{"id":12724,"date":"2015-10-23T11:20:59","date_gmt":"2015-10-23T10:20:59","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blogs.iriss.org.uk\/viewfromhere\/?page_id=12724"},"modified":"2019-05-21T09:54:24","modified_gmt":"2019-05-21T08:54:24","slug":"workforce-survey-details","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/blogs.iriss.org.uk\/viewfromhere\/workforce-2015\/workforce-survey-details\/","title":{"rendered":"Workforce survey details"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\"Happy<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

Background and overview<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

The survey was designed to give an overview, to understand the current experiences of delivering care and support. We have been able to pull out the high level messages across the three sub-sectors and some job roles.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Limitations of this data<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

The survey questions needed to be broad enough to relate to the entire workforce, but specific enough to attain useful results. Some questions achieved this, but not others. We\u2019ve tried to be honest about the limitations so that you can make the best use of these findings.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Please consider the following:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

  1. The findings are not representative of the whole workforce. The response rate from the private sector is small (6%) when compared to the size of the sector in Scotland (the private sector currently employs around 82,510 people, 41% of the total social services workforce). The response rate from the statutory sector is large (69%) compared to the size of the sector in Scotland (the public sector currently employs around 62,600 people, 31% of the total social services workforce). Please see the 2014 SSSC workforce data report<\/a> for more information.<\/li>
  2. This project attempted to understand the experiences of the social services workforce in Scotland. However the sample was predominantly made up of social workers (32%). There are a variety of other job roles that are not well represented, particularly care staff<\/a> (according to SSSC workforce categories).<\/li>
  3. The figures relating to zero hour contracts and the living wage likely to be lower than actual sector averages. The SSSC workforce data report<\/a> estimates that approximately 10% of the workforce are on a zero hour contract. CCPS and Scottish Care have both highlighted the challenges of implementing a living wage in their recent reports see the CCPS Benchmarking report 2014<\/a><\/li>
  4. 23% of respondents did not complete the final section of the survey. This drop out rate made segmentation of the results difficult. As a result, we\u2019ve been unable to make substantive comparisons across service type and geographical area.<\/li>
  5. Respondents were given the option to skip any question. This made it difficult to find significant differences or similarities for some of the questions. For example, we can\u2019t compare responses from people providing adult support and protection with those who work in residential care. We also can\u2019t compare one local authority area with another.<\/li>
  6. The survey did not ask respondents to identify the organisations that they work for and so it is not possible to say how many separate organisations were involved.<\/li><\/ol>\n\n\n\n

    Following an initial discussion with Scottish Government, an in-house evaluator at IRISS and experts at The Guardian, an online questionnaire to survey the Scottish Social services workforce was created. This questionnaire was tested with 4 IRISS Champions, as well as other critical friends working within the social care sector. The questionnaire contained 22 questions and 3 broad areas\/themes. These are:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    1. Section 1: about you  (including questions relating to length of time in profession, motivation to stay in profession, pay and workload)<\/li>
    2. Section 2: about your experiences (including questions relating to how people feel in their role, the extent to which they can support outcomes to be met, their perceptions of how their organisation is performing in the current climate, challenges and opportunities)<\/li>
    3. Section 3: what\u2019s important to you (included questions on how people feel valued, how they engage with learning, policy and how they can effect change)<\/li>
    4. Section 4: demographic information (included questions to enable understanding of who had taken part in the survey (including age, gender, role, location and type of work undertaken by respondents).<\/li><\/ol>\n\n\n\n

      Iriss also reviewed a number of sector surveys to avoid duplication. However, it was considered that as many other surveys are focused on one particular area of the workforce, to some extent the ambition to enable comparison across the public, private and voluntary sector some repetition would be helpful.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

      Sampling<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

      The aim of the survey sampling was to distribute the online survey as widely as possible within the social care workforce. We were keen to ensure that a broad range of respondents was reached. In order to maximize the reach, the following links were made:<\/p>\n\n\n\n