Free Custom «Compensation Issue in the Canadian Public Service» Essay Paper

One of the issues facing the Canadian public service is its inadequacy to compensate the public service employees. This is the most important issue that bears weight in the retention and the recruitment of public service employees. Although there are a number of factors that are affecting job satisfaction among public service employees, the growing inadequacy in the compensation of employees together with the existence of better external job opportunities has resulted in the departure of majority of the public service employees. The other problem that comes with the lack of compensation of the public service employees is the facts the government officials had the tendency to down play the importance of compensation in the public service.

Among the affected parties were the employees who were subjected to minimum wages under employment in the public service. The employees experienced difficulty in catering for their needs as opposed to the government officials. Government officials, because of satisfaction in their salary, failed to see the need to push for reforms that would lead in public service employees receiving better salaries. The public service was also among the affected parties whereby it lacked the work force necessary to execute its duties and tasks (Basic facts about pensions in the public service of Canada, 1976).

 

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The current situation regarding the compensation of employees has proven difficult for the government to retain employees. This is because the private sector provided better wage settlements as opposed to those provided by the Canadian government. The growing poor compensation for public service employees over the years prompted the employees to call for immediate action. The public service alliance together with the Professional Institute of the public service worked hand in hand to ensure that the compensation issues were addressed together with any other associated job satisfaction impediments. These compensation issues addressed issues such as an interim report that ensured that recommended significant salary increment (Public Service 2000: the renewal of the Public Service of Canada, 1990).

The employees in the public service considered the issue of poor salaries a shortcoming on the part of the public service. Therefore, a negative working environment developed in the work place whereby the employees were exposed from increased workloads while receiving poor salaries. Low self-esteem developed among the public service employees whereby they looked down on themselves because of their pay grade. Hence, from the employees viewpoint, actions of the public service to undermine the compensation issues of the employees was considered as unfair and this promoted malfunctioning in the public service.

The government placed a very high bar in the recruitment of employees in the public service. This is evident whereby the government attracted the largest number of graduates from the universities and graduates. Hence, the Canadian government has a very high demand for knowledge –based professionals in the public service. In contrast to this, the Canadian government offered very low compensation in its policies, which consequently led to the loss of employees. The public service’s tendency to attract new recruits to work for the government has reduced considerably resulting in a tainted reputation of the public service (Basic facts about pensions in the public service of Canada, 1976).

The issues affecting the public service were both of an intrinsic nature. This is due to the reason that the public service is part of the Canadian government. Therefore, the government has the authority and duty to ensure that that the government employees are properly compensated. Hence, compensation for the public service employees could only take effect after endorsement by the Canadian government. External pressure, which assisted public service employees to push for reforms, could only raise public awareness of the public employee situation but not take the responsibility of enacting the reforms to compensate the public service employees (Public Service 2000: the renewal of the Public Service of Canada, 1990).

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The public service is also affected by morale problems. This is evident from the fact that that the public service employees receive a constant salary. This is whereby the senior level employees in the public sector do not receive the same pay as the private sector counterparts whereby they prefer to receive the same recognition considering they work at the same level. The public service was constantly exposed to attacks from the parliament and the media affected the self-confidence of the employees in the public service. The society also has a great effect on the performance whereby the public service has lost credibility in the public eye.

Downsizing of the workforce in the organization also resulted in a great deal of stress. This is because this resulted in a decrease in the work force in the public service. Majority of the employees in the public sector transferred to work in the private sector. The limited work force in the public sector resulted in the stressing of the limited number of employees and hence this affected the service delivery in the public service. The huge downsizing in the public service affected the morale of the employees (Public Service 2000: the renewal of the Public Service of Canada, 1990).

The compensation issue in the public service was a performance pay issue. This is because the issues in the public service revolved around payment issues among the employees in public service. The public service employees were greatly affected by the lack of public service compensation of the employees. The reluctance of the government to compensate the public service employees translated into the transfer of the public service employees into the private sector. The private sector offered better salary settlements hence the employees were able to comfortably maintain their needs. Therefore, private sector employees were accorded better working conditions (Basic facts about pensions in the public service of Canada, 1976).

