LOGO Personnel satisfaction survey and strategic direction of personnel capacity building in state statistics bodies of the Republic of Belarus National Statistical Committee of the Republic of Belarus Olga Pozharitskaya Head of Personnel Division National Statistical Committee of the Republic of Belarus

David Packard, founder of the Hewlett Packard company, when asked “What is a key to success?” answered “People”

The participation rate in the survey was 90,1% of the government employees of the system of Belstat 67,1% 92,4% 95,9% country level regional level district level

The questionnaire consisted of 4 modules Work satisfaction 1 Work environment 2 Image of Belstat 3 Change of the place of work 4  Scope of work  Advancement and opportunities for development  Working conditions  Personal work  Training  Work climate, relations with colleagues  Work process, collaboration

1. Work satisfaction 1.1. Scope of work Are you satisfied with the clarity of the tasks and goals set?

1. Work satisfaction 1.1. Scope of work Are you satisfied with your work results?

1. Work satisfaction 1.2. Growth and opportunities for development Are you satisfied with the created conditions for your professional development?

1. Work satisfaction 1.3. Working conditions 97% of respondents were satisfied with the requirements of the rules and regulations related to appearance and behaviour

1. Work satisfaction 1.4. Personal work 85% of respondents agreed that the work became more complex and there were increasingly more work 80% of respondents could do more work than required 99% of respondents tried to improve the quality of performed work

1. Work satisfaction 1.5. Training The most prevailing answers to the suggestion to list areas where additional knowledge is necessary to improve the performance were as follows: modern information technology modern information technology:  work with various applications  skills upgrading in the work with personal computer  use of Internet accounting; foreign languages; knowledge in various statistical domains:  economics  finance  construction  energy  agriculture, etc. documentation management; law; psychology

1. Work satisfaction 1.5. Training What is for you the motivation to participate in training and to acquire new knowledge? 1.to better perform job responsibilities - 75,8% 2.self-improvement - 63,5% 3.promotion at work - 26,7% 4.commendation from chief - 11,7% 5.no fear to lose work - 8,5%

2. Work environment95%95% mentioned the perception of support from colleagues in their unit. 92%92% claimed that internal disputes could be settled via a dialogue. 89%89% considered that their work results, professionalism and development were valued by the management. 88%88% agreed that their initiative was welcomed by the management.

2. Work environment Innovation is implemented in our organisation

3. Image of Belstat According to respondents’ opinion:  state statistics bodies are developing in the right direction (90%),  Belstat does everything possible to achieve the maximum quality of statistical products (89,3%). 83,5 % of respondents were satisfied with the reputation of state statistics bodies as employees. I would recommend the work in state statistics bodies to my acquaintances as a good place of work

4. Change of the place of work

Conclusions and suggestions Make a more wide use of the “team work” methods using the feedback principle Continue to improve the system of staff motivation paying special attention to moral and financial incentives Organise training in the most in-demand areas of knowledge identified as a result of survey Survey personnel in a monitoring mode

In February 2012 the Strategy for the Development of State Statistics of the Republic of Belarus for the period until 2015 was approved Aim of the Strategy: To create prerequisites for further development of state statistics and to meet to a maximum extent the information needs of the community for consistent, reliable, relevant and timely statistical data (information) on the economic, demographic, social and environmental situation in the Republic of Belarus.

One of the main directions of the Strategy is personnel capacity building. The implementation of this direction includes the following activities:  Annual analysis of the qualitative staff composition in a monitoring mode taking into account the impacts of external environment on the requirements to the personnel in statistics;  Establishment of the system of continuous multi-level professional education and training, including leaning of foreign languages;  Implementation into practice of psychological testing for the candidates to managerial positions;  Work with young employees;  Improvement of the personnel appraisal in the form of computer testing in combination with the interview;  Personnel satisfaction survey in a monitoring mode, etc.

Conclusion A balanced and dynamic combination of all methods and forms of human resource management would allow for the formation in state statistics bodies of highly professional personnel capacity with the sufficient knowledge of international standards, statistical methodology and modern information technology.

LOGO