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E
nvironment Canada has devel-
oped a number of innovative
tools to quickly organize and
analyze the results of the 2014
Public Service Employee Survey (PSES).
These tools have allowed management
to focus on areas of opportunities and to
engage employees and employee repre-
sentatives in the development of action
plans. The first tool is a thermal map —
a graphical representation of the PSES
data showing the response ratings in a
color-coded matrix. The second, a web-
based intranet tool enabled employees
to choose a combination of factors (e.g.,
demographics, organizational unit) to as-
sess and compare the PSES results.
The first PSES was held in 1999. The
survey is conducted every three years and
measures employees’ opinions in relation
to employee engagement, leadership, the
workforce and the workplace (see http://
www.tbs-sct.gc.ca/pses-saff/index-eng.asp). It is led by the Office of the Chief Hu-
man Resources Officer (Treasury Board of
Canada Secretariat), in collaboration with
Statistics Canada.
When PSES results are released to Gov-
ernment of Canada departments and agen-
cies, organizations must communicate the
survey results to employees. More impor-
tantly, they must analyze the results and
formulate actions to address issues and
concerns.
The Human Resources Branch of Envi-
ronment Canada adopted the concept of a
“Thermal Map” to communicate and ana-
lyze the results in an easy, yet meaning-
ful way. The idea of using a Thermal Map
for displaying PSES results originated in
Health Canada. It was brought to the at-
tention of Environment Canada through
discussions with the Canadian Food In-
spection Agency and discussed further
through an informal network of profes-
sionals working in workforce analytics and
planning.
Environment Canada’s application of the
Thermal Maps has guided the department-
wide employee and labour-management
consultation effort. It also contributed to
the development of a PSES action plan.
The maps allowed key issues to be identi-
fied quickly, and focused discussion on the
most obvious priorities.
The Thermal Maps (measuring about
24 inches by 48 inches) were developed
by summarizing the PSES results accord-
ing to combinations of organizational
units (branch/directorate), themes, ques-
tions, and demographics. The maps pro-
vided a clear global picture of the areas
of strength and areas of opportunities for
improvement. The maps also allowed for
analysis across 68 organizational units, 21
occupational groups, three demographic
dimensions, as well as across three survey
periods.
The Thermal Maps used a colour
scheme to display patterns of “heat” that
allowed readers to quickly and visually
identify areas of strength and areas of
opportunities for improvement. Diagram
1 shows one such thermal, displaying de-
partment-wide result for each PSES ques-
tion. The first column is merely a counter
for each question; columns 2-5 represent
themes and subthemes (i.e., leadership,
Diagram 1: Thermal Map Sample
6
/ Canadian Government Executive
// October 2015
Motivation
Thermal Mapping of Results
Taking action on the Public
Service Employee Survey:
2014 2011 2008 2014 2011 2008 2014 2011 2008 2014 2011 2008 2014 2011 2008
1 EmployeeEngagement
Mobilisationdes
employés
A_Q11 Question 11. Iget a sense of satisfaction frommywork.
Question 11. Je tire de la satisfaction demon travail.
74 76 77 77 76 77 86 83 83 78 77 78
76 75 76
2 EmployeeEngagement
Mobilisationdes
employés
A_Q14 Question 14. Iamwilling to put in the extra effort to get the job done.
Question 14. Je suis prêt(e) à faire un effort supplémentaire pour que le travail
soit fait.
93 94
94 94
98 100
95 94
94 94
3 EmployeeEngagement
Mobilisationdes
employés
.siaf ej euq liavart ud )erèif( reif sius eJ .51 noitseuQ
.od I taht krow eht fo duorp ma I .51 noitseuQ 51Q_A
88 89
88 88
95 93
90 91
88 86
4 EmployeeEngagement
Mobilisationdes
employés
.iolpme nom emia’j ,elbmesne’l snaD .91 noitseuQ
.boj ym ekil I ,llarevO .91 noitseuQ 91Q_A
79 82 84 82 82 83 84 84 88 81 84 84
82 81 83
5 EmployeeEngagement
Mobilisationdes
employés
E_Q58 Question 58. Iwould recommend my department or agency as agreat
place towork.
Question 58. Je recommanderaismon ministère ou organisme commeun
excellentmilieu de travail.
63 64
66 53
77 65
64 48
66 55
6 EmployeeEngagement
Mobilisationdes
employés
E_Q59 Question 59. Iam satisfiedwith my department or agency.
Question 59. Je suis satisfait(e)demon ministère ou organisme.
64 65 68 64 54 58 77 71 71 62 49 53
65 56 60
7 EmployeeEngagement
Mobilisationdes
employés
E_Q60 Question 60. Iwould prefer to remain with my department or agency, even
if a comparable job was available elsewhere in the federal public service.
Question 60. Je préférerais continuer à travailler au sein demon ministère ou
organismemême si un poste comparable était disponibleailleurs dans la fonction
publique fédérale.
57 59 60 60 57 58 60 60 62 61 57 56
60 57 59
EX
Supervisor
Superviseur(e)
#
Theme
Sub-
theme
Thème
Public Service
Fonction
publique
Sous-
thème
Question
#
noitseuQ
noitseuQ
Non-
Supervisor
Pas
superviseur(e)
DOE
John
Kung
Betty
Ann M.
Turpin