Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Last fall I advised this Assembly that the Department of Human Resources was proceeding with a Corporate Human Resources Strategic Plan for the Northwest Territories public service. Today I am pleased to provide an update on that important work.
Over the past several months, our consultants led a consultation process with key stakeholders including Government of the Northwest Territories employees and managers, members of this Legislative Assembly and bargaining agents. Eight focus groups with government employees were held in four communities to ensure that a cross-section of staff would be represented. One focus group was held with aboriginal employees and another with self-declared persons with disabilities. These focus groups will ensure that their unique experiences and challenges will be reflected in the recommendations.
Individual interviews were conducted with some Members of this Assembly, with the Union of Northern Workers and the Northwest Territories Teachers’ Association.
Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to report that more than 1,100 government employees responded to a survey which was available on-line and in hard copy. I believe that this high response rate is indicative of the importance our staff put on this exercise.
I have written to community government leaders and aboriginal governments. We want to invite them to share their views on this important process. The key building block of an effective strategy will be to build successful partnerships with other levels of government to maximize our investment in training and staff development and ensure quality public service for all residents.
Mr. Speaker, we expect that final recommendations for action will be based on this important stakeholder input. The work of reviewing all the responses is still ongoing, but our consultants have shared some initial findings with the department and I would like to touch on a few of these highlights today.
The consultation results indicate that the majority of our staff are concerned about the need for training, mentoring, and coaching opportunities. Of the staff surveyed, 60 percent see an opportunity for the government to provide improved support in this area.
Another common concern was the need for improved efforts to recruit staff and to find ways to keep them within the public service. This is especially important as it relates to affirmative action candidates and the need for targeted training and support programs was mentioned by many respondents.
Our staff are concerned about maintaining work/life balance and finding ways in which the government as an employer can support them to do so. Also raised was the need to do good succession planning to ensure that staff can take advantage of promotional opportunities and that we can ensure continuity of service as longer-term staff prepare to retire.
We also heard that we need to do a better job of communicating with our staff.
And finally, an underlying theme that was heard throughout the consultation was the need for stability and the delivery of human resources. Staff want to know that their pay and benefits will be handled promptly and efficiently, and managers want to know that they can rely on the support and advice of the Department of Human Resources.
These results are no surprise. They reflect the concerns that have been raised by Members of the Assembly and that have been articulated within departments. This feedback provides us with a
sound basis for completing the strategic plan secure in the knowledge that it will reflect what our employees and other partners consider to be priorities for action.
Once we hear back from our various stakeholders over the next few weeks we will work with our consultants to finalize the strategic plan that will identify our vision and goals for the next 10 years. Going from that vision and goals will be a three-year action plan which will provide a roadmap for action, objectives, time frames, and performance results to be achieved over the life of the 16th Legislative Assembly.
I look forward to sharing the completed strategic plan and action plan with Members of this Assembly.