Canadian Government Executive - Volume 23 - Issue 09

14 / Canadian Government Executive // December 2017 Employee Engagement Index Steve Orsini A s students, report cards of- ten created a mix of anxiety and excitement. After all, be- ing evaluated is always a little nerve-wracking. However, evaluations are critical for gauging our performance. So, this spring, I found myself anxiously awaiting the results of our 2017 Ontario Public Service (OPS) Employee Survey. After our last survey revealed a noticeable decline in several key measurements, I was hoping for a turnaround. As the head of the OPS, I consider our employee survey an important part of evaluating my performance as a leader. Transparency, accountability and a will- ingness to listen and learn are three of the most important qualities every leader should have. That is why our employee survey is, in effect, my report card. Traditionally, we ran this survey every three years and kept the results confiden- tial. Now we will be conducting the sur- vey annually and publishing the results to hold ourselves accountable. By undertaking an organization-wide evaluation annually, we can create a bet- ter picture of where we are, while identi- fying and responding to trends in a more timely fashion. Annual surveys demon- strate to our 64,000 employees that what they think matters. This year also marks the first time we made the decision to publish our full sur- vey results online. From now on, along with our own employees, members of Public Service Publishing our Report Cards on Public Service Workplace Culture the broader public service, government stakeholders and the general public will also have access to the detailed results. It should not surprise you that I faced some trepidation in releasing the full results of the survey. However, the Ontario Public Service is committed to transparency and accountability, so we must be willing to pull back the curtain and allow the peo- ple we work for, the public, to see how we evaluate ourselves. Releasing the survey results also dem- onstrates to our employees that their con- cerns are being heard and taken seriously. This commitment is essential, not only from a productivity and employee satisfac- tion perspective, but from a recruitment and retention perspective as well. Highly engaged employees deliver better servic- es to Ontario taxpayers. Publishing these survey results also helps attract the right talent. If you have a reputation for being responsive to the needs of your employ- ees, then the talent you are looking for will come to you. The OPS has been recognized, year af- ter year, as one of Canada’s Top 100 Em- ployers, commended for our inclusive policies, variety of alternative work op- tions and our sponsored employee pro- grams, including the opportunity for em- ployees to volunteer for up to 15 weeks with the United Way. We are proud that our efforts to be a top employer are suc- ceeding, but we also know that no one has ever received a perfect report card. There is always room to do better, and direct feedback from employees can highlight areas for action. Internal surveys can lead to important realizations about your employees’ day- to-day experiences in the workplace and whether or not they feel adequately sup- ported. For example, some of our findings from our 2017 survey include: • The level of inclusiveness and engage- Annual employee feedback to evaluate what we are doing right and how we can improve performance: Inclusion Index