Just a third of civil service employees believe their pay adequately reflects their performance, with less than half being satisfied with their total benefits package, the first survey of its kind has revealed.

The civil service-wide People Survey polled 340,000 staff from 96 organisations. They were asked to comment on a range of issues including their development needs, training and the strength of management, and engagement.

The study found that satisfaction rates declined when it came to pay and benefits. Just over a third (36%) said they felt their pay adequately reflected their performance. Forty-four per cent said they were satisfied with their total benefits package, but only 33% felt their pay was reasonable compared to people doing a similar job in other organisations.

However, 90% of workers were interested in their jobs, 85% said they were treated with respect by the people they work with, and 83% felt they could rely on their team when things got tough.

But while more than half (63%) said they were able to access the right learning and development opportunities when needed, only 39% felt there were opportunities to develop their career in their organisation.

Only a quarter of respondents felt changes made in the organisation were usually for the better, and just 27% felt that change was managed well.

Gus O’Donnell, head of the Home Civil Service, said: “By establishing this survey, the Civil Service has shown that it is taking its responsibility to ensure staff are properly engaged very seriously. It gives us the evidence we need to build on our strengths and tackle our weaknesses.

“This is not going to be an easy or quick task, but it is at the heart of raising productivity. Strong employee engagement has a strong connection with productivity and improved employee health and wellbeing.”