But Compensation and Safety Concerns Persist—The City of Pensacola achieved record-high employee satisfaction and engagement scores in its 2025 employee survey, with all four key metrics reaching their highest levels since tracking began in 2019, according to results presented by consultant Sperduto & Associates.
Details: Mayor D.C. Reeves mentioned the scores during the opening of his State of the City address. Inweekly obtained it through a public records request. Read 2025 City of Pensacola EE Survey.
- With a 91% response rate, the survey shows employee satisfaction at 76% and engagement at 66%, placing the city in the 79th percentile nationally. All metrics showed significant year-over-year improvement, with engagement jumping 7 percentage points and satisfaction increasing 8 points from 2024.
“The four success metrics are all at an all-time high,” the presentation states, encouraging city leadership to “Celebrate!!!”
Strong Leadership Ratings Drive Improvement
The most significant improvements came in perceptions of department leadership, with the Department Director/Chief category showing a +0.3 deviation from national norms—the largest positive change across all categories.
Survey respondents gave particularly high marks to their immediate supervisors, with strong scores for:
- Setting clear goals (+0.8 above norm)
- Fair treatment (+0.7)
- Caring about employees (+0.6)
- Recognizing results (+0.6)
- Holding staff accountable (+0.6)
Love the Benefits: Employees also expressed high satisfaction with benefits, particularly the retirement plan (+0.9), paid time off, and holidays.
Persistent Concerns Over Pay and Safety
Despite overall improvements, several areas remain below national benchmarks. Employee safety perception scored -0.4 below the norm—the lowest rating in any category and highlighted in yellow as requiring attention.
- Ironically, the Florida DOGE report criticized the city for raising pay over the past four years.
Compensation-related items also lagged:
- Pay compared to other cities/counties: -0.3
- Effectiveness at retaining valuable employees: -0.3
- Adequate compensation for work performed: -0.2
- Internal pay equity: -0.1
“City makes employee safety a priority” received the lowest individual item score, followed by concerns about competitive compensation and employee retention.
Recommendations: The survey recommends that city leaders “work with HR to provide clearer explanations of pay structure, market comparisons, and cost-of-living considerations. Even when immediate changes cannot be made, transparency improves fairness perceptions.”
- Regarding safety, the report urges leaders to “visibly prioritize safety by reviewing policies, hosting safety briefings, conducting walk-throughs, and responding quickly to hazards.”
Wide Disparity Across Departments
Engagement levels varied dramatically across city departments:
Highest engagement:
- City Clerk Administration: 100% (+11% from 2024)
- Mayor’s Office/City Admin: 100% (+18%)
- Development Services: 92% (+12%)
- Information Technology: 90% (-10%)
- Parking Management: 90% (no change)
Lowest engagement:
- Sanitation Services: 43% (+10%)
- Police: 48% (+15%)
- Human Resources: 50% (+12%)
- Fleet and Facilities: 57% (-13%)
- Economic Development: 57% (+7%)
Notably, while the Police Department showed the second-lowest engagement at 48%, it also demonstrated one of the largest year-over-year improvements at +15 percentage points.
- The previous police chief, Eric Randall, resigned after the rank and file lost confidence in his leadership, according to the mayor.
Recommendations Moving Forward
The report identifies both areas where the city should maintain current practices and areas requiring improvement.
Continue doing well:
- Setting clear goals and expectations
- Maintaining open, accessible communication
- Recognizing employee contributions
- Modeling professionalism and respect
- Engaging staff in problem-solving
Areas for improvement:
- Improve communication consistency
- Enhance recognition practices
- Support employee well-being and workload management
- Provide more developmental feedback
- Improve perceptions of fair and competitive pay
- Reinforce commitment to safety
The survey was conducted by Sperduto & Associates, an employee performance consulting firm, and aligns with the city’s “Strive to Thrive: 2035” strategic plan, which emphasizes creating quality of life opportunities for visitors, residents, and “employees and their families.”
Read 2025 City of Pensacola EE Survey.