National Employer and Employee Surveys

National Employer and Employee Surveys

28/9/2010

Two new National Workplace Surveys were launched today by the Minister for Labour Affairs and Public Service Transformation, Mr. Dara Calleary, T.D.  The studies were conducted by ESRI researchers and are published by the National Economic and Social Development Office.  The studies draw on in depth surveys of over 3,000 employers and 5,100 employees in Ireland carried out in 2009. Similar surveys were carried out in 2003 and this provides a unique opportunity to examine change in the Irish workplace over a period in which there was a dramatic shift in the Irish economy from rapid growth to deep recession, and to examine the impact of those changes on employees and employers. The Changing Workplace: A Survey of Employees’ Views and Experiences By Philip J. O’Connell, Helen Russell, Dorothy Watson and Delma Byrne National Economic and Social Development Office, 2010 The Changing Workplace: A Survey of Employers’ Views and Experiences By Dorothy Watson, John Galway, Philip J. O’Connell and Helen Russell National Economic and Social Development Office, 2010

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ESRI Media Release Embargo: 00:05 a.m. Tuesday 28th September 2010 "The Changing Workplace: A Survey of Employees’ Views and Experiences" By Philip J. O’Connell, Helen Russell, Dorothy Watson and Delma Byrne (ESRI). National Economic and Social Development Office, 2010 Key findings: Deterioration in pay and security • Over half of employees reported a reduction in staff numbers within their organisations in the preceding two years. • One third of employees said that their own job security had decreased compared to 4% in the 2003 survey. • 21% of employees reported a decline in hourly pay in the previous two years, a feature that was virtually non-existent in the 2003 survey. Decline in pay was more frequently reported by public sector (37%) than private sector workers (21%) Increasing Work Pressure but not Work-Family Conflict • 54% of employees reported that the pressure they worked under had increased in the preceding two years compared to 34% in 2003. • The proportion agreeing that their job requires that they work very hard increased from 51 to 58% over the five years, while the proportion saying that they did not have enough time to get everything done increased from 38 to 47% • There was no change in the level of work-family conflict between 2003 and 2009. Changes in work satisfaction and increased organisational commitment • Average satisfaction scores increased among private sector employees and decreased slightly  among public sector workers • Organisational commitment increased substantially as uncertainties in the external labour market appear to tie employees more tightly to their current employer. o The proportion of employees  who would work harder to help the organisation succeed increased from 81 to 89% o Proportion  who would turn down another job with higher pay to stay with current organisation increased from 38 to 51% o Proportion  who would take any job to stay with the organisation increased from 27 to 48% o The Increase in commitment is highest among private sector workers • Experience of staff reductions and the reorganization of the company/organisation  have a negative impact on a range of employee wellbeing measures – reducing job satisfaction, increasing work pressure, increasing work-life conflict and reducing organizational commitment  Greater employee willingness to accept change. • There was a marked increase in the willingness of employees to accept change since 2003. • Some changes such as greater willingness to take on greater responsibility, to innovate and to up-skill can be interpreted in a positive light and suggest agreement between employee attitudes and high level policy objectives. • However, the increase in employee’s willingness to accept poorer conditions (e.g. increased pressure, increased supervision, having to work unsocial hours) is likely to reflect the reduced bargaining power of employees. Increased diffusion of “high performance” and flexible work practices • 52% of workers say that their involvement in decision making has increased over the last two years. • Participation in “direct employee participation” e.g. work teams; problem solving groups; project groups; quality circles increased from 27 to 36%, 2003-09 • Levels of consultation have changed little since 2003. Almost half of all respondents (48%) indicate that they are consulted before decisions are taken that affect their work and over half are given the reasons if changes occur in their work (57%). Employees in higher level occupations and those with more educational qualification are more likely to be consulted; younger workers and part-time workers are less likely to be consulted. • Communication is still limited for many Irish workers: 22% of private sector employees “hardly ever” receive information on planned changes in the workplace, while 43% hardly ever receive information on sales, profits or market share. Similarly, in the public sector 46% “hardly ever” receive information on the financial status of the organisation and about 24% hardly ever receive information about plans to improve services or plans to change work practices. • Employees report high levels of support in their organizations for innovative approaches and ideas, particularly in the private sector. • Noticeable increases were recorded in three forms of flexible working between 2003 an 2009: part-time working, working from home and flexible hours/flexitime. Upskilling? • The survey shows increased devolution of responsibility to employees -  61% report an increase in responsibility over the last two years  and 45% report and increase in the use of technology on their job. • However, there was no increase in the proportion who received training in the last two years despite a strong policy focus. Ireland continues to lag well behind best performing countries. • Increased levels of autonomy are recorded between the 2003 and 2009 survey, more noticeable in control over working time and speed  - more workers can decide when to take a break and how much work/how fast they work. However an increasing proportion of employees report that their manager monitors their performance. Policy Implications • The study suggests that policies to promote greater employee involvement, particularly greater consultation at work, greater emphasis on the development of a climate of innovation, and regular communication of key business information could contribute to mutual gains: enhancing organisational performance while improving job quality. • There is a clear need for employers, unions and government to actively promote training, up-skilling and learning in Irish workplaces • Strong support for innovation in the public service and employees’ willingness to accept change represents a basis that could support organisational reform in the public sector

