National union policy
The NEC has met and confirmed that all PCS Groups must continue to campaign for non participation in ‘staff surveys’ as agreed by the 2013 national conference. This is because of:
- Widespread pressure on staff across the civil service to complete the People Survey with positive responses
- People Survey results are misquoted and misused against our members to justify the government’s civil service reform agenda to cut jobs, cap pay and introduce ever harsher civil service performance management procedures.
PCS opposes pressure on members
Last year PCS branches and members in the DWP provided extensive evidence of how the DWP People Survey was discredited by pressure on staff to complete the staff survey with positive responses and a range of bad practices which included:
- Members being pressurised to complete it
- Inappropriate incentives
- Manipulating questions and response categories
- Influencing how people should respond
- Scaremongering about office closures
It says: All of these undermine the integrity of the survey and evidence shows it creates cynicism and reduces people’s likelihood of participating in the future... don’t put pressure on people to complete the People Survey, don’t use incentives for completion, don’t try to change the questions, don’t influence how people use the response categories, don’t use the People Survey to threaten staff.
PCS opposes misuse of work objectives
DWP has also responded to evidence provided by the GEC of abuse where individual employees have been set work objectives or 'steps to achieve' requiring them as individuals to complete the People Survey or to answer questions in a particular way with achievement measured against the ‘staff engagement’ score.
DWP has issued guidance to the CSHR Casework Team and HR Business Partners which advises that:
This is not reasonable on three grounds:
1. Any such work objective would not satisfy the 'SMART' criteria for setting objectives because only the employee will know if they participated in the survey;
2. Any such work objective would not conform to the Myth Busting guidance on the People Survey website about not inappropriately incentivising or pressuring employees to participate in the People Survey which is voluntary and confidential.
3. The questions for staff engagement (B50 – B54) in the People Survey are to assess the emotional connection employees feel towards the Department and the score would not be a valid measure for the demonstration of behaviours competencies or values as it is the sum of multiple responses which cannot be linked back to any single individual.
The only appropriate way of promoting engagement at employee level is through behavioural standards for engaging people.... Overall guidance for ‘engaging people’ is provided in the Competency Framework on page 4 with, for example, more detailed guidance for ‘leading and communicating’ on pages 18 – 19.
Unfair objectives must be corrected
Members should dispute refusals to correct unfair work objectives and/or unfair behavioural indicators using the Grievance Procedures and PCS guidance.
Improvements not enough
The GEC welcomes the guidance on myth busting and work objectives issued by the DWP in response to the evidence of abuse produced by the GEC. However the GEC believes that much more effective action needs to be seen to be taken to end the pressure on staff to complete the People Survey in a positive manner and abolish the unacceptable bad practices at a local level. The GEC also believes that nationally the Civil Service People Survey responses continue to be misused to justify a civil service reform agenda to cut jobs, cap pay and introduce ever harsher performance management procedures.
The GEC will continue to take all necessary action to oppose these threats to PCS members in DWP by negotiation and by a boycott of the 2014 DWP People survey.
Guidance for members will be issued
Briefings for members in DWP will be issued calling for a boycott on the basis of
- Non participation is the democratically agreed policy of the Union
- PCS members have a right to boycott the Survey in support of PCS Policy
- People Survey responses are being misquoted and misused to justify attacks on civil service pay and conditions.
