Staff Survey Action Plan
Dear Northern Ireland Assembly,
STAFF SURVEY ACTION PLAN.
Staff in the office of the NI Assembly are know to suffer from some of the worst mental health in the word and some of the world’s lowest levels of staff engagement.
I would like to help and wondered if I might please have a copy of the Staff Survey Action Plan?
Yours faithfully,
AIDAN QUINN
Dear Mr Quinn,
Please find attached an acknowledgement for your most recent Freedom of
Information Request.
Many thanks
Karl Hedley
Karl Hedley
Governance Services
Room 241
Parliament Buildings
Stormont Estate
Belfast
BT4 3XX
Telephone 02890 521930
Dear Mr Quinn,
Please find attached a response to your most recent Freedom of Information
request. If I can be of any further assistance please just let me know.
Karl
Karl Hedley
Governance Services
Room 241
Parliament Buildings
Stormont Estate
Belfast
BT4 3XX
Telephone 02890 521930
Dear Hedley, Karl,
many thanks, much appreciated, good luck.
Aidan Quinn 6/11/17
Yours sincerely,
AIDAN QUINN
Dear Hedley, Karl,
Hi, as follow up, is there any evidence that these measures were actually successful?
A copy of any statistics on the before and after stress and absenteeism statistics would be greatly appreciated.
Good Luck
Yours sincerely,
AIDAN QUINN
Dear Mr Quinn,
Please could you clarify exactly what statistics it is you are looking for and specifically what dates to and from?
Many thanks
Karl Hedley
Dear Hedley, Karl,
Hi Karl, always nice to hear from you, and glad to have the opportunity to at least try to clarify things as best I can in the circumstances.
The date involved is the date of implementation of all those wonderful measures whose stated purpose was to measurably improve staff mental health and engagement.We need to know if they worked, or not.
The thing is that HOCS tells the Union apparently that everything aimed at improving health and engagement has been tried and nothing has worked. HOCS freely accepts this and the Union does too. Based on my own attempted conversations with the Assembly, I accept it myself. That would, on a non-scientific basis, be my own sense of the situation.Things overall sadly are just getting rapidly worse, as they inevitably do when actual communication is banned.
The time period is the three years before and after the date of implementation.
The statistics are the ones HOCS himself uses to measure these things, presumably the results of staff attitude surveys and days lost to psychiatric injury.
We just want to establish if the Assembly have stumbled on something effective, something that has eluded NICS itself.
Hope that helps.
Yours sincerely,
AIDAN QUINN
I am currently out of the office and will return on Friday 2nd February
2018 In my absence, please contact Martina on ext 21147 or David Johnston
on ext 21242. Alternatively, if you wish to send me an email I will
respond on my return.
Dear Mr Quinn,
I have checked with the relevant business area and they still don’t think this is clear. We do not have any information in relation to “psychiatric injury”, however we hold information on days lost under for the absence category “anxiety/stress/depression” which can be provided.
You have referred to the time period being three years before and three years after the date of implementation. Some of the actions in the plan have ongoing actions. Is there a specific action that you are referring to and if so, please advise what this is.
Many thanks
Karl Hedley
Dear Hedley, Karl,
Many thanks for the quick reply. You are undoubtedly doing you best in most difficult of circumstances. There is of course absolutely no need to invent evidence of progress that does not exist. Nobody expects that.
Any information on days lost under for the absence category “anxiety/stress/depression” “ would be most welcome.
Regarding specifics, nobody likes making these points, but a thing I have noticed with the Assembly Office is that staff there are not officially empowered to give even their own first name when answering phone calls, regarding even their own first name as private and confidential information. Callers, as we know, are advised that requests for the first name of the person taking the call is in itself harassment. I am not of course medically qualified but this seems unhealthy in a modern office indicative maybe of a culture of fear.
Another thing is the repeated refusal of management to transfer phone calls to named individuals, even those who have freely provided their name and freely asked to be contacted. Again, with respect, to those unfamiliar with cultural conditions in NICS this silencing of staff seems odd, even unhealthy.
Is there any evidence of such management policies on empowering staff to speak, communicate and to give their first name changing? That
Good Luck, I wish you well.
Yours sincerely,
AIDAN QUINN
Dear Hedley, Karl,
Many thanks for the quick reply. You are undoubtedly doing you best in most difficult of circumstances. There is of course absolutely no need to invent evidence of progress that does not exist. Nobody expects that.
Any information on days lost under for the absence category “anxiety/stress/depression” “ would be most welcome.
Regarding specifics, nobody likes making these points, but a thing I have noticed with the Assembly Office is that staff there are simply not officially empowered to give even their own first names when answering phone calls, regarding even their own first name as private and confidential information. Sad but true.
