In 2004, jurisdictions from across Canada agreed to conduct a survey using a common set of nineteen questions
to measure employee engagement and satisfaction.
Since 2006, the Employee Engagement and Satisfaction Survey (EESS) has provided the Government of the
Northwest Territories (GNWT) with the opportunity to gain insight into the engagement of GNWT employees.
It also provides an opportunity to compare organizational results to other jurisdictions across Canada for 21
of the 37 statements included in the 2016 EESS. The GNWT historically scores above most interjurisdictional
agreement scores. Agreement scores are the percentage of respondents who agree or strongly agree with a
statement.
The survey is a tool that can inform conversations with management, employees and Human Resource
specialists about the underlying issues and challenges that exist in the workplace. It is an opportunity to foster
a more engaging and satisfying work environment for GNWT employees, recognizing that “having engaged
employees who are involved in and committed to their work is critical to the success of [the organization] and
the quality of programs and services delivered to citizens.”1
This report provides an in-depth analysis of the 2016 EESS, including analysis by indices, highlights, and
solutions to help improve by indices. For a detailed breakdown of results by indices, statement, and subgroups,
please refer to Appendix A, beginning on Page 23.
The 2016 EESS response rate was 58.4%, up from 46.3% in 2014 (+12.1). This is the highest ever GNWT survey
response rate, with every department, board and agency increasing their response rate in 2016.