Transparency data

Civil Service People Survey 2023 - Results Highlights

Published 29 February 2024

Overview of the Civil Service People Survey 2023 main findings

Contents

  • Employee engagement and theme scores
  • Discrimination, bullying and harassment
  • Employee wellbeing
  • Modernisation, reform, productivity and efficiency
  • Future intentions
  • Annex: Background information

Summary of the results

65% of civil servants, across 103 organisations, participated in the 2023 Civil Service People Survey

This page is an overview of the headline findings of the 2023 Civil Service People Survey for the purpose of providing commentary to the results. It is composed of five sections: (i) employee engagement and theme scores; (ii) discrimination, bullying and harassment; (iii) employee wellbeing; (iv) modernisation, reform, productivity and efficiency; and (v) future intentions. The published spreadsheets show all core question scores. Further information about the survey is in the complementary Technical Guide, including the full list of participating organisations, development of the questionnaire over time and detail about how the indices are calculated.

356,715 civil servants from 103 organisations responded to the 2023 Civil Service People Survey, up from 347,957 in 2022. The overall response rate in 2023 was 65%, the same as in 2022.

Figure 1: Summary of Civil Service People Survey 2023 Results (access Table 1)(ODS, 18KB)

Employee engagement and theme scores

The primary measure in the People Survey is the Employee Engagement Index. The index is a measure of how proud staff feel in working for their organisation, whether they would recommend their organisation as a great place to work, whether they feel a strong personal attachment to it, and whether they feel their organisation inspires and motivates them to do the best in their job and achieve their organisation’s objectives. 

There are nine core theme scores within the People Survey, each of which measure a different element of employee experience at work. 

The benchmark Engagement Index is 64%, 1 percentage point lower compared to 2022

Of the five questions that make up the engagement index, four of them decreased between 1 and 2 percentage points compared to 2022, with the exception of ‘I would recommend my organisation as a great place to work’ which did not change (details on how to calculate the index can be found in the explanatory notes below and in the technical guide). There is a mixed picture in relation to the nine themes that drive employee engagement.

Compared to 2022:

  • ‘My Work’, ‘My Manager’, and ‘My Team’ did not vary;
  • ‘Learning and Development’, ‘Resources and Workload’, and ‘Organisational Objectives and Purpose’ all increased by 1 percentage point, while ‘Pay and Benefits’ increased by 5 percentage points;
  • ‘Inclusion and Fair Treatment’, and ‘Leadership and Managing Change’ decreased by 1 and 2 percentage points respectively.

Figure 2: Civil Service People Survey benchmark scores 2009-2023 for Employee Engagement Index and main themes (access Table 2)(ODS, 18KB)

Engagement levels range from 56% to 70% across main departments

Across main departments, the Department for Culture, Media, and Sport (DCMS, 70%) has the highest engagement index while HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) has the lowest (56%). Across the main themes, the Welsh Government (WG) has the highest scores for three of the nine engagement driver themes, while the Ministry of Defence (MoD) and the Ministry of Justice (MoJ) have the lowest score for three of the nine driver themes.

Note: Scores for MoJ and DfE include their respective agencies.  Please refer to the Civil Service People Survey 2023 Benchmark results file for details.

Category CO DBT DCMS DEFRA DESNZ DFE DFT DHSC DLUHC DSIT DWP FCDO HMRC HMT HO MOD MOJ SG WG NIO
Engagement index 58% 62% 70% 61% 61% 63% 64% 57% 62% 60% 61% 66% 56% 67% 58% 63% 61% 65% 66% 64%
My work 77% 77% 82% 77% 78% 79% 78% 77% 79% 77% 74% 80% 71% 79% 73% 78% 74% 80% 83% 80%
Organisational objectives and purpose 69% 79% 82% 77% 77% 80% 80% 70% 78% 71% 86% 82% 83% 82% 81% 81% 82% 82% 85% 84%
My manager 75% 77% 79% 77% 77% 80% 80% 77% 81% 76% 77% 75% 78% 79% 76% 72% 73% 80% 80% 78%
My team 84% 82% 87% 84% 83% 87% 83% 84% 85% 83% 83% 83% 82% 84% 80% 80% 78% 85% 85% 87%
Learning and development 50% 54% 56% 57% 54% 60% 61% 53% 61% 50% 62% 57% 57% 50% 58% 54% 55% 59% 56% 38%
Inclusion and fair treatment 77% 81% 85% 82% 83% 83% 83% 80% 84% 82% 80% 77% 79% 81% 78% 77% 75% 84% 85% 81%
Resources and workload 72% 73% 75% 71% 72% 76% 77% 72% 76% 70% 76% 74% 74% 74% 73% 70% 70% 75% 79% 73%
Pay and benefits 32% 24% 24% 21% 22% 38% 28% 31% 26% 24% 33% 28% 31% 20% 35% 30% 28% 56% 52% 36%
Leadership and managing change 45% 52% 62% 50% 53% 51% 57% 45% 55% 54% 50% 50% 46% 55% 47% 42% 46% 50% 55% 51%

Note: The full names for the department codes used in this and other tables is at the bottom of this page in the Coverage section.

