Dunedin survey: strong individual job satisfaction but staff perceive lower overall morale, report finds

City of Dunedin leaders received results of the 2025 employee experience survey at a June 3 commission workshop, where Human Resources Director Theresa Smalling and consultant Dr. Steven Neely of Ford Analytics summarized findings from a survey that ran March 4–25 and drew a 45% response rate.

The survey found high individual satisfaction — employees strongly reported pride in their work and a sense that their jobs contribute to the city’s mission — but also a gap between individuals’ experiences and what they perceive in their peers. That contrast, plus concerns about cross‑department communication and visible accountability, were the main areas officials said they would address first.

Dr. Steven Neely, the consultant who analyzed the results, told commissioners, “We were able to get a good response rate on the survey of 45%,” and described a notable pattern: “Individual employee experiences are good, but they're not seeing that among their peers.” He said the finding likely reflects perceptions rather than proven managerial failures, and that the results point to opportunities around communication and demonstrating how organizational values are lived.

Key findings presented to the commission included: - Response rate and reach: 45% of employees participated; respondents were distributed across departments and job tenures (the consultant cited roughly 29% with two years or less experience and about 18–20% with 11–20 or more than 20 years), giving the team confidence that the sample is broadly representative. - Mission alignment and belonging: More than 90% of respondents reported pride in their work and that their job contributed to city goals; a large majority said they felt a sense of belonging. - Supervisor relationships: Scores were strong for direct‑supervisor relationships, with most employees saying they trust and receive feedback from their immediate supervisors. - Perceptions of accountability and workload distribution: Only about 58% of respondents said employees are held accountable for expectations; at the department level roughly one‑third disagreed that workload is fairly distributed. Neely cautioned these are perception data and not direct evidence of managerial failure but said the pattern recurred across questions. - Cross‑department communication: While department‑level and city‑level communication scored near typical public‑sector norms, only “just a smidge over half” of respondents agreed that departments communicate effectively with one another; Neely called that the most notable weakness in the results and suggested liaison roles, interdepartmental meetings, or clarified procedures as remedies.

Commissioners and staff discussed next steps. City Manager Jennifer (title given in the record as City Manager) said department directors would meet to develop action items and that leadership would return to the commission with a plan. “We’re gonna be looking at the items that we showed were of concern to you, and we’re gonna be acting upon them,” the manager said. Several commissioners urged repeating the survey annually or biennially and using any follow‑up surveys to track trends and measure progress.

Commissioner discussion also touched on sampling and validity: Neely calculated a margin of error near ±5 percentage points for the 45% response rate in a 423‑employee organization and recommended continued surveying to tighten the margin and establish time‑series trends.

City staff and the consultant emphasized practical remedies rather than structural overhauls: suggested steps included communicating examples of accountability processes so employees can see how expectations are enforced, running workload distribution reviews within departments where concerns are highest, and piloting liaison or cross‑functional meeting programs to improve interdepartmental coordination.

The commission did not take formal votes on policy changes during the workshop; city leaders said they would return with a specific action plan and timeline once department directors convene.