Some council staff experienced bullying - survey

The staff survey results were debated by councillors at Shire Hall this week

A Gloucestershire County Council staff survey suggests hundreds of employees have had "personal experience" of bullying, harassment, discrimination and other wrongdoing while at work.

The survey results were debated by councillors at Shire Hall this week. Some 268 of 2,684 people said they had experienced bullying, harassment, discrimination, malpractice and wrongdoing.

The report also said about six out of 10 staff were confident that such issues would be dealt with, according to the Local Democracy Reporting Service.

Gloucestershire County Council said in the report: "Whilst the majority had not witnessed bullying or harassment, there remains work to be done to ensure people feel able to speak up where they do think it is occurring and this aligns with staff survey findings too."

Pay and opportunities

The same survey, which was debated at the council's corporate overview and scrutiny committee on Wednesday, suggested 90% of council employees had a good relationship with their manager.

Some 84% said they felt motivated to give their best work and 87% of those who responded said they would recommend the authority as a place to work.

When it came to equality, diversity and inclusion, between 79% and 89% of staff said they felt confident to raise personal concerns of bullying, harassment, discrimination, malpractice and wrongdoing with their manager.

And staff confidence levels that such issues would be dealt with were between 53% and 60%, the survey suggested. On average 33%, or 887 out of the 2,688 respondents to the question, gave a "neutral" response.

About 39% of respondents believed the council's corporate leadership teams were sufficiently visible and accessible, while between 50% and 65% said they had confidence in senior management.

In terms of salaries, 45% felt they were paid fairly and 46% felt there were opportunities for them to develop their career.

Six out of 10 respondents felt they had opportunities at work to learn and develop their role.