A recurring theme in university research is the perceived lack of recognition reported by staff. This impacts the way workers view their organisation’s internal culture and their job satisfaction.

Recognising employees is important because it boosts motivation, engagement, performance and trust.

In local government, this can be a challenge. This is because our councils face many restrictions and regulations from other levels of government, especially when it comes to the public perception of spending taxpayer money.

This means councils can struggle with high employee turnover and a shortage of skilled workers. And while it is well-known that financial incentives are not the only motivators for staff, the rising cost of living makes it more valuable to employees than before.

Local councils have limited resources to guide the development of new recognition policies, other than commonly accepted ‘best practice’.

This project aims to bridge the gap between:

• what councils think the public believe about local government recognition practices
• what the public actually believe about them.

Councils can use the learnings from this project to make better decisions and policies to recognise staff, building stronger and productive workforces.

Outcomes

This project will understand how councils use reward and recognition and how these are perceived by staff, community and council members. It aims to:

• develop a tool to benchmark and assess the current reward and recognition practices in place
• identify the challenges councils face in implementing recognition and reward practices.

Background and purpose

There is no existing research available which has looked at community perceptions of staff recognition in local government, and how this relates to turnover intentions.

This project is important to:

• help councils work together to improve their recognition programs
• create standards that outline acceptable and unacceptable recognition practices
• help the community understand the role and impact of local government
• develop strategies to improve employee morale, turnover rates, well-being, job satisfaction and organisational culture.

Who is this for?

This project will help local councils better attract and retain staff. The insights can be used by people managers and leaders to inform decision making and reporting.

How this project will be delivered

This project is being delivered by the University of South Australia. The project team will follow a multi-phase approach to deliver the work:

• Stage 1: Review and analyse secondary data, grey literature, government reports and empirical research to study recognition and rewards in different sectors.
• Stage 2: Consult with stakeholders from different regions and councils across Australia. The team will also interview local councils who already have recognition and reward programs to explore both their formal and informal practices.
• Stage 3: Use employee focus groups to understand their perceptions of recognition in local government.
• Stage 4: Conduct quantitative surveys and focus groups with the public to understand what they think about recognition policies and what's considered acceptable.
• Stage 5: Analyse gathered data and develop benchmarks for the sector.
• Stage 6: Deliver a comprehensive report to the LGA for local councils. The report will include findings from real-world analysis, suggestions to improve policies and practices and tools to measure and track progress.

Project contributors

Councils contributing $3,000 each in financial support to this project are:

• City of Charles Sturt
• City of Port Adelaide Enfield
• City of Victor Harbor
• City of West Torrens
• Tatiara District Council
• City of Playford
• City of Casey, VIC
• Queanbeyan-Palerang Regional Council, NSW
• Toowoomba Regional Council, QLD

Councils providing in-kind support to this project are:

• Berri Barmera Council
• City of Norwood Payneham St Peters
• District Council of Grant
• Southern Mallee District Council
• Bega Valley, NSW
• Bellingen Shire Council, NSW
• Queenscliff, VIC
• Mansfield Shire, VIC
• North Sydney, NSW
• Caballing Shire, WA
• Wyalkatchem Shire, WA

Project Progress, March 2024

Current completion: 15%

The project is progressing according to the established timeline. A preliminary literature review (secondary data, reports, literature) has been undertaken to identify key areas of research. This will now be further expanded upon and informed by the stage one interview data.

As part of the stage one data collection, there has been 17 interviews, including the SA Ombudsman.

We have commenced the initial stages of analysing this data and formulating focus group questions. Focus groups should commence in early May.