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2021 Laguna Beach Employee Survey Results

The City of Laguna Beach is pleased to announce it has released its 2021 City employee engagement and satisfaction survey. This survey provided employees with an opportunity to provide feedback related to inclusion, diversity, respect, and overall experience working for the City of Laguna Beach. A tailored survey designed for law enforcement personnel was also conducted to focus on unique challenges facing police departments.  
 
The anonymous survey gathered valuable feedback from all departments to identify opportunities to better serve City employees and residents. The survey saw great participation from City staff, with 60% of employees completing it during the survey period in September 2021. The survey showed positive and promising results: that 86% of employees are highly engaged in their work and nearly 80% of employees are satisfied to work for the City of Laguna Beach.

You may view the City survey results by clicking HERE.

You may view the Police Department survey results by clicking HERE.

Some highlights of the survey include:

  • 98% of employees gave fair, good and excellent assessments to the overall quality of services provided and the quality of work being done in their work groups
  • Nearly 8 out of 10 employees fee satisfied overall in their jobs and feel challenged
  • 91% have a fair, good, and excellent sense of confidence in their supervisors

Using a series of questions, the survey measured employee attitudes on topics like job satisfaction, inclusivity and equity, recognition and development, compensation and benefits, workload, and job security. Strengths employees identified through the survey included providing a safe and secure environment for employees of all backgrounds, respecting individual cultural beliefs and values, and helping new employees feel connected and integrated. Other factors where the City scored above average were satisfaction with coworkers, my job, and flexibility.  

Through the survey, Laguna Beach Mayor Bob Whalen hopes to gain insight into how to better engage employees, which in turn will help provide better service to the Laguna Beach community.

“The City Council is pleased that our City Manager took the initiative to do an employee survey and that she has a plan to engage employees in a discussion to identify changes that will be beneficial going forward,” said Laguna Beach Mayor Bob Whalen.  “We greatly value our employees and look forward to discussing any recommendations that emerge from this process at our strategic planning meeting early next year.”

Some opportunities raised through the survey include employee development and training, workload and resource availability and better use of technology.  Laguna Beach Mayor Pro Tem Sue Kempf says City administration will be working with staff to prioritize which items to address first and an employee task force will help identify a plan of action based on the survey results.

“Overall, we had a high percentage of employees who expressed satisfaction with working for the City of Laguna Beach,” said Mayor Pro Tem Sue Kempf.  “As always, we strive to improve in all facets of City government.  Using this data, we can take action and create a better work environment for staff based on the information received.”

The survey was conducted by Polco, an external, independent research firm that works with organizations throughout the country to help their employees be more engaged, satisfied, and productive at work.

As a next step, the City hired a facilitator to assist with the development of an action plan based on the survey results and a task force of employees from all departments (and a sub-task force of Police Department employees) to focus on key priorities and develop a roadmap to success.  The action plan will be presented to the City Council in conjunction with the City Council prioritization/strategic planning process on March 4, 2022.