Working for BT 2013 – Survey results
Prospect has posted individual reports on aspects of our 2013 survey of members in BT to our library.
The survey has once again helped us shape our responses to BT, including amongst the LoBs, on a wide range of issues encompassed by our bargaining agenda. We had responses from more than 2,500 of our members, and we are very grateful to all our members who take the time to respond – the survey is a lengthy one and we do not take for granted the valuable contribution that members make when they fill in one of our questionnaires.
In brief, some of the main conclusions of the survey include:
– a continued re-balancing of the performance ratings profile, with lower numbers of respondents getting Excellent and Very Good ratings, and a higher number with Development Needed or Unsatisfactory. Indeed, almost one in three members had been rated as in one of the two latter categories at some point during the performance year.
– 93% of our members saw an increase to their pay in 2013. The median percentage increase was close to the headline pay review, but the distribution leaves a little to be desired, with lower than expected increases going to those below the range mid-point and higher than expected ones going to those above it. The raw data shows an apparently large number of anomalous increases, but this may reflect data entry errors.
– some 97% of our non-sales respondents received an annual bonus, but this was slightly lower than in 2012, while the average amount received, at all levels of OTB, was also lower. Consequently, for a majority of our respondents, the bonus they received did not meet their expectations. BT spends at least three times as much on bonus as it does on the annual pay review.
– average working hours were, for full-timers, almost exactly the same as they were in 2012, whie the proportion of people working very high amounts of hours continues to fall (though remaining high in Openreach). Incidences of work-related stress also continue at the previous levels, but reports of bullying, however, continue to rise. Both remain far too high.
– a good work-life balance is the case for a minority of respondents, while workload demands, and the pace & intensity of work, are high with only around one-third of respondents saying that pace & intensity, or the environment within which they operate, are under their control. Furthermore, just 23% of respondents state that the reward they receive is in balance with the effort they put in. Only a minority record their TOIL and, of those who do, only a fraction state they have a reasonable chance of taking it
– respondents were underwhelmed by their experience of BT as a career choice – only around one-third thought that BT was a place they could develop their career, while the same proportion agreed that BT appreciated they had the potential for development. A strong majority found it hard to get training to stay on top of their jobs. There were, however, few age-related effects in the responses.
– only one in four of our respondents agreed that the workplace culture in BT was based on mutual trust and respect, while only the same proportion agreed they trusted BT to treat employees fairly.
– people with impairments (especially) and also respondents from a minority ethnic group routinely have a poorer experience of the Reward Framework than their counterparts, being more likely to receive lower performance ratings, experience lower average pay reviews and bonus awards, and to report witnessing or experiencing bullying. People with an impairment were also particularly much more likely to disagree on the core ‘good work’ measures.
Thus, for only a minority of our members in BT is ‘good work’ a commonly-reported experience. That needs to change, and improving our members’ experience of work will continue to be the major item on Prospect’s agenda.
You can find all the reports we produced on this survey in the Prospect library, by clicking on the following links: