Colleague Voice

Listening to Our Colleagues

Building a More Engaged Workplace

At Scottish Autism, we believe that our colleagues are at the heart of everything we do. In 2024, we invited all staff to share their views through our first organisation-wide Colleague Engagement Survey. The survey gave us valuable insights into what it feels like to work here – what’s working well, and where we can grow together.

The Survey

Using the internationally recognised Utrecht Work Engagement Scale (UWES) and Cardiff University’s How Good is Your Job framework, the survey measured how our people experience their work — including energy, dedication, relationships, autonomy, and overall wellbeing.

• 346 colleagues took part – a 42% response rate.
• 68.6% of respondents reported being highly engaged in their roles – 19% higher than the wider social care sector.
• 96% said they are continuously learning new skills.
• 80% feel well supported by their managers.
• 90% feel secure in their roles.
• 57% rated their work-life balance as good or excellent.

These results highlight the dedication and professionalism of our teams and also provide clear areas for further strengthening.

You Said – We Did

We listened carefully to what colleagues told us through the survey and in follow-up focus groups, which explored two key themes: work pace and employee voice.

Their feedback directly informed our next steps and organisational priorities.

Colleagues said:

• They want greater input into rota setting and more flexibility in working patterns.
  
• Some colleagues feel unsure where to share ideas or raise concerns.
• They want clearer development opportunities and career progression.

The organisation responded:

• Introduced more flexible rota planning — with colleague input built into scheduling to support better work-life balance. This aligns with the streamlined process for considering flexible working requests.
• Piloted focus groups on work pace, leading to new ideas such as structured debriefs after incidents, and improved support for staff wellbeing.
• Strengthened communication and feedback loops — “closing the loop” to show how colleague input leads to change.
• Enhanced career pathways — developed a new Career Pathway Policy and Career Development Criteria, defining clear stages of professional progression across all roles.
• Invested in leadership development — introduced a Senior Development Plan focused on strengthening the leadership and management skills of first-line managers. The programme has now been completed by all Senior Autism Practitioners.
• Freed up front-line managers by reorganising some regional routines so they can spend more time coaching and supporting their teams.
• Empowered regional teams — each region developed its own Regional Action Plan based on local survey feedback and is actively working to address key staff concerns and deliver meaningful improvements.