Industrial Revolution - change from agricultural to industrial societies.

The mentor/apprentice model of work changed from guilds and home shops to assembly-line repetitive tasks that required few skills. Workers were interchangeable.

1800s

Lord Durham sent by Britain to investigate rebellions in Upper and Lower Canada. His report recommended the union of the two parts into one colony called Canada.

1839

Confederation created the Dominion of Canada, consisting of Ontario, Quebec, and the former colonies of Nova Scotia and New Brunswick.

1867

1868

Canada Civil Service Act establishes the Civil Service Board which had jurisdiction over the Inside Service (National Capital area) only .

Hudson's Bay Company transfers its territory to the Dominion of Canada.

The Red River Rebellion begins. Métis, led by Louis Riel, capture Fort Garry (now Winnipeg) and set up a provisional government.

1869-70

Royal Commission to Enquire into the Present State and Probable Requirements of the Civil Service produced 3 reports. Recommended an organization for the departments and one classification system. Also advised that there be a preliminary examination for entry into the Public Service.

The North-West Mounted Police created to bring law and order to the frontier west, establish friendly relations with aboriginal peoples and maintain the peace as settlers arrived. Name changed in 1920 to the Royal Canadian Mounted Police.

1873

The ability of public servants to vote without being inappropriately influenced by politicians is assured by the adoption of the secret ballot. Previously voting was done by public declaration.

1877

Select Committee Appointed to Inquire into the Present Condition of the Civil Service (House of Commons) recommended establishing a commission to make recommendations for appointment and using examinations to determine merit by competition.

Rodin exhibits his sculpture "The Thinker."

1880

Royal Commission to Consider the Needs and Condition of the Civil Service of the Dominion resulted in the Civil Service Act of 1882.

Thomas Alva Edison patents a 3-wire electrical system which is still in use.

1882

Board of Civil Service Examiners created by the Civil Service Act to examine potential recruits on their academic knowledge. A preliminary test to screen out those who were unfit for the civil service was followed by a selection examination.

Shop management systems - workplace dominated by machines and technology.

1890s

1892

Royal Commission to Enquire into the Present Condition of the Civil Service in Ottawa recommends a Civil Service Board of five members with the responsibility to hold examinations, and investigate and report on the organization and administration of departments.

"Management philosophy . . . was epitomized by Henry Ford, who often wondered why workers brought their heads to work when all he really needed was their hands and feet." (Losey, 1998)

1895

Novelist Lucy Maud Montgomery publishes Anne of Green Gables.

1908

Royal Commission to Enquire into and Report on the Operation of the Civil Service Act and Kindred Legislation. The Civil Service Amendment Act replaced the Board of Civil Service Examiners with a permanent Civil Service Commission of two members. Jurisdiction is still limited to the Inside Service.

Taylor publishes the definitive work The Principles of Scientific Management. "Most of the ideas in scientific management were already known before Taylor's time. Taylor's contribution was to combine them into one, all-inclusive philosophy." (Freeman, 1996)

1911

Commission to Enquire into All Matters Connected with or Affecting the Administration of the Various Departments of the Government and the Conduct of Public Business Therein (Public Service Commission) established. Their report, as well as the recommendations of the Murray Inquiry in 1912 were never acted upon possibly due to the threats of an impending world war.

Industrial Psychology - As managers began to realize that the one scientific way of performing a job did not always work, it brought about a recognition of the importance of the individual. Hugo Munsterberg, a psychologist at Harvard University, contributed methods for analyzing jobs in terms of their mental and emotional requirements and devised testing to help people perform their jobs better.

1913

World War I encouraged the development of more and more tests to evaluate military recruits. Refinements in assembly line work:

• division of labour into discrete elements

• automatic pacing

• caused employee turnover, wages and profits to greatly improve.

1914-18

The Act to Amend the Civil Service Act of 1912 identified the position of chairman and added a third commissioner. This was not implemented until 1917.

The Civil Service Act of 1918 established a Civil Service Commission (CSC) of three members. The Commission was responsible for recruitment, organization, classification, compensation, promotion and transfer in both the Inside and Outside Services. Members of the Armed Forces that were honourably discharged were placed above other successful candidates in the order of merit.

