A report on how the City of Windsor can retain employees and attract new talent finds workers want improved pay and a better work-life balance.
Council received a report Monday from PwC (PricewaterhouseCoopers), which was engaged to help identify ways that will help to improve employee experience and assist with employee retention.
The report, which included a survey of city employees, found the competitiveness of base pay to similar positions in other companies to be one issue, along with improved work-life balance to help increase retention.
Windsor Mayor Drew Dilkens says there is an extremely competitive employment environment today, and when we say there's war in the world, there is war on talent, and we know that war is global.
He says it has been an unbelievable situation in trying to attract talented and qualified employees, but it's not dissimilar to what he hears from mayors in other municipalities, and that's what part of this is about; to know where the weaknesses are and how we address them?
The report to council found pensions and benefits are no longer valued in the same way as previous age demographics, the workforce now places a premium on work-life balance and pay.
Dilkens says he thinks they are doing a good job, but there are areas to consider.
"Whether it's today or 100 years from now, there will always be aspects that employees would like to see more of, including compensation," he says. "I think it's fair that everyone, if you asked anyone, would you like to be paid more to do your job? 100 percent of the people would say yes. But it's the other things that we're talking about in the workplace that add to the overall experience that make this an attractive place to work, those are the pieces that we want to make sure that we're getting right."
Dilkens says he and some members of council are split on the idea of employees working more from home.
"How do you create a culture when someone's working from home in their office, their bedroom, or their basement? So that's part of this. If you don't have a culture, if you don't have a connection to the workplace, and a strong connection to the people that you work with, then you're just going to go to the high bidder," he says. "If I can sit at home and work from home all day, and someone is going to pay me $20,000 more a year, why wouldn't I go to them if they're going to let me work from home?)
CUPE Local 543 President David Petten, who represents 1,300 city employees, told council the union's top area of concern is that the wage grid is not keeping pace with the market for frontline staff compared with non-union employees.
The union would also like staff to have the flexibility to work more from home and explore options for a four-day work week.
Dilkens says they want to make sure they fund the balance and be receptive to what is happening around the world.
"But we also want to make sure we're not losing people for lack of engagement, and it's a fine balance. I'm not sure if we're doing it perfectly today but we're willing to fine tune as necessary," he says.
The report that was received by council includes a number of recommendations the city could adopt to address any employee experience or retention issues.
Click here to read the report on page 989 of the council agenda.