Many of you have asked APEX about updates on economic increases for executives, and voiced concerns over the length of time since the last economic increase. I wanted to take a few moments to address this longstanding issue, let you know what APEX has been doing on your behalf in this regard, and share our early desire to work towards a timely, fair and impartial compensation system.
With the increase in workload and leadership responsibilities brought on by the pandemic, the ongoing delays in providing economic increases to the executive community is a strong demotivator affecting morale.
While many recent national articles and reports estimate an overall high burnout rate at the 35-40% mark, the results of the recent APEX Executive Work and Health Survey provide evidence that it has reached 75% in the public service executive community; moreover, only 47% of executives report high engagement with their work.
Many of you have communicated with APEX indicating that at a time when executives are working their hardest through heightened adversity and ambiguity brought on by the pandemic, the lack of a timely, fair, impartial compensation system brings a sense of lack of recognition and respect resulting in disengagement with the work and the organization.
In addition, the persistent compression and inversion situations at the lower executive ranks, combined with the health and work challenges has impacted the level of interest in joining the executive ranks. While candidates continue to apply for executive-level positions, senior public service leaders are faced with an increasing percentage of talented employees in feeder groups who are no longer interested in joining the executive community considering the current work conditions.
Executives are also reaching out to APEX, in numbers never seen before, for information on the implications of taking demotions out of the executive community due to effort-reward imbalance and exhaustion. This is in line with preliminary results of the APEX Executive Work and Health Study, which indicates that 69% of executives feel unrecognized satisfactorily for their efforts.
APEX continues to both directly and indirectly advocate on behalf of all executives for their terms and conditions of employment, including compensation. Colleagues at central agencies are keenly aware of the issue on compensation and are working diligently to address the situation within the pandemic socio-political context and environment that currently exists.
APEX has engaged numerous senior central agency officials advocating for fair, timely and impartial treatment of executives and their compensation package. We have worked with central agencies these last few weeks to advocate on behalf of executives for resolution of this issue, and to promote the assistance APEX can offer in the area of total compensation.
Our objective is to further work with the TBS-OCHRO in a manner that assists and supports them in facilitating a decision by government on executive economic increases that are long overdue, and to assist in the development and adoption of a timely, fair, impartial approach to setting compensation for executives in the future.
Rest assured that we hear you and we will continue to forge ahead to advocate earnestly on your behalf until a solution is reached. APEX is currently enhancing its research efforts and capacity in the area of Total Compensation to maximize our ability to advocate on your behalf and assist central agencies in achieving a viable long-term solution.
I hope this summary provides the additional context you were seeking. APEX remains focused on serving its executive community, and I encourage you to stay in touch for updates at your convenience.
Sincerely,
Carl Trottier
Chief Executive Officer, APEX
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