Transparency data

DWP 2022 voluntary report on disability, mental health and wellbeing

Published 17 October 2022

The Voluntary Reporting Framework was launched by the Government to encourage businesses to report how many of their staff have a disability or health condition, and also to report on the health and wellbeing of staff. The framework was created in partnership with employers and charities. The Civil Service as a whole currently reports against the framework in full – this report provides progress in DWP as at September 2022 in accordance with the guidance for voluntary reporting.

1. Introduction from DWP

This year, our role in supporting people to find work and being there for our most vulnerable customers has never been more important. Added to this, the impact of coronavirus (COVID-19) means we have increased numbers of people relying on DWP for financial support. We understand it is important to make sure we continue to make our colleagues feel safe, well and included while at work so that they feel best able to support DWP’s diverse range of customers in unprecedented times. To enable us to do this, we have fundamentally changed how we work, with colleagues able to connect and collaborate remotely, in a workplace, or a mixture of the two.

Through DWP’s wellbeing and inclusion strategies and frameworks, we continue to create a safe, healthy and inclusive environment. By prioritising employee wellbeing, encouraging and supporting healthy behaviours, we are supporting all colleagues to flourish and thrive; helping to ensure DWP is a great place to work. This is enabling business delivery and serving our customers well.

Our overall objective is to improve employee health outcomes by taking a proactive and preventative approach to wellbeing, and by doing this positively, contribute to the Nation’s health goals.

DWP continue to be recognised as a thought-leader in workplace wellbeing, and our wellbeing approach, achievements, innovative ideas and solutions are regularly published by organisations such as the Reward and Employee Benefits Association (REBA) and Business in the Community (BITC) and most recently being recognised in the RoSPA awards, winning the Health at Work Award for Management of Occupational Health and Wellbeing Strategy.

2. Voluntary reporting on disability

DWP is proud to be a Disability Confident Leader demonstrating the departmental commitment to attracting, recruiting and retaining disabled people, and supporting them in achieving their full potential.

Our achievements include:

• implemented the recruitment specific recommendations for the validation feedback from our Disability Confident Leaders assessment and renewed our bespoke disability recruitment guide. During the Department’s Work Coach recruitment exercise programme, data showed us a higher proportion of disabled candidates being successful than we have previously observed at Executive Officer level
• in collaboration with resourcing leads, we implemented Business Disability Forum’s recommendation to use Vercida, a Job Board that actively target jobseekers with disabilities
• our national disability colleague network, THRIVE, continues to grow, and galvanise the voice of lived experience. There are currently 317 Thrive Allies, and 1300 THRIVE members. The network is aligned to core priorities, supporting ET drop-ins and workplace adjustments (WPA) activity, providing a valuable resource of feedback and insight
• we have significantly increased the number of people declared disabled at all levels including the Senior Civil Service. As of June 2022, 19.6% of the organisation are declared disabled in the Department (an increase of 1.3% compared to June 2021) and 11.4% declared disabled in the Senior Civil Service as of June 2022
• encouraged more colleagues to share personal diversity information data on SOP (the Department’s single operating platform), with disability declaration levels at 92.0% at June 2022
• the on-flow target of new entrants to Senior Civil Service roles was 12% for disability by 2025. DWP’s is at 11.5%
• developed workplace adjustment line-manager guidance, during October and November 2021 to support returning to the workplace
• on-visible/hidden disability’ and ‘Neurodiversity Reflect and Protect’ PAM workshops implemented; high demand and highly valued by attendees
• developed a series of 9 colleague led ‘Understanding Disability videos and these were launched at the end of September 2022 as part of National Inclusion Week
• delivered a series of Director General drop-ins for small groups of disabled colleagues to discuss lived experiences. These were not limited to disability conversation led by disability but allowed for discussion about whole self. Developed a facilitator brief to ensure consistency
• developed a Senior Civil Service sponsored DWP Neurodiversity Action Plan in December 2021, endorsed by the DWP Executive Team, looking specifically at Engagement, Evidence, Recruitment, Equality Impacting and Ways of Working
• insight has told us that a mentoring and coaching offer for disabled colleagues will support personal development and career progression. DWP’s Talent Team has developed and launched ‘Leaders for you’ a scheme for HEO and SEO colleagues in minority groups including disabled colleagues
• DWP’s Workplace Adjustments Governance Board progressed 4 objectives and developed action plans for mental health adjustments, improved MI, a WPA end-to-end process review and support for neuro diverse colleagues. Senior Workplace Adjustments Governance Board has oversight and responsibility for success measures and implementation
• reviewed key processes and products that support WPA and made improvements, such as developing new equality act moves guidance, support workers guidance and improvements to the interpreter’s contract
• 19.34% disabled colleagues and 71.89% non-disabled colleagues were promoted in August 2022. This is an increase from August 2020 where 11.84% disabled colleagues and 76.75% non-disabled colleagues were promoted
• supported colleagues to have conversations, make commitments, take actions, and share stories about disability, mental health, and WPA through targeted communications
• we have introduced a Disability Working Group, who meet every 6 weeks to operate as a sounding board and critical friend for ideas and work together to ensure the effective implementation of disability actions and priorities. The group have a Terms of Reference which was developed to give focus to the purpose, objectives and goals of the group and define the governance route for the Group. Key stakeholders include a representative from the Human Resources Business Partner community, Leadership team, Wellbeing team, Behavioural Scientist, Human Resources Management Information/Casework, THRIVE and policy team

