Central Coast Council improves employee engagement score by turning Employee Voice into action

Central Coast Council modernises Employee Voice with digital pulse surveys and inclusive access for field teams
A tailored engagement campaign increased participation and delivered clear insights on leadership, wellbeing, and rewards
Employee engagement improved measurably, including eNPS rising from –65 to +12 by 2025 and stronger psychological safety and D&I participation.

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Client overview: Central Coast Council and its workforce

Central Coast Council is the local government authority for the Central Coast region of New South Wales, Australia. Formed in 2016 through the merger of the former Gosford City and Wyong Shire Councils, the new entity became one of the largest councils in NSW, employing more than 2,500 staff across diverse roles and locations.

Following the merger, the Council faced the challenge of uniting a dispersed workforce and creating a shared organisational culture. Employee Engagement was identified as a key enabler, but the Council’s initial paper-based surveys were slow, manual, and yielded limited insights. Responses were difficult to obtain, rates were inconsistent, and the process of turning feedback into action was fragmented.

The Council needed a modern, accessible approach that could connect its entire workforce — from office-based teams to field service crews — and provide actionable, data-driven insights to strengthen engagement and performance.

Solution: Digital Employee Voice and Engagement Program

Working with Act XM, Central Coast Council began its journey toward a high-performing Employee Engagement program. The first step was introducing a digital pulse survey, designed to test a new approach to collecting employee feedback. To ensure accessibility, iPads were deployed to field teams, with People and Culture and Organisational Development staff visiting worksites to assist employees in completing the survey. This hands-on approach made it easy for everyone, from depot teams to administrative staff, to have their say.

Feedback from this first survey showed the value of a digital approach backed by sufficient resources to support it. The Council then expanded its use of Qualtrics, with Act XM supporting the move to a fully integrated engagement program.

Together, Act XM and Central Coast Council implemented a series of initiatives that brought employee feedback to life across the organisation. These included:

CEO recorded updates to share survey results with all staff, ensuring transparency and visibility from the top
Town Hall sessions and focus groups held across multiple sites to explore themes and insights in greater depth
Posters and visual communications placed in depots and shared work areas to build awareness and participation
Targeted internal campaigns encouraging staff to engage with results and suggest solutions.

The Council set out to boost participation in its latest Employee Engagement survey. With a geographically dispersed workforce and varying levels of digital fluency, Act XM worked together with the Council to design a tailored campaign that made participation simple and engaging. The initiative included incentives for field service staff and GPS-triggered messages in Council vehicles — a creative yet practical way to reach teams constantly on the move.

Results: higher participation, clear Insights, and eNPS improvement

These efforts paid off. Participation increased, giving the Council its most comprehensive feedback to date. Key themes emerged around leadership effectiveness, employee wellbeing and remuneration, leading to targeted initiatives in leadership development, wellbeing support, and rewards and recognition programs.

The results have been outstanding. The Council’s employee net promoter score (eNPS) improved dramatically, from -65 in the first year to +12 in 2025, demonstrating a major shift in engagement, trust, and connection across the workforce.

Over the period of surveying, psychological safety has significantly improved with more people participating in D&I reporting and self identification of demographic indicators. Wellbeing as an engagement driver is also no longer showing up in the bottom 5 responses in the most recent survey, indicating a strong improvement.

What’s next: expanding Employee Voice across the employee lifecycle

Today, Central Coast Council operates a fully functioning employee engagement program within the Qualtrics platform, continuously listening to and acting on employee feedback. With support from Act XM, the Council continues to embed engagement insights into decision-making, leadership development, and organisational planning.

Looking ahead, the Council aims to expand its engagement program to further integrate engagement insights into its broader people strategy, from onboarding and exit surveys, to enabling change makers with real time data and driving informed leadership capability.

Through its partnership with Act XM, Central Coast Council has transformed employee feedback into a powerful catalyst for change, creating a culture where every voice matters and where insights lead to meaningful, lasting action.

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