1919

The Civil Service Amendment Act brought about the adoption of a classification schedule that eliminated the classification differences between the Inside and Outside Services.

Unemployment rate reached 20% in the years after WW I.

Mechanization generated industrial growth and productivity increased substantially.

A primary concern of management was employees' individual differences. In the companies that had personnel departments, personnel staff were busy developing recruitment procedures, assessing skill needs and writing job descriptions.

Paternalistic benefits and attitudes - management knows best.

1920s

During this decade the CSC focused its attention on the creation of a competitive system of examinations for appointment and promotion (a merit system) as a viable alternative to the patronage system.

In 1921 formal restrictions were placed against the employment of married women. Women already holding permanent positions who married had to resign. These restrictions were not removed until 1955.

1924

The Civil Service Superannuation Act was intended to promote and protect a career civil service.

Supreme Court of Canada rules that women are not "persons" who can be elected to public office. Overruled by the British Privy Council the following year.

1928

The Taylor Society publishes a revised and updated practitioner's manual Scientific Management in American Industry. Elements of scientific management, such as time and motion studies, and time standards for job performance remain relevant and useful to modern management.

1929

The Great Depression

Following heavy Depression layoffs, unionization spread rapidly and challenged management control as the economy improved.

Rise of the "human relations" era. Recognition of the link between supervision and morale. Start of discussions about employee empowerment, teamwork, and psychological motivation.

1930s

Female worker at Ganong's candy factory in St. Stephen, N.B., makes $14/wk; her male foreman makes $32/wk

1931

The Hawthorne Studies, conducted by Elton Mayo, were the first to question the behavioural assumptions of scientific management. The studies concluded that human factors were often more important than physical conditions in motivating employees to greater productivity.

1932

Orders-in-Council established staff control regulations and gave Treasury Board authority over the Civil Service Commission's responsibilities in staffing matters.

Over the remaining years of this decade, four different committees studied various aspects of the civil service. All of them recommended the establishment of an appeal process for employees.

World War II - Personnel departments were challenged with hiring enough employees to keep plants and factories running. Thousands of women were recruited and trained to perform work previously reserved for men. There was a renewed focus on individual needs to increase workers' satisfaction and production.

1939-45

Provisions of the War Measures Act supplant those of the Civil Service Act.

For the 6 year period from 1938-1943 total appointments under the Civil Service Act rose from 6,406 to 56,342, almost all on temporary status.

In 1939 the CSC passed regulations establishing formal procedures for appeals of promotions only.

National Joint Council of the Public Service created in 1944 as an advisory body.

The first electronic digital computer, known as ENIAC, is introduced.

1946

The Royal Commission on Administrative Classifications in the Public Service (Gordon Commission) made a number of recommendations regarding the functions of the CSC and the Treasury Board, but they were not acted upon.

Creation of a new classification "Junior Administrative Assistant" (known as Administrative Trainee) for the purpose of recruiting and training a number of university graduates to become good senior administrators. This program was later extended to employees within the civil service.

1947

The CSC establishes a Staff Training Division to provide training classes for departmental personnel. It also begins to appoint directors of personnel in the large and decentralized departments.

1949

By this year the Commission had assigned 55,000 WWII veterans to positions in the civil service under the statutory veterans preference.

Postwar economy booms. Veterans, armed now with government sponsored degrees, increased the number of white collar workers. Rapidly growing companies used promotion as an easy way to motivate and reward employees. This in turn created an increased demand for training at the managerial level

Management trends:

• role-playing

• sensitivity training

1950s

The Financial Administration Act of 1951 authorized the Treasury Board "to exercise all or any of the powers, other than powers of appointment, of the Governor-in-Council under the Civil Service Act." The Board now had final authority in the management, both administration and organization, of the public service.

Drucker writes The Practice of Management and introduces the 5 basic roles of managers.

Maslow's hierarchy of needs theory is published in his book Motivation and Personality. This provides a framework for gaining employees' commitment.