CO and FCDO achieved the biggest improvements across the theme scores

The Cabinet Office (CO) and the Foreign Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) have seen a significant increase in their engagement index compared to 2022 (+4pp in both cases). The Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) and HMRC had a reduction in their engagement index of 3pp, followed by the Scottish Government (SG, 2pp) and HM Treasury (HMT) and MoD (1pp in both cases).

FCDO has the highest increase (+9pp) in the ‘Organisational Objectives and Purpose’ theme. The ‘Pay and Benefits’ theme increased by +12pp in the Home Office (HO), while the ‘Leadership and Managing Change’ theme increased by +7pp in the CO.

CO has the largest increase in the ‘My Work’ theme (+4pp), and shares with FCDO those for ‘Inclusion and Fair Treatment’ and ‘Resources and Workload’ (+3pp in both instances). The ‘Learning and Development’ theme saw the largest increase (+6pp) in the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA) and Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities (DLUHC).

Category CO DBT DCMS DEFRA DESNZ DFE DFT DHSC DLUHC DSIT DWP FCDO HMRC HMT HO MOD MOJ SG WG NIO
Engagement index +4 NA 0 +1 NA +2 0 -3 +2 NA 0 +4 -3 -1 +1 -1 0 -2 +1 +3
My work +4 NA +3 +2 NA +2 0 0 +3 NA +1 +3 -1 +1 0 -1 +1 -1 +2 0
Organisational objectives and purpose +7 NA 0 +3 NA +3 -2 +1 +7 NA +1 +9 -1 +3 +2 -1 +1 0 +1 +2
My manager +1 NA -1 +1 NA -1 0 0 +1 NA +1 +2 0 0 +1 0 +1 -1 +1 0
My team +1 NA -1 0 NA 0 -1 -1 0 NA 0 +1 -1 -1 0 0 0 -1 0 -1
Learning and development +4 NA +1 +6 NA +3 +4 +2 +6 NA +2 +4 -3 -3 +2 -1 +3 0 +4 -3
Inclusion and fair treatment +3 NA 0 0 NA +1 0 -1 +1 NA +1 +3 -1 -1 +1 -1 0 -2 +1 +1
Resources and workload +3 NA 0 +1 NA 0 +1 +1 +1 NA +1 +3 +1 +1 +1 0 +1 0 +2 +2
Pay and benefits +7 NA -3 +2 NA +5 0 +2 0 NA +4 +7 -5 +2 +12 3 +3 +8 +5 +4
Leadership and managing change +7 NA -1 0 NA +2 -3 -4 +1 NA 0 +6 -3 -5 0 -1 +1 -3 0 +6

Comparisons concerning DCMS should consider the latest machinery of government changes. DBT, DESNZ, and DSIT did not exist in 2022, therefore no comparisons could be made for these departments.

Discrimination, bullying and harassment

Discrimination is when an individual is treated differently or less favourably than someone else because of their personal characteristics, or when a working condition, policy, procedure or rule disadvantages one group of people more than another. 

Bullying can be characterised as:

  • Offensive, intimidating, malicious or insulting behaviour
  • Abuse or misuse of power in ways that undermine, humiliate, denigrate or injure the recipient
  • Bullying can also cover a broad spectrum of covert behaviours that may be more difficult to detect. It can include ill-treatment, interpersonal conflict, unwanted and unacceptable or counter-productive workplace behaviours. 

Harassment is unwanted actions or comments that are demeaning and unacceptable to the recipient. It may be related to any personal characteristic of the individual, and may be persistent or an isolated incident.

Reports of discrimination remained stable at their lowest recorded level

The Civil Service benchmark score for discrimination continues to stand at 7%, the lowest recorded figure since the Civil Service People Survey began in 2009 and unchanged from 2022.

Other than the DHSC (+2pp) each department’s score was either unchanged or increased/decreased by 1pp from 2022.

Across the main departments, the WG has the lowest rate of discrimination (5%), while FCDO has the highest (13%). Of those reporting discrimination, the most common grounds of discrimination are grade (23%), disability (19%), age (17%) and working pattern (17%).

