More than half the federal civil servants in Canada say cronyism and nepotism is rife within the service, says Blacklock’s Reporter..A majority of staff, 53%, “believe appointments depend on who you know,” the Public Service Commission said Tuesday..Only 47% of employees surveyed agreed with the statement, “Appointments do not depend on who you know.”.Findings were based on questionnaires with 75,440 federal workers..“There are still areas for improvement,” Patrick Borbey, president of the Service Commission, said in a statement..“The commission will work with its partners to address areas of concern.”.Nepotism is a firing offence in the public service. Findings of the 2021 Staffing And Non-Partisanship Survey found managers dismissed widespread perceptions of favouritism and insisted hiring practices were ethical..“For example, 91% of hiring managers reported staffing processes were conducted fairly and 73% of hiring managers said appointments did not depend on who you know,” said the report..“As well 90% of hiring managers did not feel pressured to hire a particular candidate.”.Asked if they agreed with the statement, “We hire people who can do the job,” 17% of all respondents disagreed..“Among employment equity groups women were more likely than their counterparts to agree people hired within their work units could do the job,” said the Commission..Asked if “the process of selecting a person for a position is done fairly,” 26% disagreed. Asked if “staffing activities are carried out in a transparent way,” 31% disagreed..Borbey said results showed some improvement from past years..“Progress has been made,” he said..Borbey in 2018 testimony at the Commons government operations committee said his investigators were constantly on the lookout for preferential hiring by federal departments and agencies..“I do want to talk about nepotism,” said Borbey. “That is certainly something we are on the lookout for at the commission and that we will investigate if there are allegations, if there is evidence there’s been nepotism in a selection process.”
More than half the federal civil servants in Canada say cronyism and nepotism is rife within the service, says Blacklock’s Reporter..A majority of staff, 53%, “believe appointments depend on who you know,” the Public Service Commission said Tuesday..Only 47% of employees surveyed agreed with the statement, “Appointments do not depend on who you know.”.Findings were based on questionnaires with 75,440 federal workers..“There are still areas for improvement,” Patrick Borbey, president of the Service Commission, said in a statement..“The commission will work with its partners to address areas of concern.”.Nepotism is a firing offence in the public service. Findings of the 2021 Staffing And Non-Partisanship Survey found managers dismissed widespread perceptions of favouritism and insisted hiring practices were ethical..“For example, 91% of hiring managers reported staffing processes were conducted fairly and 73% of hiring managers said appointments did not depend on who you know,” said the report..“As well 90% of hiring managers did not feel pressured to hire a particular candidate.”.Asked if they agreed with the statement, “We hire people who can do the job,” 17% of all respondents disagreed..“Among employment equity groups women were more likely than their counterparts to agree people hired within their work units could do the job,” said the Commission..Asked if “the process of selecting a person for a position is done fairly,” 26% disagreed. Asked if “staffing activities are carried out in a transparent way,” 31% disagreed..Borbey said results showed some improvement from past years..“Progress has been made,” he said..Borbey in 2018 testimony at the Commons government operations committee said his investigators were constantly on the lookout for preferential hiring by federal departments and agencies..“I do want to talk about nepotism,” said Borbey. “That is certainly something we are on the lookout for at the commission and that we will investigate if there are allegations, if there is evidence there’s been nepotism in a selection process.”
