Fallout from the Auditor General’s Report

I sent this letter to the Ottawa Citizen, but they didn’t publish:

“The recent finding by the City’s Auditor General that city staff are making excessive use of sick-leave suggests that it is not individual employees who are sick; rather it points to a sickness within the city’s work environment. This suggests that good leadership is seriously lacking within senior management ranks as well as within City Council.

“One reason that people abuse sick-leave is that they are anxious or unhappy, so don’t want to go to work. City Council can help solve this problem by reviewing its own behavior as well as that of its senior managers.”

City management has since made some changes to its communications organization. After firing the head guy, who never really did anything wrong, they hired three local hot shot journalists in the hope that this might help improve the City’s public image. I’m not sure how one can really make bad management and council decisions look good to the public after the event.

What the City really needs are leaders, both councillors and managers, with the wisdom and judgment to make good decisions related to both policy and execution.