Figure 3: Experienced discrimination trend, 2009 - 2023 (access Table 3)(ODS, 18KB)

Figure 4: Experienced discrimination for the main organisations

Department/Change  Percentage
FCDO (+1) 13%
CO (+1) 11%
MOD (0) 11%
DWP (0) 11%
MOJ (0) 10%
HO (0) 10%
HMRC (+1) 9%
DHSC (+2) 9%
DFE (0) 8%
DBT (NA) 8%
DSIT (NA) 8%
DEFRA (+1) 8%
DFT (0) 7%
CSPS 2023 (0) k7%
DESNZ (NA) 7%
HMT (+1) 7%
DLUHC (-1) 7%
SG (+1) 7%
NIO (+1) 6%
DCMS (0) 6%
WG (0) 5%
Grounds of discrimination (E02) CSPS 2023 +/- 2022
Grade 23% 0
Disability 19% +1
Age 17% 0
Working pattern 17% -1
Mental health 16% 0
Gender 15% -1
Working location 15% -1
Ethnic background 13% -1
Caring responsibilities 12% 0
Pay 8% 0
Social or educational background 5% 0
Religion 4% 0
Sex 4% 0
Written or spoken language/ability 4% 0
Sexual orientation 3% 0
Marital or civil partnership status 2% 0
Pregnancy, maternity, paternity 2% 0
Gender reassignment/perceived 1% 0
Any other grounds 11% 0
Prefer not to say 10% +1

Reported rates of bullying and harassment increased to 8%

The Civil Service benchmark score for bullying and harassment increased by 1 percentage point compared to 2022, reaching 8%. Every department has seen either an increase or no change in their reported rates of bullying and harassment this year compared to 2022. The lowest rate of bullying and harassment across the main departments was at the WG (5%). The highest rates of bullying and harassment are at FCDO (12%), followed by the CO and MoD (11% each). Negative micromanagement (51%), and being treated less favourably than others (40%) were the most common types of bullying or harassment. Of those who experienced bullying or harassment, 5% said they experienced sexual harassment, while 1% said they experienced physical assault.

Figure 5: Experienced bullying and or harassment trend 2009-2023 (access Table 4)(ODS, 18KB)

Figure 6: Experienced bullying and or harassment for the main organisations

Department/Change  Percentage
FCDO (0) 12%
CO (+1) 11%
MOD (+1) 11%
MOJ (0) 10%
DWP (0) 10%
DHSC (+1) 10%
HO (0) 10%
DBT (NA) 9%
DFT (0) 9%
DEFRA(+1) 9%
DCMS (0) 8%
HMRC (+1) 8%
DSIT (NA) 8%
SG (+1) 8%
CSPS 2023 (+1) 8%
DFE (0) 8%
DESNZ (NA) 7%
DLUHC (0) 7%
NIO (+1) 7%
HMT (+2) 7%
WG (+1) 5%
Type of bullying (E03A) CSPS 2023 +/- 2022
Negative micromanagement 51% 0
Treated less favourably than others 40% 0
Humiliated in front of team/others 37% -1
Intimidation, verbal/written aggression 37% -2
Ignored, excluded, marginalised 36% -1
Removal of job responsibilities 28% 0
Undermining/taking credit for my work 27% 0
Gossip/false accusations 26% 1
Comments about MH or sickness 12% -1
Disclosure of personal information 10% 0
Personal appearance/accent 10% 0
Sexual harassment 5% 0
Denied time off for family/caring 4% -1
Denied time off for ill health 4% -1
Physical assault 1% 0
Something else 8% 0
Prefer not to say 4% +1

40% of staff reported their experience of bullying or harassment

The proportion of those who experienced bullying or harassment who said that they had reported their experience increased by 2 percentage points compared to 2022. Of those that reported their experience, most did so through a less formal means (56%) or confiding in someone (35%), while 23% did so formally. Of those not reporting their experience, 64% did not report it because they did not feel that corrective action would be taken.

Of those that reported their experience of bullying or harassment, 30% of colleagues indicated that appropriate action was taken to address the behaviour (+1pp compared to 2022). Although 41% indicated that the behaviour had stopped at the time of completing the survey, there has been an increase in the proportion of those who said they felt the culture in their area allowed this behaviour to continue (60% compared to 59% in 2022), but no change in the proportion of those that felt punished for reporting the incident (31%).

