Chapter 3: Job satisfaction, communication and productivity

Abbreviations

A list of the abbreviations used in this report is available in the Glossary

Communication

The State of the Service Report 2004–05 identified communication as one of the key factors that influences employee engagement. This influence operates through:

the extent to which an employee thinks their opinion counts
employees’ understanding of the connection between their own work and the organisation’s strategy
clearly articulated organisational goals.

The importance of effective communication to a healthy organisation was also highlighted in work prepared by the Commission for the Public Service Commissioners’ Conference, which drew together views across jurisdictions and from the relevant literature on the early detection of unhealthy symptoms in underperforming agencies.

One indication of a healthy organisation identified was the effective communication of organisational purpose, strategies and vision to all employees. Conversely, underperforming agencies may suffer from poor communication of organisational purpose, strategies and vision to all employees, lack a clearly articulated and understood ‘culture’, and be staffed by employees who have lost sight of the outcomes sought.

This section reports employee survey findings that relate to these aspects of communication. This year’s employee survey included a range of new questions that focused on aspects of communication specifically related to the issue of employee engagement. For this reason, analysis of historical trends is not possible for some aspects of communication discussed below.

Workplace consultation

Results from the employee survey indicate there is some room for improvement in employee perceptions of the extent to which their opinion counts at work.

Less than half of employees (41%) agreed with the statement ‘My agency involves employees in decisions about their work. ’Twenty-eight per cent of employees neither agreed nor disagreed and 29% of employees disagreed.

Similarly, just under half (48%) of APS employees were satisfied with the overall say they have in decisions that impact on their work. This was up slightly from 45% in 2005.

This year there was a decline, from 55% to 48%, in the proportion of employees agreeing with the statement ‘My input is adequately sought and considered about decisions that directly affect me.’

The Tasmanian, Western Australian and Victorian¹¹ jurisdictions have also asked a similar question of their employees. While caution needs to be exercised in making comparisons, the results are summarised in Table 3.7. Rates of agreement among APS employees that my input is adequately sought and considered about decisions that directly affect me were lower than in the other jurisdictions. However, the proportion of employees who disagree was similar. The main difference seems to be among those employees who neither agree nor disagree.

Table 3.7 Level of agreement by employees that input is adequately sought and considered about decisions that directly affect them, 2005–06
Jurisdiction	Strongly agree/ Agree (%)	Neither agree nor disagree (%)	Strongly disagree/ Disagree (%)	Don’t know/ Does not apply /Not sure (%)	Missing
Tasmania	61	17	23
Western Australia	60	11	26	1	2
Victoria	55	20	25
APS	48	26	25
Source: 2006 Employee survey; 2005 jurisdictional input, 2006 jurisdictional input for WA

Analysis of the employee survey results confirmed the importance of satisfaction with communication within an agency to overall levels of employee engagement. Employees’ satisfaction with the decisions that impact on their work was related to agreement/satisfaction with a range of employee engagement factors.

Understanding the connection between work and organisational strategy and objectives

Employees were much more positive about their understanding of the connection between their own work and the organisation’s strategy, and the extent to which they know what is expected of them at work, than about workplace consultation.

A high proportion (92%) of employees indicated that they have a clear understanding of how their job contributes to their work team’s role, a very positive result, reflecting a strong emphasis on this issue in the APS in recent years. A high proportion (87%) of employees also indicated that they clearly understand what is expected of them in their job.

Eighty-four per cent of employees indicated that they have a clear understanding of how their work team’s role contributes to their agency’s strategic directions. Results for this question varied according to Indigenous status, with only 55% of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander employees agreeing that they have a clear understanding of how their work team’s role contributes to their agency’s strategic direction. This difference was largely explained by a much higher neither agree nor disagree response (42%). Relatively small numbers of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander employees were included among respondents to the survey, but given the size of the difference, the result is still of concern.

Reflecting the overall APS employee survey results against these questions, there was also a high rate of employee satisfaction against the composite ‘Understanding current role’ factor.¹² Of the ten employee engagement factors, employees were most satisfied with this factor (84%). Large agency results ranged from 75% to 92%.

Satisfaction with the ‘Understanding current role’ factor was positively related to results on a range of other employee engagement factors. The strongest relationships were with the ‘Immediate supervisor’ factor. There was also a strong positive relationship with satisfaction against the ‘Current job factor’.

Communication at different levels

Arguably, the responsibility for the articulation of organisational goals, and communication more generally, rests with both the senior leadership and line management of an organisation. With this in mind, this section analyses employee perceptions relating to the effectiveness of communication at each of these levels.

Immediate supervisor

The employee survey asked respondents to choose the five most important attributes they would like to see in their immediate supervisor (these results are discussed in detail in Chapter 7).

Although not among the most commonly selected attributes, ‘listens carefully and considers others ’views and opinions’ was still selected as one of the top five attributes they would like to see in an immediate supervisor by 36% of employees. For those who viewed this attribute as important, satisfaction levels were relatively high. Nearly two-thirds (62%) of relevant employees were satisfied that their immediate supervisor listens carefully and considers others’ views and opinions, and only 22% were dissatisfied.

