Title
Contents
Acknowledgements 8
The Authors 9
Summary 10
1. Introduction 13
1.1 Background 13
1.2 Research aims 13
1.3 Survey approach 14
1.4 The population of employers who have had contact with DWP 16
1.4.1 Employer contact with DWP relating to pensions and pay 16
1.4.2 Employer contact with DWP relating to staff training and welfare issues 17
1.4.3 Employer contact relating to placing a vacancy with Jobcentre Plus 18
1.4.4 The relationship between size of establishment and contact with DWP agencies 19
1.5 Report structure 21
2. Employers' satisfaction with their dealings with DWP and its agencies 22
2.1 Overview 22
2.2 Background and introduction 23
2.3 Overall levels of employer satisfaction with DWP 23
2.4 Detailed overall satisfaction scores 25
2.5 Incident-based overall satisfaction scores 26
2.6 Likelihood to recommend DWP 28
3. Drivers of satisfaction with contact relating to pensions and pay, and staff training and welfare 29
3.1 Overview 29
3.2 Background and introduction: drivers of satisfaction 30
3.3 Drivers of satisfaction: Outcomes 31
3.4 Drivers of satisfaction: Being treated well 33
3.5 Drivers of satisfaction: Building a business relationship 35
3.6 Key driver analysis 38
4. Satisfaction with Jobcentre Plus' vacancy placing service 41
4.1 Overview 41
4.2 Background and introduction 42
4.3 Drivers of satisfaction: outcomes 42
4.4 Drivers of satisfaction: Being treated well 44
4.5 Drivers of satisfaction: building a business relationship 45
4.6 Key drivers of satisfaction with Jobcentre Plus for placing vacancies 48
4.7 Comparing satisfaction with Jobcentre Plus over time 49
4.7.1 A note about comparisons 49
4.7.2 Overall satisfaction with Jobcentre Plus in the 12 months covered by the survey 49
4.7.3 Quality of service from Jobcentre Plus recruitment services 49
4.7.4 Change in episode-based satisfaction over time 51
4.7.5 Future usage of Jobcentre Plus 52
5. Employer responsibilities and attitudes to diversity 54
5.1 Overview 54
5.2 Introduction 54
5.3 Responsibilities around diversity 55
5.5 Employer attitudes to older workers 56
5.6 Employer attitudes to disability 58
5.7 Employer attitudes to lone parents 59
6. Exploration of sector patterns and trends 61
6.1 Overview 61
6.2 Introduction 62
6.3 The relationship between employment sector and level/experience of contact with DWP agencies 62
6.4 Overall satisfaction with DWP 63
6.4.1 Satisfaction with DWP by type of contact 64
6.5 Sub-drivers of satisfaction 66
6.5.1 Contact with DWP relating to staff training and welfare 66
6.5.2 Contact with Jobcentre Plus' vacancy placing service 68
6.6 Employer responsibilities and attitudes to diversity 70
6.6.1 Employer aims to diversify workforce 70
6.6.2 Employer attitudes on older workers 71
6.6.3 Employer attitudes to disability 72
6.6.4 Employer attitudes to lone parents 73
7. Exploration of regional patterns and trends 75
7.1 Overview 75
7.2 Introduction 75
7.3 The relationship between region and level/experience of contact with DWP agencies 76
7.4 Overall satisfaction with DWP 77
7.4.1 Satisfaction with DWP by type of contact 77
7.5 Sub-drivers of satisfaction 79
7.5.1 Contact with DWP relating to staff training and welfare 80
7.5.2 Contact with Jobcentre Plus to fill place a vacancy 82
7.6 Employer responsibilities and attitudes to diversity 84
7.6.1 Employer aims to diversify workforce 84
7.6.2 Employer attitude to older workers 86
7.6.3 Employer attitudes to disability 87
7.6.4 Employer attitudes to lone parents 88
Table 4.1 Reasons why employers felt the service offered by Jobcentre Plus had got better by type of service used 50
Table 6.1 Contact relating to staff training and welfare: key sub-drivers 67
Table 6.2 Contact with Jobcentre Plus' vacancy placing service: key drivers 69
Table 6.3 Mean agreement scores on disabled worker statements 73
Table 7.1 Contact relating to staff training and welfare: key sub-driver mean scores summary 81
Table 7.2 Contact with Jobcentre Plus to fill a vacancy: key sub-driver mean scores summary 83
Table 7.3 Mean agreement scores on disabled worker statements 87
Table 7.4 Mean agreement that the challenges of employing lone parents are no different to employing people with young children generally 88
Figure 1.1 Overall engagement with DWP agencies regarding pensions and pay 17
Figure 1.2 Overall engagement with DWP agencies regarding staff training and welfare 18
Figure 1.3: Contact with Jobcentre Plus to fill a vacancy 19
Figure 1.4 Proportion of establishments engaging with DWP, by size 20
Figure 2.1 Composite satisfaction score and overall satisfaction, by contact type 24
Figure 2.2 Detailed overall satisfaction scores, by contact type 25
Figure 2.3: Overall satisfaction with DWP for the most recent contact, by type 27
Figure 2.4 Likelihood to recommend DWP 28
Figure 3.1 Key driver and sub-driver structure 31
Figure 3.2 Outcomes satisfaction compared to importance 33
Figure 3.3 Being treated well - satisfaction compared to importance 34
Figure 3.4 Agreement that employers spend too much time on administration for DWP 36
Figure 3.5 Satisfaction compared to importance for building a business relationship 37
Figure 3.6 Agreement with accessibility statements 38
Figure 3.7 Key drivers of satisfaction with contact relating to staff training and welfare 39
Figure 3.8 Key drivers of satisfaction with contact relating to pensions and pay 40
Figure 4.1 Outcomes satisfaction compared to importance 43
Figure 4.2 Being treated well - satisfaction compared to importance 45
Figure 4.3 Satisfaction charted against importance for accessibility 47
Figure 4.4 Key drivers of satisfaction with Jobcentre Plus for placing vacancies 48
Figure 4.5 Episode-based satisfaction with Jobcentre Plus over time 52
Figure 4.6 Future use of Jobcentre Plus 53
Figure 5.1 Employers' understanding of obligations 55
Figure 5.2 Proportion of employers with targets to diversify workforce/with diversity training in place, by size of employer 56
Figure 5.3 Proportion of workforce over 65, by size of organisation 57
Figure 5.4 Employer practices and perceptions in employing older workers 58
Figure 5.5 Agreement with statements relating to employee disability 59
Figure 5.6 Extent to which employers agree that the challenges of employing lone parents are no different to employing parents with young children 60
Figure 6.1 Proportion of employers engaging with DWP, by sector 63
Figure 6.2 Composite overall satisfaction, by sector 64
Figure 6.3 Satisfaction with DWP, by type of contact 65
Figure 6.4 Proportion of employers with targets to diversify workforce/with diversity training in place 71
Figure 6.5 Any workers over the age of 65 72
Figure 7.1 Proportion of employers engaging with DWP, by region 76
Figure 7.2 Composite overall satisfaction, by region 77
Figure 7.3 Satisfaction with DWP by type of contact 78
Figure 7.4 Proportion of employers with targets to diversify workforce/with diversity training in place, split by region 85
Figure 7.5 Any workers over the age of 65 86