63 minute read
Engagement Report - Appendix 1
Engagement Report
Staff Survey July 2021
INTERNAL USE ONLY
Staff survey at a glance
out of our nearly 700 staff participated
Vision
detailed responses across the five open-ended questions pages of feedback
of staff were aware of our community vision
use it very often, often or sometimes, mainly to help them understand what is important to the community
of staff were involved in creating the vision, and those people were far more likely to use it in their work
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Staff beliefs about what matters most:
• COVID-19 • Housing • Parking and traffic congestion • Safety • Jobs and the economy • Environment • The future of Hobart and our sense of place and community
What matters to our community and how well we’re responding
And how well we’re focusing on these things: • Somewhat well • But it depends on the issue; on some we’re not doing a good job • And we have limited power on the most critical things, like housing • We’re trying and we can do better
How staff feel about working for the City of Hobart
• We believe our work contributes to the community (average rating 3.94 out of 5) and has a positive impact (3.91 out of 5). • Some of us find our work satisfying (3.65 out of 5), feel proud to work here (3.60 out of 5) and enjoy coming to work each day (3.47 out of 5) – but we need to improve. • We need to work on our culture, so people feel valued (3.18 out of 5) and have a say in workplace issues that affect them (3.08 out of 5). • And we need to communicate better, so people know how decisions are made (2.94 out of 5) and feel informed about organisational priorities (2.88 out of 5).
Strengths, improvements and ideas
• Our greatest strength:
OUR PEOPLE. • Our organisation is filled with skilled, knowledgeable, talented, experienced, committed and resilient staff. • We care about our community and providing excellent customer service.
We need to improve: • our organisational culture, but especially our leadership culture and relationships with ELT, managers and elected members • valuing our people, dealing with understaffing, overwork and loss of expertise • how we deal with bullying, gender issues and mental health • our processes and systems • how we work together, collaborate and communicate • how budget and other resources are decided and distributed • the structure of our organisation – both for the future and dealing with impacts of past restructures • our strategic thinking and strategic direction • our community focus, especially in this time of rapid change. We have lots of ideas, for our organisation and our community:
We need to get our house in order. We want to see:
• a focus on our people and culture, becoming an employer of choice • change that makes it easier to do the right jobs well • more strategic direction, so we can work for our community and understand our roles • quality work and improvements to our core business. We need to be leaders for our community. We want to see:
• a community focus to our work, tackling issues that matter • better planning for the future and less reactive work • building on our capital city status • building partnerships to get the job done.
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Message from the CEO
In July this year, we invited all City of Hobart employees to complete a staff survey. That’s because we wanted your input right from the beginning of our Organisational Transformation Project.
The Transformation Project will change the City of Hobart for the better. It will help us to better meet current and emerging community needs and aspirations. To ensure the success of the Transformation Project, staff are being consulted throughout the process. The staff survey was the first opportunity for staff to have their say. There will be many more opportunities as the process unfolds over coming months. The staff survey is a critical part of Phase 1 of the Transformation Project. Phase 1 focuses on restructuring our organisation and improving our ways of working to meet current and emerging community needs. Over 350 of you provided your views during the staff survey. That’s 50 per cent of all employees, which is a tremendous result. Thank you to each and every one of you who responded. We now have your thoughts on what is working well at the City of Hobart, what could be improved and your ideas for the future.
We also have your views on the needs of our community, how well Council is delivering on those, how well you know the vision and how you feel about working here.
Engagement Summary Report Staff Survey – July 2021 There were over 1500 entries across the five open-ended questions, an incredible response that shows how much people care and want to see change for the better.
An impressive 77 per cent of you are aware of our community vision, with over half of that number using the vision in your work. This provides a very solid base for us to build on.
The results show that staff understand the needs and challenges of our community, including COVID-19, housing, traffic congestion and doing our core business well.
Staff believe strongly that our people are our greatest strength. This is heartening. As a team, we are clearly proud of our focus on the community and providing excellent services.
It is also clear that there are areas where we must do better, including in our leadership culture, training and career opportunities, addressing performance issues, and improved systems and processes. I am deeply encouraged by the range, depth and creativity of your ideas delivered through the survey. The results have highlighted to me just how important the Transformation Project is. We need City of Hobart to be the organisation our employees deserve, and one where we can better meet current and emerging community needs and aspirations. That is what the Transformation Project will achieve. My deepest thanks for the time and thought you dedicated to completing the survey. I encourage all staff to read this Engagement Report which summaries the findings. And I look forward to working closely with you all over the coming months as we move through the Transformation Project together. Kelly
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Contents
Staff survey at a glance
Message from the CEO
2. Staff Survey: Objectives and Methodology
3. Who Responded
4.Survey Results
4.1. Awareness and usage of the community vision 4.2. What’s important to the community and how we’re responding 4.3. Employee satisfaction with working at the City of Hobart 4.4. What’s working well 4.5. What we can improve 4.6. Ideas for the future
5. What’s next 2
4
6
8
12
15
16
19
22
25
28
34
37
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1.
INTERNAL USE ONLY Hobart is experiencing a period of growth and change, which has been highlighted and accelerated by the COVID-19 pandemic. The City of Hobart, as Tasmania’s capital city local government authority, needs to be prepared to shape and influence these changes. The CEO has started the Organisational Transformation Project in response. It will change the City of Hobart for the better, helping us meet current and emerging community needs and aspirations.
The Transformation Project has three phases.
Phase 1: Organisational Design
This phase will be completed in 2021. It involves improving our organisation’s culture and structure to ensure our work meets the growing expectations of our community. This phase is necessary because things are not as good as they should be right now. We need to change. Reviewing our structure and how we work will result in systems and processes that make the City of Hobart an employer of choice, with the community at the heart of everything we do. Phase 1 is happening in close consultation with all staff and the unions – that’s why the first step was a staff survey. There will be many more ways for staff to get involved through Phase 1. They include staff meetings with the CEO, pre-arranged one-on-ones with the CEO, the Managers’ Forum, email and a staff drop-in service where staff can ask the CEO questions directly. By tapping into staff ideas, we will uncover valuable and different ways of working that will excite and challenge us. At the end of the process, we will have a new organisational design that is contemporary, affordable and sustainable, and delivers on the community’s vision. The changes in our culture and structure will build on what is working well in our organisation. But we will not shy away from tackling the things that need to improve or change. The change process may be challenging at times, but the results will be worth it. We’ll have a more positive, productive, community-oriented workplace. The restructure process will move quickly. At the same time, we won’t rush important decisions. We will be considered in our thinking and take the time to listen and reflect on ideas so that we are set up for long-term success and sustainability. We will determine the capability required at the divisional level. We will undertake a detailed examination of units and teams, including how best to structure them and align them with the overall divisional structure.
Following the release of this Engagement Report, the next steps are: 1. release of ‘high-level design principles’ by which we will live as we undertake this transformation 2. designing a functional areas structure – our way of working collaboratively across the organisation 3. deciding and announcing the final structure (by October–November 2021)
Our new organisational structure will be contemporary, affordable and sustainable, and it will deliver on the community’s vision. Again, all staff will be consulted and informed at every step of the process. There will be many opportunities for you to have your say.
Phases 2 and 3: Delivery and Change; Evolving and Thriving
Phases 2 and 3 of the Organisational Transformation Project are more outward-looking: They will consider what we do in the community and where Hobart is heading. Phase 2 is about ‘delivery and change’ and Phase 3 is about ‘evolving and thriving’. These phases will include: 1. considering the future of our vision, Hobart: A community vision for our island capital 2. sharing the content of the Strategic Directions of the City of Hobart’s Executive Leadership Team 3. refreshing our Capital City Strategic Plan to make the most of new and emerging opportunities 4. reviewing our financial model, including our Long-term Financial Plan. Phases 2 and 3 will build on the lessons and decisions from Phase 1. More information will be shared on these later phases as the project moves forward.
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2.
Staff Survey: Objectives and Methodology
Purpose
The purpose of the staff survey was to seek input from City of Hobart employees to help guide and inform the Organisational Transformation Project. This input is a critical part of Phase 1 of the project, which focuses on restructuring the organisation and improving our ways of working to meet current and emerging community needs.
Objectives
The objectives for the staff survey were to improve our understanding of: 1. staff awareness and usage of the community vision 2. what staff think is important to Hobart communities, and how well the organisation is responding to those needs and values 3. employee satisfaction with the City of Hobart as a workplace 4. what is working well at the City of Hobart that the Transformation Project can build on 5. what we need to improve 6. staff ideas and priorities for the future of the City’s work 7. key staff demographics and how they intersect with the issues raised.
Survey design and approach
The survey included a mix of rating and multiple choice questions, to help summarise and compare broader trends. Open-ended questions were used to capture people’s thoughts and experiences. The questions reflected the objectives of the survey. To help staff feel comfortable providing open and honest feedback, survey settings were adjusted to maximise anonymity, including: • not recording any personal information, such as email address or IP address, in the survey platform • allowing more than one submission from the same device • providing FAQs at the start of the survey emphasising that providing identifying information would not be required and that published results would not identify individuals • asking only a few demographic questions, and making them optional • limiting survey data analysis and access to raw data to a small group of people • providing hard copy survey options.
The survey was also designed to value people’s time: • The survey was designed to take 10–12 minutes to complete, depending on the level of detail people wished to provide. • Staff were allowed and encouraged to complete the survey during work hours. • The survey included only two required questions; the rest were optional with no minimum length.
The survey invited staff to contact the CEO’s Office if there was anything further they wanted to discuss. An option was also provided for staff to be contacted for further information.
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Distribution and promotion
The survey was hosted on Survey Monkey and was open for three weeks, from 5 to 26 July 2021. The survey was distributed through the following channels: • all-staff emails • posters with QR codes • hard copies of the survey form (distributed at all City of
Hobart locations, and available on request) • a dedicated email account, managed through the CEO’s
Office, where staff could provide additional feedback. The survey was promoted via: • a video message from the CEO, introducing the survey • reminder emails from the CEO (on 9, 16 and 23 July 2021) • CEO visits to all staff areas, including Cleary’s Gates, the
Bushland Depot, McRobies Gully, the Doone Kennedy
Hobart Aquatic Centre (DKHAC), the Nursery, the
Council Centre and Town Hall • presentations to the Managers’ Forum and other support for managers to encourage their staff to participate.
Survey results and analysis
Survey results were provided directly to the CEO once the survey closed. The raw data was provided to the CEO in two formats:
1. results for each question 2. individual responses (for all those that provided responses to open-ended questions). The survey responses were analysed by the Senior Advisor Research and Policy and the Senior Advisor Community Engagement. The first round of analysis involved reading through all responses, question by question. The CEO shared the results of this first reading and analysis with staff by email on 6 August 2021. The next stage of analysis involved detailed analysis of each open-ended question. This involved reading each response and tagging them with the key themes. All responses were tagged with at least one theme. Longer responses, which often raised many thoughts and ideas, could be tagged with upwards of 30 themes. As an example, a response that talked about staff morale, communications, meetings, and organisational restructure would be tagged with those four themes. To make sure everything was counted, each team member read through the responses and double-checked the tags. The team members also determined a definition for each tag, to ensure the responses were being read and catalogued in the same way by each person. The number of times each tag appears is logged by Survey Monkey. The team then combined these themes into broader categories, which formed the structure of this report. Tags with 10 or more responses are named along with the number of responses the tag appeared in. Tags with less than 10 responses are named as examples within larger, related themes. Although every effort was made to be comprehensive, it was not possible to list every topic that appeared, given the volume of responses and ideas. Instead, this report aimed to include the more frequently mentioned topics, representing at least several members of staff.
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Key Considerations
SCOPE OF THIS REPORT This report is intended to share the results of the survey with staff.
The aim was to identify and summarise the major themes but stop short of overlaying analysis or assumptions about the reasons why staff feel the way they do. This report does not provide recommendations or next steps. Instead, it forms one input into the Transformation Project. Equally, many people had specific feedback about their experiences, for example, at the unit level. These results are not included in this report in order to protect anonymity. This report represents a first round of analysis at a more general level, so it is not intended to provide insights into specific divisions, work areas or similar more detailed reporting.
IMPACT OF ANONYMITY Protecting people’s anonymity imposed some necessary limitations on the findings: 1. It is impossible to know exactly who filled out the survey to make sure every unit and team is represented. 2. It is difficult to know how well different work areas were aware of the opportunity to complete the survey. 3. The small amounts of demographic information place limits on how much we can learn about the views and experiences of different groups of people. For example, the survey did not ask about age, work unit or cultural background, so results could not be linked with those factors. OPEN-ENDED QUESTIONS Open-ended questions are one of the best ways of finding out the details and nuances of people’s experiences. At the same time, it is not as easy to compare responses, and there are many ways to read and analyse the results. This is a trade-off to be made in any survey, and the priority in this instance was to hear staff views in their own words.
The open-ended approach resulted in a large volume of data, with 1,588 total entries across each of the five open-ended questions. This is a fantastic result. The approach to analysing the data overall was described in the previous section. In analysing the responses, we recognised the thought and care that went into individual responses. This is why the raw data was exported and provided directly to the CEO. This report covers the most powerful themes. It does not include specific mention of every concept and issue raised. At the same time, care has been taken not to over-generalise, acknowledging that there are a range of viewpoints on each issue.
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3.
Who responded
Over 350 people completed the survey, out of nearly 700 total employees. Of these, 316 people completed the full survey. There were 31 responses submitted in hard copy or by email. The survey asked four demographic questions, about: • division • length of employment • supervisory responsibility • gender.
The aim of these questions was to ensure results reflected the views of people from across the organisation to the greatest extent possible. Asking more demographic questions could have provided additional insights (for example, about specific units or types of diversity beyond gender). But this extra detail could have made it easier to identify people who wished to remain anonymous. For this reason, the questions were kept at a broad level. Demographic questions were optional. Still, of those who completed the full survey, approximately 94 per cent chose to complete these questions. This high response rate provides the opportunity to build an understanding of trends across various groups, while at the same time, ensuring people’s individual views are still acknowledged and not lost in those broader trends.
