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NEWS
February/March 2014 • www.esb.ie/em
ESB “Have Your Say” Survey
The Have Your Say staff-wide survey took place in September 2013. Staff were asked to complete questionnaires online and via paper, where online was not possible. In total, 3,265 participants took part in the survey - which means that 57.7% of us took the opportunity to ‘Have our Say'.
ESB CONDUCTS staff surveys at intervals in order to capture the opinions and feelings of staff on many issues affecting their daily work lives. The survey provides an opportunity to all employees to express how they feel about working at ESB -and to staff and managers, it provides an opportunity to work together to make changes that positively impact on the working environment. In September 2013, a company wide staff survey was carried out. Previous to this, the last company wide staff survey was carried out in November 2011.
The survey was carried out through our survey partners, ORC International. In total, 3,265 employees took part out of 5,662 - which means that 57.7% of us took the opportunity to “Have our Say”.
The survey was used to measure employee engagement levels across the organisation. The results of the survey are now available and you should be hearing about this from your local manager soon. Doing the survey and getting the results are only the beginning of the process required to make real positive change to workplaces at ESB. The action we take now using the survey results, within teams and by management, is where the real value in a staff survey lies.
Employee engagement benefits the organisation and the employee.
1 An engaged employee is fulfilled at work: they enjoy their job, their place of work and believe in what they are doing. Given the amount of time we spend in our workplaces, this has a positive impact on our health and well-being.
2 An engaged workforce improves business performance: customer service improves, health and safety incidents decline, sickness/absence reduces and the business becomes more profitable.
Results and getting to action
The results have been provided in the form of reports at the various levels. Prior to the survey, we reflected the team breakdown across the organisation in the survey system. Where these teams generated returns of ten or more, a report will issue. The reports show the engagement score for the team, the highest and the lowest scoring areas and those areas that are most changed from the previous survey or from the overall business unit scores. The reports also cover the results for each of the questions. The reports are easy to read and interpret so that everyone can use the reports to form their own view on what action is required.
When looking at the results it is important to note the areas of strength as well as those areas that require attention. Both of these vary somewhat across the organisation, but there are general themes coming through. In general engagement with the job and team are higher, with manager slightly lower and organisation considerably less.
“I want to thank all of those who took part, shared their views and offered their opinions. The results provide us with a clear insight into what is going well and where we need to focus for improvement. What really matters now is the actions that happen as a result of this. These actions will be needed at every level and within every team. I am asking all managers across the business to share the results with their teams, and then agree and implement the actions that are a priority for the team”. - Pat Naughton, Group People & Sustainability Director
“The results show there is a disconnect between the staff and the senior leadership in terms of confidence in decisions and the strategy and direction of the company. This concerns me and I see these results as a real opportunity to address this. Our business has been through considerable change over the past number of years and we haven't brought all our staff on this journey. As I said in my letter to staff before Christmas, I believe we can work together to rebuild relationships and to continue to build a strong ESB. My commitment to all staff on foot of this survey, is to use what the survey is telling us, to better understand how we need to engage with staff across the company to involve everyone in our future. I want all staff to see the value of their contribution to the overall business and that in their areas of the organisation, their ideas and innovations are really valuable to ESB”. - Pat O'Doherty, Chief Executive
Change for the better
The results show that only 35% believe action will be taken on the issues raised though the survey. The Chief Executive, his Executive Director Team, along with the Senior Management across the organisation are committed to ensuring that action at all levels takes place. With just 37% of those who took part, having confidence in the strategy and direction of ESB, there is action required at the senior team level to address this.
For more information please contact Sarah Claxton, Employee Engagement Diversity & Communications Lead, ESB Group People & Sustainability. Email: sarah.claxton@esb.ie
