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HomeMy WebLinkAbout08.a. Cost of Service Study (Board Workshop) Employee Survey and Benchmarking Results.Central Contra Costa Sanitary District — Employee Survey Results November 24, 2014 Roger Bailey, P.E. General Manager Central Contra Costa Sanitary District 5019 Imhoff Place Martinez, CA 94553 Subject: Organizational Needs Assessment - Employee Survey Results Dear Mr. Bailey, November 24, 2014 8.a. Page 1 Raftelis Financial Consultants (RFC), Inc. is pleased to provide this letter report on the results of the employee survey, which was conducted from September 2 through October 7. The survey data will supplement the interview data that we have collected over the past several months and help validate some of the common themes and findings. Our thanks goes out to the Central San Board of Directors and your leadership team for their input in crafting the survey, the administrative support that facilitated the collection of responses, and the 144 respondents to the survey. Sincerely, Tom Arn Principal Consultant c: David Heath Jean -Marc Petit Teji O'Malley Sudhir Pardiwala Akbar Alikhan Consultant Central Contra Costa Sanitary District — Employee Survey Results BACKGROUND November 24, 2014 Page 2 As part of the Organizational Needs Assessment Study, RFC was tasked with developing and administering an employee survey of Central San staff. Much like individual interviews that RFC has conducted to date, the purpose of the survey was to garner feedback on areas of potential improvement for the District, determine what workplace attributes are most highly valued among staff, and evaluate how well the District is meeting employee needs. On July 31, 2014, RFC presented a draft survey to the Board of Directors to solicit feedback and input. After slight modifications were made, the survey was sent out to all District staff on September 2 via Survey Monkey, an online survey service. Staff were also given the option to complete the survey on paper. Over the course of five weeks, 144 employees completed the survey — approximately 51% of all District staff. While Organizational Needs Assessment Studies are heavily reliant on qualitative data, quantitative tools such as surveys can still prove useful in the development of the eventual findings as well as provide an anonymous forum for open input from all staff. The survey included both closed and open -ended responses. For the purposes of this study, the use of the survey help accomplish the following: • Opportunity for participation — Staff who were not able to be part of the interview sessions could be a part of the study. • Anonymity — Those who may have been reluctant to share certain information during the interview sessions could do so via the survey anonymously. • Quantitative data — Quantitative data brings to light commonly held opinions and trends among staff and can bolster findings from the qualitative data. The survey instrument is presented in Appendix 1. The survey was completely anonymous. Question Nos. 1, 2, 9, and 10 contained open -ended responses which were collated into general themes. The collated responses to Question Nos. 1, 2 and 9 are included in Appendix 2. The responses to Question 10 are not included in this summary. There were a wide range of responses, many of which concerned the themes identified in other survey questions, and several comments were of a frank, sensitive and personal nature. Given the diverse nature of the responses, we recommend that each comment be considered by District management to better understand general trends and themes in order to define and act on opportunities to improve specific needs or issues. The charts on the following pages contain basic summary data for question Nos. 3 — 8 and select conditional response analysis as well. Conditional response data analyzes a subset of respondents for a specific survey question and reports how that same subset responded to a different survey question; for example of those that selected "B" for question 3, how did this group respond to question 6? Central Contra Costa Sanitary District — Employee Survey Results QUESTION 3: QUALITY OF COMMUNICATION November 24, 2014 Page 3 Respondents were asked to rate the quality of the communication