More than half of the ex-B.C. civil servants who responded to a questionnaire said their resignations were preventable, according to a newly disclosed government exit survey.
“Many resigning employees lacked a career path within the B.C. Public Service and suggested more access to, and support for, advancement opportunities could have prevented them from leaving,” said the report by BC Stats, called 2015 Exit Survey on B.C. Public Service Resignations and Retirements.
The report was released under freedom of information.
“Since 2009/2010, career completion is the top reason for employees to retire; however, there is a substantial number who leave sooner because of challenges in their work environments. Given that just over half of resignees and just over a third of retirees stated that their departure was preventable, there is great opportunity for the B.C. Public Service to retain more employees.”
The survey had responses from 819 of 1,794 employees polled. Of those that responded, 296 quit and 523 retired. Average age of respondents was 40 for resignees and 60 for retirees. Resignees worked an average eight years, while retirees had 26 under their belt. The survey cautioned that the sample size of resignees may be too small to draw conclusions across government as a whole.
Organizational processes, procedures and/or systems led a record 47% to quit, up 5% from the previous year. Immediate supervisor/manager was cited by 35%, up 3% from the previous year.
Just over half of the resigned workers cited another job for leaving. Of them, 34% went to the private sector, 21% to the federal or a municipal government and 10% to a Crown corporation.
For one in five resigning employees, it took less than a month to decide to leave their position. But 53% of information technology and technical trades employees said they considered leaving for more than a year, followed by 49% in justice and health and 45% in leadership.
Some 80% said career advancement or training drew them to a new job. Salary and benefits drew 67% elsewhere.
Only 37% said they would recommend their former department as a great place to work, down seven percent from 2012-2013’s 44%. The 42% that said, generally, the B.C. Public Service was a great place to work was down 10% from 2012-2013.
Retirees tended to leave on better terms; 59% of them left because they had completed their careers. But 31% said that senior leadership was a contributing factor in their departure.
“The most liked aspects of the B.C. Public Service were co-workers and job security and stability,” the report said.
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