Health and social care staff experience: report 2017

This report presents the 2017 national iMatter results together with national Dignity at Work survey results.


Appendix 1: iMatter Background

Types of Questions

The questionnaire consist of 28 attitudinal questions relating to staff engagement. Each question has six responses: ‘Strongly Agree’, ‘Agree’, ‘Slightly Agree’, ‘Slightly Disagree’, ‘Disagree’, ‘Strongly Disagree’.

These questions were phrased positively and invited participants to respond on a scale between six and one, six being the most positive response and one being the least positive.

Example:

Thinking of your experience in the last 12 months please tell us if you agree or disagree with the following statements:

Strongly Agree


Agree

Slightly Agree

Slightly Disagree


Disagree

Strongly
Disagree

I am clear about my duties and responsibilities

6

5

4

3

2

1

There is also a 29th item: ‘Overall working within my organisation is a: very good experience (10 points)…very poor experience’ (0 points). Response requires an 11 point sliding scale.

Calculation of NHSEEI

The questionnaire was developed within the NHS organisation. Dr Austyn Snowden & Dr Ewan MacArthur at the University of the West of Scotland have further validated the questionnaire and index NHSEEI. Their recommendation regarding the questionnaire and calculation of the index has been implemented by NHSScotland and gives the questionnaire credibility.

The NHSScotland Employee Engagement Index (NHSEEI) is a summary score presented as a percentage, derived from a 28 item questionnaire. In line with current policy it is designed to inform individuals, teams and organisations about the degree of staff engagement. Built in conjunction with NHSScotland staff, Scotland is the only country in the world to be developing such a systematic and systemic measure in this inclusive manner.

The NHSEEI is generated from 28 items relating to staff engagement. Each item has six Likert responses: ‘Strongly Agree’, ‘Agree’, ‘Slightly Agree’, ‘Slightly Disagree’, ‘Disagree’, ‘Strongly Disagree’. These responses were translated to a score for statistical analysis, with 6 for ‘Strongly Agree’ down to 1 for ‘Strongly Disagree’. The sum total of these 28 item responses gives a range of 28 – 168.

Calculating the Average Score

The number of responses for each point on the scale (Strongly Agree – Strongly Disagree) is multipled by its number vaule (6-1) (see right). These scores are then added together and divided by the overall number of responses to the question.

6

Strongly Agree

5

Agree

4

Slightly Agree

3

Slightly Disagree

2

Disagree

1

Strongly Disagree

“The NHSEEI is a robust, reliable, valid and popular measure of staff engagement. It is also an excellent tool to measure improvement in staff engagement”.[1]

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