Helping councils to develop, design, implement, and benchmark employee surveys more effectively.
Unlike other public institutions, such as NHS and central government, there is no consistent, unified methodology applied to the measurement of the employee engagement in local government. Until now.
The LGA have supported the development of a Local Government ‘employee engagement index’ (LGEEI) – a set of core questions for all councils to include in their employee surveys to create a benchmark for the sector.
The LGEEI was developed and designed by councils for councils. It draws on research from CIPD, Engage for Success the LGAs own research on employee engagement over the last decade and by a group of councils from the Local Government Organisational Development Network.
The LGEEI aims to provide a meaningful level of insight into the workplace experience that drives employee engagement in councils.
By adopting and using the index in your employee survey we hope to make improvements in employee engagement so that councils can save time and money through collaboration and potential economies of scale.
The approach therefore aims to provide all councils with:
a robust set of questions that can be used to start to measure employee engagement
a simple way to collect data as a sector using a variety of mechanisms
a collection timescale so we can compare like for like data on an annual basis
a common way to analyse the results so that the data is meaningful and explains what a council needs to do differently to improve employee engagement
a way to benchmark employee engagement and to share experiences and practice on what actions to take, based on the results.
There are six core questions in the LGEEI.
We hope that councils will ask all six questions in their employee surveys.
Some councils may prefer to ask only one or more of the questions. This doesn’t prevent you from benchmarking however it will limit what benchmarks are available to you.
I would be happy to recommend my employer as a good place to work.
I am satisfied with the rewards and benefits I receive for the work I do
I plan to stay with my employer over the next 12 months.
I am confident to freely share any work issues with my colleagues/team.
I can contribute to improvements in my area of work.
I am well supported by my line manager.
Alongside these six questions we are also asking councils to collect general workforce characteristics as part of their employee survey data to allow more granular benchmarking.
We are asking councils to collect data:
• by protected characteristics by age, gender, ethnicity, disability • length of service • by contract type (PT, FT).
A detailed breakdown of each of the above characteristics is available via the Council LGEEI data submission sheet. (see FAQ how do I submit my data?)
However, if your council doesn’t collect the workforce characteristic data you can still submit your data response for the six questions for benchmarking purposes.
Although there are many different ways of collecting a response, the most commonly used is the Likert Scale.
So for the LGEEI councils we are asking councils to use the ‘Likert scales’ for each of the six questions.
Strongly Disagree.
Disagree.
Neither agree nor disagree.
Agree.
Strongly Agree.
Councils can use a variety of methods to collect employee survey data. The LGEEI doesn’t specify how the data should be collected.
However, we do require that the data is collected over the same time period and submitted on the LGEEI Data submission sheet
The LG EEI process does not involve the use of a national survey to collect the data. We are replying on participating councils collect their own data through methods that work for them.
If a council needs support to collect the data, the LGA can provide advice. If you would like information on various suppliers who could work with you externally to collect the data or would like the LGA to provide the data collection, please contact us via email at [email protected]
The majority of councils collect data using some form of technology. Even with a large part of the workforce operating at the front line away from a laptop or computer the use of smart phones is widespread. However, it is important that any survey has equality of access as a key principle so that every employee feels they are actively included in the process whether there are technological, language or other access issues. There are various ways this can be overcome, sharing practice in how to do this will form part of this work. It is important, however, that any approach provides accessibility to the portions of the workforce that aren’t digitally enabled – they will need alternative ways to engage with the exercise.
One of the most important aspects of any employee survey is that people should feel that their views are being collected in confidence and their anonymity is assured. This can be achieved by using a third party to collect the data and that no data is shared / reported on that allows the organisation to identify a respondent. A golden rule in operating staff surveys, to ensure anonymity, is to only share grouped data scores to a minimum of ten responses. That means that any data point shared should include 10 responses or more. i.e. a service/characteristic group which has less than ten responses shouldn’t be reported on / shared. In the case of the reporting for LGEEI this rule should be applied at all times. Any data shared with the LGA will be subject to a data sharing agreement. All data is held and stored in the UK.
The LG EEI will be benchmarked annually. Across local government there is no universal frequency for the collection of employee survey data at present. Other parts of the public sector like the NHS have annual employee surveys. Some local councils survey their employees twice a year, others every two years. For the purposes of benchmarking the LGEEI we would include each council in the year in which their data becomes available, so participating councils could choose to submit data every two years if it fits with their survey cycle.
Regardless of how you collect the data, we do require you to share it with us in a uniform manor so we will be able to analyse the results. This will ensure that we can benchmark councils’ data in a valid and reliable way.
To do this you will need to complete the LGEEI Data submission sheet which is essentially a spreadsheet where you fill in the cells with your totals for each question cross referenced by your workforce characteristics.
To get a copy of the LGEEI Data Submission sheet please email [email protected]
The benchmark data will be collected annually from participating councils. The period for data submission runs from 1 April to 30 September each calendar year. This six-month window allows the majority of councils to take part and provides time for the analysis and data sharing. The benchmarks will be available as each council submits their data. Meaning you will see more benchmarks added as councils submit their data.
Once the data has been collated and analysed, we need a way to share each council’s performance on employee engagement across the participating councils. Council’s results will initially be shared via a simple spreadsheet of results against each of the questions broken down by a workforce characteristic where the data exists.
In 2025/26 we intend to share council data on the LGA’s LGInform Platform accessed behind a firewall this will allow councils to compare results by regions, type and size etc.
A key part of this EEI is to share practice on the actions taken to address the issues raised from employee surveys. This will be done via the existing LG OD Network. To join please email [email protected]
As part of the LGEEI we are also asking councils to use the Employee Net Promoter Score (eNPS) question in their employee surveys. Although this question is very similar to question 1 on the LGEEI there is real value for your council in using the eNPS question as well as it allows benchmarking beyond the sector.
Employee Net Promoter Score (eNPS) is a way of measuring how likely your employees are to recommend your organisation as a good place to work. The eNPS asks one simple question:
On a scale of 0-10, how likely are you to recommend [organisation name] as a place to work?
Calculating eNPS
Responses to the eNPS 0-10 satisfaction scale are graded into three categories:
9-10 – Promoters: The most satisfied employees, happy and motivated
7-8 – Passives: These employees are content enough, but not passionate about the organisation
0-6 – Detractors: Dissatisfied employees who wouldn’t recommend the organisation.
To calculate your company eNPS, first remove the Passives. Subtract the percentage of Detractors from the percentage of Promoters.
%Promoters – %Detractors = eNPS.
Thus, an organisation with 60 per cent Promoters and 15 per cent Detractors gives a score of 45.
eNPS scores can, theoretically, range from +100 (every employee is a Promoter and you have the ‘perfect’ eNPS organisation) to -100 (every employee is a Detractor and your organisation has major challenges), with anything above 0 being an acceptable score.
A good eNPS score is between 10 and 30; above 30 is seen as an excellent score.
We are asking councils to notify us if they are going to submit their data in 2024 no later than 1 July 2024. If you wish to be part of the LGEEI please let us know by registering using this form
Further information
For more information or if you have any questions, please email: Nigel Carruthers – [email protected]