Bridgwater Workplace Web Survey Key findings, 16 July 2009 Response Profile Office Activities and Work Locations Factors for a Productive Working Environment Satisfaction with Current Environment Transport and Commuting Working from Home Access to Mobile Devices Attitude toward Change Other Comment about Workspace Conclusions

Response Profile - Summary The chart to the right shows the number of responses we had in each building. The total no. of responses was 159 out of a target population of 302, representing a response rate of over 53% across each of the buildings surveyed, which is very good compared with previous similar surveys. There was a good breakdown of responses by team and by operational/administrative roles.

Work Locations Respondents estimated that they spend an average of 60% of their working time at their desks, and 70% of their time in their main office location. This suggests significant potential to use space more efficiently, given that most staff currently have a dedicated desk. [this finding to be validated based on outcome of occupancy study]

Office Activities Whilst in the office, working on a computer is the main activity taking up 38% of respondents’ time on average. A further 31% of time is spent performing other desk based activities (such as telephone, tasks that require deep concentration, reading, filing and general paper management). And 19% of time is spend in meetings or communicating informally with clients

Factors for a productive working environment The factors most commonly cited as important to people’s jobs were enhancing high quality work, creating a pleasant working atmosphere and allowing concentration. Getting to know your team and encouraging collaboration were also rated as important. Conference calls were given low importance, but this facility is newly available and being taken up by some groups (mainly for team updates where some team members are located remotely).

Satisfaction with current environment When asked to rate satisfaction with their current working environment, respondents were relatively satisfied with their ability to get to know their team and collaborate with colleagues. Factors relating to noise levels and privacy scored more poorly, as did flexibility to adapt to SCC’s needs. User comments (see slide 14) supported this and highlighted storage as a further issue.

Satisfaction by Job Type and Building Over 70% of all staff were either satisfied, very satisfied or indifferent about their working environment. Chandos and Parkway East Bridgwater performed the best with approx. 90% of their occupants being either satisfied or very satisfied with their working environment. Surestart House was the worst performing with 29% being either dissatisfied or very dissatisfied with their working environment. Broadly admin and operational staff were equally satisfied with their working environment. User comments (see slide 14) supported this and highlighted storage as a further issue.

Workplace satisfaction by Team Over 70% of all staff were were either satisfied, very satisfied or indifferent about their working environment. Chandos and Parkway East Bridgwater performed the best with approx. 90% of their occupants being either satisfied or very satisfied with their working environment. Surestart House was the worst performing with 29% being either dissatisfied or very dissatisfied with their working environment. Broadly admin and operational staff were equally satisfied with their working environment. User comments (see slide 14) supported this and highlighted storage, noise and the lack of recreational spaces as a further issues.

Gap analysis – current vs ideal working environment Comparing the results from the factors identified as important with the scores for the current working environment, we can identify where the biggest gaps are between the current and ‘ideal’ environments. The greatest gaps relate to: Allowing concentration, silence and privacy Enhancing productivity and high quality work Creating a pleasant working environment Conference calls have a particularly low score both on current and ideal, indicating that this is not seen as an important means of communication, although some teams are starting to use this.

Transport and Commuting 84% of respondents travel to work by car, with only 1% coming by public transport. Parking and travel policy will clearly be a key consideration in any move to new accommodation. Incentives to encourage greater car-sharing, cycling, walking and use of public transport should be considered. 63% of respondents took less than 30 minutes to get to work, with most of the remainder taking less than an hour.

Working from home Given the option, a majority of the staff surveyed would like to work from home some of the time. Around 12% of the sample already work from home some of the time, with a further 44% expressing interest in doing so. The nature of work tasks, teamwork and availability of appropriate technology were seen as key factors determining the ability to work from home. These findings were echoed in the focus groups, with access to laptops and dialup speeds cited as common constraints.

Access to mobile devices Around a third of surveyed staff have an SCC mobile phone, with a very small no. having a Blackberry From the focus groups, usage of laptops is patchy across teams There was a tablet pilot run for Occupational Therapists but this was generally perceived to have failed. Digital Pens have not been looked at but might be appropriate for some roles (e.g. social workers taking notes/filling in forms with clients)

Attitude towards Change This graph shows staff readiness for change plotted against current mobility. Mobility was assessed based on stated time at desk vs other locations. Change readiness was assessed based on responses to question 21(a-i) on the survey. Positive responses to questions 21a,d,f and g contributed to a higher readiness for change score while questions 21b,c,e,h and i contributed towards a lower readiness for change score (see Appendix). The greater their mobility and readiness for change the higher the number: mobility (1-4) and readiness for change (1-5). There is a general resistance towards change with only 6% being ready or wanting change, compared with 51% who are either not ready or sceptical. The perceived level of mobility is also relatively low, with a majority of respondents seeing themselves as desk-bound more than half the time. 1=>74% of time at desk 2=>49% of time at desk 3=>24% of time at desk 4=<24% of time at desk Not ready Sceptical Ready Want it

Other comments about workspace At the end of the survey people were asked to add any additional comments about their work or workspace. The comments on their current working environment were generally fairly positive with staff: Generally finding their accommodation satisfactory Liking having their colleagues around them. Liking having rooms (offices) However, the following issues were raised: Storage – ‘Is a big problem for the teams that I work with.’ Noise - ‘At times the office is too noisy to allow me to concentrate effectively.’ Recreation areas – ‘Due to not having a staff room where breaks can be taken most people tend to eat at their desk and thus keep working so do not have a proper break at all.’ Most comments related to any potential future changes to accommodation and working practices. The principal issues raised were: Storage – ‘It is important that I have easy access to my personal information related to work.’ IT – ‘Provided I have secure access to the systems I need to access via the internet, then the bulk of my work can be done from home.’ Privacy – ‘Confidential areas of meeting and telephones are essential to my working practice.’ Noise – ‘I would not like to work in an open plan office as the level of concentration needed when doing my job is high and I feel that this would suffer if it was a bigger office with more staff and general office noise.’ Contact with team members – ‘I chose to be office based rather than work from home as I would feel too isolated.’ ‘The nature of work can be complicated and at times distressing, colleagues and a supportive office environment is essential.’ Performance – ‘There is quite a bit of research into hot-desking and the negative affects on staff, increasing stress and reducing performance. ‘

Conclusions The survey received a good response rate of over 50%, with a split between operational and administration staff of 55%/45% across a variety of different teams. Accordingly, the data should provide a reasonably accurate picture of staff views. Based on the staff survey, overall 70% of respondents’ time is spent in the office with 60% at their desks. Of this 38% is using their computer and 13% is undertaking tasks that require greater communication. This finding needs to be corroborated with the results of the occupancy study. At present 70% of staff ware satisfied or very satisfied with their current working environment. The greatest gaps between their current and desired working environment are for: 1.Undertaking tasks that require concentration 2.Creating a pleasant working environment 3.Enhancing productivity and a pleasant working environment. This suggests that whilst staff are happy with their current working environment there is scope to provide them with better facilities. Included in this could be working from home on a part-time basis, something that 44% of respondents expressed an interest in. However, most of the staff at present are resistant to significant changes in their working environment and ways of working, suggesting significant change management will be required to implement key changes successfully. In particular, a general introduction of desk-sharing and extension of open plan working (particularly at management level) is likely to need careful consultation and management.