The Year Ahead

First and foremost, the efforts of the National Managers’ Community are directed at managers for the benefit of both the Federal Public Service and Canadians. Managers are key to translating strategic direction into results on the front line and influencing the effectiveness of their teams.

Managers' issues will continue to be in the spotlight. With the challenges facing managers and the Public Service as a whole, there is a great opportunity for the NMC to influence change.

Senior officials in government are paying significant attention to the role of the manager, because they know it's key to the successful future of the Public Service. The results of the recent Public Service Employee Survey emphasized the importance of engagement and the influence that managers have in engaging their teams. The Clerk of the Privy Council said in the Sixteenth Annual Report to the Prime Minister on the Public Service of Canada that he is "going to pay particular attention to the middle management community". We have a committed Champion who can reach senior leaders and engage them in change. The Canada School of Public Service has identified managers' learning as a priority and is partnering with us.

With that kind of support – and our efforts over the last year to become more visible, to forge new partnerships, and to speak with a unified voice – the NMC is well-positioned to take advantage of this opportunity.

We have redefined our vision and will focus on three overarching outcomes over the next three years: Voice and Influence, Engaged Managers and Relevant and Sustainable National Managers’ Community. Each is briefly explained in the framework below.

NMC Results Based Framework

Vision: The NMC is recognized by all as a vibrant, influential and well-connected community that inspires managers and gives them a voice.
Voice and Influence	Engaged Managers	Relevant and Sustainable NMC
Managers and Senior leaders partner to make positive changes that facilitate serving our Government and Canadians.	Managers are committed and work to make improvements that contribute to employee engagement and citizen satisfaction.	Managers and Senior leaders have the capacity to work as a horizontal collective through the NMC.
Strategic Outcomes
NMC is recognized as the voice of all managers. Matters that impact managers are improved.	Managers increase their competence and improve the work environment. Managers adopt new practices that improve the work environment. More managers across the public service are engaged in improvements.	Senior Executives support the role of NMC. Fiscal sustainability Capacity to reach managers as a collective.
Immediate Outcomes
Managers share their concerns and ideas for improvement. Intelligence is accepted by senior leaders.	Managers have access to learning, share information and participate. Managers are exposed to new ideas. Departments have active manager networks. More managers participate in NMC activities.	NMC value proposition is understood. Contributors have confidence that NMC is a well-governed organization. NMC has a national presence.

We will explore the use of technology to meet our objectives and benefit from economies of scale. For example, a virtual Community of Practice space has been created to help practitioners across Canada engage in meaningful discussions, share ideas and best practices, collaborate and problem solve together. Connecting managers in an online environment will serve to engage a wider audience and give voice and influence to those who could not otherwise participate. Similarly, we plan to encourage managers to use our virtual meeting space. To unite our geographically-dispersed managers, real-time webcasting will be explored for conferences and events so that everyone, including those in the regions, can participate.

Although a decision was made to postpone the National Forum for 2009 - 2010, the National Managers' Community is committed to offering opportunities for managers and aspiring managers to connect. Many regional forums and events will be going ahead and more coaching sessions will be offered. We are also exploring options for a National Forum later in 2010.

We believe that the public service is well served by resolving the issues that managers are concerned about and by inspiring managers to excel. We hope that you get engaged with the community of managers as we move forward over the course of the year. With your contribution, we can have a positive impact and collectively, we can make a difference.