they received at the various levels in the organization. Like most organizations of similar size to the District, proper communication is dependent on supervisors relaying information to the employees they manage. The data shows that communication improves the closer it is to the work unit level. In fact, 70% of respondents rated the communication in their work group as either Excellent /Good. Of note is the reported quality of information Organization -wide; 40% of respondents rated Organization -wide communication as Poor /Needs Improvements, 3% more than the 37% who rated it as Excellent/ Good. FIGURE 1 QUALITY OF COMMUNICATION AT VARIOUS LEVELS IN THE ORGANIZATION ORGANIZATION -WIDE DEPARTMENT MANAGER LEVEL YOUR WORK UNIT LEVEL ■ Excellent Good Fair ■ Needs Improvement ■ Poor Central Contra Costa Sanitary District— Employee Survey Results QUESTION 4: SOURCE OF INFORMATION November 24, 2014 Page 4 The quality of communication can vary widely by source. To understand where to focus efforts for improving communication, we asked respondents where they receive information regarding the direction and status of the organization. The data confirms that many District employees (42 %) are receiving information relayed from their supervisors. However, the second most prominent source of information is the "water cooler" — essentially any peer -to -peer setting in the District. Since the "Other" category captured 15% of all respondents, it may behoove the District to determine what other sources are currently used that were not included as part of the survey choices. FIGURE 2 I GET REGULAR UPDATES ON THE DIRECTION OF THE ORGANIZATION AND HOW IT IS DOING FROM... My manager /supervisor Break room notices Company -wide emails Employee newsletter vs The "water cooler" v, Other The source of information can also influence its perceived quality. Referring to the "Department /Manager Level" row in Figure 1 above, the percentage of respondents who rated communication as Excellent and Poor are nearly equal, with 17% and 16% respectively. The main source of information for these similarly -sized groups are compared in Figure 3 below. Central Contra Costa Sanitary District — Employee Survey Results FIGURE 3 SOURCE OF INFORMATION BASED ON QUALITY OF COMMUNICATION FROM DEPARTMENT MANAGER 100.0% 90.0% 80.0% 70.0% 60.0% U Z 50.0% W (7 40.0% w cc U. 30.0% W N Z 20.0% 0 CL W 10.0% , MY MANAGER/ BREAK ROOM COMPANY -WIDE SUPERVISOR NOTICES EMAILS ® Dept. Mgr Communication,Excellent Dept. Mgr Communication Poor ■ M ■ EMPLOYEE THE "WATER NEWSLETTER COOLER" INFORMATION SOURCE November 24, 2014 Page 5 ON OTHER The data reinforces the importance of the critical role that managers /supervisors play in relaying information to their staff. The respondents who were more satisfied with the quality of information received their information primarily from their supervisor. Those who were less satisfied with the quality of information received information primarily from the "water cooler ". QUESTION 5: WORKPLACE & ENVIRONMENT Using a five -step Likert scale, respondents were asked to rate how much they agreed with a series of statements. The statements were all positively phrased, meaning that a Strongly Agree /Agree is the desired response for each statement. Central Contra Costa Sanitary District — Employee Survey Results FIGURE 4 GENERALLY, MY WORK GROUP HAS THE RESOURCES IT NEEDS TO KEEP UP WITH OUR WORKLOAD. ' MY WORK GROUP USES PERFORMANCE MEASURES TO BENCHMARK ITS PERFORMANCE. November 24, 2014 Page 6 CENTRAL SAN IS ACTIVELY WORKING TO IMPROVE THE EFFICIENCY OF ITS WORK PRACTICES. CENTRAL SAN STAFF TAKES PRIDE IN THE WORK THEY DO AND THE SERVICE THEY PROVIDE TO THEIR CUSTOMERS. I AM GIVEN THE OPPORTUNITY TO PROVIDE INPUT INTO SOLUTIONS FOR PROBLEMS OR DEVELOPING SITUATIONS. I HAVE ALL THE TOOLS, TECHNOLOGY, AND EQUIPMENT NECESSARY TO PERFORM MY JOB AT AN OPTIMAL LEVEL. MY SUPERVISOR HAS A CLEAR IDEA OF MY DAILY WORK ISSUES AND THE OBSTACLES MY WORK GROUP OVERCOMES. ■ Strongly Agree Agree Neutral ■ Disagree ■ Strongly Disagree The data shown in Figure 4 validates some of the readily apparent findings from the survey data. Namely, the District and its employees take pride in their work and customer service reputation. This sentiment is evidenced