DECD staff worried about risk, work-life balance
A major survey of the Department for Education and Child Development shows staff are worried about work-life balance and believe the agency does not properly balance risks and opportunities.
The survey of more than 3000 staff – the majority who work in schools and pre-schools – also highlights concerns about management and standards.
The results indicate many staff believe the agency is inward-looking, isn’t open to new ideas and doesn’t use its resources effectively.
The Organisational Climate Survey, carried out by the Office for the Public Sector in 2014 and covering about 10 per cent of the giant department’s workforce, was ordered in response to the Allen Review of the agency.
The Allen Review was sparked by a series of departmental controversies including a range of failures in child protection.
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Most of the respondents to the survey – 67.4 per cent – were from schools and pre-schools.
While the vast majority believed they had a clear idea of “their customers and their needs” (96.2 per cent) and agreed they understood how their job “supports their directorate achieve its objectives” (83.2 per cent), the survey also identified “areas that we know require greater attention”, says DECD chief executive Tony Harrison.
Staff were dissatisfied in a range of areas, including the following:
- Only 36.7 per cent agreed that DECD was an organisation that supports good work-life balance, with the result even poorer for staff in schools and preschools (32.2 per cent).
- Only 26.5 per cent felt the department had “an appropriate balance between risk and opportunity”.
- Just over 35 per cent agreed that DECD employees were open to change.
- About a third believed the department was innovative.
- Only 32.7 per cent agreed that the department considered “customers, clients or the public” in any planning or change processes.
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Only 29.7 per cent of respondents within the Corporate and Families areas of the department believed that DECD rigorously enforced service standards.
Across the agency, 21.9 per cent believed that “resources are effectively and efficiently used to achieve its objectives”.
Harrison said the survey established a baseline against which the department could measure improvements.
He said the results confirmed the department had a “highly capable workforce that is acutely aware of the priorities within their team, and the needs of the people that they serve”.
However, it also “reaffirmed” areas for greater attention.
“We are incorporating direct involvement from staff, principals, preschool directors and social workers at every stage of the business improvement plan to ensure our priority of delivering high quality services to children and young people is achieved,” Harrison said.
As well as running schools, the department is responsible for key child protection agency, Families SA.
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