Supporting Managers in the Regions

By Mike MacDonald
Regional Coordinator, Prince Edward Island

The federal public service is changing the way it operates and delivers services to Canadians through a variety of initiatives including Shared Services Canada, the Consolidation of Pay Services project, new service delivery models, department modernization initiatives, strategic reviews and the deficit reduction action plan.

Through all of these changes managers have played, and will continue to play, an integral role in renewing the federal public service. By the very nature of their positions across all departments and agencies, managers are the ones who take ideas and plans and implement them into action.

At the National Managers' Community we see our role as supporting managers by giving them opportunities to come together to hear important information and messages from senior leaders, learn from each other and network within their regions. We also take the opportunity at regional gatherings to take the pulse of managers so we can bring forward their issues and concerns to the attention of senior officials.

This past fall, several NMC regions across the country have been hosting local forums for managers and these have been dominated by the theme of managing change, as indicated below:

• St John's, Newfoundland and Labrador: Leading from the Middle in Challenging Times
• Summerside, Prince Edward Island: Leading Through Transitions
• Halifax, Nova Scotia: Thriving through Transformation: Not Business as Usual
• Montréal, Quebec: L'Intergénérationnel : Une force du renouvellement du milieu de travail
• Toronto, Ontario: Managing Complexity and Constraints
• Winnipeg, Manitoba: Embracing Transformation: Dealing With Change
• Saskatoon and Regina, Saskatchewan: Living and Leading with Courage
• Edmonton, Alberta: Community of Leadership—Impacting Canadians in Challenging Times
• Vancouver, British Columbia: Managing Change

Over 1,000 managers across the country have already participated in the regional forums, which started in Alberta in October and continue to run into January in Rimouski and Sherbrooke, Quebec.

Participants at the PEI Forum in Summerside, November 2011

At the forums, managers have heard from subject matter experts as well as senior leaders within and outside the federal government on a range of topics related to the themes. Managers gained insight into what their role will be as the federal public service navigates through the changes that we will all be facing. Senior leaders gave keynote speeches on their own experiences and many participated in panel discussions to share their knowledge and to hear directly from managers about their concerns.

Several of the regional Forums included a short video message from Janice Charette, Associate Secretary to the Cabinet and Deputy Minister of Intergovernmental Affairs. Her main message included the following:

• A reminder to keep the lines of communication open, even when you may not know any more than employees do;
• Take care of your employees, this is a manager's most important role;
• Deal with performance management issues separately; Workforce Adjustment is not the appropriate tool for this.

Participants at the Manitoba Forum in Winnipeg, November 2011

Here are some quotes from participants about the regional forums:

• "This event was stimulating and it exuded positive energy. Many ideas were put forward for the taking."
• "Middle managers indeed bear the brunt of communicating and implementing change management. It's vital to have a "vision" that's well-articulated and achievable."
• "Universal challenges faced by all. Honesty and straight talk will help us manage through the challenges that are facing the PS."

Supporting managers through change is a priority of the NMC and will be the focus of the national forum in Winnipeg in May 2012, the theme of which is: The Leadership Journey: Managing in a New Era.