HMRC staff morale plunges to a new low following data loss scandal
6th March, 2008
The latest HMRC staff survey results show that the organisation’s morale has been dragged to a new low in the wake of the missing data scandal. Our experts says that the results are further proof of the ongoing disorder at HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) caused by the mishandled merger of Customs & Excise (C&E) and the Inland Revenue (IR) in 2005.
Over half of the HMRC staff surveyed believe that the quality of service HMRC offers is worsening and 78% of staff feel that HMRC is beginning to change or has already changed for the worse. Just 2% agree that the department has changed for the better. However, only 54% of respondents say that they feel motivated to improve customer service at HMRC.
Roy Maugham, Tax Partner at our London office, comments: “One of the most striking aspects of the survey results is that only 59% of HMRC staff agree that taxpayers are honest unless they have good reason to doubt them.”
“Our concern is that the culture that employees say is taking over HMRC is impacting on the way they treat taxpayers.”
“A dysfunctional or overly aggressive tax authority will damage the competitiveness of a country’s economy.”
Our experts say that staff at HMRC have becoming increasingly frustrated by poor leadership from senior management, deteriorating customer service and a lack of information about changes to their role and their department.
The survey was completed by over 20,000 HMRC staff members in the wake of HMRC’s admission that it had lost two disks containing the personal details of 25 million people.
Our experts say that it is unsurprising that low morale at HMRC has resulted in a lack of motivation amongst its staff.
Adds Roy Maugham: “Anyone who has dealt with HMRC recently cannot fail to have noticed that customer service has declined dramatically and that a culture of suspicion has grown up within the organisation.”
The survey reveals that 50% of staff believe that the merger between C&E and IR has been detrimental to customer service. Last year only 28% said that the merger had had a negative effect on customers.
HMRC staff concerned about lack of strong leadership
Roy Maugham says: “The lack of faith HMRC staff have in senior management, and their dissatisfaction with the way changes within the department have been managed is also very apparent from the survey results.”
Just 15% agree with the statement “senior management provide effective leadership”, down from 19% last summer. Almost 60% do not feel that the department is well managed.
Roy Maugham comments: “HMRC has just begun recruiting for a non-executive chairman and plans to appoint a chief executive later this year. Whether changing the complex management structure will be enough to raise morale and improve customer service remains to be seen.”
“The issues thrown up in this survey need to be addressed urgently if HMRC wants to win back the trust and confidence of the taxpayer.”
Other results of the survey showed:
- Only 33% feel proud to work for HMRC, down from 36% in November 2006.
- 41% disagree with the statement “considering everything I am satisfied with my job”, up from 34% a year ago.
- 72% say that working in their business area within HMRC has got worse over the past year but only 12% think that things will have improved with 12 months time. Last year 68% thought working in their business area had got worse but 15% expected to see an improvement within a year.
- 49% feel that the merger of HMCE and IR has had a negative effect on their role within HMRC, up from 40% in November 2006.
http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/research/winter07-staff-survey.pdf
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