Our organisations strive to deliver high-quality services to the people of NSW. To do this, they need to attract and recruit top talent and ensure that organisational structures are effectively designed to achieve stated strategies and missions.
Mission, vision and strategy
Employees in the public sector should understand how their role fits into their organisation’s overall mission, vision and strategy. Understanding their role in the context of the wider organisation will enable every employee to know how their individual contribution adds value in the overall mission of delivering for our customers. This in turn, will increase employee engagement.
My manager communicates how my role contributes to my organisation’s purpose
68.3% in 2022
up from 67.8% in 2021
Source: People Matter Employee Survey (2021, 2022)
Governance, risk and innovation
To ensure we deliver the highest quality services, our approach to governance, risk and innovation is critical.
- Governance encompasses the rules, processes and systems by which an organisation is controlled and operates. Broadly, it includes decision-making, responsibility, engagement and accountability for both the organisation as a whole and individuals. Accountability is one of the four core NSW public sector values.
- Risk implies the potential for uncertainty or deviation from expected outcomes. While risk is often seen as a negative, it can strategically provide opportunities for an organisation.
- Innovation in the public sector context means creating new and better products, processes, services, and technologies to improve outcomes for the people of NSW. A healthy risk appetite can help promote innovation as does diversity and inclusive work practices.
Employee perceptions of decision-making and accountability, 2022 vs 2021
| Question | 2022 (% favourable) | Change from 2021 (pp) |
|---|---|---|
| I have confidence in the decisions my manager makes | 71.7 | -0.9 |
| People in my organisation take responsibility for their own actions | 48.4 | -1.4 |
Source: People Matter Employee Survey (2021, 2022)
Case study: COVID-19 self-reporting platform eases pressure on pathology services and hospitals, enabling customers to lead their own care
The surge in COVID-19 cases over the 2021 holiday period meant that pathology testing centres across NSW were struggling to cope. Find out how NSW Department of Customer Service and NSW Health collaborated to rapidly deliver a digital solution that enabled people to register a positive result, screen themselves for risk and access care providers where required.
Employee confidence in their organisation’s ability to handle grievances fairly and objectively
52.9% favourable
Source: People Matter Employee Survey (2022)
Employee perceptions of risk and innovation
72.7% favourable overall
down from 75.4% in 2021
Employee perceptions of risk and innovation, 2022 vs 2021
| Question | 2022 (% favourable) | Change from 2021 (pp) |
|---|---|---|
| I am comfortable notifying my manager if I become aware of any risks at work | 86.3 | -1.0 |
| My manager encourages people in my workgroup to keep improving the work they do | 74.2 | -1.7 |
| My organisation is making improvements to meet future challenges | 56.9 | -5.4 |
Source: People Matter Employee Survey (2021, 2022)
Note: The 2021 overall score has been recalculated to exclude a question that was not used in the 2022 People Matter survey.
Organisation and role design
Organisational and role design involves defining organisational structures, employee roles and workforce plans to support the business to deliver results. This information ensures an agency has the structure and workforce capability that will enable it to effectively deliver services to customers.
Employee perceptions of job purpose and enrichment
70.5% favourable overall
down from 71.8% in 2021
Employee perceptions of job purpose and enrichment, 2022 vs 2021
| Question | 2022 (% favourable) | Change from 2021 (pp) |
|---|---|---|
| In the last 12 months, I have received feedback to help me improve my work | 63.0 | -1.8 |
| My job gives me opportunities to use a variety of skills | 79.3 | -1.7 |
| I have a choice in deciding how I carry out day-to-day tasks | 71.3 | -2.0 |
| My manager communicates how my role contributes to my organisation’s purpose | 68.3 | 0.5 |
Source: People Matter Employee Survey (2021, 2022)
Employee perceptions of role clarity and support
64.1% favourable overall
down from 66.7% in 2021
Employee perceptions of role clarity and support, 2022 vs 2021
| Question | 2022 (% favourable) | Change from 2021 (pp) |
|---|---|---|
| I understand what is expected of me to do well in my job | 84.3 | -1.0 |
| I get the support I need to do my job well | 62.8 | -3.1 |
| I have the tools and technology to do my job well | 67.9 | -3.1 |
| I have the time to do my job well | 52.1 | -3.9 |
| My performance is assessed against clear criteria | 54.5 | -2.8 |
| I have received the training and development I need to do my job well | 63.0 | -1.8 |
Source: People Matter Employee Survey (2021, 2022)
Employee perceptions of being paid fairly for the work they do
47.6%
down from 58.8% in 2021
Source: People Matter Employee Survey (2021, 2022)
Recruitment
Recruitment is the process of attracting, screening and onboarding people. It is a high-volume activity for the sector, which is the largest employer in Australia. In 2022, there were over 40,000 roles advertised across the sector, an increase of 39.4% from 2021.
Growing the sector’s capabilities means recruiting the right people. Time to hire has decreased each year since 2017 and is now at a record low of 34.4 days.
44,397 roles advertised
+39.4% vs 2021
Source: Recruitment data collection (2022)
Note: Recruitment data is collected from public sector agencies’ source systems where available. The main exclusions are the Health cluster, most of the former Industry cluster from 2017 to 2019, and most of the Transport cluster in 2021.
