Memorandum Date: To: From: June 17, 2010 Penny Ballem, City Manager Sadhu Johnston, Deputy City Manager Robin Adair, General Manager, Intergovernmental Relationships & Strategic Partnerships Ken Bayne, General Manager, Business Planning and Services Jim Chu, Chief Constable Francie Connell, Director of Legal Services Patrice Impey, General Manger, Human Resources and Financial Services Peter Judd, Acting General Manager, Engineering Services Peter Kuran, Acting General Manger, Park Board John McKearney, Fire Chief David McLellan, General Manger, Community Services Paul Whitney, City Librarian Bill Boons, President, VACMPS. Chris Warren, Vice President, VACMPS Exempt Staff Meetings and Survey We are writing to you on behalf of the members of the Vancouver Association of Civic Managerial and Professional Staff (VACMPS). Historically, the relationship between this organization and the City has been informal and collegial. For exempt staff, the City of Vancouver has always been seen as a progressive employer; one that treated staff fairly, with trust and respect, and one that drew a clear and important line between administration and politics. Staff have always been proud to work for a City that expressed goals of excellence in policy development, service, and labour relations. It is truly unfortunate that the environment noted above has changed. In January, at the \VACMPS annual general meeting, attendees discovered just how much had changed; both in depth and in breadth. Staff in all parts of the organization felt negatively affected by the new style of management and were very clear that they wanted VACMPS to stand up and present a strong and unified voice to senior management regarding both their concerns and their desire to work toward improvements. ‘The VACMPS constitution includes a clear set of objectives intended to promote the interests and well being of its members. Specifically, those objectives include developing a communication between members and their employer, providing leadership in Promoting innovative concepts in employee-management relations, and to bargain with the employers with respect to all matters concerning salaries, fringe benefits and working conditions. Based on the wishes of our members and on our constitution, we believe that ‘a more formal relationship with the employer is now necessary. Most importantly, our information suggests that the current environment is such that the business of the City is not being carried out in the most efficient manner.Itis also important that senior management is fully aware that the 700+ exempt staff are at risk of becoming disengaged. Why is this so important? On a high level, engaged employees - with a strong sense of well being - are an organization’s best asset Organizations with many engaged staff realize substantially higher levels of customer engagement, productivity, and profitability compared to groups with less engaged employees. On the flip side, the cost to those organizations is less, with less absenteeism, lower turnover, fewer accidents and so on. (Robison, 2010). On a more specific level, the roles of City of Vancouver exempt staff range from administrative managers to general managers; with superintendents, professionals, department directors and many others in between. We are the people who manage the business of the City on a daily basis and who carry out the directions of City Council. After 21 meetings with 225 exempt staff, VACMPS can, on behalf of those staff, identify some strong and consistent themes: (Please note that a survey is currently underway; as of this writing, between the meetings and the survey, 70% of exempt staff have now made their views known. ) © There is a loss of respect and trust throughout the organization; ‘* Managers have lost their ability to manage - decision-making has been centralized and many staff have reported being unable to provide good service; ‘* Inefficient and expensive processes have replaced methods which were cheaper and more efficient; ‘* Staff retention is becoming an issue; we are beginning to lose corporate knowledge on a significant scale; * The City seems to be moving away from its own core values. These values have been responsible for attracting new staff and now, many younger staff report that they are reconsidering their decision to build a career at the City; + Reports, decisions, memos, and letters are delayed as a result of excessive review; + Staff are fearful of reprisals which is leading to a “heads down/don’t rock the boat” attitude. Creativity and excellence are not being stimulated. To provide the leadership suggested in our constitution, VACMPS is respectfully requesting that our representatives, along with the Corporate Management Team, take a problem- solving approach to the issues exempt staff have raised with regard to working conditions. ‘We wish to engage in a joint process with the CMT that would focus on re-establishing our environment of trust and respect so that we can conduct the business of the City in the mast competent and beneficial manner. It is important to note here that exempt staff are not opposed to change. They are, in fact, strong proponents of operational reviews and increased efficiency. It is the process of how change is introduced and implemented that is of concern. We look forward to sitting down with you for a more fulsome discussion regarding these issues. In the interim, we have appended a list of expectations, and recommendations for discussion that we believe will, among other things, allow managers to begin managing again. We are currently conducting a survey of exempt staff asking them to prioritize these requests. Bill Bons, President Christine Warren, Vice-President ‘On behalf of the VACMPS Executive‘Appendix A EXPECTATIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS VACMPS expects: To receive the same wage increases for 2011 as our union counterparts; To be meaningfully involved in any negotiations on wages in the future; and To be meaningfully involved in any future discussions on adjustments to our benefit packages, including those related to vacation, gratuity, and retirement banks. VACMPS recommends that: We work with Human Resources to negotiate a fair and consistent “base package and/or a mutually agreeable set of principles for exempt staff laid off without cause; We work with Human Resources to develop a consistent process for providing exempt staff with opportunities