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20-30 years 9.97% (33) 1 year to 2.9 years 18.43% (61)
Division Answered: 325 Skipped: 162 Division Answered: 325 Skipped: 162 Division
Answered: 325
Office of the CEO 9.85% (32)
City InnovationOffice of the CEO 15.08% (49)9.85% (32)
City Innovation City Planning15.08% (49) 18.15% (59)
City Planning 18.15% (59) 10-20 years 22.36% (74)
5 years to 9.9 20.54% (68)
Do you manage or supervise other staff?
Answered: 326
City Amenity 37.54% (122)
City Amenity 37.54% (122)
Community Life 19.38% (63)
Community Life 19.38% (63) Yes 42.02% (137) 3 years to 4.9 years 14.5% (48)
No 57.98% (189)
How long have you worked for the City of Hobart? Answered: 331 Skipped: 156 31-34 years Less than 1 year 2.11% (7) 7.25% (24) 20-30 years 9.97% (33) 1 year to 2.9 years 18.43% (61)
More than 35 Years 4.83% (16) How long have you worked for the City of Hobart? Answered: 331 Skipped: 156 31-34 years Less than 1 year 2.11% (7) 7.25% (24)
Gender More than 35 Years 4.83% (16) Answered: 326 Skipped: 161
20-30 years 9.97% (33) 1 year to 2.9 years 18.43% (61)
10-20 years 22.36% (74)
10-20 years 22.36% (74) 5 years to 9.9 20.54% (68) 3 years to 4.9 years 14.5% (48)
3 years to 4.9 years 14.5% (48) Gender
Answered: 326
Prefer to self describe 1.84% (6)
Female 45.09% (147) Male 53.07% (173)
Yes 42.02% (137) 5 years to 9.9 20.54% (68)
Of the six people who preferred to selfdescribe, two noted non-gender specific or other; the other responses questioned why this data was being collected or noted they preferred not to say.
No 22.61% (109)
Yes 42.02% (137) No 57.98% (189)
Engagement Summary Report No 57.98% (189) Staff Survey – July 2021 INTERNAL USE ONLY 14/39
Yes 77.39% (373)
4. Survey Results
1. Survey Results
1.1. Awareness and usage of the community vision
Hobart: A community vision for our island capital is the guiding document for the City of Hobart’s work. It was created in 2018 and was the result of over 1100 contributions from Hobart community members. Hobart communities were asked what they most valued about Hobart and what their hopes were for Hobart’s future. The project included a variety of engagement methods: • Talking to Hobart: in-depth interviews with 214 people • City Forum: a two-day forum at City Hall, attended by 116 from across Greater Hobart • Wider engagement: a survey via Your Say and the City
News, receiving over 500 responses, and a workshop with 50 Hobart primary school students • Stakeholder engagement: three two-hour workshops attended by 44 key stakeholders, as well as written submissions from stakeholders • Community panel: a representative group of 46 Hobart community members and business people, who deliberated over these inputs to draft the new vision for the city, including writing the vision statement themselves.
More details about the vision can be found here: hobartcity.com.au/Council/Strategies-and-plans/ Hobart-A-community-vision-for-our-island-capital Vision statement
Hobart breathes. Connections between nature, history, culture, businesses and each other are the heart of our city. We are brave and caring. We resist mediocrity and sameness. As we grow, we remember what makes this place special. We walk in the fresh air between all the best things in life.
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No 22.61% (109)
Gender Answered: 326 Skipped: 161
Yes 77.39% (373)
Why we asked
We wanted to know:
• if staff are aware of the vision and their level of knowledge • how staff use the vision in their work and how often • if being involved in the vision project influenced how people use the vision in their work.
Findings from these questions will be used to inform next steps for how the community vision can guide the Transformation Project.
How familiar are you with the community vision? Question 2: How familiar are you with the community vision? Answered: 344 Answered: 344 Skipped: 143
Prefer to self describe 1.84% (6)
I know the whole vision 15.08% (52)
I am aware we have a vision but I dont know anything about it 19.77% (68) I know the general content of the vision, but nothing specific 36.33% (125)
Male 53.07% (173)
I know the parts of the vision that directly relate to my work 28.78% (99)
Before you started this survey, did you know that the City of Hobart has a community vision, Hobart: A community vision for our island capital? Question 1: Before you started this survey, did you know that the City of Hobart has Answered: 482 a community vision, Hobart: A community vision for our island capital? Answered: 482 Skipped: 5 How often do you use the community vision in your work? Question 3: How o en do you use the community vision in your work? Answered: 340 Answered: 340 Skipped: 147 Very O en 7.06% (24)
No 22.61% (109)
Never 21.18% (72) O en 17.06% (58)
Yes 77.39% (373)
Rarely 25.00% (85)
Sometimes 29.71% (101)
This question was one of two required questions. In the online Question 2: How familiar are you with the community vision? survey, if respondents selected ‘No’, the survey skipped ahead to Answered: 344 the questions about what matters Skipped: 143 to the community. I know the whole vision 15.08% (52) Question 4: How do you use the community vision in your work? Answered: 252 Skipped: 235 60 Were you involved in the project to create the vision? Answered: 336 Question 5: Were you involved in the project to create the vision? Answered: 336 Skipped: 151 Yes 18.45% (62)
53.17%
I am aware we have a vision but I dont know anything about it 19.77% (68)
50
40
30 I know the general content of the vision, but nothing specific 29.37% 36.33% (125)
20
34.52% 39.29%
25.40%
No 18.65%81.55% (274)
I know the parts of the 10 vision that directly relate to my work 28.78% (99) 0 Engagement Summary Report Staff Survey – July 2021 INTERNAL USE ONLY 17/39
I use it to I use it to I use it to I use it to I use it to write council write help me help find make reports strategies understand words for decisions and plans what is reports or about what important to other projects to the communica- prioritise community tions
Other (please Question 8: Please tell us how you feel about working at the City of Hobart Answered: 388 specify) Skipped: 99
I feel proud to work at ANSWER CHOICES the City of Hobart
I use it to write council reports
Responses 29.37 74 I use it to write strategies and plans 34.52 87 I use it to help me understand what is important to the community I feel valued 53.17 134 I use it to help find words for reports or other communications as an emplyee 39.29 99 I use it to make decisions about what projects to prioritise 25.40 64 Other (please specify) I enjoy coming to 18.65 47 TOTAL RESPONSES work each day 252
Question 4: How do you use the community vision in your work? How do you use the community vision in your work? Answered: 252 Answered: 252 Skipped: 235
60
50
40
30
20
10
0
53.17%
29.37% 34.52% 39.29%
25.40%
18.65%
I use it to write council reports I use it to write strategies and plans I use it to help me understand what is important to the community I use it to help find words for reports or other communications I use it to make decisions about what projects to prioritise Other (please specify)
47 responses (18.65 per cent of the total) gave a response ANSWER CHOICES of ‘other’. These uses included: I use it to write council reports • aligning overall work, including work planning and unit planning • reminding staff of our commitments or the importance of specific elements, like engagement and transparency • providing advice to community members and elected members on council priorities, including communications with difficult customers, explaining why we might do or not do a certain thing and demonstrating the significance of some of issues we deal with • understanding what is important to the community, including as general reference, background knowledge, or motivation • checking report or brand alignment • writing correspondence or awards and grants submissions • inducting or performance managing employees • using it as an underpinning framework for other strategies • using it in PMO365.
