Demographic Challenges Facing the Federal Public Sector

Madame Chair, thank you for the opportunity to speak to your Committee.

My name is Nicole Jauvin and I am the President of the Public Service Human Resources Management Agency of Canada. With me today is Karen Ellis, Vice-President of the Public Service Renewal and Diversity Branch, and James Ladouceur, Director General, Planning, Policy and Research.

I have been invited to speak to you about the demographic challenges facing the federal public sector. My presentation will focus on these challenges – and other related ones – that are changing in a fundamental way the context in which the public service operates today.

But first, (if you have no objections), I would like to describe very briefly our responsibilities at the Agency since we are, after all, somewhat of a new player on the HR scene in the Public Service.

The Agency was created in 2003, when the legislative reforms to the management of Human Resources in the Public Service were introduced. Our fundamental raison d'être is to modernize and foster excellence in people management in the Public Service.

I arrived as head of the Agency last September – which means I am still new to the world of HR. But, as President of the Agency, I am the Government’s Chief Human Resources Officer.

Now, Government being Government, it is never quite as simple as that, and I have to admit we all find the HR machinery is a bit complex.

So while the Agency assumes overall leadership on HR matters in the Public Service, there are a number of other players with HR responsibilities out there:

• First, the Treasury Board Secretariat retains authority for labour relations and compensation at all levels except the executive (which is a responsibility of the Agency);
• The Public Service Commission retains authority of course for staffing policy and audit, as well as external recruitment;
• And the Canada School of Public Service delivers all the training according to policy which is set by the Treasury Board on advice from my Agency.

Given these responsibilities, I was therefore delighted to respond to your invitation to discuss some of the issues we’re facing right now, and more importantly, what we’re doing about them.

We need to attract, recruit, develop and retain our fair share of talent in the face of increasing domestic and global competition for this vital resource.

Fortunately, we have a strong base to build upon:

• the Public Service of Canada is a valued national institution
• tnterest in working for the Public Service is very high
• the vast majority of our employees are highly dedicated, skilled and committed to their work.

In fact, our most recent survey shows that 96% of employees were strongly committed to making their organization successful. A lot of people in the private sector would be extremely happy with these numbers.

But the Public Service is in a state of change.

We’re facing internal and external challenges that we cannot ignore. I would like to touch on three in particular. They are:

• the changing nature of our work and the labour market
• a changing and more diverse population mix
• an aging population.

The changing nature of our work and the labour market

The Canadian economy is facing important challenges. Innovation, productivity and growing competitive pressures are changing the Canadian workforce and the Public Service. Demand for highly qualified and highly educated workers is growing. Educational levels are rising. The online workplace is a reality for many Canadians.

This evolution has shifted the level and types of skills required in the Public Service. Based on the definition we use, roughly 58% of our employees are now knowledge workers, whereas ten years ago, this number was around 40%.

Globalization has in many ways changed the way we do business, and the business we do. And technological advancements have transformed how we provide services to Canadians.

In addition, the talent pool from which we are drawing is becoming more scarce with such a competitive labour market.

A changing and more diverse population mix

Just as the nature of work has changed, so too has the Canadian workforce. Recent immigration trends, higher female participation rates, a growing Aboriginal population and shifts in linguistic profiles have all contributed to an increasingly diverse workforce. Statistics Canada projections indicate that the population of visible minorities may rise to 21% of the Canadian population in 10 years. Clearly, the labour market will continue to be diversified.

Currently, the Public Service has a good record with respect to the representation of women, aboriginal peoples and persons with disabilities. We employ all these designated groups at levels above their workforce availability in the Canadian labour market.

But we need to do more with respect to visible minorities. This is one designated group where we need to continue and in fact, redouble our efforts.

It is clear that we have made progress. In fact, visible minority representation has increased from 5.5% in 2000 to 8.1% in 2005 (and 8.6% in 2006). But that’s not enough.

And, we must continue to ensure geographical representation of all regions of the country.

An aging population

The last trend I’d like to address is our aging Public Service.

It is true that Canada’s Public Service is aging. The demographics of the country as a whole show a similar trend. The current average age of a public servant is 45. This is five years older than in 1990, when the average age was 40. The current average age of a public service executive is 50. The age of a brand new executive is 46.

At least the ranks of our youngest employees are strong. Generation X and Y account for 31% of the Public Service workforce. So we do have a solid foundation to build upon.

And we also know that interest in Public Service jobs is still very high, as Madame Barrados highlighted in her presentation to this committee last month.

If you ask me therefore, is there a crisis looming? Well, maybe, if we were complacent. But we’re not.

Are we taking these pressures seriously? Absolutely.

One of the first things the Clerk of the Privy Council put on his agenda as Head of the Public Service, (when he assumed the responsibility a year ago), was the need to renew the Public Service.

The moment he arrived, Kevin Lynch turned his attention to these challenges, and the need for renewal. He launched a process of renewal for the Public Service based on a practical, results-oriented management approach to achieving and sustaining excellence in the Public Service.

He created a senior forum of Deputy Ministers (which my Agency actively supports), to drive this process of renewal. This committee has been working hard, and after careful analysis of the issues, brought forward some specific priorities for action.

He is doing this with the full support of the Prime Minister and Minister Toews, as President of the Treasury Board.

Four initial priorities of Public Service Renewal

As a first step in this process of renewal, Deputy Ministers have endorsed four priority areas for taking action.

• First, integrated planning. We must understand the current and future business of departments, and ensure we have the people and the resources to deliver it. We must ensure that we connect our people requirement to our business plans and align our resources.
• Second, recruitment. We need to renew and sustain our capacity at all levels. 86% of our hiring right now is for short-term purposes, which only emphasizes the need for strategic, integrated planning. We also need to better promote the Public Service as a dynamic and engaging career choice.
• Third, development. We must invest in people, at all levels, not only in terms of skills, but also in the kind of leadership we need for the long term.
• Finally, we must put in place the systems and processes to support efficient, user-friendly planning, recruitment and development. With the coming into force of the Public Service Modernization Act, Parliament gave us the means to improve the way in which we manage HR resources in the Public Service.

What we have not done yet, however, is modernize the administrative architecture that flows from these changes. This has a huge impact not only on how efficient HR services are, but also on how we are perceived by young people who enter the Public Service and whom we want to retain.

The substantive and concrete action plan based on these priorities is fully described in the Clerk’s most recent Annual Report which has just been tabled, and which has been distributed to you individually as well. This report is our roadmap for Public Service Renewal, and our response to the challenges that we face as an institution.

In closing, Madame Chair, I hope you will agree with me that while there are real challenges before us, the Public Service is well positioned to effectively manage future pressures. And while we recognize there is still a lot of work to do, we are confident in our approach.

I would certainly welcome your questions and comments.