NHSSCOTLAND STAFF SURVEY 2014 National Report

7 Well informed

Ongoing and open communication with staff is key to establishing and maintaining employee engagement. It is good practice to keep staff up-to-date on what is happening in their organisation and to inform them of any planned future changes that could affect them, before these changes happen. Staff were asked for their views on the effectiveness of the communication within their organisation and how well informed they felt.

Figure 4 shows that the majority of respondents replied positively to four of the five statements in this section relating to their specific role and that a higher percentage of positive responses were given in 2014 than in 2013:

• Q1-4 I am clear what my duties and responsibilities are (86% positive responses)
• Q1-5 I understand how my work fits into the overall aims of my Health Board (78%)
• Q1-2 My line manager communicates effectively with me (63%)
• Q1-1 I am kept well informed about what is happening in my Health Board (56%).

Q1-4 I am clear what my duties and responsibilities are had the second highest percentage positive response of all survey statements (86%). Across all Boards, positive responses ranged from 78% to 88% (see details in Appendix C). Salaried General Practitioners who responded to the survey were the most likely to agree with this statement (93%) and Salaried General Dental Practitioners (77%) the least likely to do so (see details in Appendix D).

Q1-5 I understand how my work fits into the overall aims of my Health Board recorded an increase of 12%, from 66% in 2013 to 78% in 2014; this follows a 10% increase between 2010 and 2013. Across the 22 NHS Boards, positive responses ranged from 67% to 85% (see details in Appendix C).

Less than half of respondents (41%) gave a positive response to the statement at Q1-3 When changes are made at work, I am clear how they will work out in practice. This represents an increase of 2 percentage points from 2013.

Across NHS Boards, the percentage of respondents who agreed with Q1-3 When changes are made at work, I am clear how they will work out in practice' ranged from 24% to 48% - see details in Appendix C. Executive Grades/Senior Managers were the most likely to agree with this statement (62%) and Ambulance staff who responded to the survey the least likely to do so (20%).

Overall, the results showed that the majority of staff who responded to the survey felt that they were well informed in relation to their own work area. However, fewer respondents felt that, when changes are made at work, they are clear how they will work out in practice.

Figure 4 ‐ Well Informed

[Note: The sum of the total responses throughout this report may not be exactly equal to 100% due to rounding.]