After meeting with senior managers to gather information on historical issues and the current situation, we carried out 50 interviews with staff from all levels. The interviews were confidential and employees were encouraged to speak freely to Human Assets as independent consultants. We explored reasons for joining the organisation, reasons to stay, reasons to leave and areas of satisfaction and dissatisfaction.

We then developed a tailored questionnaire that included the main themes, which had arisen from our discussions. The questionnaire was distributed to a wider group of 250 people, and returned in sealed envelopes to Human Assets.The responses were collated and analysed to reveal interesting issues which were aggravating particular departments and groups e.g. grades, age. Although pay was thought to be the key reason for many to leave, employees did not see this as the most vital element in their jobs. Other factors had an important impact e.g. perceptions of fairness with regards to how promotion decisions were made. We produced a report of the results and discussed our recommendations with the senior team.