Figure 7: Reported bullying and or harassment trend 2016-2023 (access Table 5)(ODS, 18KB)

Figure 8: Appropriate actions taken following reporting bullying and or harassment (E06A)

Year   Percentage
2023 30%
2022 29%

Figure 9: Bullying and or harassment has stopped following reporting (E06B)

Year   Percentage
2023 41%
2022 40%

Figure 10: Culture allowing bullying and or harassment (E06C)

Year   Percentage
2023 60%
2022 59%

Figure 11: Felt punished for reporting bullying and or harassment (E06D)

Year   Percentage
2023 31%
2022 31%
E05A. How did you report your experience? CSPS 2023 +/- 2022
I reported in another way, through a less formal means 56% -7%
I confided in someone 35% 0%
I raised a formal complaint 23% 0%
In another way 7% 0%
E05B. Why did you not report your experience? CSPS 2023 +/- 2022
I did not believe that corrective action would be taken 64% +2%
I did not want to be seen as a troublemaker 44% 0%
I felt I might jeopardise my job 39% 0%
I did not report it for another reason 20% -1%
I did not know how to report it or who to speak to 9% -1%
The behaviour stopped before I could report it 5% 0%

Employee wellbeing

Employee wellbeing is measured in the Civil Service People Survey via four subjective wellbeing questions, aligned to Labour Force and Annual Population Surveys done by the Office for National Statistics. They cover life satisfaction, feeling that things in life are worthwhile, happiness, and anxiety. The Civil Service People Survey also includes self-assessed ratings of mental and physical health.

The Proxy Index measures the conditions that contribute to a stressful environment including: demands, control over work, support, relationships, role in the organisation, and change.

The PERMA Index measures the extent to which employees are flourishing at work and it is based on five dimensions: positive emotion, engagement, relationships, meaning, and accomplishment.

Three of the four benchmark scores for wellbeing improved compared to 2022

Compared to 2022, the Perma Index increased to 74%, while the Proxy Stress Index remained stable (27%).

Figure 12: PERMA and Proxy Stress Indexes trend 2012-2023 (access Table 6)(ODS, 18KB)

Three of the Civil Service benchmark scores for the personal wellbeing indicators slightly improved compared to 2022: life satisfaction (67%, +3pp), feeling things in life are worthwhile (70%, +1pp), and having high levels of anxiety (35%, -1pp). The only personal wellbeing indicator that remained stable compared to last year was happiness (61%).

Figure 13: Personal Wellbeing scores trend 2012-2023 (access Table 7)(ODS, 18KB)

Self-rated mental health increased compared to 2022

The benchmark for self-reported mental health (those reporting an excellent, very good or good level of mental health) increased by 1 percentage point and now stands at 72%, while self-reported physical health decreased by 1 percentage point to 72%.

In 2023 two new questions related to health and wellbeing were asked:

  • 60% of staff indicated that their organisation provides good support for employee health, wellbeing and resilience; and
  • 59% of staff indicated to discuss their personal wellbeing and or work-related stress with their manager on a monthly or weekly basis.

Modernisation, reform, productivity and efficiency

The Civil Service People Survey is a key tool for measuring attitudes and experiences across the Civil Service, and includes questions related to reform efforts. Over time these questions change, currently the survey assesses awareness of the Civil Service vision, how staff can work effectively and contribute to achieve common goals via a trustworthy relationship with their managers, collaboration with colleagues, the use of technology, and ways of working in the local areas. Since 2021 the survey included a question on self-assessed productivity and in 2022 we introduced a question on whether efficiency is pursued as a priority in the organisation.

60% of respondents are aware of the vision for “A Modern Civil Service”

The Civil Service benchmark score for awareness of the Civil Service vision for “A Modern Civil Service” increased by 1 percentage point compared to 2022 (60%).

More than half of respondents indicated that efficiency is pursued as a priority in their organisation. The organisations where this was perceived higher than the Civil Service benchmark are DWP (63%) followed by HMT (62%). Compared to 2022, there has been a -2 percentage points reduction in the proportion of staff (66%) who self-rated their productivity between 100% and 90%.

In 2023 a new question, about whether Civil Service Reform helps the way people work in their local area was introduced: 16% of respondents indicated that it does.

Figure 14: Technology helps collaboration by organisation (B59B)

Department  Percentage
WG 88%
DLHUC 86%
DFE 83%
DFT 83%
HMRC 81%
SG 81%
CSPS 2023 80%
DESNZ 77%
DWP 76%
DEFRA 75%
HMT 71%
HO 71%
DHSC 70%
DCMS 69%
MOJ 67%
NIO 66%
DBT 64%
FCDO 62%
CO 61%
MOD 58%
DSIT 56%

Figure 15: Efficiency is pursued as a priority in my organisation (B59H)

Department  Percentage
DWP 63%
HMT 62%
HMRC 60%
HO 57%
MOJ 55%
CSPS 2023 55%
CO 54%
FCDO 54%
DHSC 51%
NIO 51%
DFE 50%
WG 49%
SG 49%
DFT 48%
DLUHC 48%
DBT 48%
DCMS 47%
MOD 47%
DESNZ 45%
DSIT 43%
DEFRA 43%
Civil Service Reform (B59-B59I) CSPS 2023 +/- 2022
Aware of the vision for a ‘A Modern Civil Service’ (B59) 60% +1
Understand how I can help achieve the vision (B59A) 42% +1
Technology from my organisation enables me to collaborate (B59B) 80% 0
Collaborate often with other organisations to achieve goals (B59C) 37% +2
Consider how my work impacts upon the public (B59D) 86% -1
I have a choice in where I do my work (B59E) 83% +4
Trusted to do my job, even in a different location to my manager (B59F) 95% 0
Self-rated productivity in past month (B59G) 66% -2
Efficiency is pursued as a priority in my organisation (B59H) 55% -2
Civil Service Reform is improving the way I work in my local area (B59I) 16% NA

Note: Question B59I was added this year.

Future intentions

This section covers employees’ intentions in relation to continue working in or leaving their organisation. Reasons on why they would leave are also included.

22% of staff say that they would like to leave their organisation

Staff’s intention to leave as soon as possible or within the next 12 months increased by 1pp to reach 22% this year. 42% of civil servants who responded would like, instead, to stay working for their organisation for at least another year, and 36% for at least the next three years.

For civil servants who declared they intend to leave their organisation either as soon as possible or within the next 12 months, the most common reasons for doing so were a better pay and benefits package (50%); a promotion or career progression within the Civil Service (32%); or because of poor leadership (30%).

Figure 16: Intention to leave or stay in the organisation (C01)

Year   Leave as soon as possible Leave within the next 12 months   Stay for at least the next year Stay for at least the next 3 years
2022 7%              15% 34%              42%
2023 7%              15% 36%              42%

Figure 17: Reasons for intention to leave (C02)

Reason  Percentage
A better pay and benefit package 50%
A promotion or career progression within the CS 32%
Due to poor leadership 30%
For more interesting work 29%
For a better work-life balance 27%
Don’t like organisational culture 26%
Due to unmanageable workload 21%
A promotion or career progression outside of the CS 20%
Due to poor line management 19%
Lack of inclusion and fair treatment 17%
Just want a change 16%
Other 9%
Retiring 9%
Due to poor working relationship 8%
Personal circumstances 8%
End of my current contract / Loan 3%

Annex: background information

Explanatory notes

Civil Service Benchmark

The Civil Service Benchmark is the median score across the 103 organisations who participated in the 2023 survey. We use this measure as our benchmark because it prevents the results from being skewed by a small number of organisations who contribute the largest number of respondents. A small number of question results here, where respondents can choose more than one option, are based on the results for all respondents.

Employee engagement index

The Employee Engagement Index is calculated as a weighted average of the responses to the five employee engagement questions (measuring pride, inspiration, attachment, advocacy, and motivation) and ranges from 0% to 100%. A score of 0% represents all respondents giving a rating of “strongly disagree” to all five questions. A score of 100% represents all respondents giving a rating of “strongly agree” to all five questions.

Theme scores

There are nine core theme scores within the People Survey. Each theme score is based on the average percentage of “strongly agree” or “agree” responses to all questions in that theme.

Coverage

Where we refer to our ‘main departments’, this is the 17 main Whitehall departments plus the Devolved Administrations (Welsh Government [WG] and Scottish Government [SG]) and the Northern Ireland Office [NIO]). Results are for the core department excluding any agencies, except for the Ministry of Justice and the Department for Education where the scores are inclusive of staff in executive agencies. The full names for the department codes used in tables are below:

CO - Cabinet Office

DBT - Department for Business and Trade

DCMS - Department for Culture, Media and Sport

DEFRA - Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

DESNZ - Department for Energy Security and Net Zero

DFE - Department for Education

DFT - Department for Transport

DHSC - Department for Health and Social Care

DLUHC - Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities

DSIT - Department for Science, Innovation and Technology

DWP - Department for Work and Pensions

FCDO - Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office

HMRC - HM Revenue and Customs

HMT - HM Treasury

HO - Home Office

MOD - Ministry of Defence

MOJ - Ministry of Justice

SG - Scottish Government

WG - Welsh Government

NIO - Northern Ireland Office

Suppression and rounding

Figures are displayed as whole numbers for the ease of reading. To ensure the figures are as accurate as possible, rounding takes place at the last stage of any calculation unless otherwise indicated.