Hey People - Results Are In!

Dear all

Thank you to the 40,000 of you who shared your views in the 2021 People Survey. These survey results are crucial to help us understand how we can continue to make the MoJ an outstanding place to work.

We have now received the results, and I can report that MoJ’s overall engagement score is 60%, one percentage point (ppt) lower than in 2020.

The last two years have been particularly challenging, but despite this, I’m pleased that overall engagement remains higher than in 2019.

There are many stand-out scores from individual areas. Overall engagement went up in HMCTS (by 3ppts), MoJ Policy Group (by 1ppt), CICA (by 1ppt) and OPG (by 1ppt).

Over the next few weeks, ExCo will be looking closely at the department-wide insights the survey results provide, and I’ll be reading all the 39,000 free-text comments you submitted. In the meantime, here are some of my early impressions.

I’m pleased that there has been a 2ppt increase in those of you who feel there are opportunities to develop your career in your organisation. I want MoJ to provide opportunities for career progression for all our staff. This is a positive improvement, and we will continue to push to be a top Civil Service organisation in this area.

89% of you say you have the skills to do your jobs effectively, which is above the Civil Service average. This reflects the focus and commitment I see right across the department every day and at every grade to deliver high quality, and professional work.

Pay and benefits scores for staff who were part of the MoJ Pay Offer have increased by 12ppt. One of my top priorities in the past year was to tackle the long-standing issues around pay and reward, so I am delighted the pay offer has made a difference to those staff. We have a separate approach for HMPPS pay – and looking at what we can do on this is a priority for Jo and I for this year.

Of course, there are still several areas on which we need to focus. We have seen a reduction in some areas of engagement for HMPPS, we know this has been an extremely challenging year for those on the frontline and I’m grateful for how you’ve responded to the unprecedented pressures of the pandemic. I really want MoJ Group to be a great place to work for all our staff and agencies, so we will be working to identify how we can share best practice across all areas.

On bullying, harassment and discrimination, it’s good to see a 1ppt drop in those reporting being discriminated against – however any score is still too high. We have to redouble our efforts so nobody is in any doubt that we have zero tolerance of discrimination, bullying or harassment at the MoJ, and throughout our agencies.

Please do take time to discuss your scores in your teams and decide what more we can all do to create an innovative and collaborative workplace of which we can all be proud. This is also a chance for you to share ideas and actions with other teams. You all operate in very different roles and by collectively considering our results we can decide jointly how to build a great place to work for all of our people.

Thank you for your extraordinary efforts this year, and for the time you have clearly taken to support one another in this challenging period.

You have achieved a huge amount, delivering our Ministers’ priorities, continually responding to the demands of COVID, and working to protect the public, reduce reoffending and provide swift access to justice. This is a major source of pride for me, and I hope it is for you too.

All the best

Antonia

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Prioritising Probation

Introduction from Kim Thornden-Edwards

I’m Kim, Deputy Director for the Probation Workforce Programme, and I joined the Probation Service from Interserve in June as part of unification. With over 25 years operational experience delivering probation services across the country, I know how tough things are out there at the moment. We have heard the messages you have been giving us, and are committed to doing something about it.

Taking action now

We know many of the issues around workload are caused by staff shortages, complex processes, the constant demands of change, alongside the backdrop of Covid. Whilst we must protect our core business, we need to prioritise the essential activities, and stop or pause others.

So today [9th December 2021] I’m really pleased to tell you about Prioritising Probation, a new action-focussed initiative to identify and bring together what can be done over the next three months to ease the pressures on the front line and enable you to focus on the important work you do with people on probation to protect the public.

Prioritising Probation is our response to what you have told us. We will review how we are currently working and identify if there are practical and quick ways to:

• Speed up recruitment and increase the number of staff
• Give your region more flexibility to pause or stop non-essential activity
• Simplify or stop some processes
• Lessen the amount of changes or spread them out more during 2022
• Reduce or better manage requests from HQ to regions

Get involved

We are still working on the detail, but we want to be brave and bold. I’ll be talking to senior leaders about these ideas on Monday and in addition I am keen to hear from you. So, please tell us what you feel is most important using this short form, so that we can ensure that we focus on the right things. You can also share your views using the dedicated mailbox.

Stay informed

We will keep updating you on progress in a range of ways including a new Prioritising Probation page on the Probation Hub, Probation News, and through other channels. We want you to hold us to account on this, so please keep checking here for updates.

Thank you

Kim