Satisfaction varied by age, with the least satisfied aged 45–54 years and the most satisfied aged over 54 years. Men and employees located in the ACT were also more likely to be satisfied.

‘Clearly articulates organisational goals’ was selected as a top five attribute for a supervisor by 20% of employees. Almost two-thirds (65%) of employees who saw this as one of the five most important attributes were satisfied that their immediate supervisor clearly articulates organisational goals. Employee levels of satisfaction also varied considerably according to their age. Employees aged less than 25 years were most satisfied and employees aged 25–34 years were least satisfied.

‘Respectful of diverse points of view’ was selected in the top five attributes they would like to see in an immediate supervisor by only 10% of employees. However, consistent with the other results reported above, nearly two-thirds (62%) of employees who saw this attribute as important were satisfied with this aspect of communication. Employees were less likely to be satisfied if they were from a non–English speaking background or had caring responsibilities.

Not surprisingly, there appears to be a strong positive relationship between employees’ perceptions of whether their supervisor is respectful of diverse points of view, and their perceptions in relation to their agency’s commitment to creating a diverse workforce.

Senior leaders

In general, employees did not report as high a level of satisfaction with communication from their senior leaders as they did with their immediate supervisor. Only 35% of employees agreed that ‘In my agency, communication between senior leaders and other employees is effective. ’Thirty per cent neither agreed nor disagreed, 31% disagreed and 4% were not sure. Similarly, only 35% of employees agreed that senior leaders in their agency were receptive to new ideas put forward by employees.

Relatively lower results for satisfaction with senior management, especially when compared to immediate supervisors, are quite often found in attitudinal surveys of employees. They are likely to reflect, at least in part, the remoteness of junior employees from senior leadership. It may be difficult for some junior employees to make an informed assessment of senior leaders with whom they have no or relatively little direct contact. Nevertheless, employee perceptions can still contribute to their general satisfaction with the work. The relatively poor results feed into relatively poor results for the ‘Senior leaders/culture’ factor, which is discussed in more detail in Chapter 7.

In selecting the five most important attributes they would like to see in senior leaders, employees tended to put a higher weight on communication issues than they did for immediate supervisors. In particular, ‘communicates effectively with staff ’ was ranked second to ‘demonstrates honesty and integrity’ as an important attribute, selected by 57% of employees. However, slightly less than half (47%) of employees who saw this as one of the five most important attributes were satisfied with the attribute in their agency’s senior leaders, and 29% were dissatisfied. Women were more satisfied than men.

Employee satisfaction with their senior leaders’ ability to communicate effectively with staff varied considerably across large agencies, ranging from 23% to 71%. Of the large agencies, the agencies with satisfaction rates significantly above the APS average were ABS, DEST and DFAT.

‘Listens carefully and considers the views and opinions of staff ’ was selected in the top five most important attributes they would like to see in senior leaders by 36% of employees. In contrast to employees’ views about their immediate supervisors’ abilities against this attribute, only around one-third (34%) of relevant employees were satisfied with this attribute in their agency’s senior leaders and 40% were dissatisfied. Twenty-six per cent were neither satisfied nor dissatisfied.

Women were more likely to be satisfied than men. Interestingly, this contrasts with the corresponding figures for men’s and women’s satisfaction with their immediate supervisor’s demonstrated ability against this attribute, where men were more satisfied than women.

Employees’ satisfaction with the ‘listens carefully and considers the views and opinions of staff ’ aspect of senior leaders’ communication also varied considerably across large agencies, ranging from 17% to 52%. Employees in small agencies were considerably more likely to be satisfied (49%) that their senior leaders listen carefully and consider the views and opinions of staff than those in medium (30%) and large (34%) agencies. This may reflect the higher level of access and contact that employees in small agencies are likely to have with their senior leaders.

The following sample of comments made in the employee survey, although not necessarily representative, illustrate a range of employees’ views about aspects of communication.

Communication is the key to any good, rewarding and satisfied employee/employer working relationship. Staff need to be recognised for their skills, achievements and contributions.

Coming up with new initiatives is strongly encouraged and recognised.

Decisions are generally made and implemented with no input or discussion with those most affected.

While there is lots of communication in the agency, it is not targeted. The important aspects of the agencies operational and corporative linkages are hard to find on both the intranet and internet.

I have an overall say in decisions impacting my work at the section/branch level not at a higher level.

Say in decision making has been improving.

The jurisdictional comparison data from surveys conducted in 2004–05 and 2005–06 was provided to the Commission by the State Services Authority, Victoria (People Matter Survey 2005); the Office of the State Service Commissioner, Tasmania (State Service Employee Survey 2005); and the Office of the Public Sector Standards Commissioner, Western Australia (Climate Survey 2005–06). While the Victorian and Tasmanian surveys covered the jurisdiction, the Victorian jurisdictional comparison data was based on web-based responses only. The Western Australian Climate Survey involved 14 agencies—each year 10–15 agencies are surveyed with each agency being surveyed approximately once every five years.
Full details of the factor analysis, including details of the methodology and questions used, are set out in Appendix 4.