Responses Some also used this section to explain why they don’t use the vision, including: 29.37 74 I use it to write strategies and plans 34.52 87 I use it to help me understand what is important to the community 53.17 134 • using the strategic plan instead of or more than the vision, as it is the guiding statutory documentI use it to help find words for reports or other communications 39.29 99 I use it to make decisions about what projects to prioritise • 25.40 64 the vision is not internally focused (e.g. for WHS and compliance work) or the connection to the vision Other (please specify) is indirect 18.65 47 TOTAL RESPONSES • 252 the vision is not relevant to more practical, ‘high-vis’ work • haven’t had the opportunity to use it, or it hasn’t worked for them when they’ve tried • don’t need to use the vision. Those who were involved in the project to create the vision were far more likely to use the vision in their work. Of those who participated, 24.24 per cent used the vision very often and 27.27 used it often. Of those who were not involved, only 3.52 per cent used it very often and 14.12 used it often.
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1.2. What’s important to the community and how we’re responding
The City of Hobart’s mission is ‘working together to make Hobart a better place for the community’. To do that, we need to understand what matters to the community so we can respond. At the same time, the City has an important role in providing leadership on important issues that affect Hobart but might not be front-of-mind for community members. These open-ended questions were designed to provide a space for staff to share what they believe and have observed about the issues Hobart communities care most about.
Why we asked
1. To understand what community perspectives staff have observed through their work 2. To see how strong our connection is to our community 3. To get a sense of how staff think we’re travelling on important community issues 4. To compare staff ideas about what’s important in the community with what the community says through the Annual Community Satisfaction Survey (being undertaken in August 2021)
What we asked and how many people answered
In your opinion, what matters most to the community right now?
(348 responses)
How well do you think we, the City of Hobart, are focusing on these things?
(345 responses)
Engagement Summary Report Staff Survey – July 2021
What you said: key findings
• COVID-19 was by far the most frequently mentioned issue of importance to the community. • Next was housing, in particular, housing affordability. • Transport and mobility issues were also highlighted, specifically parking, closely followed by traffic congestion. • Safety was raised, as a general issue but also in relation to safety from COVID-19. • The remaining issues covered a range of topics, with issues as diverse as health, community, environment, jobs, and issues of good governance being mentioned in around 30–40 responses each. • Many people felt that we are addressing what matters to the community somewhat well. • Equally, many people felt we were addressing these issues somewhat poorly or poorly. • Many people felt that the quality of our response depends on the issue or work area, that we are trying but could improve, and that we have limited power on some key issues because of shared responsibility or complexity of the issue.
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Major themes
What matters most to the community?
Several responses raised that there would be a variety of community views (14 responses). Acknowledging this, there were a range of issues staff thought mattered to people in Hobart.
COVID-19 AND HEALTH The strongest theme was about COVID-19 (98 responses). This theme was mentioned alongside issues of vaccination, travel, community safety and more. Closely related to COVID-19, but also mentioned generally, was health (31 responses).
HOUSING Housing was seen as a critically important issue (72 responses), with housing affordability most frequently mentioned (37 responses). The related issue of homelessness was also prominent (22 responses).
TRANSPORT, MOBILITY AND PARKING Transport and mobility issues were another powerful theme, especially parking (65 responses) and traffic congestion (62 responses). Cost and availability of parking was a key topic. Transport as a general issue or concern (27 responses) and public transport (20 responses) were frequently mentioned as mattering to the community. Less prominent were issues of sustainable transport and active transport (10 responses), with mentions of walking and cycling. Roads, in particular quality and maintenance, were also mentioned (31 responses).
COMMUNITY Community topics were raised frequently (31 responses). These included community safety (54 responses, often in relation to COVID-19), community inclusion (14 responses) and young people (12 responses). Community connection, having support from other people, Aboriginal programs, activation and events, arts and culture, diversity, inequality, education, mental health, and city vibrancy were part of this theme. ECONOMIC ISSUES Respondents thought the economy matters to the Hobart community (28 responses). They believed community members would be particularly concerned about cost of living (23 responses), and jobs (including job security) were seen as a priority (39 responses). The tourism economy, often related to COVID-19 impacts, was also mentioned (13 responses).
ENVIRONMENTAL ISSUES The environment was frequently mentioned as something community members value and are concerned about (30 responses). Climate change was the dominant theme (25 responses) as well as sustainability more generally (11 responses). Staff also thought the City’s parks and reserves (12 responses) and access to nature in general (10 responses) were important to the community.
BUILT ENVIRONMENT ISSUES Many respondents felt issues of urban planning and development were important (34 responses). People talked about the city centre and whether people will continue to visit it to work and shop. Many responses also talked about smooth planning processes being important to community. The cable car development application was the most frequently mentioned topic in the planning space (34 responses).
STRATEGIC ISSUES Many responses named strategic, big picture or longerterm issues as important to community (33 responses). Related to these topics were the importance of Hobart’s sense of place (35 responses), especially its connection to population change (16 responses) and development. Many people talked about the future of Hobart in the face of these issues, saying that community would value what the future of this place will be like and how the City will shape and respond to that. They also mentioned quality of life as an important factor (15 responses). Many people thought stability would be a key value for community (21 responses), especially in the context of the upheaval due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
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COMMUNITY VISION AND VISIONARY THINKING Linked to strategic topics was the City of Hobart’s community vision and the importance of having vision (21 responses). Respondents talked about the current community vision in terms of how it expresses community needs and values, as well as the importance of delivering on them. They also talked about having an economic vision and about the community seeing their own visions for the future being reflected in how Hobart is governed.
GOOD GOVERNANCE AND VALUE FOR MONEY Many respondents thought that governance issues would be important to community, in terms of how the City of Hobart does its work. Good governance, in terms of ethics, transparency, accountability and similar topics was frequently mentioned (35 responses). Many respondents thought that rates and fees (24 responses) and the City prioritising value for money (36 responses) were important to community. A related theme was the City’s financial viability and sustainability (11 responses). Community engagement in decision making and/or on issues of value to them was also seen as important (15 responses).
CITY SERVICES Many respondents felt that simply doing quality work and providing good services was important (21 responses). This theme included doing a good job at core business (mainly in the roads-rates-rubbish sense) was important (11 responses), in particular asset maintenance (10 responses), infrastructure (21 responses) and waste management (17 responses). Respondents said that access to services matters to community – that we provide key services and that they are widely available (20 responses).
How well we’re focusing on these issues
RANKING The majority of responses talked about the quality of our focus on important issues by giving it a rating. The most common responses can be summarised in the following categories: • well (20 responses) • somewhat well (72 responses) • somewhat poorly (32 responses) • poorly (30 responses) • very poorly (2 responses). Many responses said that how well we’re focusing depends on the topic being considered (33 responses) or said that the City is focusing well on particular issues and/or poorly on others (30 responses). Many responses said that we’re trying but still need to improve (22 responses). Many people pointed out that the City has limited power to influence some of the most important issues, such as traffic congestion and housing (28 responses), requiring coordination with State and/or Federal Government or other stakeholders.
Some people were not sure how well we are focusing (21 responses), with common reasons being living in a different council area or limited internal communications about key issues.
OUR WAYS OF WORKING Many people raised particular issues about the City’s ways of working that they thought affected how well we are able to meet community needs. Key issues raised include: • communications: both internal and external (48 responses) • workforce topics: understaffing, workload, vacancies and other issues (22 responses) • ELT and managers: the dynamic between leadership and staff within our organisation (17 responses) • Elected Members: how they relate with staff and operational issues (10 responses) • partnerships: connecting with other stakeholders and organisations on complex issues (15 responses) • budget distribution: how funding is allocated across different City functions and projects (12 responses) • financial viability: making sure the City has adequate funding (12 responses) • value for money: making sure rate payer funds and others are well-spent (11 responses) • reactive ways of working: challenges with responding to situations as they arise rather than working proactively (19 responses) • strategic thinking: the need to think in bigger picture or more integrated ways (31 responses) • community vision: mentions of the vision and how it reflects community needs and informs our work (14 responses). These issues are covered in detail in the next section.
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1.3. Employee satisfaction with working at the City of Hobart
One of the goals of the Transformation Project is to help the City of Hobart transition to being an employer of choice. Being an employer of choice means offering a workplace culture that can attract and retain talented, motivated, community-oriented employees. Part of this is creating an inclusive, supportive and meaningful working environment that keeps employees excited to come to work each day.
Why we asked
1. to learn about how staff feel about their work for the
City, in terms of: a. personal work satisfaction b. organisational priorities and decision making c. community impacts 2. to form an understanding of where the Transformation
Project can provide the most value to staff.
What we asked and how many people answered
(ranging from Strongly Agree = 5 to Strongly Disagree = 1): • I feel proud to work at the City of Hobart. • I feel valued as an employee. • I enjoy coming to work each day. • I find my work satisfying. • I feel informed about what our organisation’s priorities are. • I understand how decisions are made. • I have a say in workplace issues that affect me. • I believe my work has a positive impact on the community. • I believe my work contributes to things that are important to the community.
This was the second of two required questions. It was required to make sure there was comparable data on employee satisfaction from the whole group of respondents. There were 388 responses to this question.
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What you said: key findings
• Staff have the strongest positive feelings about their contribution to and impacts on the community. • Many people feel satisfied and fulfilled coming to work, but many people feel neutral or slightly negative on these measures. • When it comes to feeling valued and empowered, there is work to do within our organisation. Many people feel neutral or negative in this space. • Particular focus could go towards helping people feel informed about where the organisation is headed and how it works, the lowest ranking measures for this question.
Major themes
Of all the satisfaction measures, staff have the strongest positive feelings about their impacts on the community. • 285 people, or 73 per cent, agree or strongly agree that their work contributes to things that are important to the community. The average rating was 3.94 out of 5 (where 5 = strongly agree). • 280 people, or 72 per cent of the total, agree or strongly agree that their work has a positive impact on the community. The average rating was 3.91 out of 5.
To a lesser degree, staff find their work satisfying and personally meaningful or enjoyable. • 239 people, or 62 per cent, agree or strongly agree that they feel proud to work for the City. • 221 people, or 57 per cent, agree or strongly agree that they enjoy coming to work each day. • 206 people, or 53 per cent, agree or strongly agree they feel valued as an employee.
Ratings become lower on aspects about empowerment and decision making. • 147 people, or 39 per cent, agree or strongly agree that they have a say in workplace issues that affect them. • 134 people, or 35 per cent, agree or strongly agree that they understand how decisions are made. Conversely, 88 per cent of people somewhat agreed or lower on this metric. The average rating was 2.94 out of 5, or disagree. • 114 people, or 29 per cent, agree or strongly agree that they feel informed about organisational priorities.
Conversely, 95 per cent of people somewhat agreed or lower on this metric. The average rating for this metric was 2.88 out of 5, or disagree.
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No 81.55% (274)
Question 8: Please tell us how you feel about working at the City of Hobart Please tell us how you feel about working at the City of Hobart Answered: 388Answered: 388
Skipped: 99
I feel proud to work at the City of Hobart
I feel valued as an emplyee
I enjoy coming to work each day
I find my work satisfying
I feel informed about what our organisation’s priorities are
I understand how decisions are made
I have a say in workplace issues that affect me
I believe my work has a positive impact on the community
I believe my work contributes to things that are important to the community 0 20 40 60 80 100
Strongly Disagree Disagree Somewhat Agree Agree Strongly Agree
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1.4. What’s working well
Although it is often easiest to think about what needs fixing, there is a lot the City is getting right. The Transformation Project takes a strengths-based approach, focusing on what’s working well that we can build on. A strengths-based approach also helps us keep in mind the power and agency that we have as people and as an organisation to change our workplace – and our city – for the better.
Why we asked
1. to identify what’s working well in our organisation, in terms of the work we do and how we do it 2. to identify strengths to build on through the
Transformation Project 3. to provide a space for staff to share their thoughts in their own words, so detail and context can be captured in the responses.
What we asked and how many people answered
What’s working well at the City of Hobart? What are the strengths that we can build on?
(303 responses)
What you said: key findings
• Our people are our greatest strength. • Our next greatest strength is our focus on the community – many staff believe we do a great job at this. • Although this question was about what’s working well, the vast majority of responses focused on what needs to improve, leading to a lot of overlap with the improvements question (covered in next section). • A significant number of people (31) believe that nothing is working well or that they are unsure of our strengths, signalling a critical need to work on our culture and ways of working.
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Major themes
OUR PEOPLE By far the strongest theme – of the whole survey, not only this question – was that our people are our greatest strength. Of 303 responses to the strengths question, 135 of them (45 per cent) mentioned our staff, with terms like ‘skilled’, ‘passionate’, ‘knowledgeable’, ‘committed’, ‘resilient’ and ‘excellent’ used to describe them.
Within this theme were positive mentions of specific work areas or units (32 responses), as well as mentions of specific staff members or people in leadership positions (21 responses). Also in this category was a call to improve leadership culture, in terms of both managers and ELT (32 responses). This topic is covered in greater detail in the next section.
COMMUNITY AND CUSTOMER SERVICE FOCUS Another aspect working well is our staff’s focus on the community (45 responses). This theme included discussions of how staff value community input, have good intentions for the community, are connected to what the community think and work to deliver a high standard to community. Also within this theme were mentions of the City’s strengths with community engagement (26 responses) and the delivery of quality customer service (33 responses). Many community-focused services were mentioned (23 responses). These included Mather’s House, DKHAC, YouthARC, public art, the food truck program and more. Salamanca Market was mentioned in a similar way. Arts and culture, both as part of the City’s work and in Hobart overall, received several mentions (11 responses). WAYS OF WORKING Many responses talked about our ways of working. In this category, people mentioned these themes as enabling a good working environment and provided examples of when they worked well. But they were generally discussed as areas we need to improve. These themes included collaboration and working in teams (43 responses), good communications (37 responses) and listening to staff (10 responses). People also talked about the need to overcome working in silos (17 responses) and build our strategic and other partnerships (10 responses).
OUR CORE BUSINESSES, ESPECIALLY ENVIRONMENT AND AMENITY Environment and amenity was one area many people thought is working well, including the City’s management of bushland (20 responses), parks (13 responses), and waste (12 responses). Several respondents thought that we do a good job at our core business (14 responses), in the ‘roads, rates, rubbish’ sense, and that we provide quality work and services to the community (11 responses).
STAFF SUPPORT AND WORKING ARRANGEMENTS Flexible working arrangements were the most common strength in terms of our working conditions (14 responses). Several people also thought we are improving in workplace health and safety (15 responses). Also in this space, many respondents highlighted improvements we need to make, especially in terms of our processes and systems (25 responses), pay conditions and levels (14 responses), training (11 responses) and an overall need to keep the skills of our workforce up-todate (11 responses). These improvements are covered in more detail in the next section.
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ORGANISATIONAL CULTURE The top strength in the cultural space was about staff resilience (13 responses). Resilience was mentioned alongside some of the challenges our organisation has faced in recent years, especially in terms of COVID-19, staff vacancies and turnover, and restructures.
Many areas for improvement in our culture also featured here, including needing to work on our overall organisational culture (33 responses), needing to value employees (30 responses), staff vacancies and retention (20 responses), and understaffing issues (19 responses). These improvements are covered in more detail in the next section.
STRATEGIC DIRECTION Some respondents talked about the importance of strategic direction (20 responses) and the City’s role as a leader (10 responses), with comments on how we do provide leadership in particular spaces, for example, on single-use plastics, and how we need to improve. The community vision was mentioned as a strength (11 responses) in terms of providing strategic guidance, with several other strategy examples, such as the Waste Management Strategy, the Aboriginal Commitment and Action Plan and Creative Hobart.
Several people mentioned systems and technology as an area of opportunity but also one where we need to improve, in particular in terms of the rollout of new systems (12 responses). OUR CITY Hobart, the place, was also seen as a strength (19 responses). People talked about Hobart’s heritage, connection to nature, its scale and its sense of community, alongside comments on how the city is changing and our role in that.
NOTHING, NOT MUCH AND NOT SURE It is important to acknowledge that several respondents felt that nothing or very little is going well (31 responses). Also in this category were responses where people weren’t sure what is going well. These responses were often connected to staff feeling that they or colleagues are undervalued and/ or overworked.
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1.5. What we can improve
Part of taking a strengths-based approach is looking at the constraints and systems that might be holding us back from being at our best. It helps us look at imbalances and other challenges within our organisation, but also between our organisation and the community we serve.
Why we asked
1. to identify what we can improve in our organisation, in terms of the work we do and how we do it 2. to identify suggestions that can inform the
Transformation Project 3. to provide a space for staff to share their thoughts in their own words, so detail and context can be captured in the responses.
What we asked and how many people answered
How can we improve (the structure of our organisation or otherwise)? Please share your suggestions.
(309 responses)
What you said: key findings
• This question received the most responses with the greatest level of detail – there is clearly a lot we need to work on, but the vast majority of responses took an ideas-driven, staff and community-centred approach to talking about improvements. • There were several strong themes, providing clear guidance from a large number of staff on major areas of focus for transformational work. • The most powerful theme was about organisational culture, staff workload and staff morale. Many people feel overworked and undervalued, and the impacts of past restructures, vacancies, and taking on extra work continue to affect what it’s like to work for the City. • The strongest message in this area was about our leadership culture, especially dynamics between ELT/ managers and staff. Although there were exceptions (often on an individual or unit basis), people are not happy with the leadership culture overall, and it is the biggest area for improvement. • Processes and systems were another key area to work on, ranging from the rollout of new platforms and technologies to the usage of paper-based forms. • How we work together was another major theme.
This topic included internal communications, silos, collaboration and teamwork, internal customer service, and fragmented/disorganised work. • Restructuring was another key focus – the impacts of past restructures (especially in 2019) and ideas for the upcoming restructure.
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Major themes
LEADERSHIP CULTURE Our biggest area for improvement is in our leadership culture.
People wanted to see better dynamics between the Executive Leadership Team (ELT) and staff in the organisation (46 responses). Feedback included: • ELT more clearly communicating priorities • taking more time to listen to staff • taking a cross-organisational (rather than divisional) focus • reducing competitive dynamics • focusing more on positives • sharing decision making power • leading with authenticity (saying the door is open and meaning it) • increasing transparency and accountability. Some responses expressed that the last major restructure in 2019 delivered ultimate benefits to directors more than staff, especially in terms of pay. People also wanted better dynamics between managers and staff (72 responses). There were several examples where people talked about supportive managers or team environments. But the strongest sentiment was that improvements need to be made, in particular in developing managers’ skill levels, mainly in leadership, but also in regulations and technical areas (14 responses). Some respondents felt there are too many managers or that the organisational structure is ‘top-heavy’ (16 responses). People expressed a desire for people in leadership positions to listen to staff – to trust their expertise and hear out their grievances (24 responses). Many respondents felt that it is important for directors and mangers to be leaders, not just managers, and demonstrate positive leadership culture (19 responses). Related points were about reducing the culture of internal competition between people and divisions (13 responses) and creating a culture that is less hierarchical (10 responses). Another strong theme was about elected members, especially dynamics between elected members and staff in the organisation (45 responses). There were several suggestions about clarifying roles and responsibilities, especially to do with operational matters, and the role of elected members in representing the City and the community. Respondents were keen to see a more strategic, rather than ad hoc and reactive, approach to deciding work priorities.
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VALUING OUR PEOPLE Retaining our workforce was a key area of improvement for many respondents (66 responses). There was considerable concern about the number of staff leaving the organisation and the percentage of those roles that have not been replaced. Many people felt understaffed in their area (42 responses) and that there was an expectation for remaining staff to take on additional tasks leaving them feeling overworked (65 responses). Respondents also demonstrated concern for the number of roles in the organisation that were reliant on a single employee (10 responses) and the impact this has on workforce resilience.
Low morale was a concern for respondents (30 responses) with many wanting to see an improvement in the way we value and empower our staff (40 responses), especially creating more decision making power at unit and team level, as well as for managers and people working directly on the issues. There was also some concern about the City’s use of contractors and consultants. Some thought we should use external providers more to meet certain needs; others thought we should focus on building capacity internally (11 responses).