Source: Recruitment data collection (2018–22)
Employee perceptions of recruitment, 2022 vs 2021
| Question | 2022 (% favourable) | Change from 2021 (pp) |
|---|---|---|
| My organisation makes fair recruitment and promotion decisions* | 44.1 | – |
| My organisation generally selects capable people to do the job | 52.7 | -2.2 |
* This question was new in the 2022 People Matter survey, therefore the 2021 comparison score is not available
Source: People Matter Employee Survey (2021, 2022)
Case study: Delivering COVID-19 vaccinations to vulnerable communities
Mid-pandemic, NSW Health, the Department of Communities and Justice and local support services reached out to rough sleepers, social housing tenants and other vulnerable members of the Illawarra and Shoalhaven communities to offer them COVID-19 vaccinations. Find out how they leveraged mobile clinics, targeted communication, and genuine collaboration to save lives.
Mobility
Exploring new employment opportunities is an exciting part of the I work for NSW employee value proposition. Having a mobile workforce makes it easier to redeploy resources to match priorities and respond effectively to change and emerging trends. It is an effective way to get the right person into the right job quickly, and to infuse innovative ideas and practices into a workplace.
Employee mobility is also widely regarded as one of the best ways to develop leadership capability, provide enriching careers, and build and retain capability and know-how.
Employees who moved to another agency: 2.3%
up from 1.8% in 2021
Source: Workforce Profile (2021, 2022)
Employees considering another role within the sector: 41.3%
up from 38.0% in 2021
Source: People Matter Employee Survey (2021, 2022)
Employee perceptions of the barriers to moving to another role, 2022 vs 2021
| Question | 2022 (%) | 2021 (%) |
|---|---|---|
| Lack of visible opportunities | 27.0 | 28.6 |
| Lack of promotion opportunities | 26.9 | 27.4 |
| Lack of support from my manager and supervisor | 11.5 | 11.0 |
| Geographic location considerations | 24.1 | 23.8 |
| Personal or family considerations | 30.5 | 28.9 |
| Insufficient training and development | 14.7 | 14.3 |
| Lack of required capabilities or experience | 11.9 | 11.9 |
| Lack of support for temporary assignment or secondments | 14.3 | 13.7 |
| The application or recruitment process is too cumbersome or time-consuming | 22.5 | 21.4 |
| Other | 9.8 | 9.8 |
| There are no major barriers to my career progression | 28.2 | 28.8 |
Source: People Matter Employee Survey (2021, 2022)
Case study: A proactive policing response for community members with a mental health condition
Mental health continues to be a significant health issue across NSW communities. Find out how the NSW Police Force Mental Health Intervention Team has improved the response capability of police officers and other frontline employees when they interact with members of the community with a mental illness.
Digital and customer service
A key measure of the performance of the NSW public sector is customer satisfaction. The various parts of the sector share a common goal – delivering services that make NSW a great place to live, work, visit and invest in. We want our services to be easy to use, high quality and accessible to all.
The annual State of the Customer report details work towards the NSW government’s goal of delivering easy, effective and trustworthy government services. The scores below indicate the ease, satisfaction and trust that individual customers have with NSW Government services.
Customer perceptions of NSW Government services
77%
of customers find it easy to interact with NSW Government services
75%
of customers are satisfied with their experience with NSW Government services
73%
of customers trust NSW Government services are working in their best interest
Source: State of the Customer report (2022)
Employee perceptions of customer service
69.8% favourable overall
down from 72.9% in 2021
Employee perceptions of customer service, 2022 vs 2021
| Question | 2022 (% favourable) | Change from 2021 (pp) |
|---|---|---|
| I am empowered to make the decisions needed to help customers and/or communities | 68.6 | -2.1 |
| People in my work can explain how our workgroup impacts customers | 81.3 | -0.1 |
| Senior managers communicate the importance of customers in our work | 64.6 | -5.6 |
| The processes in my organisation are designed to support the best experience for customers | 56.7 | -4.0 |
| My workgroup considers customer needs when planning our work | 82.4 | -0.9 |
| My organisation meets the needs of the communities, people and businesses of NSW | 63.7 | -6.2 |
Source: People Matter Employee Survey (2021, 2022)
Collaboration
The 14 Premier’s Priorities cannot be achieved by a single agency operating in isolation. Delivering for the people of NSW requires agencies to work together and share knowledge internally and with other sectors.
Well-executed collaboration enables agencies to also share ideas, resources, skills, networks and assets, leading to better outcomes for our customers. Across the sector, employee perceptions of teamwork and collaboration within and across organisations declined slightly since 2021. This may be due to the sector continually adapting to hybrid ways of working.
Employee perceptions of teamwork and collaboration: 62.0%
favourable overall
down from 64.4% in 2021
Employee perceptions of teamwork and collaboration, 2022 vs 2021
| Question | 2022 (% favourable) | Change from 2021 (pp) |
|---|---|---|
| My workgroup works collaboratively to achieve its goals | 78.9 | -0.3 |
| There is good cooperation between teams across my organisation | 54.2 | -2.5 |
| Senior managers promote collaboration between my organisation and other organisations we work with | 52.0 | -4.5 |
Source: People Matter Employee Survey (2021, 2022)
Note: The 2021 overall score has been recalculated to exclude a question that was not used in the 2022 People Matter survey.
Case study: Regional NSW 2022 flood response
The 2022 floods in the Northern Rivers region of NSW were the worst on record, requiring flood response teams to mobilise to help communities deal with the consequences. Then, when flooding struck the Hawkesbury and Nepean rivers while clean-up efforts were underway on the North Coast. Find out how the Department of Regional NSW flood response teams mobilised immediately to respond to this natural disaster situation.