Toowoomba Mayor Paul Antonio, councillors vote to get staff survey results reviewed by independent consultants

Leaked statistics from a recent Toowoomba Regional Council staff survey showed a disparity between the instances of sexual harassment or bullying and the number of formally reported cases.

TRC Mayor Paul Antonio. Picture: Kevin Farmer

The Toowoomba Regional Council will bring in more independent consultants to further investigate the results of recent staff surveys, after leaked statistics showed a disparity between the number of instances of bullying and sexual harassment witnessed and the actual number of formally reported cases.

Councillors voted at Tuesday’s ordinary meeting to endorse Mayor Paul Antonio’s motion, which will seek tenders from independent agencies to review the findings from the 2018 and 2020 staff surveys.

It comes more than a week after statistics from the latest survey showed that while there were hundreds of staff who responded that they had been subjected to bullying and sexual harassment, just three per cent of cases were reported.

“Firstly, I think we realise, as does the community, that the staff are our greatest asset,” Cr Antonio said.

“That’s the reason we need to do staff surveys, (and) while they cover many topics, the issues around bullying harassment clearly require immediate attention.

“The results reveal the disparity between the survey results and the number of reported cases.

“Council has an obligation to provide a safe and healthy workplace, and we need to take every effort to stop bullying and harassment.”

The motion would also review current strategies already in place to combat bullying and harassment, and make recommendations on further actions.

Results are expected to be returned in April.

In his branch report, CEO Brian Pidgeon elaborated on more results from the staff survey, having held a series of meetings with workers across the region across February and March.

Mr Pidgeon said while performance results were up from the 2018 version, staff engagement levels were down while there appeared to be a growing disparity between the satisfaction levels of those who were enjoying their jobs and those who weren’t.

“The polarisation in our results for many questions is significant,” his report said.

“We saw an overall decrease in staff who scored our organisation in the middle range (four or five out of 10) compared to the 2018 staff survey.

“Instead, we had an increase of staff who scored the organisation in the highest range (six and seven) and an increase in staff who scored the organisation in the lowest range (one, two and three).

“This polarisation shows employees are having significantly different workplace experiences across our organisation.”

Mr Pidgeon recommended holding focus group sessions, developing organisational and branch action plans, and demonstrating more accountability and transparency.