CRITICAL ISSUES Respondents raised three key issues seen as critically damaging to workplace culture. Gender dynamics (24 responses) mainly referred to gender equity, having women in positions of leadership, and moving on from a ‘boys’ club’ mentality. Equal pay across genders was seen as a key issue. Some responses talked about female or male-dominated parts of the organisation. They advocated for encouraging women to apply for jobs male-dominated areas, providing adequate facilities, listening to women’s voices and ensuring equality in resourcing across units regardless of gender composition. Bullying (18 responses) was seen as an issue that needed to be addressed, as part of leadership culture and within teams. People wanted to see clear policies and processes, and for these to be applied consistently and with clear outcomes. People wanted to see bullying as a management style dealt with. Bullying based on gender was mentioned. Mental health concerns were raised, most often about stress in relation to heavy workloads (17 responses). Mental health was also mentioned in relation to interpersonal issues, for example, staff taking on the work of an under-performing colleague or being involved in complaints that haven’t been resolved. Some of these responses raised stress leave, sick days and resignations as an impact of this issue.
PROCESSES AND SYSTEMS There was significant frustration about the effectiveness of City’s internal systems and processes with many people concerned about the lack of integration and consistency (65 responses). Some respondents acknowledged that some previous attempts had been made to improve usability through Project Phoenix but that this project had fallen short due to lack of resourcing and support. Data management and record keeping were related issues (18 responses), with many respondents concerned about low levels of organisational awareness regarding correct practice. Some concern was expressed about consistency and accuracy in record keeping, as well as about cybersecurity. Technology, most often to do with updating, integrating and supporting our systems, was a common theme (30 responses). Several people raised that new systems (such as Navision) have made work harder rather than easier. Many people voiced frustration with paper-based systems and platforms such as TRIM and the CBC. Many responses talked about needing to improve our internal policies (26 responses), or to create more consistency in how they are communicated and applied. Examples included fairness around working from home opportunities, consistent application of the Enterprise Agreement (for example, in receiving pay increments), and implementing and acting on exit interviews. Although Work Health and Safety (WHS) was raised as a strength, it was also mentioned as an area for improvement (12 responses).
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WORKING TOGETHER When looking at areas for improvement reducing the silos (35 responses) and finding a more collaborative way of working (41 responses) were strong themes. This siloed approach was often related back to the lack of shared organisational priorities, a competitive approach between divisions and a lack of internal customer services (17 responses). A number of respondents shared concern about the fragmented ways in which projects are managed and delivered (31 responses), as well as a desire for more efficient and purposeful meetings (13 responses).
COMMUNICATIONS There was considerable narrative around the City’s corporate communications function with respondents expressing a desire for this area to be acknowledged as an integral service and resourced accordingly (52 responses). People felt that while the City is delivering some fantastic projects and services, many of these go unnoticed by the community due to a lack of communications opportunities. Respondents were also concerned that the City’s communications were often reactive and that we lack a strong narrative in the community which impacts on the City’s reputation and our ability to respond to criticism. In addition to corporate communications, there was also a desire for internal communications to be improved (67 responses). Respondents wanted better dissemination of information from leadership and transparency on decision making, as well as better communication across the divisions. A few respondents mentioned the CEO’s weekly email updates as a step in the right direction. Many respondents indicated that improving the flow of information across the organisation would result in better collaboration in delivering projects as well as allowing our staff to become communication champions for the City. CULTURE OVERALL Many respondents raised concerns about our organisational culture overall (35 responses). They talked about our standards of behaviour (16 responses), including how staff treat each other and how managers treat staff. People wanted to see principles of good governance applied internally. The most frequently mentioned topics were: • fairness, especially in terms of career progression and pay (40 responses) • accountability, in terms of people being accountable for their actions and the organisation being accountable to community • transparency, particularly about how decisions are made • Enterprise Agreement, noting that the negotiation process started too late, that it has gone on too long, and that the EA needs to be applied in fair and consistent ways.
Respondents also talked about supporting a culture where people are free to speak up, question decisions and share their ideas.
Engagement Summary Report Staff Survey – July 2021 EMPLOYER OF CHOICE To meet the aspiration of becoming an employer of choice respondents put forward a number of areas where improvement could be made (17 responses). These included:
• greater opportunities for training and mentoring (33 responses) • rewarding high performers with career development opportunities and remuneration (47 responses) • offering pay rates that are consistent across the organisation and that are competitive with other organisations, both in Tasmania and elsewhere in
Australia (41 responses) • recruitment of new talent that are the best in their field (13 responses)
There was also a desire for greater consistency and clarity around performance reviews (13 responses) and for underperforming staff to be better managed through a clear, fair and accountable performance management process (23 responses).
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Related topics included reducing the number of contract and temporary positions in favour of permanent positions, improving workplace diversity (including on ELT), moving away from an entitlement culture, improving induction processes and becoming less risk averse.
RESOURCING The distribution of resources, both human and monetary, was identified as a key area for improvement by a number of respondents (39 responses). There was some commentary around the equity of budget distribution and that the way in which funds are allocated should represent the community vision, the organisation’s strategic priorities and our core business (12 responses). Some respondents voiced a need to reduce waste of budget. Respondents called for better resourcing of key internal services in particular the communications (20 responses), IT (11 responses) and human resources (19 responses) functions, supporting them to deliver services at a level that matches the organisational need. Respondents especially wanted to see improvements in human resources functions and processes (19 responses). RESTRUCTURE Many responses mentioned organisational restructuring, which is unsurprising given the wording of the question prompted people to think about it. These responses talked about the impacts of past restructures (23 responses), especially the restructure in 2019. There were particular concerns about the loss of experienced and talented staff, additional workload for remaining staff, an inability to complete implementation of new systems and the fragmentation of key functions and units across multiple parts of the organisation. Some respondents talked about multiple restructures in recent years, some of which remain ongoing. There was strong feedback expressed within this theme, suggesting feelings of frustration, loss, undervalue and fatigue, but also resilience and hope for a better future. A large number of responses provided thoughts and ideas on the upcoming restructure (71 responses). These included suggestions about specific divisions and units, new or existing roles and functions, and new and better ways of working. Some people talked about the names of units and functions, as well as position titles, saying we need to take a logical and structured approach to how they are named and defined. Many respondents called for increased fairness across the organisation, in terms of providing adequate budget, staffing and pay for all areas, not just those who are most adept at advocating for themselves. Several responses called for a review and restructure of the Executive Leadership Team (14 responses). A couple of suggestions in this space were for additional critical functions to have a seat at the table and for the return of a Corporate Services division.
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Several responses talked about change management in relation to restructuring (20 responses), saying that it was important to undertake a good process, keep staff involved and informed and provide clarity on outcomes. Many of these responses talked about how culture is more of an issue than structure. They suggested that some teams were working well, and that it is more a matter of improving our ways of working and internal customer service.
STRATEGIC DIRECTION Many respondents said we need to improve our strategic thinking capabilities and bring strategic direction to our work (40 responses). People talked about the community vision (10 responses) and improving the alignment of our work (and budgets) to the vision pillars (20 responses). Also within this theme, people talked about the critical issues facing Hobart and the importance of the City being able to not only respond but be proactive. Several responses called for a focus on data, research and doing evidence-based work (14 responses). Along similar lines, people talked about the need to modernise our organisation, improving our systems and processes and becoming a more contemporary local government capable of meeting community expectations – and our own as employees (16 responses).
