A debate is quietly gaining traction inside Ottawa's federal public service: should employees get a structured say in how their managers are evaluated? It's a concept known as upward feedback, and while it sounds straightforward, the reality of implementing it inside one of Canada's largest employers is anything but simple.
What Is Upward Feedback?
Upward feedback processes allow employees to formally rate or comment on their direct supervisors as part of the manager's performance review cycle. The idea is to give leaders a fuller picture of their impact, not just top-down assessments from their own bosses, but ground-level perspectives from the people they manage daily.
In theory, it promotes psychological safety, surfaces management issues that HR might never hear about, and incentivizes bosses to invest in their teams.
The Ottawa Context
For Ottawa's federal public servants, roughly 250,000 of whom are based in the National Capital Region, the relationship between managers and employees has been under a microscope since the pandemic-era push to return to office. Morale surveys from the Treasury Board Secretariat have consistently shown concerns about workplace culture and management quality.
Introducing upward feedback could be one lever to address that. But critics note a fundamental challenge: the process only works if it's safe, anonymous, and taken seriously at every level of an organization's hierarchy.
The Catch
Expert commentary on the proposal zeroes in on a key vulnerability: if managers know, or suspect, who said what, the whole system can backfire. Employees in the public service already worry about retaliation in ways that private-sector workers might not. Union protections help, but they don't eliminate the chilling effect of a poor relationship with one's direct supervisor.
For upward feedback to be meaningful rather than performative, there needs to be genuine organizational commitment from the top. If deputy ministers and ADMs don't model receptivity to feedback themselves, mid-level managers have little incentive to take it seriously.
What Would It Take?
Successful models in other jurisdictions, including some Canadian provinces and parts of the private sector, pair upward feedback with manager coaching, clear action-planning, and accountability mechanisms. A one-time survey that sits in a drawer doesn't move the needle.
The conversation is still early-stage, but it reflects a broader push for cultural change inside Canada's public service. Whether that push translates into policy under the current government remains to be seen.
Source: Ottawa Citizen