3. DWP voluntary reporting on mental health and wellbeing

In DWP our wellbeing framework is universal, offering something for everyone. It has been built on 4 pillars - ‘my body’, ‘my mind’, ‘my finances’, ‘my community’. It recognises the importance of all of these factors on our people’s mental and emotional wellbeing. Our strategy aims are to:

• educate and raise awareness through our topical health and inclusion campaigns, helping colleagues to look after themselves and others to remain at work and return to work more quickly with access to the right support
• build a culture and environment where people are at the centre of everything we do
• inspire and empower our people to make healthy personal choices about their own wellbeing and access the tools and specialist support provided by DWP

Our Working Well Together Wellbeing Wheel demonstrates how all parts of our wellbeing strategy lock together.

A snapshot of wellbeing in DWP

Through our wellbeing and inclusion strategies we are empowering all our people to feel confident to talk about mental health and access mental health and wellbeing support. Our first-class Employee Assistance Programme (EAP) service offers a range of psychological support including structured telephonic support and face-to-face counselling, CBT - cognitive behavioural therapy and EMDR - eye movement de-sensitisation reprogramming. In addition, our new wellness platform gives colleagues real-time access to Coaches, including Mind Coaches, who can provide colleagues with techniques to build resilience and reduce stress levels for example.

Our achievements include:

• we have a network of 1656 MHFA colleagues as of September 2022 who provide signposting to our EAP and other health and wellbeing services, including NHS primary care
• we have embedded Mental Health Civil Service learning into DWP’s Leadership Essentials Programme
• we ran regular Wellbeing Pulse Surveys (approximately quarterly), gathering valuable insight that has informed a vast range of health and wellbeing support, helped identify our more vulnerable demographic groups and very effectively target support at these
• we have recently launched an innovative Burnout video, to help colleagues spot the signs that may lead to Burnout, offering helpful advice on how to prevent it and where to go for help and support
• we have introduced new Fatigue Assessments, available via our Occupational Health Service. This involves a 30-minute confidential call with an Expert who works with colleagues on a one-to-one basis to help nip signs of stress and fatigue in the bud before deep-rooted problems develop and set in. Follow up wellness checks are available 2 to 3 weeks later, ensuring colleague wellbeing is fully supported
• we have launched a new Long COVID and Post COVID Syndrome Case Managed Service for colleagues who have a GP/NHS diagnosis of these conditions. This structured support helps colleagues with either of these conditions to overcome barriers and enable appropriate adjustments to be put in place during the recovery period
• we have delivered high impact wellbeing programmes, reaching more than 16,000 DWP colleagues in the first 2 quarters of 2022 alone; this has been achieved through delivering popular Virtual Wellbeing Broadcast events, alongside targeted Reflect and Protect wellbeing sessions and follow-up Well-checks (with an emphasis on mental wellbeing) to our most vulnerable employees in demographic groups including Ethnic Minorities, LGBT+, colleagues with hidden disabilities/neuro-diverse conditions, colleagues under 30, carers, colleagues in roles at risk of trauma, and more
• our active Wellbeing Network of over 1,200 Advocates has been instrumental in embedding Working Well Together consistently across DWP’s 800+ sites. Our volunteers are responsible for implementing DWP’s Wellbeing Activity locally and sign-posting colleagues into our vast range of wellbeing services. We are implementing a network of regional Wellbeing Leads to offer strategic guidance to our established Advocates Network, bringing greater consistency across our sites
• our DWP Wellbeing Buddies offer a friendly listening ear, regularly reaching out to and supporting colleagues who have been feeling lonely or isolated
• our wellness contracts are delivering sound return on investment with excellent clinical outcomes following treatment, and high levels of user satisfaction, approximately 90% across all service lines
• we have impressive clinical outcomes following counselling, including an 100% improvement in mental health scores
• our new interactive wellbeing app and real-time wellbeing coaches are helping colleagues and teams to set goals and take small steps with expert advice to improve their wellbeing together; encouraging local ownership and empowerment to lead wellbeing improvement through positive team behaviours
• our Wellbeing Confident Leaders workshop, DWP’s ‘go to’ wellbeing workshop, helps brings teams together, helping them get to know each other better and fully support each other’s wellbeing. The MHL has been reviewed and refreshed, following engagement with internal and external expertise. The refreshed learning is now being delivered across Service Delivery to capture existing customer contact colleagues, who have not previously completed the learning, and new entrants to these roles. 38,601 colleagues have now completed the MHL since original rollout
• in DWP we have a range of metrics in place to measure workplace wellbeing. These include our regular Pulse Survey and Wellness Dashboard in addition to the Thriving at Work Standards and People Survey indicators, which include Office for National Statistics (ONS), PERMA (Positive Emotion, Engagement, Relationships, Meaning, Accomplishments) and Stress Proxy

