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THE IRISH COAST Guard has warned members about an ‘unofficial survey’, widely circulated to staff and volunteers, which claims to have found more than half do not have confidence in the organisation’s management.
This unofficial survey, the results of which have been seen by The Journal, was sent around to staff and volunteers last week.
In an email yesterday containing survey results, those involved stated they were current Irish Coast Guard unit members “who shared similar concerns and felt obliged to raise and share them nationally”.
The organisers say 276 people responded to the survey over a six-day period. They claim the survey found:
After the unofficial survey was circulated last week, management issued a warning to staff and volunteers
“I have no knowledge as to how this e-mail group of OiCs (Officer in Charge), DOiCs (District Officer in Charge) and AOiCs (Assistant Officer in Charge) has been accessed by the sender of this e-mail however I will follow up on it in terms of data protection,” the management circular stated.
“Please note that neither IRCG or CUAG (Coastal Unit Advisory Group) has any involvement in this unofficial survey which appears to be promoted anonymously and without any information as to its source.”
The unofficial survey was conducted using the website SurveyMonkey and was publicly accessible.
It was circulated to Coast Guard members on the same week as the organisation shared the results of its own trust index and culture assessment.
The official ‘Great Place to Work’ survey, commissioned by the Irish Coast Guard and filled out by 332 members, found 72% expressed medium to high trust in the organisation.
The Coast Guard scored high across the board; 83% on ‘socially friendly and welcome atmosphere’; 70% in ‘competence in coordinating human and material resources’ and 71% in ‘supporting professional development and showing appreciation’.
The Irish Coast Guard did not respond to a request for comment on the results of the unofficial survey.
With additional reporting by Adam Daly.
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No smoke without fire. An eradication of morale would fit with the recent reports on banning its members from partaking in a dance that every other emergency and voluntary rescue service in the country took part in. Publicising the organisation for all the wrong reasons. I don’t think I’d have much confidence in the management.
“The official ‘Great Place to Work’ survey, commissioned by the Irish Coast Guard…”
One would have to wonder if there are any connections between management and the company behind their own survey.
@David Corrigan: wow that’s a fairly baseless accusation, one would have to wonder if there’s any connections between yourself and the unofficial survey that has no accountability or transparency (see I can do it too)
@Anto Curran: Their own commissioned survey paints them in good light while the “unofficial” survey says that things are not so good within camp. Couple this to the fact that there is plenty of evidence of underhanded behaviour in this country means that there will always be suspicions around internally driven surveys.
It’s not that hard to understand Anto is it?
@David Corrigan: those ‘Great places to work’ are a joke. A company I worked for won it once. They had more staff out on mental health issues due to senior directors and bully boy tactics.
@Madra: Stone cold. There are a lot of people in this country who refuse to believe that kind of thing. It just couldn’t be true they say!!!
@David Corrigan: An unofficial survey might easily have a bias, being started by and forwarded to people with a grudge already.
@Madra: but it’s a great place to shop??
Why use a picture of RNLI boat and crew? Very different organisations.
How many people actually use or know about the Coast Guard. Very few I’d imagine they do a great job when needed.
Just as an aside, any sign of the official report on R116 crash in March 2017 (that would be fully 4 years ago) ever being published?? Not aware of any equivalent accident where within a couple of days they had the wreckage + a rough idea of what had happened, yet four years on people still waiting for the official accident report.
Ask the right question, get the right answer?
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