2022 Your Say Matters: Defence Team Well-Being Survey Results

December 6, 2023 - Defence Stories

The 2022 Your Say Matters: Defence Team Well-Being Survey was administered in spring-summer 2022 to assess the Defence Team’s views on various topics related to well-being, organizational culture, and retention. More than 8,600 military members and civilians completed the survey.

This was the first such survey since the COVID-19 pandemic. The survey results show that across the country, in comparison with results from the 2018 survey, members’ attitudes toward their job and perceptions regarding the organization declined.

The next iteration of the Your Say Matters survey will be administered early next year and will provide Defence Team members an opportunity to voice their opinions again on a similar range of questions.

The Defence Team Total Health and Wellness Strategy (THWS), released in March 2022, reflects the commitment the team’s health, wellness, and well-being. It covers Canadian Armed Forces (CAF) members (Regular and Reserve Force) and their families, Department of National Defence (DND) Public Service employees, and all others working on Defence objectives, including Non-Public Funds employees and contractors.

Results from the 2022 Your Say Matters: Defence Team Well-Being Survey will be used to support DND and the CAF in developing and implementing new health and wellness program elements under the THWS, as well as making existing programs and services more widely available and accessible.

The following are some of the results from the 2022 Your Say Matters: Defence Team Well-Being Survey.

High-Level Findings

The three main areas of focus of the survey were well-being, organizational culture, and retention.

Well-being:

• The majority of Defence Team members reported being satisfied with their jobs, were engaged in their work, and felt proud to be in the CAF, or to work for DND.
• About half of Defence Team members experienced work-related stress.

Organizational Culture:

• Three-quarters of Defence Team members reported that DND/CAF has a positive organizational climate.
• Just over half agreed that it has an ethical culture.
• About half of Defence Team members agreed that organizational policies are fair, and that leadership has taken action to increase diversity and inclusion in the workplace.

Retention Decisions:

• Most Defence Team members reported that their jobs were a good fit for them.
• Many factors were strongly associated with turnover intentions, including job satisfaction, burnout, and affective commitment.

Perceptions of Well-being:

The results of the 2022 survey show that although job satisfaction and engagement are positive, work overload, burnout, psychological distress, and morale are areas of concern.

• 79% reported having high job engagement;
• 61% reported being satisfied with their job;
• 49% experienced symptoms of burnout;
• 42% experienced work overload;
• 39% reported high or very high (meaning very frequent or constant) psychological distress, in the previous four weeks; and
• 29% reported high morale.

Work-Life Balance:

Satisfaction with balancing work and personal demands was moderate, and more concerning for CAF members than for DND Public Service personnel. Generally, CAF members’ satisfaction with work-life balance has decreased in comparison with 2018 survey results.

• 57% were satisfied with their work-life balance;
• 43% reported that their work interfered with their personal life; and
• 13% reported that their life interfered with their work.

Perceptions of Organizational Climate:

Most Defence Team members reported a positive organizational climate, and a good sense of relatedness, or connection. Some reported experiencing microaggressions; and perceptions around ethical culture, “negative masculinity” culture, and team psychological safety were also noted.

• 75% reported that the DND/CAF has a positive organizational climate;
• 64% reported a sense of relatedness/connection;
• 53% reported that the DND/CAF has an ethical culture;
• 45% reported feeling psychological safety with their teams;
• 33% reported that the culture is one of ‘negative masculinity’; and
• 5% reported experiencing microaggressions.

Perceived Organizational Fairness:

Just under half had positive perceptions of fairness, which notes room for improvement.

• 49% agreed that organizational policies are fair;
• 45% agreed that the distribution of outcomes is fair; and
• 45% agreed that the decision-making process is fair.

Turnover Thoughts and Behaviours:

Turnover (intending to leave) thoughts and behaviours remain consistent with those reported in 2018. No gender or rank differences were observed.

• 19% Defence Team members reported turnover thoughts and behaviours;
• 22% Regular Force members reported turnover thoughts and behaviours;
• 16% DND civilian personnel reported turnover thoughts and behaviours; and
• 14% Primary Reserve members reported turnover thoughts and behaviours.

Most frequent reasons for intending to leave the CAF:

Among Regular Force members, the most frequent reasons for intending to leave the CAF were the direction in which senior leadership is steering the CAF (25%), job dissatisfaction (22%), pay dissatisfaction (16%) and lack of energy or motivation (16%). Among Primary Reserve members, the most frequent reasons for intending to leave the CAF were job dissatisfaction (20%), the direction in which senior leadership is steering the CAF (19%), lack of fairness and equity in the workplace (18%), and retirement (17%).

Resources

The well-being of the Defence Team is, and will continue to be, our priority. DND and the CAF have many programs, initiatives, and resources to support the health and well-being of the Defence Team:

• Sexual Misconduct Response Centre
• Awards and Recognition (Accessible only on the National Defence network)
• Conflict Solutions and Services (formerly Integrated Conflict and Complaint Management Program)
• Military Family Resource Centers
• Family Information Line
• SISIP Financial
• Strengthening the Forces
• Office of Disability Management
• Employee Assistance Program
• Canadian Forces Member Assistance Program
• CAF Chaplains
• The Defence Team Total Health and Wellness Strategy - Canada.ca
• Strong, Secure, Engaged: Canada's Defence Policy - Canada.ca

Defence Team members will be informed of new supports as they become available.