2005 Public Service Employee Survey

Guide for Managers and Supervisors

FOLLOWING UP ON RESULTS

Ongoing follow-up and action are keys to successful employee surveys and to strengthening employee engagement. To build employees' confidence in management's commitment to opening a dialogue and taking practical steps to address concerns, visible, targeted and achievable actions are critical. The following is intended to support public service managers, supervisors, and their teams, in the important task of responding to the 2005 Public Service Employee Survey findings. This guide is a short roadmap designed to help teams work collaboratively and to take measurable steps leading to an improved workplace.

To complement the actions in departments and agencies, a Research Advisory Committee (RAC), comprising representatives from small, medium and large government departments and agencies, as well as bargaining agents, has been established. The RAC will recommend to the Public Service Human Resources Management Agency of Canada (PSHRMAC) the priorities for analysis of the survey data for the public service as a whole, will develop a public service-wide action plan and will function as a forum for exchanging and discussing information regarding departmental survey follow-up initiatives. Research results and proposed action plans will be disseminated widely and made available on the PSHRMAC website in the late fall of 2006.

While follow-up actions will be taking place at various levels across the public service, many employees may participate at the team level only. Therefore, the actions of managers and supervisors, in collaboration with their teams, are crucial to success.

Managers and supervisors can initiate immediate action by discussing with their teams the 2005 Survey results for the public service as a whole, and by talking about department/agency specific results. Depending on the size of the organization, survey data may also be available at the branch and/or division level.

Teams should ensure that their objectives for improvement are achievable and focused on results. Not everything needs to be done in the short term. If teams try to accomplish too much all at once, they may not be successful.

How to begin

Managers, supervisors and teams should select a few key results that are important to them. They should initiate action and decide how to measure the expected results, beginning with just three or four items. When managers, supervisors and teams have succeeded in achieving some initial change, they should identify a few more required improvements and keep going.

As team members reflect on the 2005 Survey findings and discuss how to improve the workplace, there are some key questions to ask. The following suggestions could be used to get the dialogue started:

1. Where are we now as a team in terms of follow-up to the survey results?
2. To what extent do the survey results reflect the picture of our team?
3. What areas should we focus on in our team to help improve our workplace?
4. What steps do we have to take as a team to make the changes required? What is the plan?
5. What other stakeholders might we need to involve (other teams, bargaining agent representatives, etc.)?
6. Do we need any special support or expertise to help us in this process (external consultants, internal human resources advisors and/or organization development resources)?
7. Who is responsible for leading/coordinating the various improvement efforts (sub-teams of employees, the manager or supervisor)?
8. By what date can we expect to realize the changes we need?
9. Is it appropriate to set periodic progress reviews? If so, for when should they be scheduled?
10. How will we know if we have succeeded? How will we measure our efforts?

Measuring progress

Don't wait. In a few months, think about meeting with your team again to discuss perhaps five or six questions, related directly to the areas your team is trying to improve.

For instance, if your team made a commitment to improve balance between work and family life, ask if things are improving. Then post the results so that all members of the team are kept up-to-date.

If the results are not going as expected, ask the following questions: