Taking the Pulse of Managers

By Cathy Mercer and Georgette Houle
NMC Secretariat

The National Managers’ Community (NMC) offered a 3 hour session entitled “Dialogue with Senior Officials” at the 2010 Professional Development Forum in Montreal. Similar sessions were held in the two previous forums, Ottawa (2007) and Vancouver (2008), with significant findings and follow up action by the NMC as well as Central Agencies to address key issues raised.

At the March 2010 session, over 1,100 participants, including executives, managers, new professionals and future leaders in the federal public service across Canada engaged in a dialogue and discussion with five Deputy Ministers.

Perspectives of PS managers gathered through e-polling

Delegates participate in e-polling

E-Polling technology allowed for instantaneous results to 19 questions which focused on the following three themes:

• Innovation, risk and control
• People management
• Talent management

Following is a brief summary of some of the key points.

Omer Boudreau chairs the session

• There is a perception that organizations are risk averse, and do not appear to be streamlining or eliminating unnecessary rules and policies.
• 70% of managers indicated that they are not able to spend as much time as they would like on people management.
• Managers reported that they would benefit from user friendly policies and guidelines, more relevant tools and increased access to HR expertise. As well are seeking increased support to use existing staffing flexibilities.
• Managers would benefit from a less time consuming process to deal more effectively with unsatisfactory performance. They are also seeking support from senior management for the decisions they make.
• While the majority of managers indicated they regularly get feedback from their manager on performance, this does not usually include a discussion about career development.
• Most managers feel that there is still value in federal departments and agencies working together to offer career development opportunities.

Discussion with senior officials on the results

The results of these questions formed the basis for inquiry and discussion between participants and the panel of five Deputy Ministers:

• Janice Charette, Human Resources and Skills Development Canada
• Monique Collette, Atlantic Canada Opportunities Agency
• Linda Lizotte-Macpherson, Canada Revenue Agency
• Daphne Meredith, Office of the Chief Human Resource Officer (TBS)
• François Guimont, Public Works and Government Services Canada

Delegates asked questions directly to the panellists in a 90-minute discussion facilitated by Omer Boudreau, Vice-President of Human Resources, Canadian Food Inspection Agency. Managers explored a number of topics and touched on a range of issues that had come up during the e-polling session.

Senior officials from left to right: Janice Charette, Monique Collette, Linda Lizotte-Macpherson, Daphne Meredith and François Guimont

Issues about workload, decision-making authority, trust, innovation, risk tolerance, dealing with difficult employees, hiring, and career development were all discussed with a great deal of candour, leading 85% of respondents to rate this session as very good to excellent.

François Guimont, NMC Champion, concluded the session by saying that this feedback is important and will form the basis of a work plan that outlines areas for improvement. The NMC will be sharing this information with the Deputy Minister Committee on Public Service Renewal as well as using this information to guide its efforts for the year ahead.

For a summary of the issues raised and responses provided by the Deputies, see the full report entitled Dialogue with Senior Officials Session on the NMC website.

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