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ESRI Media Release Embargo: 00:05 a.m. Tuesday 28th September 2010 "The Changing Workplace: A Survey of Employers’ Views and Experiences" By Dorothy Watson, John Galway, Philip J. O’Connell and Helen Russell (ESRI) National Economic and Social Development Office, 2010. Key findings This is a comprehensive study of employers’ views of workplace change, based on a 2009 postal and web survey of 2,668 private sector and 359 public sector employers.  It was designed to allow comparison to similar studies conducted in 2003, so that we could track the development of workplace change in that period and compare the situation of workplaces during a recessionary period to those in a period of economic growth. • The impact of the recession was identified as a strong impetus for change in both the public and private sectors. For instance, 68 per cent of private sector employment is in organisations where the volume of business was lower than 2 years ago and 64% is in firms where the downturn in the economy is causing intense pressure for change.   Coping with the economic downturn and budget constraints are causing intense pressure in 85-87 % of the public sector. • Other issues causing intense pressure in the private sector include labour costs and benefits (though the figure was similar in 2003), energy costs, contracting markets and competition.  • Other issues causing intense pressure in the public sector include the need for efficiency and dealing with national regulations and policy and an increase in the size of the target group of clients. •  Budget constraints, recruitment constraints and uncertainty about the future were also identified by public sector employers as major barriers to change (63-82%). Compared to 2003, aspects of HR management and organisational structure were more often identified as major barriers to change in the public sector: the promotions process (from 5% in 2003 to 41 % in 2009), lack of local industrial relations flexibility (from 18% to 37 %), hierarchical structure of the organisation (from 6% to 29%) and management structure (from 4% to 28%). • The study paid particular attention to the employment practices in public and private sector workplaces.  We distinguished three groups of practices: o Human capital development (e.g. training, performance review, formal dispute-resolution procedures, policy on equality/diversity) o Employee Involvement (e.g. information/consultation; direct employee-involvement in decision-making & problem-solving; employee discretion in carrying out work) o ‘Co-working’  or new ways of working together (Employees experiment with new ways of working; networking and cross-division working; new work practices such as team-working; reduce hierarchy) • Adoption of each of these practices tended to be higher in the public sector than in the private sector. On a scale of 0 (low adoption) to 10 (high adoption), the score was higher in the public sector for Human Capital Development (8.7 vs. 7.6 in the private sector); employee involvement  (7.8  vs. 7.1) and ‘co-working’  (5.7 vs. 5.1).  Adoption was also higher in large than in small firms. • Previous research suggests that firms and organisations benefit most from adopting coherent bundles of employment practices. We conducted a cluster analysis to see how Irish employers combine human capital development, employee involvement and ‘co-working’. • We found that firms who combined all three practices (28% of firms) or who combined employee involvement with human capital development (21% of private sector employers) tended to have better business outcomes[1]. These differences remain when we control for size and industrial sector.  We cannot infer causation from these results, but they do suggest the importance of paying attention to how workplace practices are combined. • We also examined the association between combinations of workplace practices and product or service innovation. Private sector firms who combine all three practices (human capital development, employee involvement and co-working) are nearly three times as likely to have introduced new products or services in the previous two years. The figure is even higher in the public sector: public sector organisations that combine all three practices (60% of public sector employers) are over 5 times as likely to have introduced new products or services.  Again, we need to be careful about inferring causation from these findings, but the results again point to the importance of taking account of how workplace practices are combined. • Small firms are less likely to have introduced new products or services in the previous two years and also tend to have experienced more challenging business outcomes. The analysis suggested that adoption of coherent bundles of workplace practices is associated with benefits (better business outcomes and higher levels of innovation) for small as well as for medium and large firms. Implications for Policy • The findings reveal that there has been considerable development of workplace practices in both the public and private sectors since 2003. • The results suggest the benefits of adopting coherent bundles of employment practices, rather than adopting new stand alone workplace practices • Policies and supports designed to enhance the levels of product and service innovation need to recognise the contribution that workplace innovation can make to the achievement of this objective. • There is still considerable scope for convincing the private sector, particularly small firms, of the importance of workplace innovation to the future success of their businesses in terms of the positive impact it can have on both innovation and business outcomes. • The strong strategic commitment of public sector managers to workplace innovation is an important resource in the process of managing change in the provision of public services.  To develop further, the structural barriers to change – in particular the centralisation of human resources and industrial relations, organisational hierarchies and bureaucracy – need to be addressed.  The diversity in the barriers identified in the different parts of the public sector suggests that customised implementation strategies will be needed. • The commitment of management to workplace innovation needs to be communicated to all levels in the organisation. Practices such as effective employee involvement and co-working need to be diffused through all levels of the organisation in order to maximise the potential benefits.

‘Business outcome’ is measured on a scale based on volume of business in the last two years, overall profits in the last two years, current business position and size of workforce compared to two years ago.

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