Satisfaction with Internal Communications Products — Electronic Survey

General Internal Communications

Frequency of Information Sharing: Demographics

• PAB (86%), IB (57%), and CIDB (56%) employees are most likely to meet regularly
• PB (16%) and TMB (18%) employees are least likely to meet regularly

Q1: My work unit meets to share corporate information …

Note: May not add to 100% due to rounding and/or the "Don't know/Refused" responses are not included

(n=464)

Sources of Internal Communications

• Employees feel that direct sources of information keep them better informed about what is happening at CIPO.
• Indirect sources of information are less effective.

Q2: Please, indicate whether you agree or disagree that the following sources of internal communications keep you informed about what is happening in CIPO.

(n=464)

Sources of Internal Communications: Branch

• Branch variation exists as to the top source of communication.
• Indirect communication remains the least effective source of keeping employees informed of what is happening at CIPO.

Internal Communications

• Employees generally feel informed at the work unit level … though feel less informed at the Branch (55%) and IC (30%) levels.
• Three-quarters say they understand CIPO's mandate and priorities.

Q4: Please respond to the following statements using the provided scale.

Internal Communications: PSES

• The 2005 Public Service Employee Survey (PSES) showed results similar to those found in this survey.

2005 PSES

Have a good ongoing communication with others who work on similar projects/issues (Q77)

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Can clearly explain the direction of organization (Q76)

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CIPO's Internal Communication Survey

I understand CIPO's mandate and corporate priorities

(Dept, n=3775; CIPO, n=511)

Internal Communications: Branch

• Generally, across branches, employees feel informed at the work unit level
• Employees are least likely to feel informed about what is happening at IC

Satisfaction Gaps

• Large negative satisfaction gaps highlight opportunities to provide employees with better information
• The survey identified four key areas for improvement

Satisfaction Gaps by Branch

• Large negative satisfaction gaps exist among most branches
• Other category (CSB and Executive office), have no high-level negative satisfaction gaps

Satisfaction Gaps by Working Level

• Large negative satisfaction gaps exist among most working levels
• Employees at the Manager/EX level do not have any high-level satisfaction gaps, only medium-level

Training and Career Development: PSES

• The 2005 Public Service Employee Survey (PSES) showed results similar to those found in this survey.
• Employees were generally satisfied with training and career development opportunities.

2005 PSES

I have opportunities to develop and apply the skills I need to enhance my career (Q43)

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My department does a good job in supporting employee career development (Q45)

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I am satisfied with my supervisor helping develop my career (Q44)

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CIPO's Internal Communication Survey

How satisfied are you with the quality of information you receive on training and career development?

59% of CIPO employees are satisfied with training and career development in CIPO's Internal Communications Survey. However this represented a gap of –30%

(Dept, n=3775; CIPO, n=511)

Satisfaction: Work Unit's Communication

• Overall, employees are satisfied with their work unit's level of communication (68%)
• PAB (86%) and CIDB (83%) employees are most likely to be satisfied
• TMB (50%) employees are least likely to be satisfied.

Q8: Overall, how satisfied are you with your work unit's level of communication?

Note: May not add to 100% due to rounding and/or the "Don't know/Refused" responses are not included

(n=464)

Satisfaction: CIPO's Corporate Communications

• Overall, employees are satisfied with CIPO's internal corporate communications (65%).
• CIDB (89%) and TMOB (88%) employees are most likely to be satisfied.
• PB (57%) and PAB (57%) employees are least likely to be satisfied.

Q9: Overall, how satisfied are you with CIPO's internal corporate communications?

Note: May not add to 100% due to rounding and/or the "Don't know/Refused" responses are not included

(n=464)

Improving Internal Communications

• Most employees do not know how to improve CIPO's internal communication practices.
• Most frequently cited improvement is better communication processes.

Q10: How can CIPO improve its internal communications practices?

(n=464)

Improving Branch Communications

• Most employees do not know how to improve branch communication practices.
• Most frequently cited improvement is more and regular meetings.

Q11: How would you improve YOUR branch communications practices?

(n=464)

CIPOinfo

Frequency of Reading CIPOinfo

• Almost two-thirds (61%) of employees read CIPOinfo on a regular basis.

Q12: Over the past year, how often have you read CIPOinfo?

Note: May not add to 100% due to rounding and/or the "Don't know/Refused" responses are not included

(n=464)

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Frequency of Reading CIPOinfo by Branch

• Almost two thirds (61%) of employees read CIPOinfo on a regular basis.
• Corporate communications (CC) employees (80%) are most likely to read CIPOinfo regularly.
• TM employees (45%) are least likely to read CIPOinfo regularly

Q12: Over the past year, how often have you read CIPOinfo?

Note: May not add to 100% due to rounding and/or the "Don't know/Refused" responses are not included

(n=464)

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CIPOinfo Gaps

• Gap analysis reveals two high level improvement areas:
  • Making content relevant to employees' jobs
  • Helping employees better understand CIPO's goals and priorities
• Ease of readability is a positive attribute of CIPOinfo.

Q14: To what extent do you agree or disagree with the following statements about CIPOinfo?
Q15: How important are the following aspects of CIPOinfo to you?

n=412		Agreement (4,5)	Importance % (4,5)	Gap %
Low-level CIPOinfo improvement (Gaps -12 or less) Medium-level CIPOinfo improvement (Gaps between -13 and -20) High-level CIPOinfo improvement (Gaps greater than -21)
Positives	The articles are easy to read	82	75	+7
	I would read CIPOinfo more often if it was available electronically	29	28	+1
Improve- ment Areas	I find the content relevant to my job	28	55	-27
	CIPOinfo helps me to better understand CIPO's goals and priorities	40	64	-24
	CIPOinfo keeps me in touch with what is happening in the organization	59	77	-18
	CIPOinfo helps me learn about the work of different CIPO branches	58	69	-11
	I know how to submit articles and interesting story ideas to CIPOinfo	29	32	-3
	CIPOinfo provides a good mix of organizational and people-focused news	64	65	-1

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CIPOinfo Gaps by Branch

• Gap analysis reveals two high-level improvement areas that vary by branch.
• Ease of readability is a positive attribute of CIPOinfo across all branches.

Q14: To what extent do you agree or disagree with the following statements about CIPOinfo?
Q15: How important are the following aspects of CIPOinfo to you?

n=412	Gaps
	Total	CIDB	TMB	TMOB	PB	PAB	HRB	PFAB	CC	IB	ISB	Other
Low-level information improvement (Gaps –12 or less) Medium-level information improvement (Gaps between –13 and –20) High-level information improvement (Gaps greater than –21)
The articles are easy to read	+7	+6	+8	+13	+6	+14	+9	+3	+20	+5	+8	+10
I would read CIPOinfo more often if it was available electronically	+1	-6	0	-13	+5	0	0	-4	-10	-2	+3	0
I find the content relevant to my job	-27	-23	-20	-13	-31	-14	-9	-14	-10	-32	-32	-10
CIPOinfo helps me to better understand CIPO's goals and priorities	-24	0	-24	+13	-31	-14	-33	-11	-10	-25	-14	-30
CIPOinfo keeps me in touch with what is happening in the organization	-18	-24	-24	+25	-20	-43	-17	-4	-10	-18	-6	-30
CIPOinfo helps me learn about the work of different CIPO branches	-11	-23	-12	+12	-12	0	-8	+11	0	-25	+2	-40
I know how to submit articles and interesting story ideas to CIPOinfo	-3	+18	+8	-25	-10	+29	0	+11	+30	-15	-5	0
CIPOinfo provides a good mix of organizational and people-focused news	-1	0	+12	+13	-2	+29	+8	0	-20	-7	+8	0

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Satisfaction with CIPOinfo

• Overall, employees are satisfied with CIPOinfo (66%).
• Those most likely to read every issue are the most satisfied (87%)
• PAB employees (86%) are most likely to be satisfied. TMB employees (56%) are least likely to be satisfied.

Q16: Overall, how satisfied are you with CIPOinfo?

Note: May not add to 100% due to rounding and/or the "Don't know/Refused" responses are not included

(n=412)

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Improving CIPOinfo

• Most employees do not know how to improve CIPOinfo.
• Most frequently cited improvement is making articles more relevant to job function and the organization.

Q17: How can CIPOinfo improve?

(n=412)

CIPOnet

Frequency of Visiting CIPOnet

• Daily usage of CIPOnet is low (22%), but a majority (51%) of respondents uses CIPOnet on a weekly basis.

Q18: On average, how often do you visit CIPO's intranet site, CIPOnet?

Note: May not add to 100% due to rounding and/or the "Don't know/Refused" responses are not included

(n=464)

• Daily usage of CIPOnet is low (22%), but a majority (51%) of respondents use CIPOnet on a weekly basis.
• HRB employees (40%) are most likely to use CIPOnet on a daily basis.
• Employees from PAB do not use CIPOnet on a daily basis (0%)

Q12: Over the past year, how often have you read CIPOinfo?

Note: May not add to 100% due to rounding and/or the "Don't know/Refused" responses are not included

(n=464)

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Reasons for Visiting CIPOnet

• Employees are most likely to visit CIPOnet to find HR information (64%).
• Employees are least likely to visit CIPOnet to find out corporate or business-related information.

Q19: Please indicate the extent to which you agree or disagree with the following statements about your reasons for visiting CIPOnet.

• Overall, employees are most likely to visit CIPOnet to find HR information (64%).
• Generally, employees are least likely to access business documents (37%) (i.e. SIG). However, PAB employees are very likely to do so (83%).

Q19: Please indicate the extent to which you agree or disagree with the following statements about your reasons for visiting CIPOnet.

n=389	% saying agree (4,5)
	Total	CIDB	TMB	TMOB	PB	PAB	HRB	PFAB	CC	IB	ISB	Other
Find HR info	64	60	57	67	62	50	71	76	56	69	69	78
Read/use branch website	57	67	83	33	55	17	71	64	67	69	41	56
Look up contact info	57	60	61	67	59	67	43	56	56	62	49	44
Find out what is happening at CIPO	54	73	52	83	47	33	64	60	67	64	59	67
Keep up to date on CIPO news	52	53	43	50	50	50	64	56	78	52	59	56
Access reference documents	51	53	78	50	47	33	64	48	67	57	41	78
Access CRC items	45	73	65	33	47	33	50	52	44	40	26	33
Read external news	39	47	57	50	38	50	43	32	33	38	41	33
Read about other branches	38	27	39	33	30	50	57	60	56	45	36	56
Access business and corporate documents (i.e. SIG)	37	53	30	17	29	83	43	40	67	48	41	44

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Satisfaction with CIPOnet

• Overall, employees are satisfied with CIPOnet (63%).
• Those who visit CIPOnet on a weekly basis are more likely to be satisfied (73%).
• Employees from PAB (83%) and CIDB (80%) are most likely to be satisfied.
• Employees from ISB (54%) are least likely to be satisfied.

Q22: Overall how satisfied are you with CIPOnet?

Note: May not add to 100% due to rounding and/or the "Don't know/Refused" responses are not included

(n=389)

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Improving CIPOnet

• Most respondents (65%) do not know how to improve CIPOnet.
• Employees who are dissatisfied with CIPOnet are most likely to suggest improved content (13%).

Q23: How can CIPOnet improve?

(n=389)

Satisfaction Summary

• Overall, a majority of employees is satisfied on all 8 core satisfaction indicators, though there is some variation across branches.
• Overall, CIDB employees appear to be the most satisfied.

Satisfaction Summary

	Satisfied with…	% saying agree (4,5)
		Total	CIDB	TMB	TMOB	PB	PAB	HRB	PFAB	CC	IB	ISB	Other
1	CIPO's activities and priorities	56	78	54	88	54	57	60	58	50	63	48	70
2	Branch's activities and priorities	54	72	39	75	51	57	53	65	70	57	48	60
3	Training and Career development programs	59	72	39	88	59	71	60	71	50	53	50	80
4	Internal job opportunities	53	67	39	88	57	43	60	58	50	45	41	50
5	Work unit's level of communication	69	83	50	63	67	86	73	71	80	78	61	80
6	CIPO's internal corporate communications	64	89	71	88	57	57	80	71	70	71	68	80
7	CIPOinfo	65	82	56	75	61	86	83	67	70	68	71	80
8	CIPOnet	63	80	74	67	61	83	57	56	56	76	54	67
	Average	60	78	53	79	58	68	66	65	62	64	55	71

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Further Satisfaction Analysis

• While a majority of employees was satisfied on all eight questions, further analysis was conducted to understand the relationship between overall satisfaction and the various satisfaction gaps identified.
• Further analysis that took into account both neutral and dissatisfaction scores showed that "core" satisfaction is significantly lower.
• Employees who were dissatisfied in the four key areas highlighted earlier also tended to have lower overall satisfaction scores.
• Addressing satisfaction gaps therefore provides a good opportunity to improve overall satisfaction.
• Information gaps affect overall satisfaction by lowering satisfaction scores across branches.

CIDB information should be taken with caution as the margin of error on this group is high

Conclusions

General Communications

• Overall satisfaction with work unit and corporate internal communications is relatively high.
• Employees generally feel better informed about their work unit than about their Branch or IC, though most say they are aware of CIPO's mandate and corporate priorities.
• Employees would like better information on CIPO's activities and priorities, Branch activities and priorities, training and career development programs and internal job opportunities.