Callers, as we know, are officially advised that requests for the first name of the person taking the call is in itself harassment. I am not of course medically qualified but this seems unhealthy in a modern office indicative maybe of a culture of fear.
Another thing is the repeated refusal of management to transfer phone calls to named individuals, even those who have freely provided their name and freely asked to be contacted. Again, with respect, to those unfamiliar with conditions in NICS this seems odd, even unhealthy.
Is there any evidence of such management policies on officially empowering staff to speak, communicate and to give their first name changing? Such empowerment really could make such a difference to health, efficiency image and effectiveness.
Yours sincerely,
AIDAN QUINN
Dear Mr Quinn,
Please see correspondence in relation to your most recent Freedom of
Information Request.
Karl Hedley
Karl Hedley
Information Standards
Room 241
Parliament Buildings
Stormont Estate
Belfast
BT4 3XX
Telephone 02890 521930
Dear Hedley, Karl,
Hi There is no doubt that problems with Public Sector stress are undoubtedly affecting the market valuations of HR Outsourcers like Capita, whose shares have halved in a month and are in a downward spiral. That can’t go on.
I wonder as FOI Query if there is any record of the Assembly itself ever at any time having plans to debate the stress epidemic amongst its own staff, or in NICS more generally?
If so did such a debate ever take place, and could I please have a copy of the minutes, if that’s all right?
Sorry for any inconvenience.
Good Luck, I wish you well.
Yours sincerely,
AIDAN QUINN
Dear Mr Quinn,
Please see the attached correspondence in relation to one of your most
recent Freedom of Information Requests.
Karl
Karl Hedley
Information Standards
Room 241
Parliament Buildings
Stormont Estate
Belfast
BT4 3XX
Telephone 02890 521930
Dear Hedley, Karl,
No problem at all Karl, all communication is welcome.
A couple of days late will make no difference at all.
I do hope the stress reduction measures are working
By the way the Scottish Parliament are now getting involved so hopefully matters will soon be regularised.
In fact Investors might have got wind, goodness knows how, of Scottish involvement, Capita shares are having a good day.Long may that continue.
Good Luck, I wish you well.
Yours sincerely,
AIDAN QUINN
Dear Mr Quinn,
The FOI reference is FOI 11/18 and not 12/18. Many apologies for my error.
Karl Hedley
Dear Mr Quinn
Please find the attached letter in response to your request for
information.
Kind Regards
Martina Dalton
[1]http://aims.niassembly.gov.uk/images/nia... Martina Dalton
Information Standards Officer
Legal And Governance Services
work: [2]028 90521147
email:
[3][email address]
Room 241
Parliament Buildings
Ballymiscaw
Stormont
Belfast
BT4 3XX
References
Visible links
2. file:///tmp/tel:02890521147
3. mailto:[email address]
Dear Dalton, Martina,
Follow Up Request
Sounds good. Cutting a 17% annual increase to a 10% is great, certainly at first sight.
However many factors such as the sick and victimised getting sacked or passing on could explain a lot. So could transfers out of the Assembly, and the fact that there was a zero workload.
One would hope that with absolutely zero work to do, work related stress would fall to absolutely zero, not 1494. Something is wrong somewhere.
Hopefully , by the time this follow up request is due for response, the new measures will have been in place for six months, adequate time to let people know if the new measures are a success.
Do please keep in touch, as the situation is monitored.
A lot of people wish you well.
Yours sincerely,
AIDAN QUINN
Dear Dalton, Martina,
I have noticed, some organisations are advising, that their staff somehow feel uncomfortable even threated, fearful or harassed at being asked to deal with, Queries from someone like myself. As an officially designated, officially silenced, lesser person, a lower caste, formally ostracised, blackballed individual, someone officially labelled as fit only for Noting and Filing, and with whom all Communication is officially banned, I understand. Those familiar with the history of the province do to.
Maybe the staff involved fear for their own jobs if they are detected communicating in any way with someone beneath them, someone that they are formally ordered to ignore. Maybe, given current sacking levels, they have such fears with good reason too.
I see their point. It is not my wish to make anyone feel in any way uncomfortable or threatened with adverse markings for insubordination , with defenestration, or even with the loss of their own job.
Rest assured if you or your staff feel this way, or if you would prefer, no reason given, that communications from such as me are discontinued, just let me know. I will of course be happy to oblige.
Equally, immediately you feel able to resume communication, again just say.
Good Luck. I wish you well.
Yours sincerely,
AIDAN QUINN
We work to defend the right to FOI for everyone
Help us protect your right to hold public authorities to account. Donate and support our work.
Donate Now