Job satisfaction in the public sector has fallen, compared to last year and the employee engagement measure shows that public sector workers are by far the most disengaged. These findings come from the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development Employee Outlook survey
Job satisfaction in the public sector has fallen to +30 from +38, compared to the previous year. This compares to a fall from +44 to +39 in the voluntary sector. There has been a slight increase in job satisfaction in the private sector to +34 from +33.
For the first time, the survey provides a new overall ’employee engagement’ score, which is calculated by clustering a number of wider measures of engagement together, including job satisfaction, understanding of organisational purpose, willingness to go the extra mile. At +10 this more rounded score is unsurprisingly lower than that of job satisfaction and provides a good measure of individuals’ engagement with organisations currently. Against this measure, public sector workers are by far the most disengaged with -12, with voluntary sector workers by far the most engaged with +33, followed by private sector employees with +13.
Ben Willmott, senior public policy adviser, CIPD, said: “The heightened level of uncertainty around job security in the current economic climate puts an even greater importance on the extent to which employers communicate and consult with staff. There is no such thing as over communicating and employers can help prevent rumour and anxiety by providing regular updates on business challenges or proposed changes that will impact employees. Just as importantly consultation with staff needs to be genuine which means taking account of employees’ views before and not after decisions are made.”