People Survey

Between 2020 and 2021 wellbeing levels in DWP improved. Scores for colleagues’ personal wellbeing increased in 2021 showing signs of improvement towards pre-pandemic levels with scores generally aligned to the median score for the Civil Service as a whole, with levels of life satisfaction at 64%happiness at 61% and sense that activities in life are worthwhile at 70%. The proportion of employees rating their anxiety has seen an increase. These increases are relatively small and overall, the picture is of general stability.

Stress Proxy Index

We calculate a stress index score using the Civil Service People Survey questions aligned to the Health and Safety Executive Stress Management Standards. The higher the index, the more challenging the workplace environment is for stress. Factors include higher workloads, lower control over how work is done, and poor support from team and manager. The stress index in 2020-2021 remained at 28% and is consistent with the median score for the Civil Service.

PERMA Index

Since 2016 we have been monitoring an index of ‘flourishing’ by combining five Civil Service People Survey questions related to five dimensions of flourishing - Positive Emotion, Engagement, Relationships, Meaning and Accomplishment. In 2021 DWP employees had a PERMA index score of 74%, consistent with the median score for the Civil Service as a whole. Our work-related wellbeing (our PERMA index) has measured 74% since 2018.

4. Our key priorities

In DWP we’ve made excellent progress over the last 12 months, which has been achieved against a backdrop of unprecedented change and uncertainty. We recognise there is a critical need to sustain this focus over the coming months and years and to continue to invest in the development of positive mental health, wellbeing and disability inclusion for our people and teams.

Our immediate priorities over the next 12 months:

• we are currently developing a DWP Disability Inclusion Strategic Action Plan, aiming to Increase Trust, Encourage Proactive Support and Empower Disabled Colleagues. To be Launched late October 2022 focusing on:
  • responsible, inclusive leadership practice that is the expectation not the exception
  • anti-discrimination organisation
  • inclusive by design (flexibility)We will continue to work with our national disability colleague network, THRIVE, to gather further insight – qualitative and quantitative - into people’s lived experience to support better decision-making across the department.
• we will continue to encourage more colleagues to share personal diversity information data on SOP (the Department’s Single Operating Platform), with the aim to improve on declaration levels at 92.0% at June 2022
• we will continue to work with our national disability colleague network, THRIVE, to gather further insight – qualitative and quantitative - into people’s lived experience to support better decision-making across the department
• we are developing an overarching communications strategy that nudges colleagues into taking pro-active action to improve their wellbeing and into the support available
• DWP will continue to raise mental health and disability issues through our internal blogging and colleague events, highlighting inspiring personal stories which enable conversations to take place and reduce the stigma around these topics
• we will continue to directly target new and exclusive wellbeing support and communications at groups at risk
• we will work in collaboration with resourcing colleagues and Business Disability Forum to review perceived barriers to progressions for disabled colleagues. Focus groups and interviews will be held to understand the experiences of successful and unsuccessful disabled candidates
• we will continue to monitor progress of new entrants against SCS on-flow targets - 12% by 2025
• we will implement a new suite of wellbeing support and interventions for colleagues facing wellbeing challenges that have emerged (for example, mental wellbeing assessments, enhance financial wellbeing toolkits, produce additional support for those facing Anxiety.)
• we will build Wellbeing Confidence at every level, through a Wellbeing Confidence educational tool
• we will continue to tackle mental health taboos, reducing reports of Bullying, Harassment and Discrimination relating to Mental Health. We will next provide a report in October 2023