Pulse and Public Service Employee Survey Results Overview

Presentation to EXEC
June 8, 2023

Background

Noteworthy Results - PSES

Employee Engagement

• All 7 relevant questions have less positive responses when compared to last survey, while only one is below the Public Service (PS) average.
• PS results for these 7 questions generally compare less favourably than last survey, but to a lesser extent.

Leadership

• All 4 questions tagged as Senior Management have less positive responses when compared to last survey, while only one is below the PS average.
• PS results for these 4 questions compare less favourably than last survey, but to a lesser extent.

Work-life Balance and Workload

• Though one of the two questions has more positive responses when compared to last survey, both remain below the PS average.
• PS results for these two questions compare slightly more favourably than last survey.

Organizational Goals and Performance

• Questions related to the organization communicating its vision, mission and goals as well as whether it manages change well both have less positive responses when compared to last survey and are below the PS average
• PS results for these 2 questions compare less favourably than last survey, but to a lesser extent.

Work Environment

• The question about having a physical environment suitable for their job requirements has more positive responses when compared to last survey.

Psychological Health

• The question about the department doing a good job raising awareness of mental health in the workplace has less positive responses when compared to last survey and is below the PS average
• PS results for this question compares less favourably than last survey, but to a lesser extent.

Anti-Racism

• Both questions related to racism that were also asked in 2020 have less positive responses when compared to last survey and both are below the PS average.
• The 4 other racism related questions responses are all below the PS average as well.

Harassment and Discrimination

• Responses to questions indicating having been victim of harassment or discrimination show slight improvement and are better than the PS average.
• Satisfaction with how these matters are resolved and whether the department works hard to prevent these show less favourable results than last survey and below the PS average.

Preliminary Findings – Next Steps

• Overall survey results are less positive than previous rounds
• Many factors can be taken into consideration when interpreting these results, such as the:
  • timing of the survey,
  • public health situation, and
  • gradual return to the workplace.
• Public release of the first wave of PSES results was May 31 2023
• More detailed datasets will be available for further analysis by HR
• Results by branch are expected to be released June 26 2023

Pulse Survey Results

Pulse Survey Positive Results Comparison with PSES

Next Steps: Focus Group Discussions

• As previous FIN's PSES and Pulse Survey results had identified areas of concern pertaining to employee wellbeing, including workload management and work-life balance, focus groups were planned:
  • gain a more in-depth understanding of wellness issues and employees' perspectives on both the reasons for these challenges and suggestions on how they may be addressed.
  • obtain intel from a diverse set of employees including: Administrative professionals, ECs, EXs, young professionals, employees with corporate roles (e.g. C&C, CSB, V&E, Audit), and equity seeking individuals (e.g. EE groups, LGBTQ+)
• 90-minute focus group discussions (six groups of up to 15 employees) will be held between June 27 and July 13, 2023 and will be moderated by a third party (Scheffe).
• Service provider will provide a "What We Heard" report.
• Results will be shared with applicable committees (e.g. PMCC, RMC, ARC, OLC, etc.) in order to develop actions plans.

Communications

Objectives:

• Share results of surveys with all employees.
• Ensure employees know that senior management is committed to addressing the issues raised.
• Engage employees in the solutions/journey.

Approach:

• Integrated C&C/CSB plan.
• Engage employees in helping to create the plan through:
  • Employee engagement (focus) groups
  • Feedback loops from ADM team meetings, MOC, etc.
  • Quick poll questions
  • Other TBD
• Develop action plan that is transparent, measurable and reflects employee input.
  • Track progress and share

Immediate next steps:

• Publish the results of the Pulse Survey, link to the PSES results, and launch the employee engagement groups via Infobulletin.
  • Provide ADMs with info on genesis and purpose of focus groups, how they will unfold, and the ask: encourage participation.

Annex – Pulse Survey vs PSES Questions Comparison