CIPOinfo Findings

• Overall satisfaction and readership are relatively high, with more than one-quarter of employees reading every issue.
• Employee priorities for improvement include making content more relevant to their work and helping them better understand CIPO's goals and priorities.

CIPOnet Findings

• Overall satisfaction is relatively high (63%) though daily usage is low; about half of CIPO employees use CIPOnet at least once a week.
• Most employees use CIPOnet to find HR information, access information about their own Branch or find out what is happening at CIPO.
• Use of CIPOnet to access business and corporate documents is relatively low.
• Suggestions for improvement include improving the content and improving navigation.

Next Steps

• Results of this survey will be reviewed by CIPO Senior Management.
• An action plan will be developed to improve CIPO's internal communications practices.

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Internal Communications Satisfaction Survey

PDF Version
(103 KB, 5 pages)

Section 1: General Communications

1) My work unit meets to share corporate information…

• Regularly (i.e. at least once a week)
• Occasionally (i.e. approximately once a month)
• Rarely
• Never
• Don't know/Refused

2) Please indicate whether you agree or disagree that the following sources of internal communications keep you informed about what is happening in CIPO.

1	2	3	4	5	6	7
Strongly disagree	Somewhat disagree	Neutral	Somewhat agree	Strongly Agree	Don't know/ Refused	Not relevant

• CIPOinfo
• CIPOall
• Posters/bulletin boards
• Emails from supervisor/manager
• Staff meetings
• CIPOnet (intranet site)
• Corporate email

3) Have you ever subscribed to CIPO News Updates?

• Yes
• No
• Never heard of it
• Don't know/Refused

4) Please respond to the following statements using the provided scale.

1	2	3	4	5	6
Strongly disagree	Somewhat disagree	Neutral	Somewhat agree	Strongly Agree	Don't know/ Refused

• I understand my work unit's goals and objectives
• I understand CIPO's mandate and corporate priorities
• I am informed about what is happening at Industry Canada
• I am informed about what is happening in my Branch
• I am informed about what is happening in my work unit
• I receive corporate information in a timely manner

5) How important is it to you to receive information on the following topics?

1	2	3	4	5	6
Not at all important	Somewhat unimportant	Neutral	Somewhat important	Very important	Don't know/ Refused

• CIPO's activities and priorities
• Branch's activities and priorities
• Training and career development programs
• Internal job opportunities

6) How satisfied are you with the quality of information you receive on the following…

1	2	3	4	5	6
Very dissatisfied	Somewhat dissatisfied	Neutral	Somewhat satisfied	Very satisfied	Don't know/ Refused

• CIPO's activities and priorities
• Branch's activities and priorities
• Training and career development programs
• Internal job opportunities

7) What are the main types of human resources information you seek? (Check all that apply)

• Workplace well-being
• Job classification
• Employment Equity and Diversity
• Training
• Career path
• Staffing policy
• Official languages policy
• CIPO — Official Languages Development Training Program
• CIPO — Leadership Development Program
• Employment opportunity or job opening
• Employee orientation
• Human Resources planning
• Awards and recognition
• Work relations
• Compensation and employee benefits
• Other, please specify
• Don't know/Refused

8) Overall, how satisfied are you with your work unit's level of communication (i.e. staff meetings,staff newsletters, emails)?

1	2	3	4	5	6
Very dissatisfied	Somewhat dissatisfied	Neutral	Somewhat satisfied	Very satisfied	Don't know/ Refused

9) Overall, how satisfied are you with CIPO's internal corporate communications (i.e. CIPOinfo, CIPOnet, CIPOall)?

1	2	3	4	5	6
Very dissatisfied	Somewhat dissatisfied	Neutral	Somewhat satisfied	Very satisfied	Don't know/ Refused

10) How can CIPO improve its internal communications practices?

• Nothing to improve
• Other, please specify
• Don't know/Refused

11) How would you improve Your branch communication practices?

• Nothing to improve
• Other, please specify
• Don't know/Refused

Section 2: CIPOinfo (your internal newsletter)

12) Over the past year, how often have you read CIPOinfo?

• Every issue
• Most issues
• Infrequently
• Never | Skip to Next Section
• Don't know/Refused | Skip to Next Section

13) Please indicate whether you agree or disagree with the following statements about thesections of CIPOinfo…

1	2	3	4	5	6
Strongly disagree	Somewhat disagree	Neutral	Somewhat agree	Strongly Agree	Don't know/ Refused

• I enjoy reading the Humour section
• I enjoy reading Speaker's Corner
• I enjoy reading the Travel section
• I enjoy reading the Program Updates
• I enjoy reading about Foreign Visits

14) To what extent do you agree or disagree with the following statements about CIPOinfo?

