Making For A Productive Workplace: Canadian Workers Tell What Matters Most

Toronto, ON - A new Ipsos-Reid/Juice Inc. survey released today reveals that when asked to grade their employers with respect to five work-environment statements, employed Canadians give their employers an overall grade-point-average (G.P.A.) of 2.93, approximately representing a "C+". In fact, a minority of four in ten employed Canadians (38%) provide an overall grade of "A" for their employer in these five areas.

And looking at the individual grades for each of the five areas, just four in ten or fewer employed Canadians give their employers an "A" grade:

• 42% of employed Canadians give their employer an "A" grade in when it comes to their employer making them feel that "they fit in their work role";

• 39% give their employer an "A" grade when it comes to their employer making them "feel supported in their role";

• 38% give their employer an "A" grade when it comes to making them feel "clear in their role";

• 38% give their employer an "A" grade when it comes to making them feel that they "are valued at their work"; and

• 32% give their employer an "A" grade when it comes to making them feel "inspired".

Finally, thinking of this same list of five work-related feelings, respondents were asked which one makes them most productive in their job--38% choose "feeling valued at work", 23% choose "feeling supported in your role", 15% choose "feeling inspired at work", 11% choose "feeling clear in your role", and 9% choose "feeling fit in your role".

But while most employed Canadians may not give their employees an "A" grade when considering these five work-environment statements, a strong majority of three in four employees (74%) say they are "very productive" in their workplace.

These are the findings of an Ipsos-Reid/Juice Inc. survey conducted from September 17th to September 24th, 2004. For the survey, a representative randomly selected sample of 1002 adult working Canadians who are either working full-time or part-time for an employer (and not `self-employed') were interviewed by telephone. With a sample of this size, the results are considered accurate to within 1773.1 percentage points, 19 times out of 20, of what they would have been had this entire population been polled. The margin of error will be larger within regions and for other sub-groupings of the survey population. These data were weighted to ensure the sample's regional and age/sex composition reflects that of the actual overall Canadian population according to the 2001 Census data.

Please open the attached PDF to view the complete factum and detailed tables.

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For more information on this news release, please contact:

John Wright
Senior Vice-President
Ipsos-Reid Public Affairs
(416) 324-2900