Federal worker survey needs some work
Government missing chance to make real workplace improvements, Jake Cole writes.
Some 300,000-plus people work for the federal government in more than 80 different departments and agencies. About 125,000 of them work right here in the national capital area. Are they happy? Are they committed to their work? Which agencies are the best ones to work for? The annual Public Service Employee Survey (PSES) can provide some answers.
Late last year, through that survey, about 180,000 employees again provided their opinions on subjects ranging from confidence in their senior management to harassment at work. An announcement came out in May summarizing the results. Does that report reflect what employees
In my opinion, the report cherry-picks the results a little too much.
are saying? Not quite. In my opinion, the report cherry-picks the results a little too much. It provides fairly innocuous findings and paints a much more positive picture of worklife in the federal public service than warranted.
I worked for the federal government in six different agencies over 34 years. I have been involved in the PSES since it first came out in 1999 and worked with a team of other departmental officials for the 2005 survey. We developed a methodology using the results to actually rate all federal agencies on a “best to work for” basis. It was modelled after an employee survey still used by the Gallup Organization.
However, we could not get official approval to publish that list. Since retiring from the public service in 2006, and using that same methodology, I have been providing that “best” list and reporting on the “real” results of the PSES. As a sort of insider, I try to root out the genuine findings from the surveys and tell the deeper story.
Here are some of the unreported key elements of that story based on the PSES 2020 results:
1. Most public servants don't strongly feel they get proper training to do their job. (Question 4)
2. Most don't feel fully recognized for good work done. (Q8)
3. Most don't have a lot of confidence in their senior management. (Q32)
4. Most don't think they get much career development support. (Q44)
5. Most don't think their workplace is psychologically very healthy. (Q78)
6. There is no comparative rating among the agencies.
7. There appears to be no specific requirement for agency heads to be accountable for and to act on the survey results.
8. Only 61 per cent bothered to fill out the survey. What does that say?
Many public-service employees are very happy and engaged in their work. Some agencies go the extra mile to fire up their employees. On my “best” list, one can find several such agencies.
What does it take to be one of the best? Whether it's a large organization with thousands of employees or a small work group of 10 to 20 people, the leader is typically the one providing the impetus to achieve that result. Western Economic Diversification Canada happens to make the top of my list of the larger agencies, i.e. those with over
150 employees. Employees are encouraged to try new things, and even if they fail, to learn from the effort. Now that's a novel approach.
There are other reasons employees are engaged and committed to their work in that agency, but that style of leadership certainly stands out.
At the other end of my list are agencies where employees are not so thrilled. The news is not all bad though. For example, the National Film Board and the Canada Border Services Agency appear to be taking aggressive steps to improve their workplaces for the employees. Time will tell how effective these efforts are in boosting employee morale and performance.
Here's another element of the PSES that appears to go unrecognized and unused. One can dig down to a small work group within a large agency to find where employees are quite engaged in their work and where they clearly enjoy their workplace and their work life. These, too, can be models of “doing it right” and their experience and stories can be used to help other groups improve. Even one of the lowest-ranked large agencies on my “best” list can have such a model within its own ranks. With a little digging, and I had the help of a government statistician to do this, one can fairly easily find such a work group. Can that model be worth investigating to help transform the whole agency? I think so.
Could the PSES be better used? Here are a few suggestions:
1. Tell the truth with the results. Acknowledge and celebrate the good news but also point out the problem areas and openly seek solutions.
2. As I have done, rate the agencies on a best-to-worst basis. Publish the list.
3. Learn from the leaders of the best agencies. The ones I spoke with are willing to help.
4. For the worst agencies, make those agency leaders responsible and accountable to improve on their results.
5. Use the PSES to encourage employees to provide their ideas to improve their workplace and the whole public service. Act on the best ones and reward the employees who suggested them.
6. Continue and expand the workfrom-home option. The current PSES results clearly show that employees prefer it and that they tend to work better. Our living environment does better too.
Our federal public service can become a great place to work, and where good work is done. The PSES can be the starting point and the inspiration to do that. The employees will benefit and so will all Canadians.