to develop their leadership competencies through coaching, mentoring, career development and providing cross-departmental work experience to foster a strong succession planning model in the city; We partner with Human Resources to develop the City’s business plan goal of “inspiring excellence in the workplace and in its employees” and that the resulting conclusions be used to implement positive change; The loss of exempt staff over the past 18 months be documented and reviewed to assess the impact on the organization; We work closely with the Corporate Management Team to develop a strong communications strategy that, among other things, demonstrates the City is acting on its stated core values; ‘The 2011 Budget Planning process be inclusive and transparent and be implemented as a problem-solving exercise; General Managers be explicitly requested to communicate workload issues to the City Manager's Office and through to Council. This should include an identification of the impact on workload of the staff freeze and of the additional processes which have been “layered on”; and A number of processes be reviewed in light of their efficiency, effectiveness and ‘outcomes. These include, but are not necessarily limited to: - the Vacancy Management Committee and related processes; - the Capital Planning process; - Reviews of Council reports and concurrence requirements; - City Manager’s Office involvement in contract approval; - Senior staff ability to communicate with Council; and - “Quick Fixes” instead of strategic analysis for complex and multi-year issues.A total of 502 exempt staff participated in lunch meetings or the survey This equals 70.5% of all exempt staff (712) ap Business Planning & Services @ City Manager's Office 0 Community Services @ Engineering @ Financial Services @ Fire & Rescue CG Human Resources @ Legal Services 0 Library O Parks & Recreation O Police Services UnknownNumber Responded Exempt staff under pay band 8 have no representation 81.5% of Exempt Staff under Pay Band 8 are in favour of VACMPS amending its constitution to include them (from those who answered question) 60 40 - 20Issues identified by importance to staff Lack of trust, respect and acknowledgement for skills / abilities / decision makingIssues identified by importance to staff eT 27. 46% Ey 22 3 Micromanagement is not ry 21: an effective style and is I 5 a long term risk to the health of the organizationIssues identified by importance to staff I 24.7: 27.5% 4 22: Workload Overload 4 eT 21 “They have bitten off / A 5 cx more than we can chew” [I oo:Issues identified by importance to staff = 52.7% . , 46.0% | SS | I 2s Sn 25.4% Ne 7: Civil Service has become SS more politicized 15.6% 24.7% 15.0% Poor Process re: wage issues | aIssues identified by importance to staff 9.8% Too new/no opinion '| If Senior managers continue to leave, The result will be a lack of Continuity in decisions and information Low Morale Communication is poor Need for budget transparency (not convinced of the extent of the shortfall) There is less independent thought and creativity Feeling of insecurityTo what degree are the managers in your business unit empowered to manage their department's business? 131 130 35 Not at all Have Limited Have Moderate Are Mostly Are Totally Empowered Empowerment Empowerment Empowered Em|On a Scale of 1-5, where 1= very poor and 5= very good, Rate (Overall) how you feel the City is doing in upholding the stated corporate Values (as found in Employee Handbook) Learning | aa Leadership =_— Integrity | 2.49 Responsiveness [x a Oo 5 | N o aN Very Poor Poor Fair Good Very Good 9There are concerns that the city is losing staff at a rate greater than anticipated. Choose the statement(s) that best describe your situation. | am undecided about my future | 1am actively looking for | other employment ‘opportunities ee aaa am planning to retire within the next 5 years am planning to retire within the next 2 years | am planning to retire eeartier than | was previously thinking | would 0% 20% 40% |ACTIONS: Please state whether or not you agree with the expectations of VACMPS and the Sup.Assoc. To be meaningfully involved in any future discussions on adjustments to our benefit packages, including those related to | vacation, gratuity and retirement banks To be meaningfully involved in any negotiations on wages in the future To receive the same wage increase for 2011 as our union counterpartsQuestion: the following is a list of items we will be requesting; to help rank them, please select what you think are the top 3 priorities: e 52.6% Selected - That a number of processes be reviewed in light of their efficiency, effectiveness and outcomes, including: ¢ The Vacancy Management Committee and related processes ¢ Capital Planning process « Reviews of Council reports and concurrence requirements ¢ City Manager’s Office involvement in contract approval « Senior staff communications with Council + “Quick fixes” instead of strategic analysis for complex issues 12« 49.5% Selected - We work with Human Resources to negotiate a fair and consistent “base package” and/or a mutually agreeable set of “principles” for exempt staff laid off or terminated without cause ° 44.7% Selected - General Managers be specifically requested to communicate workload issues to the City Manager’s Office and through that, to Council. Review the impact on workload of the staff freeze and of the additional processes which have been put into placee 41.1% Selected - We work with Human Resources to develop a consistent process for providing exempt staff with opportunities to develop their leadership competencies through coaching, mentoring, career development and providing cross-departmental work experience to foster a strong succession planning model in the city e 38.9% Selected - We partner with Human Resources to develop the City’s business plan goal of “inspiring excellence in the workplace and in its employees” and that the resulting conclusions be used to implement positive change¢ 37.1% Selected - The 2011 Budget Planning process be inclusive and transparent and be implemented as a problem- solving exercise e 29.7% Selected - We work closely with Corporate Management Team to develop a strong communications strategy that, among other things, demonstrates the City is acting on its stated core values ¢ 20.5% Selected - The loss of exempt staff over the past 18 months be documented and reviewed to assess the impact.