Celebrating Success!

It is with great pride that we celebrate the success of our National Managers' Community Champion, Michael Nurse, who recently was honoured with The Head of the Public Service Award under the Valuing and Supporting Category. Establishment of a National Managers' Community Council, a National Managers' Community Secretariat and this web site are just a few examples of his commitment to supporting and furthering the needs of the managers' community from coast to coast. Thank you.

The National Managers' Community Council

The Head of the Public Service Award - 2001 Nomination

I would like to nominate Michael Nurse for the Valuing and Supporting Category award in recognition of the leadership role he has played in bringing about a greater awareness of the importance of the middle manager within the public service, and in supporting their development.

In April 1998 Mr. Nurse was appointed chair of the Learning Advisory Panel for Middle Managers and was named Champion for Middle Managers by the Clerk of the Privy Council in December 1999, to provide leadership and support to the Managers' Community by listening to the issues, ideas and concerns of managers and providing guidance and advice. At the time, this group had very little national profile and their ranks had been hard hit by Program Review, yet Mike understood from the outset that this group was key to public service renewal.

When others were talking about the need to recognize, support and develop middle managers, Mike got on with it. Using his own resources he began organizing and attending middle manager sessions across the country. Where there was a need and opportunity, he went. A record of these fruitful discussions was published in a booklet entitled "The View from Here: Results of Middle Manager Consultations 1998". This document provided the basis for action in the public service community.

Opportunities for action were identified in the areas of risk taking and innovation, communication, training, development and learning, partnerships, pride and recognition, integration and accountability, values and ethics and service to the public. With Mike's support, these opportunities have taken root in many forms among middle managers who are committing time and resources to further revitalization. For example, learnet.gc.ca. has put middle managers on the web - conferencing with each other and providing them with support tools to further development and learning; middle managers in Manitoba have established the Manitoba Interdepartmental mentoring Network (MIMN) with pacific and Western regions developing similar programs to support cross departmental dialogue and mentoring relationships.

Mike met with the Clerk of the Privy Council and with all Deputy Ministers and broadened their understanding of the issues to the point where many departments now have ADM middle manager champions to bring focus and attention to their needs - this has resulted in the ADM Advisory Board.

To sustain momentum and anchor the progress, he established a national Middle Manager Secretariat to establish community of interest and of practice. He also enabled the creation of the National Managers Council bringing together the heads of the middle manager networks from every province and has been active in the development of the National Capital Area Council. As well, he co-chaired this years very successful Managers National Professional Forum. He has been unrelenting in representing the interests of the middle managers at the corporate level and has made it clear to all middle managers that they can count on his ongoing commitment and support.

Mike has inspired a "cultural shift" within the public service that recognizes, values and supports the contribution of middle manager. This holds great promise for the revitalization of the institution.