A message from Dave Leschasin

April 8, 2014

What you told us about manager engagement / support What they told us about manager engagement / support The numbers on engagement What can you do right now?

People managers, we're listening. We want to hear what you have to say.

We need to get an idea of what you're thinking, what's challenging you and what you need to feel supported in doing your job.

Because if you don't feel supported or heard, how can your employees? If you don't feel that someone understands the barriers to your work and is helping you address them, neither will your employees. If you don't feel you have the tools and resources to do your work, how can the people who work for and with you?

If you don't feel excited about getting up in the morning and going to work on most days, how can the group you're leading?

And, if given the choice . . . who would you rather work with? The engaged manager or the disengaged one? The effective one or the ineffective one?

While our focus over the next several months is on our people managers, the ultimate winners are front-line staff when they're working for an engaged and effective manager.

Managers have the ability to set a powerful tone for their workplace. Two of the three top drivers of employee engagement that front-line staff told us need attention - performance management and recognition - are contributions made by managers.

It starts with communicating. Manager forums have been organized to engage managers - and encourage honest brainstorming sessions about possible solutions to support manager engagement and effectiveness for the benefit of employees - throughout the Region. They began in January and will continue to take place over the next several months.

While every site is at a different stage in this process, they are all considering the same things through these conversations: what is the root cause of engaged or disengaged managers? Could managers perform more effectively if they had the appropriate support? If you are curious about this, or haven't heard about the employee opinion survey results for your organizational unit, ask your own manager.

I've been working closely with executive leadership to help them better understand employee engagement. This equips senior leadership to better champion and remove barriers to engagement. It also encourages them to make choices about how they plan their days - like increasing visibility - in ways that can powerfully impact engagement.

I have also been working closely with human resources (HR) leaders across the Region. More work will be done sharing engagement results and understanding the results within the HR portfolio.

It's a start. Some issues we can address in the short term. Culture change, where required, can take several years but the Region is committed to your engagement at work. We want to foster a work environment that engages you to say great things about where you work, stay with us, and strive to contribute to the best of your potential.

Why? Because ultimately both engaged and disengaged employees impact patient care in powerful ways.  You see examples of both every day, and so do our patients.

Everyone has a part to play in creating healthy workplaces, so I invite you to think about your role in improving employee engagement. Ask yourself why you do what you do . . . and consider what one small change you can make today. What can you do to help make your workplace better? How can you be a part of the solution?

We heard you. Appropriate action is necessary. We're doing something. We're taking action to improve things. In fact, you may be interested to learn what AON Hewitt observed and recommended:

What they told us about manager engagement/support

So thank you for completing the survey. Because of what you told us, we can take action to improve the working environment for you.

At the same time, we made a commitment to you in 2013 that the AON Hewitt Employee Opinion Survey would be held annually. This is a new direction and we need some more time before we ask you again how you feel about your workplace. That's why we've pushed back the next Survey to October 2014. I want you to have that on your radar so that you can plan to participate.

We need to continue supporting what's working. Almost half of our employees across the region are working for highly effective managers, according to the survey.  Seventy-six per cent of these employees working for highly effective managers told us they are engaged, so there is a high correlation between manager effectiveness and employee engagement.  To those managers who are highly engaged and motivating their staff, I want to say thank you . . . and to encourage you to continue doing what's working. If you have a practice that's helped you boost engagement, please let your HR contact know about it. We would love to hear about it . . . and remember to share it with others, as I encourage you to do.

Supporting a healthy, vibrant community in the Region wouldn't be possible without skilled, talented and caring people like you. Thank you for the contribution you make each and every day.  

Dave Leschasin

Vice President and Chief Human Resources Officer