Mixed emotions

What a week it has been.

Without boring you with the government background or my personal opinion on whether or not I think the moves this Government is making are right or wrong, what you need to know is that this past week my home department (along with many others) announced the implications of the overall recent budget cuts which includes staffing implications for many employees.

While I should be jumping for joy at the personal outcome for me, I am finding it challenging to hold back tears for so many reasons. To put it clearly, I was deemed 'not affected' by this week's staffing implications and this came as a HUGE relief to me. I feel as though some-how, some-way I dodged a very big bullet and I have take a moment to appreciate that and to thank my lucky stars for what this means to me and my family.

My job is stable, and appears to be for the foreseeable future, however, many of my close colleagues and personal friends are affected and now must go through a selection for retention and lay-off process to determine whether they can retain a position in the department or be declared surplus.

As I've mentioned briefly in the past, since returning to work after my maternity leave, I have been tasked with working on some of the communications activities surrounding the deficit reduction action plan. It has been a draining file... interesting and challenging, but also morally exhausting when your preparing products that will tell people (potentially yourself) they are at risk of losing their indeterminate position.

I knew the day was coming when the cuts would have to be announced, and not knowing my own fate created a world of stress that I had underestimated.  Upon learning that my position was not affected, I actually broke down in tears... because I was in shock of hearing the news, but also because I knew that my safety meant someone else was at risk of losing their position.

Last night the overload of stress caught up with me by way of a massive headache that felt crippling. It almost underlined for me everything I had been feeling all week. 

Working in an environment that has affected and non-affected people in the same group is challenging. It immediately creates a division between colleagues, and a segregation that you try not to acknowledge, yet it is there.  Undergoing changes like these also drives workplace moral into the ground. I know personally I have hard time focusing on my day to day tasks when something like this is happening to my colleagues, and I am not the one who has to actually think about the next steps in the process. I can only imagine what this news has done to them and their personal lives. It is paralyzing in so many ways - and while I tell myself the good ones will make it through these retention processes, I know that some of them will not, because the exercise is designed to realize savings through the elimination of positions regardless of the individuals who hold those positions.

Its a mathematical equation that determines who is affected and who isn't, but it feels personal on so many levels. Those who are affected are feeling like somehow their work is inadequate, or their commitment to their position is in question and those who are unaffected are somehow positioned to look like their work speaks for itself.  The truth of the matter is that some people who were unaffected by the cuts don't have the best performance records or half the commitment level of many of those individual who are affected (not in all cases, but in some).  When you put all of these factors together you have a lot of people questioning the commitment of the department to employees in general when really, it appears they are just a number or box being moved around on an org chart rather than a person with skills and abilities and a dedication to the department's mission, vision, and overall values.  I know that is not the intent of the exercise, but that is the reality from my perspective.

This last week has presented so many questions for what the future will hold, and many of them I still don't have answers for. I have had a very heavy heart over all of this, and while I am not deemed 'affected' this has, in so many ways, affected my professional and personal life.

I will take each day as it comes but I will not for a moment forget this experience or how it has impacted me on so many levels.

Shit Bureaucrats Say

If you work in Government, you will most definitely have a good laugh over this one! I feel as though this video was shot specifically for me, but I know there are thousands of other civil servants out there that feel the exact same way.

If your a civil servant and need a reason to smile, watch this!




If you can't view the above video ...  you can try this link: http://youtu.be/OtLL7pLM-yE

 

Shuffle shuffle... 52 pick-up!

There have been a lot of talks lately about burnout in the Public Service. Specifically an article in the Ottawa Citizen caught my eye this week, as I am practically living this situation at work.

The article entitled 'Too much' reshuffling in PS ranks, expert says' states that 40% of public servants started and ended the last fiscal year in a different job.

Hello? This is me, and many of my friends/colleagues in government communications. We've jumped aboard the party bus when it comes to communication positions in the public service. I have to wonder if my recent move to a different department is the start of some kind of personal bender career wise.

