Manitoba government losing ground on employee engagement, survey suggests

A survey of Manitoba's civil servants suggests a growing decline in the satisfaction of employees. 

The report, which was released to media on Thursday by the Opposition NDP, says only 38 per cent of respondents indicated they were satisfied with their department, and felt valued as a member of the civil service.

Those scores fell 16 and 12 per cent, respectively, from the last time the survey was held in 2015. 

Overall, the survey recorded that employees considered themselves less connected and less involved with their work on seven measures of engagement. 

Higher outreach skewed findings: Pallister

Manitoba Premier Brian Pallister said the results are a testament to a government actively seeking the opinions of its employees.

Half of civil servants participated in the survey, an increase of 7.6 per cent from the number of employees who responded in 2015.

"We're doing a lot of outreach that wasn't done in the past and so I think, in part, a higher participation rate sometimes can result in higher percentages of negative comments. That's OK," Pallister said.

"I will continue to involve and encourage our government to involve in every way possible [our] civil servants."

Manitoba Government and General Employees' Union president Michelle Gawronsky says the high participation rate reveals how disillusioned workers are. 

"They've chosen to speak because it's the only way they can actually say what's on their mind and where they are and they have to do it anonymously," Gawronsky said.

"They don't dare put their head up and they don't dare put their hand up. It's keep your head down, keep your back up against the wall and pray to God you're going to have a job tomorrow."

The survey suggests 44 per cent of employees have confidence in their department's leadership, which is down from 54 per cent in 2015.

A third of employees saw opportunities for career growth within the provincial government, versus 46 per cent of respondents who agreed with the statement in 2015.

The amount of employees who felt they could provide input into decisions affecting their work fell 16 percentage points to 48 per cent.

Employees aren't buying in: NDP

NDP Leader Wab Kinew said it's obvious people on the government payroll aren't buying into the mission of the Progressive Conservatives.

He says the decision to freeze employee wages isn't helping.

It's "sending a message that you don't value the work that they do," Kinew said.

"You want to cut a lot of programs that these folks spend their days trying to deliver to people, and they feel invested in," he added. "Those parts of this government's agenda is having a toll on workers' morale."

Pallister said the government is listening to civil servants and takes their advice.

He trumpeted the creation of a fund to put the ideas of government employees into practice.

He says employees are feeling safer with a "no wrong door" approach to reporting harassment, and they appreciate having job security once again.

"There's no security in a company that's losing a billion dollars every year, and there's no security … when you're in the employ of a government that is running a billion-dollar deficit," he said.