Health and social care - everyone matters pulse survey: national report 2020

Appendix 5: iMatter Calculations

The Pulse Survey includes 8 of the 28 iMatter attitudinal questions relating to staff engagement:

I feel my direct line manager cares about my health and well-being

My work gives me a sense of achievement 

I feel my organisation cares about my health and well-being

I get the help and support I need from other teams and services within the organisation to do my job

I am treated with dignity and respect as an individual at work*

I feel appreciated for the work I do

I am treated fairly and consistently at work*

I would recommend my organisation as a good place to work

Note: "at work" added to these questions* for the Pulse Survey in order to clarify that they refer to the work environment rather than wider personal experience

These questions are phrased positively, and each question has six responses: 'Strongly Agree', 'Agree', 'Slightly Agree', 'Slightly Disagree', 'Disagree', 'Strongly Disagree'.  These responses are then converted to a scale between 6 and 1, 6 being the most positive response and 1 being the least positive.  The aggregated scores are then placed into one of four categories that can then be used to help inform actions.  

To calculate the average score for each question, the number of responses for each point on the scale (Strongly Agree – Strongly Disagree) is multiplied by the number value (6 – 1) (see above). These scores are then added together and divided by the overall number of responses to the question. The average score calculated is then divided by 6 (the highest possible score) and multiplied by 100 to give the reported score.

The questionnaire also measures overall experience ('Thermometer Question'), on a 10-point scale from very good to very poor. The report shows the mean score where again, higher scores are better.