The compensation issue has in the public service has affected the employees in the public sector mentally. The employees were affected mentally in the sense that their psyche in the workplace was greatly altered. Majority of the employees undermined themselves whereby they looked down upon themselves. The low wages the employees were subjected to affected the morale of the public sector employees. The uneven treatment of employees because of the government compensation policy also affected the psyche of the employees. The program review exercise in the public service also had an effect on the employees whereby the self-esteem of the employees was lowered.

This issue regarding the compensation of employees in the workplace is also prevalent in other organizations. This is evident from the increased transfer of employees in form organization to organization in the search of better salary settlements. Companies and organizations face challenges in trying to meet the salary requirements of the employees. The inability of the organizations to meet the employee salary requirements will result in poor organizational functionality owing to employee dissatisfaction. Employees hence seek assistance from union to push for reforms regarding the salaries. Satisfied employees will increase the productivity in organizations (Public Service 2000: the renewal of the Public Service of Canada, 1990).

Poor organizational strategies in the public service have resulted in the poor delegation of duties in the public service. The poor organization in the public service has become the leading cause of the employee dissatisfaction. Poor organization with the public service has resulted in the poor handling of tasks such as the compensation of employees. Because of poor organization within the public service has resulted in the poor handling and implementation of strategies that ensure that the employee needs within the public service are met. This is in terms of setting up proper pension schemes and salary improvement strategies (Basic facts about pensions in the public service of Canada, 1976).

The development of this issue has inspired many reforms in the Canadian government and the Canadian service. One of the factors that have come about because of compensation issues in the public service is the fact that it has promoted transparency. This is in instances whereby the media to the public through the media have know the activities of the Canadian public service. This transparency promotes openness in the government and the public service where the public knows government operational procedures. Therefore, due to openness, reforms have taken place where the public service employees receive improved and satisfying incomes.

Due to the occurrence of this issue within the public service, the attitude and behavior of employees has changed in the workplace. Employees have become enlightened in that they have gained the capacity to push for reforms in organizations and hence reduce oppression of employees in organizations. Hence, employees are motivated because of job satisfaction. Consequently, the execution of duties is therefore effective and efficient in organizations within Canada. The Canadian and the public service have been exposed to many constraints in making employee compensation a reality. Cutbacks by the government have taken effect to secure funds to ensure employee satisfaction within the public service (Public Service 2000: the renewal of the Public Service of Canada, 1990).

The managerial strategy is the root of the problems experienced by the public service. The management is responsible for ensuring the employee needs are satisfied within a specific organization. Employee satisfaction ensures productivity from the employees. Therefore, the failure of the management in the public service management to ensure the satisfaction of employees has been determined to be the root of the problem. The government officials failure to address employee issues has resulted in the in the loss of motivation among the employees within the public service and hence this affects the productivity of the organization.

The issue in the public service is because of structural variables. This is evident from the fact that the lack of proper management procedures in the public service, which ensure the proper handling of employee issues, is a sign of the lack of structure in the public service. If a proper structure were in place, the handling of employee demands, which are crucial to the efficient operation of the organization, could be handled swiftly as the proper procedures would be put in place to manage such situations (Public Service 2000: the renewal of the Public Service of Canada, 1990).

The media has assisted the employees in the public services greatly in exposing the employee hardships from working in the public service. The public reaction was shocking in that jobs such as working for the public service were considered prestigious and as a result, the salaries of such employees were expected to sufficient. The public service management in the past has been constantly notified through meeting about the dissatisfaction of the employees in their income. Hence, the issue of compensating employees has been ignored in the past and hence become a source of frustration among the employees (Basic facts about pensions in the public service of Canada, 1976).

The Canadian public service is an organization of great importance in that it has the responsibility to advance and sustain the economic and social well-being of the Canadians. Therefore, it is a crucial organization in the infrastructure of the country. To meet its goals and objectives, the Canadian public service employee needs should be met by the organization. This is because of the reason the employees in the public service are highly qualified professionals who have the responsibility of delivering programs to the Canadian government and offering advice in government work. In order for the public service to be of service to the Canadian people, the government should ensure that the employees in the public service are motivated at all levels and hence this will promote its ability to retain skilled personnel and not lost them to the private sector. Motivating the employees will be along the line of addressing the issues and place the service of the knowledge-based professionals on a high demand.