No ‘culture of fear here’ — Dilkens reacts to Windsor employee feedback

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Windsor Mayor Drew Dilkens says city hall is “doing a good job” with workplace culture despite a new ’employee experience’ report that points to employee concerns and the challenge of “recruiting and retaining talented employees.”

On Monday, city council unanimously supported a “retention and employee experience” roadmap developed by hired consultant PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC). Council also approved $737,000 from reserves to implement its recommendations.

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“According to some employees, there are concerns with speaking up and expressing thoughts freely,” the consultant’s report said. “Employees have expressed the continued need for leaders to engage meaningfully and provide a safe environment for staff to share diverse perspectives.”

Asked later by reporters about that point, Dilkens denied a workplace culture of fear.

“At the end of the day, we don’t have a culture of fear here,” he said following Monday’s meeting.

“People don’t come to work fearful at the City of Windsor. We’ve got a great employment relationship with our employees here at all bargaining units and including the non-union employees.”

Windsor has had “unbelievable” difficulty finding people to fill vacancies, he said. Other mayors across Ontario, he added, have told him they’ve experienced the same issue.

“It’s been very difficult to find talent that will even apply to some of those positions — that is, at every level of the organization.”

The best way to retain employees, Dilkens said, “is to get someone in here and treat them right and make sure they have a positive work experience and that they stay, hopefully, for a whole career. It’s expensive to recruit and to get new employees.”

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Ward 9 Coun. Kieran McKenzie said it’s “no secret” that there have been “high-profile human resources-related moments that have happened in the community.”

Earlier this month, the Star reported former city engineer Chris Nepszy had filed a $1.55-million wrongful dismissal lawsuit against the city. The lawsuit claims Nepszy suffered “considerable mental distress” during his time at city hall and alleges he was pressured and coerced into the “misuse” of public funds.

Nepszy was “regularly subjected to aggressive behaviour and was threatened with consequences if he would not comply,” the legal document obtained by the Star claims. As part of the pressure, Nepszy’s employment was allegedly “repeatedly threatened” in response to work refusals.

The claims in the court document are allegations and have not been proven in court.

“Without dealing with anything that’s still within the courts, I’d just like to understand, try to read between the lines — there’s a culture of fear, to a certain extent, to bring forward suggestions and perhaps even move up through the corporation,” McKenzie said during Monday’s council meeting.

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The PwC roadmap lists 19 “objectives” or initiatives aimed at the city holding onto its workers, including improving organizational culture, driving inclusive behaviours, and addressing root causes of burnout.

A staff report to council this week said the challenges of “recruiting and retaining talented employees is not new,” nor is it isolated to the City of Windsor.

“Over the past 10 years or so, with mass retirements of the baby boomer generation, both municipalities and the private sector have had to prepare for the impact this has on the workforce,” the staff report said.

In 2018, the city deemed employee attraction and retention a “significant” corporate risk. According to the newest report, that risk was exacerbated by a number of factors, including rapid economic growth and a building boom, which put strain on the city’s economic development, planning, and building departments.

Other factors included burnout, vacancies, transfers, and retirements resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic; a wider employee competition pool from the pandemic forcing a shift to remote work; losing staff to the private sector, where wage increases have outpaced the public sector; the elimination of post-retirement benefits in contrast to improved private sector benefit packages; and a shifting desire from employees for a work-life balance and higher pay.

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In response to those challenges, the report says the city enhanced or developed programs, including ones for succession planning, workplace wellness, hybrid work, and disconnecting from work. Council received a report on those initiatives in July 2022.

At the time, staff noted that while the initiatives had helped, the “increasingly challenging labour climate required additional strategies and a targeted approach.” Council then voted to hire a human resources retention specialist.

In the spring of 2023, PricewaterhouseCoopers kicked off its retention and employee experience project in Windsor. The company received 890 responses from employees through a corporate-wide survey; conducted focus group interviews with nearly 50 staff, supervisors, and managers; and interviewed members of the corporate leadership and senior management teams, as well as the presidents of CUPE Local 543 (representing inside workers), CUPE Local 82 (outside workers), and CANUE, the Civic Association of Non-Union Employees.

Kathy Parker, PwC partner and national workforce of the future consulting leader, told council the issues at the City of Windsor are not unique. Her company is seeing similar difficulties in other municipalities.

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“We are seeing issues that mirror what we saw (at Windsor),” she said. “These are obviously very important issues — but at this point, we would not suggest that they are necessarily extraordinary relative to other environments we’re seeing either.”

Approximately half of the 890 city employees surveyed by PwC have worked for the city for 10 or more years, and 61 per cent of them are unionized.

The survey identified some of Windsor’s strengths: 80 per cent of respondents said they enjoy the work they do, 69 per cent said they are comfortable sharing opinions, and 66 per cent said they felt supported by their managers.

The survey also identified “opportunities” for the city: 77 per cent of respondents want a more competitive base salary, 70 per cent want more wellness support, 61 want an improved workforce planning strategy for resource and workload issues, and 59 per cent want an improved rewards and recognition strategy.

Shining the light on our workers’ struggles was needed

The PwC consultant highlighted five themes where the city has “areas of opportunity.” The first was culture and leadership, with recognition and rewards being another area with room for improvement.

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“Low staff morale can be attributed to a lack of recognition for hard work,” the consultant wrote. “The role of recognition and rewards was mentioned as an important retaining factor for employees, in addition to motivating individuals to maximize their performance.”

Employees reported that a current work schedule of 33.75 hours per week is also an issue, something CUPE Local 543 president David Petten also noted during Monday’s council meeting. The union is pushing to increase hours to 35 per week, in part to make more members eligible for loans and mortgages.

“As the report highlights, not all is well at the city, and shining the light on our workers’ struggles was needed,” said Petten, who represents more than 1,300 city workers.

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When it comes to diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) — the third “theme” identified by PwC — there is a “general awareness of the importance of DEI among employees and a desire to become more diverse and equitable,” the consultant’s report said. Although the city has “taken steps in addressing DEI” through an initiative launched in 2018, the report said, “there is an opportunity to revisit the initiative, evaluate it, and advance with relevant actions to advance DEI.”

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Regarding the fourth theme, career and talent development, employees felt training programs were made better available to more “visible” staff, and others felt they had reached a career “ceiling” with no further room for advancement.

Workplace flexibility — the fifth theme — is another key issue for city employees. Workers said they wanted more “autonomy, control, and freedom over when, where, and how they do their work,” the report said.

The consultant received mixed feedback over how the city’s hybrid in-person/remote work model operates. Employees also said they want the city’s wellness programs to be better promoted and executed.

tcampbell@postmedia.com

twitter.com/wstarcampbell

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