Message from the Chair

Mark Butler, Chair, NMC Governing Council

I am extremely proud to present the first Annual Report of the National Managers' Community. What a journey it has been! We started more than ten years ago as a small, grassroots organization of managers. Today, we are a nation-wide, active and dynamic network, with a presence in 13 regions across Canada.

The Community's vision is to be recognized by all as a vibrant, influential and well-connected community that inspires managers and gives them a voice. This is what we aspire to be, and the accomplishments of this past year have started us well on our way to achieving this vision.

In fiscal year 2008-2009, we received $2.9 million in funding from thirty-nine public service organizations. We are grateful for this support. With sustainable funding for a full fiscal year we made substantial progress in our work. I would like to take this opportunity to highlight a few of our accomplishments that demonstrate how the National Managers' Community contributes to better public service and results to Canadians.

We delivered a very successful Annual Forum in Vancouver in April 2008. More than 1200 delegates attended the conference to share ideas, discuss challenges and find potential solutions. Managers told us about some of the major hurdles they face: how to find the time to lead and manage their people in the face of a heavy workload, performance management - especially how to manage unsatisfactory performance, the web of rules public servants face, and succession planning.

We followed up on the conference during the summer with focus groups to further flesh out these issues and find solutions for them. The results of these discussions were shared with the Deputy Minister Committee on Public Service Renewal, the Clerk of the Privy Council and departmental Deputy Ministers. Because of this work, managers’ issues are high on the radar of the most senior levels of the Public Service.

We couldn't have accomplished this without the support of our Managers' Community Champion, Mr. François Guimont, Deputy Minister of Public Works and Government Services Canada. He has played a key role in ensuring that the network is listening to managers, and bringing their concerns to the attention of senior leaders.

With Public Service Renewal in the spotlight, the National Managers' Community also organized a network summit in Ottawa where several networks, the Canada School of Public Service and the Canada Public Service Agency came together to see how we could collectively contribute to PS Renewal.

A key priority over the past year for the community has been to improve its visibility and outreach. This first annual report is part of our efforts. We also made significant improvements to our National Managers' Community Web site (managers-gestionnaires.gc.ca), and we launched a connection to GCPEDIA.gc.ca to provide a discussion and collaboration space for managers.

It has been my pleasure to serve managers as Chair of the Governing Council over the past year. I would like to thank our Champion, Mr. Guimont, and his Assistant Deputy Minister Advisory Board for opening doors for us and encouraging us to expand our reach. Thank you also to all the organizations that contribute the funding that makes our work possible, and to everyone who took the time to connect with your colleague managers. And finally, to the National Managers' Community team of volunteers and staff who work on behalf of managers across this country - I thank you for your dedication.