In the know @ PHO - June 2015

ENGAGEMENT CAFÉ GENERATES IDEAS FOR ADDRESSING TOP ENGAGEMENT DRIVERS
During the Engagement Café activity, administrative staff reflected on what they could do to support each other’s
engagement in each of the three priority areas that emerged from their engagement survey results. Among the many
ideas that flowed that day were the following actions for the top three engagement drivers:
Recognition
Use PHO’s print and electronic thank you cards more often
to recognize each other’s great work and copy the person’s
manager.
Career Development
Share experience and expertise with each other, both
formally and informally, through the quarterly (virtual)
administrative professional forums, the Administrative
Professional Forum (APF) GoTo PHO collaboration site, or
through job exchanges and job shadowing.
Managing Performance
Develop standard core competencies and best practices for
administrative staff to guide individuals and managers in
setting expectations for performance.
The APF group also came up with ideas for supporting
engagement in these areas at the team level and will be
taking action on these in the weeks and months to come.
SUPPORTING MANAGERS TO BE MORE EFFECTIVE
PEOPLE LEADERS
We all know that manager support
and effectiveness are key drivers of
employee engagement.
PHO employees who perceive their
managers as “highly effective” are
twice as engaged as employees who
rate their managers as “moderately
effective” and six times more engaged
than staff who rate their managers’
effectiveness as low. By the same
token, managers who feel highly
supported to do their best in managing staff are three times
more engaged than managers who feel moderately supported
and seven times more engaged than managers who feel they
have a low level of support!
So what are we doing about this? Over the past nine months,
the organization has been working to provide tools, training
and support to help PHO’s managers become more effective
people leaders.
• We provided managers with the opportunity to
participate in the Mental Health at Work Leadership
Certificate Program (see next page)
• We expanded the number of topics covered by
Performance Management Tip Sheets, available in the
Toolbox for Managers on GoTo PHO, including career
conversations, balanced leadership and mentoring
• We enhanced the Performance Management Discussion
Template for Managers to emphasize behaviours that
support employee performance and development
• We launched a new PHO Management Forum that meets
quarterly to provide managers with a setting for learning
and professional development.
New leadership program
set to launch in the fall
In the Fall 2015, we will launch a
PHO LEADerShip Program, a three
day program based on the first three
domains of the LEADS Capability
Framework (Lead Self, Engage
Others, Achieve Results). All PHO
managers will attend this program
beginning in September 2015.
Providing support to new managers
PHO will also be working on programs for staff who are new
to their management roles, providing a program to orient new
managers to PHO, and offering fundamental management
training on topics ranging from crucial conversations and
coaching skills to managing in a unionized environment.
BY RHONDA POLLARD, SENIOR ADVISOR,
LEADERSHIP DEVELOPMENT
AND ORGANIZATIONAL IMPROVEMENT
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