A message from Dave Leschasin

September 2014

It's been about 15 months since the first time we surveyed employees around the Region. We realistically cannot address all the issues raised or areas requiring improvement. Resource constraints and other factors require us to prioritize our action planning but your feedback helps us do so.

Based on what you told us, we've spent that time focusing on three key areas: discussion forums with managers to better understand their barriers to engagement and effectiveness, communicating survey results to staff and taking action at the three organizational units with the lowest employee engagement scores at each site.

Earlier this year, six out of 11 sites have had manager forums, or feedback sessions with their managers. Of these sites, five of them have done extensive action planning and follow-up.

The manager forums were very insightful. They revealed the challenges managers are facing, common themes throughout the Region, and where we might look at improving things. In some cases, Organization & Staff Development (OSD) was invited to participate.

Above and beyond regional communications via www.wrha.mb.ca/survey and Health Care Connections, which provide updates about the survey and follow up from a global perspective, each facility has a role to play in communication around their survey results.

Eighty per cent of employees at four sites have had their managers communicate with them around survey results and improvement efforts. Between 50 and 80 per cent of employees have had communication updates on survey results and improvements at six sites.

Every site was given this challenge: identify the three areas at your site that have the lowest employee engagement scores and the most actively disengaged, and take action. Four sites have communicated directly with each of their three areas. Seven have communicated with two out of three of their areas.

So what does this all mean?

It means that since you took the time to tell us what you think about your workplace, we've done something. We have a clearer picture of what your work environment looks like, because you took the time to tell us. And because of that, we've realized where to best allocate our resources.

In October, as promised, we'll be doing another AON Hewitt Employee Opinion Survey. This is your chance once again to tell us so change can happen.

Mark October 1st on your calendar. That's the date the next survey will launch. Once again, you'll receive instructions on how to participate from your manager.

Response to the last survey was 41 per cent, which is pretty good for health care. However, 20 per cent of 655 organization units had fewer than 10 respondents. What that means is that unit-specific data isn't available for these units for your manager to present to you.

Your participation is important. For the 41 per cent of people who took the time to voice their perspectives last time around, they helped shape the work we've done so far on the road to make things better.

Resources and solutions are being channelled into areas that did respond. It's quite simple: we cannot allocate resources - such as time, energy and effort - and solutions if you haven't told us what's working or what's not working in your unit or area.

No response may be an indicator of low engagement. And if that's the case, we want to know why, through the convenience and confidentiality of this survey. Without your input, we can't act. Resources and solutions are being channelled into areas that did respond.

I encourage you to have your say. Tell us what's working, what's not…and you can help us create change in your work environment.

And that's the goal of this whole effort: to improve the working environment to the benefit of employees and the people we care for.

Dave Leschasin
Vice President and Chief Human Resources Officer