in the 85% of respondents who Strongly Agreed /Agreed with that statement. Referring to the first statement in the figure above, over 38% (Disagree [20 %] /Strongly Disagree [18 %1) of respondent reported that their work group doesn't have the resources it needs to keep up with the workload. The open -ended responses found in Appendix 2 provides an explanation to the data with references to reduced staffing and unfilled vacancies. QUESTION 6: WORKPLACE ATTRIBUTES Respondents were asked to select the three most important workplace attributes from a list, with no ranked order. An "Other" category was not provided for this question. Figure 5 below shows a basic distribution of the responses. Central Contra Costa Sanitary District— Employee Survey Results FIGURE 5 MOST IMPORTANT WORKPLACE ATTRIBUTES November 24, 2014 Page 7 Advancement opportunities Meaningful work Transparency Continued training ■ Performance Recognition is Open communication • Ample tools and resources • Safety While the data set is fairly evenly distributed, "Open Communication" was rated with the highest frequency. This data is consistent with the open -ended responses for question 8, found in Appendix 2. Furthermore, it can be argued that "Transparency" (which garnered 24% of the responses) siphoned off votes that would otherwise have been attributed to "Open Communication" and vice versa. Of the 55% of respondents who checked "Open Communication" as an important workplace attribute, their responses to the quality of information asked is very similar to the distribution of the general respondents from Figure 1. Comparing Figure 6 below with the data show in Figure 1, it is evident that the opinions of the quality of communication is rather constant whether or not one considers "Open Communication" an important workplace attribute or not. As seen in Figure 3, the source of information appears to be a better determinant of information quality. FIGURE 6 QUALITY OF COMMUNICATION FOR THOSE WHO MARKED "OPEN COMMUNICATION" AS AN IMPORTANT ATTRIBUTE ORGANIZATION -WIDE M DEPARTMENT MANAGER LEVEL YOUR WORK UNIT LEVEL ■ Excellent �� Good _ Fair ■ Needs Improvement ■ Poor Central Contra Costa Sanitary District — Employee Survey Results November 24, 2014 Page 8 QUESTION 7: WORKPLACE ATTRIBUTES CONTINUED As a follow -up, respondents were asked to rate how well the District provided for their most highly ranked attribute from Question 6. Figure 7 below shows a basic distribution of the data set. FIGURE 7 HOW WELL DOES CENTRAL SAN PROVIDE FOR YOUR MOST HIGHLY RANKED ATTRIBUTE? Am N 33% f, 25% Very well Decently well Neutral Not very well ■ Unaddressed To see if any particular workplace attributes were more fulfilled by the District than others, the two similarly -sized data sets of Very Well/ Decently Well (37% collectively) and Not Very Well/ Unaddressed (39% collectively) can be compared with respect to their responses to Question 6. Figure 8 below summarizes the most important attributes for each of these two groups. Central Contra Costa Sanitary District — Employee Survey Results November 24, 2014 Page 9 FIGURE 8 MOST IMPORTANT ATTRIBUTE MET "VERY WELL /DECENTLY WELL" VS. "NOT VERY WELL / UNADDRESSED" 100% 80% 60% 40% 2000 , ■ 0% ADVANCEMENT MEANINGFUL TRANSPARENCY CONTINUED PERFORMANCE OPEN AMPLE TOOLS SAFETY OPPORTUNITIES WORK TRAINING RECOGNITION COMMUNICATION AND RESOURCES • Unaddressed/ Not Very Well • Very Well/ Decently Well ATTRIBUTES The chart above shows no stark contrasts between those whose top workplace attributes are met by the District and those that are not. Respondents of both groups value the same attributes with similar frequency. The data suggests that the quality of these workplace attributes may vary widely from workgroup to workgroup. Central Contra Costa Sanitary District — Employee Survey Results APPENDIX 1 Central Contra Costa Sanitary District Employee Survey Instrument November 24, 2014 Page 10 Central Contra Costa Sanitary District — Employee Survey Results larAM14 lSURWE PREMEINMO Dg CO" 00* aCOSt3SatltayD &lct- E1nJSWM1311tM Central Contra Costa Sanitary District November 24, 2014 Page 11 1. What three words would you use to describe Central San's work culture? Please use single words for each response. 