SERVING COMMUNITY Although our community focus was named as a significant strength, many respondents felt we could improve. Within this theme were calls for more integrated and wellresourced community engagement (11 responses) and improving our customer service (13 responses). People wanted to see us doing a good job of our core business (11 responses) and taking a stronger community focus in general (19 responses).
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1.6. Ideas for the future
This is an important moment in Hobart’s history, for global and local reasons. We’re seeing the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic and climate change alongside shifts in migration and changes in our local economy. There is a feeling that Hobart is changing but that we, the City of Hobart, are reactive, rather than driving that change or responding to it in a strategic way. We need to learn about how we can leverage our strengths and improve our organisation to better position us to provide capital city leadership.
Why we asked
1. to learn about staff ideas for what the City should do next 2. to learn what staff think are the key priorities for immediate or short-term action 3. to get a sense of our workplace culture in terms of thinking up and sharing ideas 4. to gauge our connection to our organisation and our community in thinking about the future 5. to provide an open space for staff to share their opinions on this topic.
What we asked and how many people answered
What are your ideas for the future? What should the City of Hobart do next? Please share your top priorities.
(283 responses)
What you said: key findings
• When prioritising ideas for the future, respondents looked both internally, at the organisation, and externally, towards our role as a city. • Internal priorities focused on improving our culture and valuing our work force, looking for better ways of working, improving our processes and systems and prioritising our core business. • Having strong leadership, with clarity and communication about our strategic direction and organisational priorities, was also a key priority. • External priorities focused on our role as a capital city, and how we can help shape the future of Hobart. • Building strong relationships and retaining a community focus was also important.
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Major themes
Internal priorities: getting our house in order
PEOPLE AND CULTURE Improving culture and staff morale (55 responses) was the most prominent priority respondents raised. A range of ideas were put forward on how to improve our culture. People wanted to see our staff valued for the asset that they are (37 responses) and investment in our workforce with increased training and career development opportunities (42 responses). Our inability to retain staff was an issue raised by some respondents (18 responses) and people want to see greater emphasis on recruitment to fill vacant positions. (37 responses). Also within this theme, people commented about improving our structure (24 responses) and the use of contractors (described in more detail in the previous section). Respondents want to see a commitment to becoming an ‘employer of choice’ (11 responses) by offering competitive remuneration packages (19 responses) and staff benefits such as flexible work arrangements and wellbeing programs (24 responses). Staff would like to see proactive workforce planning which focuses on diversity and gender equity (28 responses) and succession planning (16 responses) to encourage young trainee or graduate positions and pathways for older employees in physical roles. The resolution of systemic cultural issues such as bullying, gender inequity and management of underperforming staff was also a high priority for respondents (38 responses). MAKE IT EASIER TO DO OUR JOBS A number of respondents indicated their desire for the City to focus internally first (25 responses). Reviewing and properly resourcing internal service areas such as People and Capability, Communications and IT was a key priority (42 responses) and simplifying internal red tape to make processes clear and efficient was also important (28 responses). Staff want to see improvements in the City’s technology and internal systems to ensure they are integrated, fit for purpose and that there is adequate training available (46 responses).
STRATEGIC DIRECTION AND LEADERSHIP Respondents demonstrated a strong desire for clarity around organisational priorities (30 responses) and a clear strategic direction (26 responses) to guide our work. People want to see improvements in staff engagement and internal communications and for staff views to be listened to (59 responses). Respondents want improved relationships with our leaders (ELT and managers) (21 responses) and more transparency in how decisions are made and how they relate to our strategic direction. Staff also want more clarity on the role of elected members in terms of strategic direction and operational matters (29 responses). Respondents wanted to break down the silos and work collaboratively to achieve our shared organisational priorities (37 responses). They also wanted to see a focus on sustainable financial planning (21 responses) and for resources to be allocated to priority areas (22 responses).
GETTING OUR CORE BUSINESS RIGHT Getting back to basics was a key priority for a lot of respondents, with many responses calling for a focus on core business (26 responses). People want to see a greater commitment to managing the City’s key infrastructure and assets before spending funds on building new assets (30 responses).
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External priorities: our role as a capital city
COMMUNITY FOCUS When thinking externally, respondents would like to see a greater focus on community needs (38 responses) and customer service (19 responses) with work that better aligns to our community vision (22 responses). Staff would like to see more community engagement (20 responses) and a focus on communicating and promoting the programs and services that the City provides (25 responses) with the aim of improving our reputation (10 responses). Staff also valued the need to deliver essential and community services for all members of our community, including through programs focusing on Aboriginal people and culture, families and children, young people, multicultural people and communities, equal access and community safety (28 responses).
PLANNING FOR THE FUTURE Another key focus raised by respondents was the City’s role in leading and managing growth in the City while retaining what is special about Hobart (19 responses). People want to see the City as a strategic leader in areas such as:
• transport and parking, including public transport and active travel (54 responses) • place making and urban design, including the protection of heritage (38 responses) • parks, bushland and trees (36 responses) • activation, arts and culture (14 responses) HOBART AS A CAPITAL CITY Respondents also spoke about the City developing its role as a capital city (27 responses) and having a stronger focus on action and advocacy around important issues including: • planning, development and housing (40 responses) • climate change and sustainability (36 responses) • economic development and tourism (23 responses) • innovation and smart city initiatives (18 responses)
Local government amalgamation was also raised as an example.
BUILDING STRONG RELATIONSHIPS AND PARTNERS To assist in cementing our role as a capital city, respondents would also like to see improved intergovernmental relationships with all tiers of government and surrounding local government areas (28 responses) and a focus on building better partnerships with key organisations that are involved in shaping the City including TasPorts, the University of Tasmania and the Macquarie Point Development Corporation (21 responses)
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5.
What’s next?
The July 2021 Staff Survey was part of Phase 1 of the Transformation Project.
Responses to the survey raised a large volume of ideas and issues that can feed into the Transformation Project. The results will be used in a variety of ways, including:
• identifying and responding to specific issues and points of feedback • identifying and responding to specific ideas • finding pathways forward where specific divisions, units, functions or people (individuals or groups) were discussed • looking at the structure and culture needs of the organisation, as a whole and in different areas, on specific topics • findings ways of embedding the vision and strategic thinking in our work at the same time as supporting excellence in our operational, on-the-ground work.
This survey forms an important part of the overall Transformation Project. (More details on next steps are included in Section 1. The Organisational Transformation Project: Background). Engagement with staff will continue to be critical to the Transformation Project. There will be many opportunities for staff to participate throughout the process. By working together we will find the best solutions for our organisation and our community.
Questions?
If you have any questions, concerns or ideas after reading this report, please get in touch at helloceo@hobartcity.com.au
Engagement Summary Report Staff Survey – July 2021 INTERNAL USE ONLY 38/39
