III

Putting People First

People are at the heart of successful public sector reform. Looking outside, reform requires a focus on citizens and their elected representatives. Looking inside, reform means focusing on public servants, the men and women whose professional life is committed to serving the public interest today and the men and women who will be called upon to do so in the future.

Public servants are committed to serving the public interest and want to put their talents and their skills at the service of a worthy cause. Their talents are in demand outside the public service and can be put to use in any number of organizations. For them to join and maintain their commitment to a career in the public service means we must provide a suitable working environment and working conditions.

While those who choose a career in the public service expect to receive fair and reasonable pay for the work they do, their attachment depends on a number of less tangible factors. These include

• Pride in the role of the public sector in society

• Opportunities to serve Canadians and to make an important contribution to Canada

• Respect for the institution and for their professional contribution

• Room to contribute to their full potential — to learn and to be challenged

To ensure that Canada can continue to rely on one of the best public services in the world requires

• Trust between Canadians and their public sector institutions

• Vision on the part of parliamentarians about the role of the public sector in society

• Respect between elected officials and public servants and a solid understanding of each others’ contribution and role

• Partnership between the public sector, the private sector, the not-for-profit sectors and voluntary organizations

La Relève

In my annual report a year ago, I signalled that a "quiet crisis" had arisen in the Public Service of Canada. It was becoming difficult to retain, motivate and attract people essential to the work of the public service. This was the result of years of downsizing and pay freezes, criticism, insufficient recruitment, and the premature departure of experienced public servants. It was a quiet crisis because few people were willing to talk about it and even fewer were doing something about it.

A year later, while the symptoms remain, the crisis is quiet no more. Under the auspices of La Relève, it is now being openly addressed. Public servants are taking action and they are responding with an ambitious program of reforms. After 12 months it is fair to say that the circle of people committed to making a difference and to putting forward reforms is expanding in every department and at every level.

In last year’s report, La Relève was described as

• "A challenge to build a modern and vibrant institution able to use fully the talents of its people

• A commitment by each and every public servant to do everything in their power to provide for a modern and vibrant organization now and in the future

• A duty, as the guardians of the institution, to pass on to our successors an organization of qualified and committed staff ready to face the challenges of their time"

Finally, La Relève invited public servants to show a bias for action.

The numerous initiatives put forward by departments, functional communities (such as the policy, communications, and science and technology communities), and regional councils to meet this challenge were summarized in the October 1997 document "La Relève: A Commitment to Action". Today, a first progress report is tabled as two companion documents to this report. These documents demonstrate that La Relève has given rise to an unprecedented focus on people issues in the Public Service of Canada. Over the coming years, departments and agencies will provide further progress reports to Parliament through their annual business plans.

Looking Forward

The challenges ahead are many and progress will take time. But if the changes and the progress that we have seen over the last 12 months are maintained over the coming years, much more can be done to build a vibrant and creative institution relevant to the needs of Canadians — an institution capable of attracting and retaining the talent it requires and providing its public servants with rewarding and stimulating careers.

Among the goals we must all strive to achieve are

1. A borderless institution

As issues become more global and more complex, and as citizens and the collective interest become the focus of policy development and service delivery, the work done by public sector employees is changing. The issues require

• The expertise and simultaneous attention of several departments or agencies

• Public servants who can bring to bear a diversity of knowledge and experience

To respond to this challenge, the Public Service of Canada must become a borderless institution. This does not mean it has organizations without structure, without legislative frameworks or without accountability. Rather, it is an institution committed to reducing the barriers to the flow of ideas and information within and among public sector organizations. Some of the barriers are physical, others are built into our information systems, but most are cultural. The cultural barriers are the most difficult to overcome.

A borderless institution

• Focuses on the big picture and has a culture oriented to attaining collective goals, not just individual objectives

• Enhances the exchange of ideas and information among organizations within and outside the institution

• Supports and encourages teamwork and co-operation among organizations

• Encourages the mobility of its people within and outside the public service, in order to broaden their experience and expertise and prepare them for the future

2. A learning organization

Most of the La Relève plans submitted by departments, functional groups and regional councils have demonstrated a commitment to training and development. Assignment programs, mentoring and coaching initiatives and training and development activities are being put in place. This gives us the base to move to a more difficult challenge. The Public Service of Canada must become a continuous learning organization. It is still far from that goal — it requires a transformation in its people, its culture and its leadership.

