Employee engagement is one of the most important indicators in measuring work satisfaction. Employees today want to be involved in their work, enthusiastic about the organization they work for, have a sense of belonging, and be given flexibility around schedules and location.
Belonging is at the top of the most recent Global Human Capital Trends survey with 79% of survey respondents saying that fostering a sense of belonging in the workforce was important to their organization’s success in the next 12–18 months, and 93% agreed that a sense of belonging drives organizational performance and improves the service they provide.
A new Nationalist Party in Government wants to see that it is not just another employer, it wants to ensure that it is an equal opportunity employer but also that it leads the way in employee engagement. The government as not only an employer but the largest employer, and it should be the government who is a role model for all other employers. We want to see this work in practice and not only in some manual.
The Nationalist Party has launched a series of proposals in the Public Sector, the work it does to provide a better quality of life on the workplace and at home. We understand the time spent at the workplace and the conditions at work, have an impact on your quality of life. After hours of consultation with public sector employees, our goal is to create a hub of equal opportunity and to develop and improve the public sector employee’s work requirements and conditions.
To this end, the Nationalist Party proposed that as an alternative new Government, it ensures not only the existing work conditions in the Public Sector are safeguarded, but they are also improved wherever possible, so that we can provide an improved quality service to the public. Our job is to make life better for all, those working within the public sector as well as those benefiting from its service!
A new Nationalist Party believe we need to invest in our employees to not only retain but attract employees so we can provide the best possible service. We will ensure that the wages in the public sector are revised, so that the work they do reflects the wage they receive. We are guaranteeing Government to be an equal opportunity employer, by giving all grades a performance bonus motivating all to reach their full potential. Our public sector is blessed with many highly experienced employees whose talents in the past have been side-lined or dismissed. A Nationalist Government will ensure that this experience not only does not go to waste, but we see it developed further. We want our employees to know we are there for them when they need us the most, and we are promising to increase emergency leave by 16 hours.
Speaking with several public sector employees’ we have heard first-hand experiences where transfers have always been an issue and are a huge demotivator. They have been used politically with many who have done their jobs diligently and without fail. This needs to end, and we must ensure all injustices of the past and present are corrected. We realize that there are employees in the public sector who have made endless requests for redeployment as they feel they would be more efficient and productive within other sections, but these have fallen on deaf ears. We want to see that this materialises in a relatively short period using a transparent online system.
Quality of life is based on the balance between work life and personal life and a Nationalist Government realises this and will make this a priority. Within the first six months of a new Nationalist Government, we will see that telework and remote working will be in place. This will create a more efficient and productive work force as well as become a more attractive employer. At present employees need to re-apply for teleworking every month. This does not allow them time to plan. We are ensuring a maximum of 4 days (32hrs) telework and a minimum of 1 day (8hrs) for those jobs where restrictions exist. For Gozitan employees the minimum allocated will be 2 day (16hrs), and it will be our priority to ensure that all Gozitan public sector employees work in Gozo.
We understand that greater “on the job satisfaction”, improves quality of life which in turn stimulates a more engaged employee. Employees who are engaged at work are more likely to be productive consistently, which leads to more efficiency and greater productivity. Companies with a high level of employee engagement are more likely to have above-average productivity. The Nationalist Party is not recreating the wheel, but creating win/win situations, where we improve working conditions, raise the bar for other employers to follow suite, and in turn create a sense of ownership that will result in more productivity and better service for the Maltese and Gozitan public.
We lead by example.
Ivan Castillo is a Nationalist Party candidate