2 3 2. Since you've been at Central San, what accomplishmentftasklaward are you most proud of? 3. Please rate the quality of the communication you receive at the various levels in the organization. Excellent Good Fair Needs Poor Improvement Your work unit level Department manager - level Organization -wide 4.1 get regular updates on the direction of the organization and how it is doing from... Arty managedsupeevism Break mom notices Company -wide emads Employee newsletter The 'water collet' Central Contra Costa Sanitary District - Employee Survey Results November 24, 2014 Page 12 turd PJRVEY PREu1EW MODE] CeI al Contra Co6ta =l:3y Dl60rlltt- Enpogree,,` Ln*y' Other 5. To what degree do you agree with the following statements. S:iongly Agree Agree Neutral Disagree Strongly Disagree My supervisor has a clear idea aF my daily work issues and the obstacles my work group overcomes_ l have all the tools, technology, and equipment necessary to perform my job at an optimal level. I am given the opportunity to provide input into solutions for problems or devg situations- Central San staff takes pride in the work they do and the service they provide to their customers- Central San is actively working to improve the - efficiency of its work practices- My work group uses performance measures to benchmark its pe mmance- Generally, my work group has the resources it needs to keep up with our workload. Please provide any comments in regards to the responses above_ 1469:N1MYV.MJnA )SR0" .RXtrt%aEPX?PREVIEW U E -UD_NOT- USE Tkts- uNK-FOft- OOLL£CTKURmi- AffoC3rW&MA5 w4OdXO gEgr -A... 2W Central Contra Costa Sanitary District - Employee Survey Results ta29014 [ .J R'YErPRnIEW6dCDEj CFraalContraCostaSartraryDlstoct- EmployeeSLn" 6. Of the workplace attributes listed below, please check the 3 that are most important to you. FAdvancement opportunities I Meaningful work Transparency Continued training Performance Recognition I� Open communication Ample tools and resources Safety November 24, 2014 Page 13 7. Considering your highest ranked workplace attribute from the previous question, how well does Central San provide for this attribute? 1,,-`i 'Very well Decently well Neutral Not very well Unaddressed 8. What are the two things that you would like to see changed to improve effectiveness and performance within your division? 1 2 * 9. What are the two things that you would like to see changed to improve effectiveness and performance for the organization as a whole. 1 2 10. Please use this area to share any ideas on how Central San can improve as an organization. nt$ sj: Ww w. anrefrnsrrey .curr,- .AEW7PFE0Ejv_wlont_ -no MCr uSE rNU_unlrc FOR- coin- CTDrasm-Atier- �WM.assxr��a Co 4yE5W... as Central Contra Costa Sanitary District - Employee Survey Results IMOICOU PURWY FR"EW MODE] Central Cortra CoM San¢ary Olstrlct- Dnpoyee &rvW 11.1 was barn between... 1922 -1948 (Silent Generation) 1944 -1984 (Baby Boorner) 1985 -1980 (Generation 1C) v 1981 -1995 (Generation Y — Mi{lennials) Done Powered by StlryeyMonkey Cterk out our samj�,Ie surwews ant create yoLr om now' November 24, 2014 Page 14 Itp6AW AkrweyTxatey.cmL%isp?PREVIE1Y_UODE -i O- tiOT_iF,SE- TM LINK FOR COILECTi OMBSnrRhROC3r&WMA544wAOdXOCMyEWM... 414 Central Contra Costa Sanitary District — Employee Survey Results APPENDIX 2 Collated Responses to Question Nos. 1, 2 and 9 November 24, 2014 Page 15 Central Contra Costa Sanitary District — Employee Survey Results November 24, 2014 Page 16 QUESTION 1: WHAT THREE WORDS WOULD YOU USE TO DESCRIBE CENTRAL SAN'S WORK CULTURE? Dedicated Political Professional _ Entitled Friendly - - _ - -- _ -- Dysfunctional Efficient - - - -- Hardworking Inefficient - -- -- - -- - - -- Proud 0 0 0 0 0 u 0 0 6 QUESTION 2: SINCE YOU'VE BEEN AT CENTRAL SAN, WHAT ACCOMPLISHMENT /TASK /AWARD ARE YOU MOST PROUD OF? Responses were categorized into the following themes. Sample responses for the top two themes are provided below. .. Responses NACWA /CWEA Awards 33 Specific project /function 31 Promotion 13 Teamwork/ team efficiency 11 Being part of a reputable organization 7 Professional Growth 7 NACWA /CWEA Awards 1. 16 years of NACWA Peak Performance which is a testament to a proactive, mutually supporting work culture that has been passed at least one generation. 2. Collection System of the Year Awards. 