from Sunday Herald, 08 January 2011
The Ministry of Defence (MoD) is suffering a severe and deteriorating crisis of confidence amongst its staff because of cutbacks and bad management, according to an internal survey leaked to the Sunday Herald.
The vast majority of MoD civil servants have lost faith that their managers can steer them through difficult times. They feel more negative about almost every aspect of working for the MoD than they did a year ago, and their morale is much worse than the rest of the civil service.
The revelations have prompted a fierce reaction from trade unions and a former MoD official, who confirm that the workforce is deeply demoralised, upset and angry. According to one union, the words most often used to describe the MoD management are “incompetent, short-sighted, inept, poor, uncaring and self-interested.”
The leaked survey was conducted in the autumn by the US opinion research company, ORC International, as part of an annual questionnaire of the entire civil service. It received responses from nearly 33,000 staff, 44% of the MoD’s workforce.
Overall only 22 percent felt positive about the MoD’s “leadership and managing change”, three points less than in 2010 and 16 points below the median for the civil service. A meagre nine per cent agreed that “when changes are made in MoD they are usually for the better”.
Only 17 per cent had “confidence in the decisions made by MoD’s senior managers/leaders”, three points down on the previous year and 19 points below the civil service (see table below). A fifth of the workforce wanted to leave the MoD as soon as possible or within the next 12 months, four points higher than in 2010.
“This is a clear vote of no confidence in the leadership of the MoD,” said Steve Jary, national secretary of the trade union, Prospect, which represents 7,000 MoD specialists.
“Staff morale is going from bad to worse,” he added. “The level of concern and even anger is astonishing. These views are not borne out of self-interest. They betray a deep concern about the safety and effectiveness of our armed forces.”
According to Prospect, 5,500 staff are leaving the MoD this financial year, and another 7,000 redundancies are being sought. “The continuing loyalty and commitment of staff is being brought into question by members’ attitude to working for MoD,” Jary warned.
The MoD’s overall aim is to cut 32,000 jobs, according to the Public and Commercial Services Union (PCS), which represents 18,000 MoD civil servants, 2,000 of whom work in Scotland. “No account has been taken of the effects this will have on existing staff,” said Ian Fraser from PCS.
“No wonder staff are demoralised, fed up and do not believe a word the MoD says about them being interested in their views.” The leaked survey showed that only 18 per cent of staff believed MoD managers “will take action on the results from this survey”, six points less than in 2010.
One recent example of why morale is so low occurred during the fierce storms on 8 December. Although private sector staff at the Faslane naval base on the Clyde were sent home early, along with most workers across Scotland, some MoD civil servants were told to remain at their posts.
This made MoD staff “very angry”, Fraser said. “We intend to challenge the MoD and ask them why the safety of their staff was not as important as it was for the other employers at Faslane. Situations like this only demoralise further.”
Fred Dawson, a former senior MoD safety official, warned that the cutbacks could put nuclear safety at risk because staff fear for their jobs. “The continuing cuts are resulting in a serious lack of confidence in the decisions made by MoD's senior managers,” he told the Sunday Herald.
“Staff are far more likely to give managers the answers they want to hear rather than the truth. In safety critical situations such as MoD’s nuclear programmes, they may well be reluctant to raise safety concerns for fear of being marked out for redundancy.”
The MoD pointed out that it was facing job reductions and a major reform programme. “Although the results of the survey are disappointing, they are not surprising,” said a MoD spokeswoman.
“The results confirm our need to improve working in the MoD and reduce uncertainty for our staff. We will continue to ensure we are delivering a more positive and inclusive approach for the future of defence.”
During the recent storms risk assessments were carried out which concluded that there was no requirement to close Faslane, she added. “Any non-essential MoD staff were allowed to leave and return home if they wished.”
The MoD’s staff crisis
View of Ministry of Defence staff / compared to 2010 / compared to the civil service as a whole
Only 22% positive about “leadership and managing change” / 3 points down / 16 points down
Only 9% agreed “when changes are made in MoD they are usually for the better” / 2 points down / 13 points down
Only 12% felt that “change is managed well in MoD” / 4 points down / 15 points down
Only 17% had “confidence in the decisions made by MoD’s senior managers/leaders” / 3 points down / 19 points down
Only 20% believed that “the Defence Board has a clear vision for the future of MoD” / 1 point down /20 points down
Only 20% felt that “MoD as a whole is managed well” / 4 points down / 21 points down
Only 28% thought “the MoD motivates me to help it achieve its objectives”, 6 points down / 8 points down
Only 29% thought their pay was reasonable compared to people doing similar jobs in other organisations / 5 points down / 2 points down
Only 32% said they would “recommend MoD as a great place to work” / 8 points down / 11 points down.
Only 18% believed MoD managers “will take action on the results from this survey” / six points down / 21 points down
source: ORC International survey
The leaked survey for the Ministry of Defence is available to download here (950KB pdf).
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