County Government Center in downtown San Luis Obispo.

Survey Results Paint Positive Picture of County Government Work

Author: Administrative Office
Date: 2/15/2018 10:02:11 AM

The County released the results of its 2017 Employee Engagement Survey, which showed improvements since the last survey as well as some areas of opportunity.


The results of a recent survey of County government employees paint a positive picture of what it’s like to work for the County of San Luis Obispo. The survey also shed light on an area of opportunity: Communication. 

Most notably, the County’s expanded training programs has positively impacted the organization, which ultimately improves the quality of County services provided to the public.

“When employees are provided with the tools to help leverage the talent they bring to their jobs, they provide better service to the people of San Luis Obispo County. It’s a win-win,” said CAO Wade Horton. “I’m pleased to see the investments in our team are paying off. At the same time, this survey helped us identify some opportunities that will help the County provide even better service to the communities we serve.”

County employees reported that they are satisfied with their roles, the County as an employer, their relationships with their supervisors, the training opportunities provided by the County, and their work environment. However, the survey responses indicate that team morale can be improved by better communicating how decisions are made.

“We will focus intently on building a culture of communication at every level,” Horton said. “We can improve by sharing more with our teams the reasons behind certain decisions and taking suggestions from employees when possible. We can also work on training leaders in County departments to bring their teams together to foster improved communication.”

Nearly 70 percent of the more than 2,900 County employees took the survey in the fall of 2017. This was the second such survey, as the first one was conducted in 2014 to set a baseline to measure the extent to which employees feel passionate about their jobs, are committed to the organization, and go above and beyond in their work. 

Download the 2017 Survey Results Report

For media inquiries about this survey and the results, please contact County Human Resources Director Tami Douglas-Schatz at (805) 781-5959 or [email protected].