Latest news with #2024PublicServiceEmployeeSurvey
National Observer
a day ago
- Business
- National Observer
Fewer federal bureaucrats have confidence in their bosses, survey suggests
Confidence federal public servants have in their senior managers has fallen in recent years, a new survey suggests. The 2024 Public Service Employee Survey said 55 per cent of public servants have confidence in senior management at their department or agency, down from 64 per cent in 2022 and 68 per cent in 2020. Almost two-thirds of respondents in the new survey said senior managers in their department or agency model ethical behaviour. Almost half said they make effective and timely decisions, and that essential information flows effectively from senior management to staff. The survey results have been released as the public service awaits Prime Minister Mark Carney plans to transform the public service. Carney said in his election platform that his government will cap, not cut, the public service and take steps to increase its productivity. The employee survey indicates that public servants have fewer concerns about their immediate managers, with 80 per cent of respondents saying they're satisfied with the quality of supervision they receive. Fewer federal bureaucrats express confidence in their bosses, survey suggests. David McLaughlin, executive editor of Canadian Government Executive Media and former president and CEO of the Institute on Governance, said there appears to be a general "softening" in scores for senior management since the pandemic. McLaughlin said the pandemic was stressful for the federal public service. "Likely causes are delivery fatigue coming from the government asking public servants to deliver more and faster, with a lot of shifting priorities and demands coming from the top," he said. McLaughlin said most public servants likely would welcome a stronger demand for "performance excellence" from senior management. "Replacing poor performers on their own without addressing the systemic process and technology roadblocks to good performance, though, would not be welcomed," he said. "What most public servants want is empowerment to do their jobs in the best way they can, without political or bureaucratic sand in the gears." Former clerk of the Privy Council Michael Wernick said public servants have tended to feel more positive about their immediate supervisors than senior management. Wernick said about a quarter of the respondents in the most recent survey would be people hired in the last five years. He said their experience is "all pandemic and post pandemic" and also includes the recent labour strike and disputes about work-from-home policies. "It could be that (working from home) for about half of the service has made senior management seem even more distant than they already do," he said. "More recently, they are the people who enforced return-to-work policies and the first budget cutting in a decade." The 2024 survey also found that close to a quarter of employees say they experience high or very high levels of stress at work. Thirty-nine per cent said they experience moderate levels of stress. In 2022, 19 per cent of employees said they experienced high or very high levels of stress at work and 37 per cent said they experienced moderate levels of stress. In the most recent survey, 59 per cent of public servants described their workplace as "psychologically healthy," a drop from 68 per cent in 2022 and 2020. The 2024 survey ran from Oct. 28, 2024, to Dec. 31, 2024 and surveyed 186,635 employees in 93 federal departments and agencies, for a response rate of 50.5 per cent. It was administered by Statistics Canada in partnership with the Office of the Chief Human Resources Officer at the Treasury Board of Canada Secretariat.
Toronto Star
a day ago
- Business
- Toronto Star
Fewer federal bureaucrats express confidence in their bosses, survey suggests
OTTAWA - Confidence federal public servants have in their senior managers has fallen in recent years, a new survey suggests. The 2024 Public Service Employee Survey said 55 per cent of public servants have confidence in senior management at their department or agency, down from 64 per cent in 2022 and 68 per cent in 2020.
Winnipeg Free Press
a day ago
- Business
- Winnipeg Free Press
In the news today: Public servants losing confidence, major agribusiness merger
Here is a roundup of stories from The Canadian Press designed to bring you up to speed… Public servants' confidence in their bosses drops Confidence federal public servants have in their senior managers has fallen in recent years, a new survey suggests. The 2024 Public Service Employee Survey said 55 per cent of public servants have confidence in senior management at their department or agency, down from 64 per cent in 2022 and 68 per cent in 2020. Almost two-thirds of respondents in the new survey said senior managers in their department or agency model ethical behaviour. Almost half said they make effective and timely decisions, and that essential information flows effectively from senior management to staff. Supply management bill may not save it from Trump A new law meant to protect supply management might not be enough to shield the system in trade talks with a Trump administration bent on eliminating it, trade experts say. 'It's certainly more difficult to strike a deal with the United States now with the passage of this bill that basically forces Canada to negotiate with one hand tied behind its back,' said William Pellerin, a trade lawyer and partner at the firm McMillan LLP. 'Now that we've removed the digital service tax, dairy and supply management is probably the number 1 trade irritant that we have with the United States. That remains very much unresolved.' When Trump briefly paused trade talks with Canada on June 27 over the digital services tax — shortly before Ottawa capitulated by dropping the tax — he zeroed in on Canada's system of supply management. Canada urged to deter exits from landmine treaty Canadian advocates are urging Ottawa to protect the 1997 treaty Canada brokered to stop the use of landmines, as six countries on Europe's eastern flank move toward using the explosive weapons. 'I'm deeply concerned about this,' said Sen. Marilou McPhedran. 'Thousands and thousands of lives have been saved because of this treaty.' Global Affairs Canada says it's in talks with countries moving away from the Anti-Personnel Mine Ban Convention, often referred to as the Ottawa Treaty, which since 1999 has banned the use, production, stockpiling and transfer of anti-personnel landmines. Since then, Canada has spent millions of dollars to help rid the world of landmines that overwhelmingly injure and maim civilians and children, including in Ukraine. Viterra, Bunge $8.2B merger officially completed Bunge announced its successful merger with Viterra Limited, forming what they anticipate will be a leading global agribusiness company specializing in food, feed, and fuel. This US$8.2-billion deal was finalized nearly six months after the Canadian government approved the merger, having included specific terms and conditions to address competition concerns. According to a media release, Bunge's CEO, Greg Heckman, stated that this union creates a more robust organization with enhanced capabilities and expertise. Viterra, a grain-handling business formerly known as the Saskatchewan Wheat Pool, operates over 80 facilities across Canada. Quebec language office gives all-clear on 'go' Quebec's language watchdog has changed its tune on whether it's acceptable to use the word 'go' to cheer on sports teams. In a new guideline posted in its online dictionary, the Office québécois de la langue française says that while 'allez' is the preferred term, it's now 'partially legitimized' to use the English word to show encouragement. The flip-flop comes after the office took a hard line with Montreal's transit agency, pressing it for months in 2024 to scrub the word 'go' from the electronic signs on more than 1,000 city buses. The watchdog confirmed it had changed its position after The Canadian Press obtained a series of emails through access to information legislation, revealing it gave the transit agency a green light to use 'go' in June. Exotic pet warning after second B.C. boa search Inspector Drew Milne of the British Columbia Conservation Officer Service likened it to finding a needle in a haystack — the haystack being a 137-hectare park on Vancouver Island, and the needle being a 1.5-metre-long boa constrictor. But searchers for the snake had a reliable witness, and cool conditions last week in the area suggested it was unlikely the cold-blooded reptile could have slithered far from where it was seen in Miracle Beach Provincial Park, about 250 kilometres northwest of Victoria. 'We narrowed down a location where we felt it probably would have been based upon our understanding of the snake, its behaviour, and the location,' said Milne, describing how the snake was found last Thursday. 'We found it within seconds. I had just grabbed that snake and was pulling it out of the bush.' — This report by The Canadian Press was first published July 3, 2025
Ottawa Citizen
27-06-2025
- Politics
- Ottawa Citizen
Languages commissioner concerned about supervisors' language use after survey results
The official languages commissioner is 'particularly concerned' that so many public servants say their senior managers don't always use both official languages. Article content In the 2024 Public Service Employee Survey, which was released on June 23, 20 per cent of non-supervisor public servants reported that senior managers sometimes, rarely or never use both official languages in their interactions with staff. Article content Article content Article content In response, Official Languages Commissioner Raymond Théberge called on senior leaders in the public service to make 'the necessary changes' to ensure language rights of public servants are respected. Article content Article content 'I'd like to remind supervisors that the right to work in the official language of one's choice belongs to the employee,' he said in an emailed statement. 'It's the supervisor's duty to respect that right.' Article content The survey also found that more than a quarter of public servants said their career advancement over the previous year had suffered due to a lack of access to training in their second official language. Article content Martin Potvin, a spokesperson for the Treasury Board, said the government is 'committed to strengthening bilingualism in the public service, not only to better serve Canadians, but also to foster a work environment where employees in bilingual regions feel truly comfortable working in the official language of their choice.' Article content Article content The survey results were released a few days after new language requirements came into effect for supervisors on June 20. New supervisors in bilingual regions will now be required to have the highest proficiencies in reading and oral conversation in their second language, while maintaining an intermediate level in writing. Article content Article content Prior to June 20, supervisors required an intermediate proficiency in reading, writing and oral conversation. Article content Those who were already in supervisor roles before that date will be 'grandfathered in' and will only need to improve their second language skills to meet the new requirements if and when they change positions. Article content In a recent report, the commissioner said the new requirements don't go far enough. Article content 'I applaud this initiative as a step in the right direction, but I am concerned about what might happen to employees who are supervised by incumbents of unilingual supervisory positions or by incumbents of bilingual positions who do not meet the CBC second-language requirement,' Théberge wrote in the report.
Ottawa Citizen
25-06-2025
- Politics
- Ottawa Citizen
One in four public servants say lack of language training affected career
Article content More than a quarter of federal public servants say that a lack of access to language training has impacted their career progress, according to a new government survey. Article content The 2024 Public Service Employee Survey, which was published by the Treasury Board this week, found that 27 per cent of government employees said their career advancement over the previous year had suffered due to a lack of access to language training in their second official language. Article content Article content Article content The survey results were released just a few days after more stringent language requirements came into effect for supervisors in bilingual and regions. Article content Article content The new rules require that supervisors in bilingual regions have a CBC level (proficient levels in reading and oral conversation, with intermediate levels in writing) in their second official language. Before June 20, the requirement was BBB (intermediate levels in reading, writing and oral conversation). Article content Of the more than 186,000 public servants who responded to the survey, 10 per cent said a lack of access to language training had 'adversely affected' them to a small extent and seven per cent said they were impacted to a moderate extent. Article content The results showed that 4 per cent of public servants said that the issue affected them to a large extent, whereas 6 per cent said it impacted them to a very large extent. Article content Article content More than 46,000 supervisors responded to the survey. When respondents were broken down into supervisors and non-supervisors, the same percentage of supervisors (27 per cent) said their career had been impacted by the issue. Article content Article content Rola Salem, a Treasury Board spokesperson, said in an emailed statement that the government is 'committed to strengthening bilingualism in the public service, not only to better serve Canadians, but also to foster a work environment where employees in bilingual regions feel truly comfortable working in the official language of their choice.' Article content In addition to the new language requirements for supervisors in bilingual regions, Salam pointed to updates in government policy that say 'all employees in bilingual regions have the right to be supervised in the official language of their choice, regardless of the linguistic identification of their position.'
