Document T048

2002 Measurement Canada Organizational Climate Survey

Report presented to Measurement Canada, March 2002

Measurement Canada became a full Special Operating Agency in 1999. The Agency considers that its success in delivering and supporting its programs and services depends on the talents, skills and motivations of its employees. Measurement Canada wanted to provide all employees with an opportunity to express their views on working with the Agency. Based on feedback relative to a series of tactical objectives pursued by the Agency, the responses would act as indicators of the level of achievement of its targets by the Agency. This assignment included the collection of satisfaction data from employees and the analysis of the data.

Objectives associated with the work environment and job satisfaction are best achieved (an average of 89% of respondents agreed with objectives statements in the first case and 82% in the second case). Leadership objectives (67%), human resource management practices (69%) and communications (70%) objectives lag behind, as do, to a certain degree, values objectives (73%).

According to these data, the Agency's strengths lie in the following areas (where 85% or more of respondents expressed agreement):

• safe work practices integrated in the workplace (95%);
• equipment contributing to doing the job safely (93%);
• employees who receive the training needed to do the job safely (92%);
• equipment contributing to doing the job effectively (91%);
• a flexible workplace which allows a balance between personal, family and work responsibilities (91%);
• staff who are satisfied with the health and safety programs (89%);
• a workforce satisfied with the working environment (89%);
• supervisors who deal with health and safety issues (89%);
• an appropriate use of official languages (86%);
• a clear understanding of roles and responsibilities (86%);
• an adequate office environment (86%).

The study also uncovered a series of areas where the corporate objectives are not met:

• a clear understanding of the Agency's directions (42%);
• a belief that the strategic direction will help fulfill the mandate (47%);
• managers who deal with problem employees effectively (50%);
• the staffing process (51%);
• promotions being awarded on merit (52%);
• communication between headquarters and the regions (52%);
• fairness in career development assignments (58%).

According to respondents, the Agency's main priorities for improvement should be:

• improving the understanding of the Agency's directions (selected by 35% of respondents);
• improving the work unit team spirit (29%);
• making staff feel valued as employees (28%);
• improving the understanding of everyone's role and responsibilities (28%);
• improving communications between headquarters and the regions (21%).

The priorities chosen by respondents related to the acquisition of a sense of belonging in the organization (understanding of the direction for the years to come and understanding of one's role and responsibilities, feeling valued as an employee) and to the development of a harmonious workplace (work unit team spirit and good communications between headquarters and the regions).

Patterns observed at the level of the entire organization are, most often, reproduced within the work locations identified in the report: indicators which score high nationally tend to do so, in comparison to other indicators, within work locations and the same is true of low-scoring indicators. Work locations have elements of dynamics of their own, however. For example, headquarter laboratories staff paint a clearly different situation: every tactical objective rates significantly lower in that group than elsewhere.

Methodology

This research was based on a Web survey of staff members. All employees were invited to complete the form between January 14 and February 6, 2002. Of the 351 employees of the Agency, 239 participated; this produced a response rate of 68%. Ex post facto weights were devised to bring the data back to the known population proportions according to work locations and occupational groups. The maximum sampling error is estimated at ±3.6 percentage points in the worst, complete-sample case; sampling errors are wider for sub-samples.

The questionnaire focussed on 48 tactical Agency objectives grouped under six themes which also included an opportunity for respondents to indicate a priority for improvement and any other comments they may have had.

151 pages, 949k [PDF format]

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