Staff surveys of government departments are always eye-opening. See the winners and losers.
The Department of Health and Aged Care is well-liked by its employees if the latest round of the Australian Public Service Census is anything to go by.
About 83% of DoHAC staff said they would recommend the department as a place to work, according to data from the census, which was taken by public servants between 6 May and 7 June this year and published yesterday.
Of the 8227 DoHAC employees, 79% (6504) responded to the survey.
The result is an improvement of three percentage points on 2023’s survey and lands the DoHAC squarely at the top of the table, pipped only by Treasury, which was recommended by 85% of its staff.
PM and C, and Finance also hit the 83% mark, sharing the silver medal with the DoHAC, while the Australian Taxation Office took bronze with 82%.
Eighty-one percent of DoHAC employees were satisfied with their job and 83% said they were “proud” to work for the department.
Other big results included:
- 90% believed strongly in the purpose and objectives of DoHAC;
- 65% felt a strong personal attachment to the department;
- 89% felt committed to the DoHAC’s goals;
- 91% felt comfortable to suggest ideas for improving the way the department did things;
- 94% were happy to “go the extra mile” when required;
- 81% work “beyond what is required” to help the DoHAC achieve its goals; and,
- 68% were inspired to do their best work every day.
DoHAC staff supervisors also scored well, with measures scoring from 79% (“My supervisor is invested in my development”) through to 90% (“My supervisor ensures that my workgroup delivers on what we are responsible for”).
There was room for improvement in the internal communications area with just 67% of employees saying it was “effective”, and change management was not great, with only 53% saying change was managed well at DoHAC, a drop of 2 percentage points from 2023.
Failure was not particularly well handled, with just 47% saying the department “recognises and supports the notion that failure is a part of innovation”.
DoHAC scored above other government agencies when it came to wellbeing policies and support, with scores ranging from 64% (“My agency does a good job of communicating what it can offer me in terms of health and wellbeing”) to 88% (“I believe my immediate supervisor cares about my health and wellbeing”).
Seventy-three percent of DoHAC staff felt they were in “good” or “very good” health, while 72% felt they were working at or slightly above their capacity.
Twenty-one percent, however, felt they had “too much work” and were working well above their capacity.
Eighty-three percent of DoHAC staff work away from the office, with 68% doing that some of the time as a regular arrangement.
Other results:
- 78% felt they were fairly remunerated;
- 86% were happy with the security and stability of their job;
- 94% understood how their role contributed to “achieving an outcome for the Australian public”;
- 85% rated their workgroup’s overall performance as very good or excellent in the past month;
- 71% wanted to stay in their jobs for at least one to three years.
Read the full report here.