1	2	3	4	5	6
Strongly disagree	Somewhat disagree	Neutral	Somewhat agree	Strongly Agree	Don't know/Refused

• The articles are easy to read
• CIPOinfo keeps me in touch with what is happening in the organization
• CIPOinfo helps me to better understand CIPO's goals and priorities
• CIPOinfo provides a good mix of organizational and people-focused news
• CIPOinfo helps me learn about the work of different CIPO branches
• I know how to submit articles and interesting story ideas to CIPOinfo
• I would read CIPOinfo more often if it was available electronically
• I find the content relevant to my job

15) How important are the following aspects of CIPOinfo to you?

1	2	3	4	5	6
Not at all important	Somewhat unimportant	Neutral	Somewhat important	Very important	Don't know/ Refused

• The articles are easy to read
• CIPOinfo keeps me in touch with what is happening in the organization
• CIPOinfo helps me to better understand CIPO's goals and priorities
• CIPOinfo provides a good mix of organizational and people-focused news
• CIPOinfo helps me learn about the work of different CIPO branches
• I know how to submit articles and interesting story ideas to CIPOinfo
• I would read CIPOinfo more often if it was available electronically
• I find the content relevant to my job

16) Overall, how satisfied are you with CIPOinfo?

1	2	3	4	5	6
Very dissatisfied	Somewhat dissatisfied	Neutral	Somewhat satisfied	Very satisfied	Don't know/ Refused

17) How can CIPOinfo improve?

• Nothing to improve
• Other, please specify
• Don't know/Refused

Section 3: CIPOnet (intranet site)

18) On average, how often do you visit CIPO's intranet site, CIPOnet?

• Once a day
• 2-3 times a day
• Once a week
• 2-3 times a week
• Once a month
• Never | Skip to Next Section
• Don't know/Refused | Skip to Next Section

19) Please indicate the extent to which you agree or disagree with the following statements about your reasons for visiting CIPOnet.

1	2	3	4	5	6
Strongly disagree	Somewhat disagree	Neutral	Somewhat agree	Strongly Agree	Don't know/ Refused

• To keep up to date on the latest CIPO corporate news (David's Corner messages, CIPOinfo)
• To read recent external news (CBC and WIPO headlines, daily newspapers, weather)
• To find HR information
• To find out what's happening at CIPO (events calendar, photo gallery)
• To access business and corporate documents, such as the SIG, Strategy Map, Business Plan
• To access reference documents
• To look up someone's contact information
• To access CIPO Resource Centre's catalogue, databases or other items
• To read about other branches and their work
• To read/use my own branch's websites (i.e. work tools section)

20) Would you be interested in being informed whenever CIPOnet adds new tools or information?

• Yes
• No | Skip to Q22
• Don't know/Refused | Skip to Q22

21) When new tools or information are added to CIPOnet, would you like to hear about it through…

1	2	3
Yes	No	Don't know/ Refused

• Email every time new content is added
• Email each week
• Email every month
• Quarterly email
• A Post in the "Now Online" section on the homepage
• A poster in the lobby that details what has been added and how I can find it
• Prefer to hear about relevant updates from my manager

22) Overall how satisfied are you with CIPOnet?

1	2	3	4	5	6
Very dissatisfied	Somewhat dissatisfied	Neutral	Somewhat satisfied	Very satisfied	Don't know/ Refused

23) How can CIPOnet improve?

• Nothing to improve
• Other, please specify
• Don't know/Refused

Section 4: General Comments

24) Are there any additional comments you would like to tell CIPO that were not already addressed in the survey?

Section 5: Demographics

25) What is your first language?

• English
• French
• Other, please specify
• Don't know/Refused

26) Please select your sector or branch:

• Copyright and Industrial Design Branch (CIDB)
• Trade-marks Branch (TMB)
• Trade-marks Opposition Board (TMOB)
• Patent Branch (PB)
• Patent Appeal Board (PAB)
• Human Resources Branch (HRB)
• Planning, Finance and Administration (PFA)
• Corporate Communications
• Corporate Strategies Branch (CSB)
• Information Branch (IB)
• Informatics Services Branch (ISB)
• Executive Office (EO)
• Other, please specify
• Don't know/Refused

27) Please indicate your working level:

• Officer
• Examiner
• Supervisor
• Manager
• EX
• Other, please specify
• Don't know/Refused

28) Please indicate the number of years you have worked at CIPO:

• 1-3 years
• 4-10 years
• 11-20 years
• >20 years
• Don't know/Refused