A majority of civil servants are proud to say they are a government worker and are highly engaged. That revelation comes from the preliminary results of an engagement survey conducted in October by the Portfolio of Civil Service shows an overall engagement level of 67 percent.
The review is the largest and most comprehensive engagement survey conducted by the Civil Service. Sixty one percent of core civil servants (a total of 2,278 people) participated in the voluntary survey, which was distributed and managed by an independent survey company.

Carried out as part of the 5-Year Strategic Plan set to launch in 2018, the survey aims to assess employees’ views on a wide range of issues which impact their overall engagement including pay and benefits, leadership and managing change, organizational culture, resources and workload, and learning and development.

“We have an ambitious plan to be a world class civil service, and I believe it’s an achievable goal” says Deputy Governor, Hon. Franz Manderson. “A key component of that plan is to have a team of engaged civil servants who are ready and able to make a difference in the lives of those we serve.”

Headline results of the survey show that in addition to feeling engaged, there is positive sentiment regarding individual job fulfilment, with the majority of participants (74%) being both interested and challenged by their work, as well as gaining a sense of “personal accomplishment”.

On the team level, participants indicated that their co-workers are reliable, collaborative, encouraging and respectable. There are also favorable views of leaders, with participants indicating their managers are considerate and open, and expressing confidence in management decisions.
When looking at big-picture goals, participants had a positive view of how their work contributes to meeting organisational objectives, as well as plans to improve the civil service.

While the overall results were positive, sentiments on compensation, taking action and managing change did not fare as well. Noting that this result was not unexpected, the portfolio has begun developing a strategy to address those concerns in the future.

Overall the portfolio is pleased with the results of the survey says Chief Office Gloria McField-Nixon.
“We are very pleased with the insights we’ve gained from the service. We now have a better grasp of what we are doing well, what we need to improve, and how we will approach our efforts in the coming years.”

Results from individual Ministries and Departments are expected in the coming weeks, which will allow local managers to take action for their teams. The portfolio plans to conduct the survey annually to measure the internal impact of efforts to implement the 5-year strategic plan.

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IMAGE: Government Admin Building