3. Employee of the month /team of the quarter. Central Contra Costa Sanitary District — Employee Survey Results November 24, 2014 Page 17 Specific Project /Function 1. Concord Landscape Recycled Water Project 2. Installing /rehabilitating almost 20 miles of pipeline in our collection system to help the District adhere to its mission statement! 3. Streamlining A/P filing system by changing to filing by payment date from alphabetical system. It saves 3 hours per month in filing time. QUESTION 8: WHAT ARE THE TWO THINGS THAT YOU WOULD LIKE TO SEE CHANGED TO IMPROVE EFFECTIVENESS AND PERFORMANCE WITHIN YOUR DIVISION? Responses were categorized into the following themes. Sample responses for the each theme are provided below. Staffing Technology Communication 28 28 27 Training i23 Accountability 22 Leadership 20 Staffing 1. Fill vacancies so people are not feeling overworked. 2. Have flexibility in ability to overstaff to succession plan. 3. More staff in the field jobs. Technology 4. Less complicated user friendly software /databases. 5. Electronic Records Management System. 6. More usage of technology (tablets) and LESS PAPER!!! Central Contra Costa Sanitary District — Employee Survey Results Communication 1. Better communication between and from our Director /Managers. 2. Improving communication in between department meetings. 3. Open two way communication. Training 1. More hands -on training. 2. Improved safety training. November 24, 2014 Page 18 3. 1 would like to see mandatory cross - training. Some things cannot be done if a specific person is not here, and that should be remedied. Accountability 1. Hold people accountable when they do not complete their work in a timely manner. 2. Adequately define roles and responsibilities for job positions that protect staff from being given excessive and unrealistic workloads. 3. Follow through with necessary discipline and reward good employees. Leadership 1. Clearer expectations from new management team. 2. We need to set clear objectives, and work towards them, instead of bouncing from one fire to the next. 3. Less micro managing. QUESTION 9: WHAT ARE THE TWO THINGS THAT YOU WOULD LIKE TO SEE CHANGED TO IMPROVE EFFECTIVENESS AND PERFORMANCE FOR THE ORGANIZATION AS A WHOLE? Responses were categorized using the themes from the previous question. Sample responses for the each theme are provided below. Central Contra Costa Sanitary District - Employee Survey Results •• Responses Frequency Staffing 10 Technology 20 Communication - - - - - 25 - -- Training 7 Accountability 12 Leadership 30 Staffing 1. Fill important positions before people retire. 2. More worker bees November 24, 2014 Page 19 3. Hire summer students /Co -ops, only if you have work for them. Not just because it's a past practice. Technology 1. An ERP system that allows for one District wide system that interfaces with all aspects of the organization 2. Move to more paperless solutions for everyday tasks. 3. Implement employee self- service software. Communication 1. Better Communication / Less Blame Game. 2. Communication across all levels with the same information. 3. Continue to ask employees for input. Training 1. More training to increase communication skills, customer service skills and job efficiency skills for people to think faster, perform better and generally be a better workforce. 2. More in -house training. Central Contra Costa Sanitary District — Employee Survey Results 3. Provide for more cross - training and succession planning. Accountability 1. Follow to enforce written procedures. 2. Hold all people accountable, from the top to the bottom. 3. Clear and high expectations of performance. Leadership November 24, 2014 Page 20 4. Monthly updates from management on our direction and the progress toward that direction. Vision setting and measuring. We have several efforts underway that were not rolled out smoothly causing fear in the work force. If a comprehensive vision could be created and presented to the District Staff with monthly progress updates that would go a long way toward creating a work force of high trust. The presentations could be by video so scheduling is not so difficult. 5. Less micro - management from Board members. 6. Concentrate on being effective rather than efficient.