsor for the survey, believes employee engagement is crucial for staff to achieve their potential and makes organisations more innovative and efficient.
He said: “I’m delighted that the Civil Service is undertaking Britain’s largest-ever employee engagement survey.
“It will give Civil Service managers an enhanced opportunity to fully understand the issues that are most important to all our staff, be they policy officials, JobCentre Plus workers, prison officers or coastguards. “By launching a survey on this scale the Civil Service will not only improve the public services we deliver but also set a positive example for other employers,” he added.
The survey runs until 10 November and asks Civil Servants to comment on issues ranging from strength of management to training and development needs.
The MacLeod Review of Employee Engagement, published by the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills earlier this year, stressed the importance of employers engaging with their staff and called on government to promote the practice.
The survey aims to reinforce the commitment of the Civil Service to realising the benefits of employee engagement.
