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Investing in people: How Vaughan changed its HR practices to better support staff

Municipalworld.com
Oct. 3, 2023

What’s the greatest resource any organization has? Its people.

At the City of Vaughan, there are more than 1,600 full-time employees who dedicate their time and talents to running the municipality as effectively and efficiently as possible. They work to offer citywide programs and events, deliver daily services, improve internal operations, and build the city.

The global COVID-19 pandemic changed the world -- including how people work. So, how did the city change with the times? It enhanced its human resources offerings to remain a modern employer of choice.

The following are five examples of how the city did this and why it was beneficial.

1. Alternative Work Arrangements

In 2018, the city developed and began the roll out of an alternative work arrangement policy -- well before the pandemic was declared in Canada. Following the many provincial COVID-19 protocols, the policy was revised to reflect key learnings and trends.

The updated policy supports a flexible work environment that balances the diverse needs of staff while also considering job requirements, infrastructure capacity, service excellence, performance, and employee engagement. It includes alternate designated workspaces – such as off-site office locations – and alternative work arrangements, such as flex time, compressed work weeks, and telework. The policy is now in effect, where feasible, without compromising the city’s operational requirements and service delivery to its residents and business partners.

The updated policy was introduced to staff in February 2023, along with a Request e-Form for employees who wanted to participate. A self-paced e-Learning module was also available, which provided an overview of the updated policy, guide, and procedures; answered frequently asked questions; and offered other resources for staff.

The city discovered alternative work arrangements increased employee engagement, reduced absenteeism, boosted operational performance, addressed office space demands, and ultimately ensured a positive citizen experience. This increased the city’s ability to attract, retain, and engage high-quality, high-performing employees.

2. Wellness at Work

Within the city’s HR department, there’s an Occupational Health, Safety and Wellness team. This team provides a broad range of corporate occupational safety and wellness services to all employees -- such as ergonomic assessments, hazards identification, wellness programs, mental health resources, injury prevention programs, and hearing clinics -- in efforts to eliminate the risk of injury while at work. Specialized support is also offered for staff who have suffered injuries or are off work due to an injury or illness.

The Wellness@Vaughan Strategy was also introduced in 2021 to further promote staff well-being. The program encourages self-care and highlights the importance of employees’ total health at work. The program focuses on the following four pillars:

These pillars are approached through a lens of health equity -- meaning all staff have a fair opportunity to reach their full health potential.

3. Preparing Future Leaders

Retaining skilled talent is the main objective of Vaughan’s Emerging Leaders Program.

Established in 2021, it identifies, develops, and invests in the next generation of people leaders.

Selected participants are partnered with a senior leader/mentor at the city who helps curate a tailored learning and development plan in accordance with their career aspirations. The city also collaborates with an accredited university to create and deliver customized leadership courses as part of the program.

Any employee interested in pursuing leadership positions can apply for the program. This is typically done though their annual performance planning objectives. People leaders can also proactively identify and invite staff to apply.

Key leadership positions that are at a higher risk of vacancy within the coming years are given priority. Program mentors are also selected in the same way. Once applications are in, candidates are assessed based on their performance, readiness, aspirations, and competencies to succeed in the position identified. The program helps with succession planning and ensures business continuity for critical positions. It also creates a stable supply of qualified and ready candidates for leadership and senior positions.

The City of Vaughan supports a flexible work environment that includes alternate designated workspaces, such as off-site office locations and telework. Photo: City of Vaughan

4. Enhanced Benefits

While mental health is very important, physical health is too. Through the city’s Employee and Family Assistance Program, staff can explore many work-life services – including family, legal, and financial support; career counselling; health coaching; naturopathic services; nutrition support; subsidized gym memberships; and cognitive behavioural therapy -- whenever needed.

The city continuously reviews and enhances its benefit offerings to ensure they still meet the needs of employees. In 2021, benefits became available to all employees through a web and mobile app. These platforms offer expert advice, recommendations, and referrals with confidential and convenient access to online resources and tools.

Permanent staff also enjoy a comprehensive, family -- focused benefits package emphasizing health and well-being. It includes additional resources, expanded entitlement coverage limits, and a broader range of mental health therapists -- all of which were areas in high demand, as identified by staff.

5. Engaging with Staff

Vaughan conducts an employee engagement survey every other year. Staff engagement is the key to creating a positive corporate culture. The staff survey assesses the work environment, employee health and well-being, work-life balance, leadership, performance opportunities, work processes, collaboration, empowerment, company practices, and more. In 2022, questions focused on diversity, equity, and inclusion were added.

Delivered by an independent third-party vendor, all responses are kept completely confidential.

The survey provides staff with a way to voice their honest opinions and helps management identify what is working well and where improvements should be made. There has been a
steady increase in survey participation scores year-over-year.

The 2022 staff survey show higher engagement results compared to industry benchmarks. More than 70 percent of employees feel more engaged and satisfied with the city. Positive engagement results are also up from the 2019 survey, with respect to the percentage of employees who:

Results are communicated directly to each department. Areas that have been identified for improvement are highlighted and then used to inform department-specific action plans.

One key result is the demand to create a culture of continuous learning. In response, the city’s HR team offers an extensive Learning and Organizational Development Catalogue for staff to learn and train on a variety of topics, including health, safety and wellness, management and leadership, personal effectiveness and communication, technologies, systems and processes, accessibility and diversity, and much more.

Meeting the Diverse Needs of Staff

These are just some of the many best practices Vaughan’s administration employs to better support the needs of its workforce. In 2022, the city won a Canadian HR Award in the
Excellence in Diversity and Inclusion category. The city was also an awardee for a Best Canadian HR Team of the Year Award and a Best HR Communications Strategy Award.

As a forward-looking municipality, Vaughan will continue to innovate traditional practices to meet the diverse needs of staff.

Mark Bond is the Chief Human Resources Officer at the City of Vaughan