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Strategic H-ma Resources Branch

Government of British Columbia > Ministry of Community, Sport and CultUral Development > Minister's Office > DeDutWMinister's Office > Manaoement Services Division > Strategic Human Resources Branch

Telephone: Not Available Emaih Not AvailableFacsimile: 250 387-1407 UP, L: Not Available

Mailing Address: PO Box 9840STN PROV GOVTVictoria BCV8W9T2CANADA

Name Title re[ephone E-mail

Viki Anderson Director, Economy Sector 250 356-6916 E2]

shelaina Postinqs Director, Strateqic Human Resources 250 387-1478

Jacquelyn Parker Strateqic Human Resources Advisor 250 356-9635 E

Sandra Lonq Manaqer, Strateqic HR 250 356-6914 EZ]

Karen War'd Manager 250 356-9020 rq

Joanna White Manaqer, Strateqic HR 250 356-6916

Martha Wood Manaqer, Strateqic HR 250 387-2471

Vacant Human Resource Planner 250 356-6916

Caley Byrne Strateqic HR Adviser 250 953-4125

Brenda Nelson Administrative Assistant 250 387-1495

http://dir.gv.bc.ca/gtds.cgi?shw=Branch&rganizatinCde=CSCD&rganizatinaUnitC... 3/9/2015

Shelaina PostingsDirector, Strategic Human Resources

Telephone:

Alternate Phone:

Facsimile:

Cellular:

250 387-1478Not Available250 387-1407Not Avalable

Organization Code:

Organization Unit:

Email:

CSCDSTRHR - Strategic Human t

Shelaina.Postinv.bcoc

Mailing Address: PO Box 9840STN PROV GOVTVictoria BCVSW9T2CANADA

Prepared by: She|aina Postings

AUDITOR GENERAL FORLOCAL GOVERNMENT

ACCESSIB]LI[Y . INDEPENDENCE- TRANSPARENCY "PERFORMANCE

Auditor General Local Government20!5 Work Environment Review

Oveiew

The Auditor General Local Government (AGLG) was announced by the Premier on November 7, 2012 with thepurpose of conducting performance audits of local governments and providing objective information and advice.The AGLG functions at arm's reach from government is to ensure the work is carried out in an objective manner.The AGLG announced performance audits of eighteen Local Governments on three different audit topics in May2013 with an estimated completion timeframe of April 2014,

Basia Ruta, Auditor Generat Local Government leads an office currently comprised often active employees,located in Surrey BC. The AGLG business model also includes contracted service providers, specifically twoTechnical Writers and one Communications Consultant. Chart ! provides a current organisation chart of theOffice.

Chart 1

AUD|TOR GENERAL FSRLOCAL GOVERNMENT

' ACCESSIBILITY INDEPENDENCE-TRANSPARENCY PERFORMANCE

Recently, issues were brought forward regarding the AGLG, Some of these issues relate to the workenvironment and individual conduct within the office, Over the course of January 9 to January 30, 2015 a HumanResources Representative maintained a presence within the AGLG office with the primary purpose of ensuring arespectful workplace for at employees,

In addition, the representative supported by:o parLicipating in meetings to observe employee and team dynamics;o providing an open door to employees; and

gathering input through a confidentia! and voluntary work environment survey.

The input and observations gathered, serve as the foundation for this review. Other reviews are beingconducted simultaneously that will further inform next steps,

Observations and feedback

From January 9 to January" 30, the HR Representative participated in over fifty meetings with employees in theAGLG Office. Roughly half of these meetings were daily business meetings where the HR Representativeobserved dynamFcs and interpersonal relationships. The other half was confidential meetings with employees todiscuss their employment experience in the AGLG Office.

The feedback gathered for this report is provided in unattributed form. Further, only challenges or opportunitiesidentified by more than two respondents were included in this report.

Based on the observations and feedback gathered, four themes have been identified with respect to the workenvironment. The themes include: ctarity of direction and priorities

resourcing, timelines and budgeto rotesand responsibilities

meetings, processand paper

Clarity of Direction and Priorities

Throughout the discussions, there appeared to be a common and shared understanding of the overall mandateof the Office and its accountabilities. However, feedback regarding shifting priorities and unclear direction was acommon struggle amongst staff. Priorities lose focus or shift focus causing time lags and delays in the work.

The most common frustration with was wasted time and work. Almost all employees shared examples ofpreparing work based on direction to find out that the direction had shifted and the work wasn't needed. Inaddition, there was a common theme regarding a lack of scope definition or scope expansion causing inefficientuse of consultant and staff resources.

2

AUDmTOR GENERAL FORLOCAL GOVERN MENT

ACCESS1BIUTY INDEPENDENCE TRANSPARENCY-PERFORMANCE

Resourcing, Timelines and Budget

The majority of daily meetings observed, centred around timelines and the work at hand. it was evident, thatthe Office was experiencing heightened stress resulting from time pressures. A lot of time and resources werededicated to building out timelines to provide an aggressive but reachable conclusion to some of the audittopics. Employee feedback was that the time invested in discussing timelines and project managing the work,limited the ability of the staff to get the work done. This was an evident frustration.

Other feedback acknowledged a need for more staff resources. Observations of the Office were that allemployees demonstrated a strong work ethic. Many staff worked through lunch, committed to long work daysand even came in on weekends to meet de[iverabtes. Workloads appeared to be heavy for the audit staffindicating a staffing resource challenge. Over the past year, two employees have been on leave. This is 20% ofthe staff compliment having an impact on resourcing and budget as well

Concerns were also raised regarding better use of contracted resources. Specific concerns were raised regardingthe Jack of oversight and direction provided to KPMG that resulted in poor quality of product to support theaudit work of the office and time lags, This caused further frustration for the audit staff,

Roles and Responsibilities

A theme that came up was lack of clarity regarding roles and responsibilities. This feedback aligned withcomments regarding shifting focus, Employees shared that it was often unclear who was responsible for variouspieces of work. There was also confusion when multiple individuals were assigned to tasks as to who wasleading or had accountability for the assignment. Employees were starting to use myperformance in the office tohelp clarify role accountabilities. Though this didn't seem to ease the challenge of the daily operations.

It was also apparent that the majority of positions did not have role profiles and there was not a consistent andestablished process to determine the knowledge, skills abilities, competence and accreditation required forvarious positions. As a result, there is inconsistency in the office. For example, It was unclear what positionsrequired an accounting designation. It was difficult to ascertain if the right resources were in the right place.

Meetings, Process end Paper

A common theme and observation was with respect to meeting duration. Meeting times would run overregularly. There seemed to be different expectations regarding this, Some individuals were more flexible withthis and recognised it was a norm in the office, Others felt that meeting schedules should be adhered to andgreater commitment and organisation was required to manage to the time commitments.

Another theme raised was with respect to process. Employees felt that processes changed frequently in theOffice and the expectations of these processes would shift as well. t was given the impression that processchanges were common, making it difficult for employees to see out work in a capacity that aligned withexpectations.

3

AUDITOR GENERAL FORLOCAL GOVERNMENT

ACCESSIBIUTY INDEPNDENCE- TRANSPARENCY, PERFORMANCE

Another theme was with respect to producing documents (paper) in the office. Employees described multiplerequests for the same document; a lack of reading documentation provided; and new requests for similardocumentation that wouid share comparable information in a different style or format. Employees had acommon concern that the current approach to sharing documentation was not effective or efficient.

Work Environment Survey Res#lts

Of the ten employees in the AGLG, nine were invited to participate in the work environment survey. Oneemployee returned to the office from a one year parental leave on January 26 and decided she did not haveenough current experience in the office to provide meaningful input. Employees were also given an opportunityto provide input into the survey questions.

Assessing O'erall Engagement

There were nine respondents to the work environment survey. Chart two provides an overview of the overallengagement in the Office based on responses. The majority of employees are somewhat engaged,

Chart 2

AGLG Overall Engagement Responses

5

4

3 ,

1

Very Engaged Somewhat Neither engaged Somewhat Very disengagedengaged r disengaged disengaged

4

AUDITOR GENERAL FORLOCAL GOVERNMENT

ACCESSIBEffY INDEPENDENCE. TRANSPARENCY- PERFORMANCE

Survey Results: Assessing Job and Orgonisation Satisfaction

The next four questions addressed respondents' job satisfaction, organisation satisfaction, desire to remain withthe AGLG, and work satisfaction. Of note:

78% of respondents disagreed or strongly disagreed that they were satisfied with the organisation67% of respondents disagreed or strong{y disagreed that they were satisfied with their job56% of respondents agreed or strongly agreed that they were satisfied with the work at the AGLG overall

45%of respondents were neutral on a preference to stay with the AGLG even if offered a similar roleelsewhere

Full responses are highlighted in Chart three.

Chart 3

would prefer to stay with the AGLG evenif offered a simitar job elsewhere

arn satisfied with my job

22%

33% 33%

67% 0%

OveraB J am satisifed in my work as anAGLG employee

! am satisfied with my organisation

11%

11%

Agree or Strongly Agree

56%

78%

Neither agree nor disagree Disagree or Stongly Disagree

,, ,

5

AUDITOR GENERAL FORLOCAL GOVERNMENT

ACCESSiBILffY.INDEPENDENCE TRANSPARENCY PERFORMANCE

Survey Resu#s: Assessing Engagemen Drivers

The third portion of the survey explored respondents experience with the thirteen engagement driverscommonly used in the BC Public Service Work Environment Survey. Respondents were provided with a fulsomedefinition of the engagement drivers that can be found in Appendix A.

The three strongest engagement areas are:

Teamwork Workplace Toolse Vision, Mission and Goals

(55% of responses were somewhat positive or very positive)(55% of responses were somewhat positive or very positive)(44% of responses were somewhat positive or very positive)

The four weakest engagement areas are:

Executive-Level Management

e Empowerment

, Respectful Environment Stress and Workload

(78% of responses were somewhat negative or very negative)

(78% of responses were somewhat negative or very negative)

(55% of responses were somewhat negative or very negative)(55% of responses were somewhat negative or very negative)

In addition, respondents were asked what engagement areas the AGLG should focus on over the next year. Thefour engagement areas identified were consistent with the weakest engagement areas.

o Executive-Level Management

Empowerment

o Stressand Workload

_____o..Respectful Environment i

Survey Results: Assessfng Employee Contributions to an Engaged Workplace

The fin!l section of the survey addressed respondent's contribution to supporting an engaged workplace. Allrespondents indicated that they had done something to support engagement for themselves or their coworkers.There was a wide range of descriptions to support this including:

Accessing coaching services through the PSA

Encouraging and supporting colleaguesTrying to resolve conflicts or differences of opinions in the office

o Supporting and pitching in where needed

6

AUDITOR QENERAL FORLOCAL QOVERNMENT

ACCESSIB]UTY INDEPENDENCE. TRANSPARENCY PERFORMANCE

Respondents were also asked what they could do to improve their own engagement. Again, there was a widerange to support this including:

Not getting frustrated and staying positive Expand knowedge and skillse Proactively address issues in the work environment

Respondents were also asked what they could do to improve their colreagues' engagement. Again, there was awide range to support this including:

= Recognise, support and encourage each other= Acknowledge the valued contribution each person brings Continue to work togeLher as a team

Respondents were also asked what major achievement over the past year they were proud of that enhancedengagement. As this is a pe'sonal question, ] have not included responses. It was reassuring to see 78% ofrespondents identified something that they were proud of.

Conclusion

i

To support a functional, engaged and high performing work environment positive change is required. Thisreview should be considered in combination with other reviews and respective outcomes to develop meaningfulsolutions. There are five areas of focus that will require conscious and purposeful action to support the successof the AGLG Office. These include:

I, Employees experience a healthy and respectful atmosphere free from fear of reprisal, discrimination andharassment.

2, Executive-Level Management provides clear direction and meaningful communication to supportunderstanding and a shared purpose.

3, Executive-Level Management and Supervisory-Level Management effectively and efficiently deployresources, budget and timelines to maximize productivity and achieve outcomes without causing unduestress and workload to employees.

4. Executive-Level Management and Supervisory-Level Management provide employees with clarity of rolesand responsibilities and employees are empowered to see out their respective duties.

5. The team is empowered to collaborative]y establish consistant practises with respect to meetings, processand documentation that everyone agrees to uphold.

AUDITOR GENERAL FORLOCAL QOVERHMENT

ACCESSIBIUTY . INDEPENDENCE TRANSPARENCY .. PERFORMANCE

Append# A

Empowerment Employees believe they have opportunities and freedom to provide input, makedecisions to do their job well and implement new ideas.

Stress and Workload

Job Suitability

Employees perceive that their work-related stress and workloads are manageable.

Employees befteve that their work is both meaningful and good fit for their skills andinterests.

Recognition

ProfessionalDevelopment

Pay and Benefits

Staffing Practices

Respectful Environment

ExecfJtive-LevelManagement

Supervisory-LevelManagement

Workplace Tools

Teamwork

Vision, Mission andGoals

Employees believe that their organisation's vision, mission and goals are wellcommunicated and that their organisation is taking steps to ensure its long-termSUCCESS.

Employees experience positive working relationships, have support from their team,and feel their team communicates effectively.

Employees believe that both their computer-based and non-computer based toolsthey have access to help them excet in their jobs.

Employees experience meaningful and performance-based recognition.

Employees believe that their organJsation supports their learning and development,provides good quality training, and offers adequate opportunities to develop theirskills,

Employees believe that their pay is fair and competitive with similar jobs, and thattheir benefits meet their needs well

Employees believe staffing processes in their work unit are fair and based on merit.

Employees experience a healthy and diverse atmosphere free from discriminationand harassment.

Employees believe that their senior leaders communicate decisions in a timelymanner and that they provide dear direction for the future.

Employees believe that the person they report to leads with an understanding ofothers" perspectives, keeps them informed, consults them on decisions that affectthem, and provides dear work expectations.

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