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In this issue:
•
Comings & Goings
1
•
Hows Work Going?
1
•
Behind the Scenes - The
Registrar
2
•
eMerge - Focus on Testing &
Training
3
•
Update from IPMA
4
•
HR Links Editorial Board 4
•
Corporate OH&S Update 5
•
Managing a Changing
Workforce
5
•
The Drum Beat
6
•
Upcoming HR Meetings and
Events
7
•
Farewell Enid Stout
7
•
A word or two - Rick Nurse 8
HR LINKS
February 14, 2005
“Our lives begin to end the day
Vol. 2 No. 2
we become silent about things
that matter.” -
Martin Luther King Jr.
Comings and Goings
Recent movement in the HR Community
includes:
;
Isabelle Naud has left the Justice CSU
on February 8 for the Federal
Prosecution Service.
;
Enid Stout is leaving the Justice CSU for
another opportunity on February 18
th
.
(Please see page 8)
)
Charlie MacDonald has accepted the
Diversity Management Consultant
position with the PSC and starts on
February 14
)
Barb Hobson has been seconded as a
Benefits Clerk to the PSC from Natural
Resources
)
Wanda Pierrynowski starts on February
14 with the PSC in the role of EAP
Consultant.
)
Pamela Coffin-MacAulay starts on
February 21 with the PSC as a Strategic
Services Officer
by Carrie Hotton
When the first
Government-wide
employee survey
was launched last
year, Government
committed to
regularly asking
employees for input
about their work
environment. The
2005 mini-survey
will be distributed
February 21
st
.
Although not a lot
of time has passed
since the release of the
employee survey
results from 2004 (the first full survey of all
employees), this mini-survey will allow us to
make comparisons and note any changes in
employee opinion.
The survey is being administered to 1,500 civil
servants, highway (CUPE Local 1867) and
correctional workers (NSGEU Local 480). Full-
time employees, excluding contract and casual
staff, as of November 1
st
, 2004 had an equal
opportunity of being selected to participate. The
sample employee group is representative of
department, age, gender, years of service, and
pay plan groups. Within each of these sub-
groups, employees were selected at random.
Employees have an opportunity to provide
candid input to improve the work environment for
all of us. Survey packages are being sent to
selected employees via interdepartmental mail.
The survey is administered by paper only; some
of our employees are without internet access so
we are unable to offer the survey electronically
this year. Employees will be able to complete
the survey in about 30 minutes. Completed
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surveys must be postmarked by the deadline -
March 7
th
, 2005. Similar to last year, results will
be communicated and posted on the survey
website in the summer, 2005.
For more information, please visit the
employee survey website,
www.gov.ns.ca/psc/survey. To learn more
about corporate-level responses to the
results, please contact Jeannette Smith at
the PSC (424-7504, smithjm@gov.ns.ca).
To learn more about the survey process,
please contact Carrie Hotton (902-424-6655,
hottonca@gov.ns.ca) in the Evaluation and
Audit Division of the PSC.
Behind the Scenes - The
Registrar
There are a number of individuals in the HR
Community who make significant
contributions behind the scenes. In many of
our CSU’s there is some type of Training
and Development or Human Resource
Development function. Generally these units
are made up of facilitators, trainers, program
developers and the vital support role - the
registrar. To most in a department the
registrar is a voice or the name on email; the
one who answers training and development
questions, registers employees for courses,
provides course information and manages
billing.
Angela Ament with Resources CSU, Shirley
Stoodley with the Department of Health and
Lynda Hodder with the Education CSU all
took a moment to do some reflection
recently for the HR Links. Between these
three women they have been with the Nova
Scotia Government working in the Training
and Development function for 40+ years, so
have they seen it all?
“Some of the more popular courses that
employees from Health have been taking
over the past 18 months have been Pre-
Retirement, Diversity and Leadership
Development. The computer courses have
always had a high demand,” commented
Shirley. Both Lynda and Angela echoed
Shirley’s comments
on the demand for
these courses.
(Photo - Shirley
Stoodley, Dept of
Health)
Angela said tact and a sense of humour is really
important in this role, she chuckled when she
recalled a time when an employee called her to
arrange for a drive to a mandatory course she
was recently approved to take. She went on to
add, “some of the biggest changes I have seen
over the years is that more attention is being
given to personal development, succession
management and now that performance
appraisals are being done on a regular basis
more employees are being trained on how to
understand them, which is so important.”
(Photo -Lynda Hodder,
Education CSU)
“You can actually gauge
what is happening in the
Public Service by the
kinds of courses that
employees are taking “
commented Lynda, “for
example we do know that many employees will
be retiring over the next few years and the pre
retirement course is always booked.”
Angela, Shirley and Lynda were asked to put
their thinking caps on and blue sky (training and
development people do this the best). The
question posed to each of them was “If money
was no object what would you do to make the
whole registration process easier?” The
comments were as different as each of these
women! Lynda felt that having the department
CSU’s coordinate all the training and
confirmation requests using a government data
base would cut down on the duplication,
confusion for employees and make more of a
one stop process. Angela wants a network
server. “Having an online system much like SAP
and HRMS would be wonderful.” Shirley would
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like to see one section that is dedicated to
training and development and professional
development programs. This section would be
responsible for managing the overall budget and
scheduling staff trainers and space. “This would
make it so much easier for employees and less
confusing.”
One thing that all three agreed on was that to be
successful in this role, you need a person who is
extremely organized and enjoys dealing with
people.
(Note: No photo of Angela Ament available.)
Focus on Testing and Training
by Joanne Kerrigan, Project eMerge
Project eMerge is Becky Macdonald’s destiny.
“Watching HRMS come in, it seemed really
interesting,” say the Justice HRA. “I said to
myself ‘Whenever they replace this system, I
want to be involved.’”
Becky’s dream came true on January 5, 2004.
She is one of eight employees from various
departments developing training, one of two
developing Time Management courses
specifically.
“It’s great because this is a particular interest of
mine, and I’ve been able to learn so much from
the consultants and other experts on the project.”
Time Management will be the second stream of
courses introduced in March, after Basic
Navigation courses begin.
Becky looks forward to presenting the new
system to her colleagues. “There’s a lot to learn
definitely, but the training has lots of hands on,
and step-by-step documentation that you take
away with you afterward.”
(Pictured above - Becky Macdonald, the Queen and the
Col.)
The other focal point for the project right now is
testing. The third and final cycle of scenario
testing will be complete by February 14, with
stakeholders observing tests during the week.
Scenarios, for example short term illness or
salary revision, were selected for testing and
approved by stakeholders. The scenarios
selected were ones deemed most critical to
business, involving large numbers of employees,
and with the greatest complexity in terms of
system function. In the second and third cycles,
tests were run with actual data from HRMS
(scrambled for privacy), and were run for every
important step of the life cycle of an employee in
the system. As well, these two cycles tested
custom reports and the interfaces to other
systems, such as the Pensions system.
The other form of testing, parallel pay, began
February 7. A sample of HRMS data is loaded
into SAP and runs as if for payroll, and the
results are then compared against HRMS. The
next cycle will run a larger sample of data, and
the third and final cycle is of the full population of
employees and pensioners.
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HR Links Editorial Board:
Jane Allt
Mary Dauphinee
Michelle Collins
Vanessa Hammock
Jeannette Smith
Contact the HR Links Editoral Board at
smithjm@gov.ns.ca
Next issue: Monday March 14, 2005.
Deadline for submission of articles and
updates: Wednesday March 9
th
to
smithjm@gov.ns.ca
Karen King is an HRA from Transportation and
Public Works. She joined the project as a tester
in October.
“I can’t believe how much I’ve learned,” she
reports. “At first it was almost overwhelming - it’s
a big system - but recently at one of the Lunch
and Learns I realized how comfortable I’ve
become.”
(Pictured above - Karen King)
Karen is one of three employees working on
error testing during parallel payruns. Her group
re-tests items that have created errors and been
adjusted.
“I’m really looking forward to putting what I’ve
learned to use. The reporting is impressive - I
think it is going to be really beneficial to
departments.”
The work Karen and the eMerge testers are
doing relies on the existing and new systems
being “frozen” during the test period. In other
words, no changes can be made in HRMS and
none in SAP other than to reflect test results. In
order to minimize the disruption to business
operations, stakeholders suggested that the
restriction be phased in according to the type of
change to be made. As a result, some types of
changes were suspended beginning January 20,
but others such as position creation will not be
suspended until March 15.
Updates and information on Project eMerge are
available at www.gov.ns.ca/econ/emerge
Update from IPMA
by Allison Chubbs, Program Director
Feb. 16 Health through Optimal Nutrition
(8:00 AM - 10:30 AM)
by Heather Sparrow, Registered Nutritional
Consultant and owner of the Canadian School of
Natural Nutrition
Mar. 23 Career Planning Workshop (8:00AM
- 12:30 PM)
by Kelcy Benedict, Senior Consultant, CGI and
certified in Barbara Moses, Career Planning and
Career Coaching and Franklin Covey, 7 Habits
of Highly Effective People
April 20 Succession Planning and
Management (8:00 AM - 10:30 AM)
by Jeff Young, Professor, Department of
Business and Tourism, Mount Saint Vincent
University
May 18 Executive Coaching (8:00 AM - 10:30
AM)
by Shaun Newsome, Industrial Psychologist
presently conducting executive coaching for the
senior management of the Leadership Continuity
Program offered by the PSC
June15 TBA
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Corporate OHS Update
by Sue Pettit, OHS Consultant
The demand for ergonomic workstation
assessments, across government, is an on-going
issue for OHS Specialists and line departments.
Musculoskeletal discomfort experienced by an
individual can quickly develop into a condition
involving time lost from work, and/or a prolonged
period of pain and recovery for the affected
individual. Fortunately, these outcomes can be
minimized by ensuring workstations are set-up
and adjusted properly in the first place (i.e. by
being proactive). When people do experience
musculoskeletal symptoms, and report them
early on, one can often halt their progression by
promptly assessing and adjusting the
workstation.
To address this
need/opportunity, a
one-day training
session was
developed to teach
OHS Specialists
how to conduct a
very basic, front-
line workstation
assessment.
Several types of
situations were identified as being appropriate
for the training to be applied:
•
to proactively ‘audit’ employee workstations
to ensure that basic adjustments are optimal
for the person performing the task(s).
•
to assist new employees to learn how to
adjust their own workstations correctly.
•
to ensure newly installed or modified
workstations are set-up to the basic
standard.
•
to address reports of discomfort from
employees. Note that in this situation, the
basic assessment may require further
intervention by a trained ergonomics
professional, depending on the severity and
nature of complaint received.
On the flip side, this training is not intended to
replace the need for trained experts in some
instances. An expert should be brought in to
assist persons with existing medical conditions
(e.g. return-to-work post injury), physical
limitations, and/or if their musculoskeletal
symptoms are chronic in nature.
Seventeen people from across the province
attended a pilot session on Friday, January 28
th
.
In addition to OHS Specialists, a business
manager who is responsible for purchasing and
setting up computer workstations also attended.
In regional offices of government, the task of
addressing discomfort complaints from staff may
fall on the shoulders of someone other than an
OHS Specialist. The training is intended for
individuals fitting this description, too.
Over the coming months, additional training
sessions will be offered throughout the province.
In the meantime, we will be looking to have
prospective attendees identified within each
department, covering off regional offices as well.
Managing a Changing
Workforce
by Karen Volmer
HR Development Consultant
Justice Learning Centre
On February 10, 2005 the Public Service
Commission brought in Dr. Linda Duxbury from
Carleton University to speak on the topic of
Managing a Changing Workforce. Dr. Duxbury
spoke in the morning to Deputy Ministers and
senior managers within the provincial
government, and in the afternoon to the Human
Resources Community. Dr. Duxbury’s very
interesting talk focused on the generational
differences in the Canadian workforce and the
problems associated with a shrinking workforce.
According to Dr. Duxbury, there are four
generations in the workforce: the Veterans (born
just before or during World War II), the Baby
Boomers (1947-1964), Generation X (1961-
1972) and the Echo Boomers or Nexus group
(1972-1990). Each generation is influenced by
different societal factors and has different core
values. The key to motivating and retaining good
employees is to understand these differences
and use them in your organization.
Why should we care about these generational
differences? We should care because our
workforce is shrinking; retirements are increasing
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and the birth rate is decreasing. The labour
shortage is a long-term issue, perhaps lasting
10-20 years. Understanding these differences
and acting upon them is crucial to attracting and
keeping good employees. We as employers
need to understand what employees want from
their jobs, their bosses and what they will do if
the organization doesn’t deliver.
Generational Influences and Core Values
Veterans are influenced by the stock market
crash, World War II, and the atomic bomb. Their
core values are caution, self-sacrifice, and
deferral of rewards. The Veterans’ work ethic
includes loyalty, dependability, and persistence.
They value wisdom and experience over
technical knowledge.
On the other hand, Baby Boomers are influenced
by economic prosperity, The Pill, the lunar
landing, Vietnam and Rock & Roll. Their core
values are optimism, entitlement, and self-
fulfillment. In general, Boomers are team-
oriented, workaholics who place a high
importance on status symbols.
Generation Xers are influenced by economic
recession, AIDS, nuclear threat and personal
computing. Their core values are adaptability to
change, pragmatism, and immediate
gratification. Gen Xers have a work ethic that
sacrifices personal life for advancement. They
desire job security and want recognition for their
efforts.
Finally, the Echo Boomers are influenced by
technology, a child-focused society, violence,
terrorism and Rap music. Their core values are
optimism, diversity, street smarts and global
networking. They look for independence,
autonomy, work-life balance, and a fun
workplace. Echo Boomers distrust authority and
hierarchy.
Based on all these difference influences and
core values, it’s no wonder that each generation
wants different things from their careers.
Managing this workforce effectively will give
organizations a competitive advantage.
Organizations need new leadership models
based on honesty, inspiration, and competence.
In return they will get employees with a sense of
team spirit who have pride in the organization
and a commitment to its success.
The Drum Beat
by Candy J. Palmater
Can it really be February already? Why is it that
as a child it seemed the summer stretched on for
ever and now, I can barely keep up with the
speed at which the seasons are passing by. Ah
well, February is a great month for a couple of
reasons. First of all, Valentine’s Day happens
this month as as most of you know, I love
holidays that include receiving flowers or gifts.
My dear old Dad will turn 83 on the last day of
the month, which gives me more reason to
celebrate. Finally, February is wonderful
because it is African Heritage Month!!
It was in the early 1900's that African American
scholar, Dr. Carter Godwin Woodson lead the
struggle, and research for the truth, and
instutionalized what was then referred to as
“Negro History Week.” A Harvard trained Ph.D.,
Dr. Woodson dropped out of mainstream
academia to devote his life to the scientific study
of the African experience in America, Africa and
throughout the world.
A serious platform was launched in 1926 to
counteract the distortion of Black History.
Today, the international observance has
expanded to encompass the entire month of
February. The month of February is significant
and recognized for the birthdays of Frederick
Douglass, W.E.B. DuBois, Langston Hughes,
Eubie Blacke, NAACP and the first Pan African
Congress.
Here in Nova Scotia, it was 1984 when the
Halifax Library partnered with the Black United
Front and writer/actor David Woods, to organize
the first celebration of Black History Week at the
Halifax North Memorial Library on Gottigen
Street. Interest in this kind of celebration grew
and in 1991 the Black History Month Association
formed. The rest, as they say, is history.
Please take the time to log onto the Black
History Month website for a list of events during
the month.
www.chebucto.ns.ca/Heritage/BHMA/
Now for the “Dear Candy” section of The Drum
Beat:
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Dear Candy,
I noticed the word Micmac has turned into
Mi’kmaq. What is the difference between the
two words and how do I know when to use one
or the other?
Yours truly,
Lingo Challenged
Dear Lingo Challenged,
The word Micmac was an English attempt at the
plural form of the word Mi’kmaq. Many years
ago the Mi’kmaq rejected this demeaning title
and demanded to be called what they were,
Mi’kmaq or The Family. To find more about this
and other Aboriginal topics, sign up for
Aboriginal Perceptions Training.
Dear Candy,
Why is the government saying Diversity
management now instead of Employment
Equity? Is this just semantics or is there a
difference?
Yours truly,
Twisted by Terminology
Dear Twisted,
Employment Equity was a concept that grew out
of the early Affirmative Action programs which
began in the United States. Over the years
programs have tried to move away from a quota
type of program to a more holistic approach to
the problem of under representation. The Nova
Scotia government has moved to a philosophy of
“valuing diversity.” This philosophy is meant to
create an environment where there is room for
all forms of difference within the human
experience.
Questions for Candy can be sent in confidence
to palmatcj@gov.ns.ca
Upcoming HR Meetings:
EAP Awareness Lunch & Learn - February 15
th
noon - 1PM, 3
rd
Floor Training Room Joe Howe
Building
Thursday February 17
th
4-8PM HR Social at
Stayner’s Wharf Pub & Grill 1781 Upper Water
St.
T
HR Directors: Thursday Feb. 17 Joe Howe
Building
T
HRD Forum: Friday March 4
th
9AM Terminal
Rd. Building
T
HR Consultants: Thursday March 3 Maritime
Ctr. 8
th
Floor
T
Next HR Breakfast - Wednesday May 4,
7:30 - 9:15 AM Location TBA
Good Luck Enid
by Mary Jane Wortman, HR Director
Justice CSU
As mentioned on the first page, Enid Stout,
Manager of Occupational Health and Safety for
the Justice CSU is leaving the provincial
government on February 18
th
. Enid has been
working with the province for 10 years and with
the Justice CSU on secondment since July of
2004. Enid has worked in the area of OH&S for
many years and has several professional
affiliations including memberships in the
Occupational Health Nurses’ Association of
Nova Scotia. While on loan from her home
department, the Public Service Commission,
Enid has led the Justice response to the Public
Service Commission audit of the department’s
OH&S practices and programs.
Even though Enid was only with Justice for a
short time, she has been a valued member of the
CSU team and will be missed. Best of luck Enid
in all your future endeavors.
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A word or two ......
By Rick Nurse, Public Service Commissioner
This is my second
contribution to the
HR Newsletter in as
many months, and
the words I’d like to
ask you to think
about are “change
is”!
We’ve all had
occasion to wonder
about the need for
change, the pace of
change or the way
that a particular change was achieved.
Sometimes these experiences cause us to
conclude that “change” in and of itself is bad or
perhaps even unnatural; and, that, as human
beings, we prefer the experience we know to the
one we don’t know.
I want to suggest that the reverse is infact the
case.
First, the word change is a neutral word and that
depending on how we experience it, brings a
positive or negative connotation. Depending on
the purpose (“outcome”) of change, the way
change is brought about (process) and the
impact of that change on you, change is either
good or bad. Similarly, and even more to the
point, change is essential to our physical,
emotional and perhaps spiritual growth. Yes,
there is a time in life when we’d rather not
continue the physical changes that we
experience; but, even these as I’ve often said to
friends on their birthdays ... consider the
alternative!
So, what’s my point?
Here it is, if you agree that change is a neutral
word and if you agree that change is in fact
essential to our well being, how should we
approach change to make it a more positive
experience?
The answer lies in one of my favourite
McDonald’s adds when the children are
discovering that “they’ve” changed the
McNugget. One of the kids takes a bite, savours
the new flavour and finally smiles and
says,”change is good”. Another, folds his arms,
pouts and says “why don’t they change broccoli!”
He too has a point. The message ... we need to
seek to understand why the change is necessary
to be able to determine whether or not the
change is “good” or “bad”, we need to contribute
to the change process if the change (process) is
to be good... contribute in a half full, not half
empty way ... and we need to understand, seek
to influence and then come to terms with the
impact of that change on us. In truth, the
personal impact of some change is more
significant than we are prepared to tolerate. In
these circumstances, the judgement call is about
whether you can actually influence and
effectively alter the impact, in a professional way
and with optimism, or whether it’s one of those
times when one change causes you to make
another change to change jobs. Again, this can
often prove, in time, to be a “change is good”
experience. One final point, when faced with
change, ask yourself what you expect of others
in the change process and model your answer.
Change after all is all about you!
Happy Valentine's Day!!!!!
Don't forget the HR Social, Thursday Feb.
17at Stayner's Wharf Pub & Grill