Letter to the Chief Human Resources Officer about the PSES (2)

October 18, 2018

Nancy Chahwan
Chief Human Resources Officer
OCHRO, Treasury Board Secretariat
219 Laurier, Ottawa ON K1P 5J6
By email: nancy.chahwan@tbs-sct.gc.ca

Dear Ms. Chahwan,

I am writing today as a follow-up to my October 15, 2018 letter about the most recent Public Service Employee Survey (PSES).

Since I first wrote to you on this issue, several of my members have contacted me to express their concerns over the need for clarity around some of the terms used in the PSES. I am sure you will agree that for Public Service Employee Survey results to be meaningful, questions must be presented in as clear a manner as possible. In this context, I would like to suggest that the 2019 PSES include definitions of the terms “senior management”, “staff”, “work unit”, “people I work with”, and “employees”.

Given that the government and bargaining agents both rely on the results of the survey to support their consultation work, I believe it is critical that the PSES be written in a manner that leaves respondents with no uncertainty as to the meaning of a question or the terminology used.

I thank you for your attention to this matter and look forward to our ongoing work together on issues of common interest.

Sincerely,

Debi Daviau
President
The Professional Institute of the Public Service of Canada