1954

The 5-day/40 hour work week is now standard throughout the government.

1957

CSC establishes the Pay Research Bureau to provide objective information on rates of pay and conditions of employment in government and industry, and to recommend salary rates for civil servants.

Xerox produces its first commercial copying machine.

1958

The Civil Service Commission reports on civil service legislation: Personnel Administration in the Public Service (Heeney Report). It recommended the continuation of the CSC's responsibilities but suggested the CSC be an independent arbiter making recommendations on staff relations and salary matters.

Management trends:

• participative management techniques like Management by Objectives (MBO)

Beginning of employment equity with Women's Liberation and Civil Rights Movements.

Douglas McGregor's Theory X and Theory Y principles influenced the design and implementation of personnel policies and practices for over a decade.

1960s

The new Civil Service Act of 1961 gave civil servants the right of appeal against not only promotions, but also transfers, demotions, suspensions and dismissals.

 For the first time in history a British group dominates the popular music charts. Beatlemania soon spreads throughout the world.

1962

The Royal Commission on Government Organization (Glassco Commission) reported on the management of the Public Service. The recommendations that were approved by the Government included a provision for the CSC to compile personnel statistics and the delegation to departments the authority to manage their own personnel and to be held accountable for efficient performance.

1963

The Civil Service Commission receives approval from Cabinet to set up a Language Training Centre. The estimated annual cost was $900,000. By 1970 the budget was $9 million.

It was estimated that it would have taken 20-25 years to meet the bilingualism needs of the Public Service through external recruitment.

First of the 8 million Canadian baby boomers (born 1946 to 1966) turn 18.

1964

1965

John Carson creates the Staffing Branch within weeks of his appointment as Chairman of the CSC.

1966

Bilingualism becomes an element of merit in the national capital area.

Amendments to the Financial Administration Act gave the Treasury Board the authority to enter collective agreements on behalf of the government. Consequently responsibility for classification, pay determination, and most conditions of employment was transferred from the CSC to the Board. The Pay Research Bureau was moved to the Public Service Staff Relations Board.

1967

Public Service Employment Act (PSEA) and Public Service Staff Relations Act (PSSRA) come into effect on March 31, 1967. The PSEA gave the renamed Public Service Commission the responsibility for all the elements of the staffing process. The PSSRA created a collective bargaining regime in the civil service.

Herzberg writes in Harvard Business Review, that to boost job satisfaction, make full use of employees.

1968

The Career Assignment Program was initiated by the Commission and Treasury Board to develop high quality senior managers for the Public Service. Enrolment included 57 officers from 34 departments.

The Official Languages Act creates the Office of the Commissioner of Official Languages.

Peter and Hull satirize promotion to the level of incompetence in their book The Peter Principle.

Neil Armstrong and Edwin Aldrin Jr. become the first astronauts to walk on the moon.

1969

Workers stifled by too much bureaucracy have leaders realizing that job design, employee satisfaction and morale are as important as hiring, benefits, and crisis management.

Management trends:

• .PPBS & Zero-based budgeting

• .T-Groups

• .Synectics

• .Pert charts

1974 study reveals that 75% of workers don't like their jobs.

Ongoing shift to a service-oriented economy

1970s

Sex and the Public Service is written by Kathleen Archibald and published by the Public Service Commission in 1970.

The Office of Equal Opportunity for Women was established in 1971 to coordinate equal opportunity programs for women in the Public Service as a result of the report Sex and the Public Service and the 1970 Report of the Royal Commission on the Status of Women.

The Biography of an Institution: The Civil Service Commission of Canada, 1908-1967 published by The Institute of Public Administration of Canada and McGill-Queen's University Press in 1972.

1971

Total enrolment in language training was 6,563: 5,798 in French training and 765 in English courses. A new course "Dialogue Canada" developed by the PSC, replaced "Voix et Images de France" which had a European context.

Interchange Canada program created to bridge the gap in understanding between the private and public sectors.

David McClelland, a Harvard University psychologist, writes Testing for Competence Rather Than for "Intelligence" in American Psychologist. He asks "Do intelligence tests tap abilities that are responsible for job success?" and opens the discussion on how to test for competency.

1973

1974

Northern Careers Program is introduced to provide indigenous people with training and career development opportunities in order to increase their participation in departments operating in the northern parts of Canada. This program complemented the Office of Native Employment (1973) that promoted job opportunities throughout the public service for Indians, Inuit and Métis.

Home computers are introduced.

1975

During the first half of the Seventies, the Public Service expanded by 74 000 employees due to new government social programs, population growth, graduation of the baby boom generation, increasing aspirations of women, the introduction of new technology and the establishment of related departments such as Science and Technology and Economic Development, and growth of monitoring agencies. Total Public Service population under PSEA in 1970 was 198,701, in 1975 it was273,167.

1978

Austerity led to a rapid reduction in the size of the Public Service during 1978 and 1979 for the first time since 1970. The Public Service population was reduced 1.5% in 1978 and by 2.9% in 1979, a loss of 7,883 employees.

In concert with the Department of Foreign Affaires and International Trade, the PSC introduces its International Programs to ensure Canadian participation in the many international organizations to which Canada contributes.

1979

The Bilingualism Bonus was introduced for public servants who met the bilingual language requirements of their positions.

The Royal Commission on Financial Management and Accountability (Lambert Commission) reports on the management system of government including interdepartmental structure, organization and process to ensure effective accountability for public funds.

The Special Committee on the Review of Personnel Management and the Merit Principle (D'Avignon Committee) also reported in 1979 on matters pertaining to the PSEA.

Companies realize that encouraging commitment and increasing productivity at the same time as undertaking significant downsizing, requires employees to be involved in work redesign efforts.

Management trends:

• quality circles

• employee attitude surveys

• team-building programs

• Japanese style management

Open offices become prevalent, along with the Dilbert comic strip.

Acceleration of office automation.

1980s

The Women's Career Counselling and Referral Service was created at the end of 1983 to provide career counselling to high potential women at SM-1 and 2 levels and ensure women are considered for senior management positions.

Between 1980 and 1986, women increased their participation in the Public Service from 35.6% to 41.8%. In the Management Category, representation increased from 5.4% in 1982 to 9.1% in 1986

Blanchard publishes The One Minute Manager followed by several sequels and spin-offs.

Peters and Waterman publish In Search of Excellence, the all-time best-selling business book.

The compact disc is invented.

1982

1983

National Indigenous Development Program launched on behalf of Treasury Board, which together with the Northern Careers Program and the Office of Native Employment, are to provide a full range of activities to ensure that indigenous people have full access to Public Service jobs.

Raven publishes Competence in Modern Society which, along with Boyatzis' book The Competent Manager: A Model for Effective Performance, brings the competency movement into the practitioners domain, no longer exclusive to academics

1984

Under the direction of Judge Rosalie Abella, the Commission on Equality in Employment issued its report. It supported the Commission's view that targets not quotas are the most effective means of achieving equity in the employment of members of under-represented groups.

The Special Committee on Visible Minorities, chaired by Bob Daudlin, M.P. issued its report, Equality Now! which led to the establishment of special measures, including a program for visible minorities to improve their employment opportunities in the Public Service.

Employment Equity Act designates people with disabilities, women, visible minorities and Aboriginal peoples as groups that have been disadvantaged in the labour market.

1986

In the wake of the government's restraint initiatives, the size of the Public Service decreased from 233,173 to 217,223 with the Workforce Adjustment Program.

1987

PSC introduces the Business/Government Executive Exchange Program and the Accelerated Economist Training Program

1988

Establishment of the Canadian Centre for Management Development (which included the Centre for Executive Development - Touraine) reporting directly to the Deputy Prime Minister beginning in 1989.

1989

Public Service 2000 (PS2000) initiative - to reform the federal administration.

PSC's Staff Training Program becomes a Special Operating Agency.

With continuing corporate downsizing in the early years, organizations become flexible and virtual while increasing employees' job insecurities. Narrow duty descriptions no longer fit changing work situations.

Senge describes the learning organization in The Fifth Discipline.