The challenge of becoming a learning organization requires that we go beyond the provision of training and development. A learning organization

• Recognizes that it is not perfect — it will make mistakes, but it is able through self-correcting measures to avoid repeating them

• Is able to generate new ideas and to acquire new and useful ideas generated elsewhere

• Disseminates knowledge and insight to multiply and expand their potential applications

• Modifies its behaviour to reflect new knowledge and insight

3. Effective leadership

Building an open, borderless, learning organization requires everyone to change — managers, supervisors, and employees. And it needs leadership.

A growing number of public servants are "knowledge workers." This means that they own the most important resource of the organization — their know-how and their ability to innovate. This has implications for all public servants.

First, it changes the traditional concept of employee. In the past, employees worked in a relatively predictable environment and were generally clear about what was expected of them. A learning and knowledge-based organization is much more fluid and unpredictable. Employees are expected to look for solutions, contribute ideas, share information with others, innovateand make a contribution. They are also expected to share with their home organization a responsibility for keeping their skills, knowledge and expertise current and for contributing to the development of others.

Second, it challenges the traditional concept of management. All managers exercise power and authority. They set priorities, organize work and are accountable for results. This will continue to be the case. However, in a learning organization, the way in which managers achieve results and get the best from everyone is very different.

With all the power and authority in the world, one cannot "command and control" creativity and innovation. One cannot "order" new results to emerge. A new approach to management is called for. This approach requires a climate of trust, encourages collaboration and favours inclusiveness. It recognizes the importance of sharing power in exchange for having everyone gain a greater sense of collective responsibility. This management model is much more complex than the one we inherited from the industrial era.

As we change to a learning and knowledge-based organization, the Public Service of Canada needs champions and leaders. A leader is the person who guides the efforts of a group toward a result beyond its current reach. Leaders are not necessarily managers — they can come from anywhere in the organization. And no leaders lead all the time. They know how to follow the lead of others and rely on the strength of others. Human qualities — not position or title — make a leader. The signs of outstanding leadership are found among the followers, for without them there would be no leaders.

Effective leaders

• Have a sense of direction. They are confident in their beliefs and values and have a clear sense of purpose.

• Are the servants of their followers. They liberate the energy and talent of others, allow their ideas to flow, and help them reach and extend their potential.

• Free the potential of others. They understand that leadership is required at all levels and in all workplaces, and they allow others to discover their own leadership potential.

• Foster inclusiveness. By being flexible and open-minded, they encourage others to join in and to be part of a collective effort. They listen and foster two-way communication.

• Value and support people. People want to make a difference, to be proud of their results and to be recognized for what they do. Leaders help to create an environment which satisfies these needs, builds on diversity and allows people to contribute to their fullest. Leaders recognize other people’s contribution to common goals.

The Public Service of Canada has always had great leaders throughout its ranks. Some of them were managers, and their leadership qualities magnified the impact of their work. Many more were professional, technical, operational, administrative or support staff. Their leadership qualities allowed them to bring about results that most of their colleagues initially believed were beyond their reach.

To become a continous learning organization requires that we understand the importance of leadership at all levels in the organization and that we learn to detect, support and develop people who have leadership qualities. Many of the initiatives in the La Relève action plans aim to do just that.

Conclusion

As we come close to the end of the 20th century, there is growing recognition that a well-performing public sector is a national institution that makes a significant contribution to the performance of a nation and the well-being of citizens.

• International agencies, such as the World Bank, the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, and the International Monetary Fund, are placing increasing emphasis on the importance of good governance and sound public administration as essential preconditions for stable economic growth.

• Business leaders, academics and others have also begun to recognize the importance of good governance and sound public administration to a nation’s international competitive position.

To grow and prosper, countries need a strong private sector to support a market economy, a strong voluntary and not-for-profit sector to support communities, and a strong public sector to support democracy. All are complementary and inextricably linked.

For the Public Service of Canada to play an effective role in Canada’s future, we need an openness to re-examine the way we work and a willingness to act on the conclusions we draw in the search for innovative ways to serve citizens and their elected representatives. Continued effort and sustained attention to the challenges set out in this report should help ensure that the Public Service of Canada will maintain its ability to attract the talent it requires, to motivate and reward its employees, and to retain the knowledge, know-how and expertise needed to make an important contribution to Canada’s future.

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