Employee Engagement Survey

The National Records of Scotland (NRS) was created on 1 April 2011 by the amalgamation of National Archives of Scotland (NAS) and the General Register Office for Scotland (GROS). This new Department now employs approximately 420 staff. This was the first survey since the amalgamation which captured the views of NRS staff.

The autumn 2011 Employee Survey was once again part of the Civil Service People Survey which covered 98 UK Departments. This is an important part of a programme of work to develop a cross government approach to employee engagement.

The purpose of the survey was to obtain employee views about various aspects of working in the Scottish Government and NRS. It looked to identify what works well and what could be improved with a particular focus on employee engagement. It provides us with information that can help us develop appropriate action to make us a more effective organisation recognising the acknowledged benefits of having an engaged workforce.

The Survey ran from 21 September to 14 October 2011 and 68% of NRS staff completed the questionnaire. A copy of our results can be found at:

NRS Employee Survey 2011 - Acrobat PDF 832 KB, New Window

NRS Employee Survey 2012 - Acrobat PDF 900 KB, New Window

For many years the National Archives of Scotland (NAS) surveyed its employees annually, on topics including leadership, change, professional development and fair treatment at work, in line with good management practice designed to motivate everyone to do their best to achieve the department's objectives. Up to 2008, the surveys were carried out on behalf of NAS by the Scottish Government. From 2009, NAS joined a survey run by the Cabinet Office, involving nearly 400,000 staff from across the Civil Service.

In the October 2010 Survey, 66% of NAS's employees completed the questionnaire (compared to 48% in 2009). The 'employee engagement index', which summarises the replies to the key questions in the Survey, was 57% (compared to 57% in 2009, and 56% across the whole Civil Service).

NAS used the results of the Survey, as in previous years, to tackle problem areas identified by employees and improve services to customers.

Download the NAS 2010 Survey Results - Acrobat PDF 240 KB, New Window