Management trends:

• change management

• process reengineering

• outsourcing

• Internet, Intranet, Extranet

1990s

PSC & TBS publish Profile of Public Service Leaders and Managers in 1990 that "identifies core characteristics that define effective performance, characteristics that transcend specific functions, trends and preferred leadership styles of the day."

PSC publishes a series of guides on Assessing for Competence. Topics include different types of test instruments for personnel selection, linguistic profiles, assessing candidates with disabilities, and leadership and managerial talent.

Management Trainee Program introduced to develop recent university graduates to the middle-management level.

1991

PSC initiates a major renewal of its operational and information systems to support its central agency staffing responsibilities - the Integrated Staffing System Project (ISS).

Training and Development Canada (TDC) develops the Public Service Learning and Communications Network with the Government Telecommunications Agency and CCMD, Initial funding coming from the Human Resources Development Council.

Leaders of Canada, Mexico, and the U.S. sign the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), which will eliminate most trade restrictions.

1992

Public Service Reform Act amends both the Public Service Employment Act and the Public Service Staff Relations Act. Greater flexibility for managers to respond quickly to changing operational requirements or to allow employees to acquire new skills. Also enabled the PSC to prescribe standards of competence to measure merit.

Assessment Centre for Executive Appointment opens.

1993

Special Measures Initiatives Program is administered by the PSC on behalf of TBS. It incorporates previous Special Measures Programs adding development and retention of designated group members as well as training in the management of diversity.

Employment Equity Act revised to extend coverage to the public sector and gave the Canadian Human Rights Commission the authority to enforce employer obligations.

The Way Ahead for Human Resource Management in the Public Service published by the Personnel Renewal Council.

1995

The February 1995 Budget announced a reduction, over a three-year period, of approximately 45,000 indeterminate positions (33,000 under PSEA). The Early Retirement Incentive and Early Departure Incentive measures were introduced by TBS and Priority Administration under PSEA was amended.

PSC pilots use of the Internet for recruitment.

Personnel Renewal Council establishes the Competency Based Human Resources Management Action Group.

Royal Commission on Aboriginal Peoples publishes their report.

1996

A New Framework for Resourcing the Workforce: Report of the Consultative Review of Staffing.

Federal summer student employment program is revised and renamed theFederal Student Work Experience Program (FSWEP).

In response to the La Relève initiative, PSC introduces two new programs, the Assistant Deputy Minister Pre-Qualification Process (ADM PQP) and the Accelerated Executive Development Program (AEXDP).

Matching People With Work program initiated to connect people with competencies to employers with opportunities.

PSC hosts their first Fall Learning Series which looked at the professional Public Service.

La Relève Task Force launched.

A Strong Foundation: Report of the Task Force on Public Service Values and Ethics

Getting Government Right: Governing for Canadians - Program Review and Alternative Service Delivery (ASD's)

1997

PSC Performance Review (Capelle Report)

PSC and Recourse (Shoemaker/Starchuk Report)

A National Recourse Advisory Group was established to advise on ways to improve recourse mechanisms without amending the PSEA.

PSC re-organization.

PSC staffing reform initiative launched.

Learning Resource Network Internet site mounted to provide a single window on learning for Public Service managers, learners and trainers.

Learning Advisory Panels (LAPs) launched for each of 5 functional communities: middle managers, comptrollership, human resources, communications and policy. LAPs are to advise on learning programs and services for the communities below the executive level.

First report of the Advisory Committee on Senior Level Retention and Compensation (Strong Committee)

Program Review and Public Service downsizing activities completed.

Establishment of the Leadership Network to continue the work of the La Relève Task Force.

Application of the Universal Classification System (UCS) government-wide.

1998

Public Service Commission releases The Wholistic Competency Profile (WCP): A Model which describes 8 categories of competencies that go beyond the traditional KSAs to present a more complete picture of the worker.

A PSC review of competency use found that of 57 federal organizations surveyed, 32 are using competencies either in a pilot project (21) or in some aspect of HR (11), and 25 are not using competencies in their HR systems.

PSC delegates 10 new staffing authorities to Deputy Heads.