First of all we got a response from Philip Lillies, a union activist and president of a union local out in Moncton, to our second column on the role of unions. We would like to thank Philip for his contribution and encourage you all to check it out.
Barring some unfortunate incident, weekly columns will resume this Friday, with an editorial on the use of technology in the workplace.
In the News
Senator Hugh Segal, a member if the standing committee on agriculture and forestry wrote a special to the Sun on the Senate report, Beyond Freefall: Halting Rural Poverty. Among the report's recommendations is moving federal government jobs to rural areas. The National Post subsequently published this letter from a reader.
David Zussman published this piece on public service delivery and innovation.
While the E.X. files shared a story called Seeking Guidance.
The July 28th edition of the Hill Times has two articles in it that are of interest. The first is by Jack Cole, entitled Want to know the best place to work in Canada’s federal public service? Here is an excerpt:
"Do you know someone looking for a career in Canada’s federal public service? Do you want to know which agency is the best one to work for? Or are you a public servant already working in Canada’s public service? Are you looking for a change, perhaps to a better place within the federal public service? Do you just want to know the best place to work there, where the employees are the most engaged? These are good questions and with a little research, you might find answers, at least partial answers. You can readily find the best companies to work for in Canada through a few different sources as the private sector gives up its “who is best” secrets rather easily. But the public sector seems to want to keep this information hidden away, even though it’s publicly available with a little digging. That digging is what I did a few years ago along with a few other colleagues, when I worked in the federal public service."
While Cythnia Munster's column contains some great quotations from James Lahey (PCO) on renewal:
"[G]iven that it takes ten years or so, even in the most ambitious cases, for people to become executives, and longer than that to become deputy ministers, we can reasonable expect that virtually all of the people who will be executives and deputy ministers of the federal government in 2015 and beyond are already here, which says to me that the most important thing to do with renewal is how do we deal with the people who are already here? How do we challenge them, how do we develop them, what kind of workplaces, what kind of work do we have? Do they feel inspired and challenged and eager to come to work in the morning? Or do they feel frustrated, suppressed, unable to act on their best ideas?”
Remember - you can probably find a copy of the Hill Times in any senior office.
In the Blogs
The New Zealand Minister of Labour, Hon Trevor Mallard, gave this speech on improving workplace productivity (thanks Etienne for the link).
Colin McKay asked the question, Is a Bad Blog Better than No Blog?
Jim Mintz posted a guide to Common Sense Communications.
Peter Smith wrote on the calamity of old versus new technologies in a post on RSS Feeds vs. Email Updates.
Conference Board of Canada
The CBoC dropped two reports that may be on interest:
1. Bridging the Gaps: How to Transfer Knowledge in Today's Multigenerational Workplace
2. Workforce Renewal: New Opportunities to Transform Health and Safety Culture
You will need to register in order to access these documents but registration is free for employees of most government departments.
Canada School of Public Service
Armchair Discussion – National Capital Region
Ottawa - Wednesday, August 6, 2008
1:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m. (ET)
National Managers Community Focus Group
Bilingual Presentation
The National Managers Community (NMC) would like to hear from you!
As a follow up to the electronic polling (e-polling) survey conducted at the National Managers’ Community Professional Development Forum held from April 20-23, 2008 in Vancouver, the NMC are conducting focus group sessions with Managers throughout the country to get their thoughts on the results captured from this survey. This will be an opportunity for Managers to provide feedback and suggestions for action.
You are invited to attend one of three focus group sessions taking place in the National Capital Region (August 6, 13 and 20, 2008).
We hope you will take the opportunity to participate and have your voices heard.
You are invited to attend this Armchair Discussion on-site at 65 Guigues Street (Ottawa).
To register, please visit the School’s Web site:
http://www.csps-efpc.gc.ca/events/armchair/program_e.html
Discussion informelle – Région de la Capitale nationale
Ottawa – Mercredi 6 août 2008
13 h 00 à 16 h 00 (HE)
Séance de discussion de la Communauté national des gestionnaires
Présentation bilingue
La Communauté nationale des gestionnaires (CNG) veut connaître votre opinion!
Un sondage électronique a été effectué lors du Forum de développement professionnel de la communauté nationale des gestionnaires, qui a lieu du 20 au 23 avril 2008, à Vancouver. Pour y donner suite, la CNG organise des séances de discussion avec des gestionnaires de tout le pays en vue d’obtenir leurs opinions sur les résultats du sondage. Les gestionnaires auront alors l’occasion de fournir de la rétroaction ainsi que de faire des suggestions quant aux mesures à prendre.
Nous vous invitons donc à assister à l’une des trois séances de discussion qui auront lieu dans la région de la capitale nationale (6, 13 et 20 août 2008).
Vous êtes invités à assister à cette Discussion informelle en personne au 65, rue Guigues (Ottawa).
Pour vous inscrire, veuillez consulter le site Web de l’École :
http://www.csps-efpc.gc.ca/events/armchair/program_f.html
hey that Hill Times piece on the best places to work in govt looks interesting; I'll have to dig me up a copy. btw it's always bugged me that so little of their content is freely available online...
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