Wollondilly Shire Council has seen outstanding results in its October 2023 staff survey, with outcomes in key areas showing year on year improvement since the independently run survey was introduced in 2019.

Staff engagement is at an all-time high, with an overall engagement score of 77% moving Wollondilly to the top 5% of the benchmark for the 71 councils who take part in the survey.

The results reported to this week’s Council meeting show a culture of increasing trust, advocacy and pride in belonging within the organisation; with staff across all divisions of Council continuing to show a strong commitment to the community they serve.

The survey also highlights a huge jump in commitment to high standards of performance, which reveals staff are embracing a high-performance culture and want to provide an even better service for the Wollondilly community.

CEO Ben Taylor said, “As we continue on our path to be the best Council we can possibly be for our community and the Shire, I’m excited to see that Wollondilly is now in the top 5% of benchmark Councils. Our employees care about the direction we are going and are living out the values and vision of the organisation in their day to day activities.”

“Employee engagement is a key factor in a high performing organisation. When employees are engaged they demonstrate motivation and pride in what they do and ultimately high levels of service and productivity, which is a direct benefit for the community.”

“I’m extremely pleased to see we are one of the top Councils in the country and continue to be grateful every day for the wonderful people here who proudly serve the Wollondilly community.”

“We will continue to invest in our people and are listening closely to their feedback, so that we can support their efforts and improve even further.”

Mayor Matt Gould said, “I would like to commend the CEO, the Senior Leadership Team and everyone at Council on their extraordinary efforts at building such a healthy, positive culture at Council. Ben Taylor has continued to demonstrate the highest levels of integrity and care for people since day one, and this has never wavered.”

“Council understands that increased staff engagement translates directly to increased performance and improved service delivery, which is why we set staff engagement as a key performance measure for our CEO.”

“Thank you to all our staff on behalf of Council for everything you do for our community.”

The key highlights from the October 2023 survey are:

• Council has moved into the top 5% for Council’s benchmarked for employee engagement
• The engagement rate has improved from 71% to 77%, with consistent high levels of engagement across all directorates
• Overall trust, job satisfaction, advocacy and seeing a fulfilling future at WSC has steadily increased
• Survey items referencing a sense of pride and belonging, `I am proud to be working here’ and `I have a strong sense of belonging to Wollondilly Shire Council’ have improved by 10%
• Staff are committed to Council with 86% stating that they would go the extra mile to help Wollondilly Shire Council succeed
• Demonstration of Council’s values and behaviours continues to increase
• Key themes from staff feedback continue to include requests for more staff and resources, improved systems and processes as well as a desire to improve collaboration between work groups.