Is this the start of a pub crawl... ? Lord, I hope not, those never ended very well for me in University!

Am I at the department that I will stay with forever? Probably not, and that's not slating the department, I just think, as the Citizen's article states:

"For years, public servants were told to get as much experience in as many departments as possible, especially at the central agencies. As a result, central agencies like Treasury Board are becoming a revolving door of people who are itching to get in to get it on their record and then itching to get out. There's no corporate memory, so it's like a ping-pong policy game. We'll try this and go back and try that because no one remembers why it didn't work before," said Linda Duxbury, a management expert at Carleton University's Sprott School of Business.

I put in a decent 5 years with one organization, and I was convinced I needed to see how the rest of the world lives when it comes to other government departments. I am now working at my second department, and in 5 short months in I have already decided this will not be my final resting place. I will do it for a few years, to gain the experience in a different communication's environment, but I can already see the pros and cons to this department compared to my previous one.

What I find so interesting in the Ottawa Citizen article is that Linda Duxbury states:

"This is a culture that values movement over stability and breadth over depth. It creates stress, burns people out, wipes out corporate memory and there's no accountability. People move with all kinds of kudos and adulation long before the results of their decisions, which could turn out to be dysfunctional, materialize two or three years later."

Since my arrival at my current department, I have been to four good-bye parties, while meeting at least a dozen new employees. Apparently I was only one of a several new hires this year. New people coming on board at the same time can mean good things for a department, but when good corporate knowledge leaves practically the same day you arrive - this can make the job extra difficult.

In communication's its like a game of 52-pick up between departments. Advisors are like cards in a deck being continuously shuffled, every once and a while someone drops the entire deck, and yells '52-Pick Up' while managers across the public service scramble to pick up as many cards/advisors as possible - hoping their won't be another round of the same game for a very long time.

This happens every few years... and I can imagine from a management standpoint, it's got to be beyond frustrating to spend the majority of your time trying to staff your team.

I still believe I am considered to be 'young' in the public service, and as a young public servant, I want to have a good mentor in the business; however, the majority of good mentors in the business really don't have the time for mentoring duties given the other pressures that are put on them in their management role.

I would take depth of experience, over rapid movement up the food chain any day. I would stay at the same salary for years, if it meant the promise of decent guidance from someone who will stick around long enough to transfer the knowledge of the department and make me a better civil servant because of that committment.

Yes.. I know, this one is a bit of a rant. But its definitely an issue as of late in my workplace. I realize the majority of my readers may not be in the public service, but in general, in your workplace, what is the current situation like: is turnover an issue, how does your organization deal with the shuffling of staff and the threat of people burning out?

Ka-ka-karma for Federal Public Servants?

You may recall the recent announcement that our good friend Dalton made just after his re-election as premiere of this fine province.

Yes... the Big D announced the creation of Family Day, a new holiday for the province of Ontario that will be take place the third Monday of every February, starting in February 2008.

The citizens of Ontario are no doubt thrilled - another paid holiday during a season that is long and cold. Everyone in the province must be celebrating... and we were, until the bomb was dropped on the federal public servants of Ontario that this newly created holiday would not apply to us.

As it turns out... and is stated in the Ottawa Citizen article (shout out to the honourable Mr. Wynn for flagging it to me), ""Federally, there are 11 designated paid holidays and despite the addition of a day off in February, our collective agreements do not provide for an additional day off. Since federal employees fall under federal jurisdiction, their public holidays are determined by the Canada Labour Code. Family Day is being introduced through the Ontario Employment Standards Act (not the Canada Labour Code)."

I could go off on a rant about how upset this makes me, but the truth of it is I think it's a bit amusing. I mean... seriously, if you are a federal public servant in this country, your complaints should be few and far between. The fact that we aren't entitled to this new holiday in Ontario makes me laugh because while I will have to work on February 18th, the local pizza maker and garbage man will be rolling snowmen in their backyard, enjoying some GT's (good times) with their families.

Hilarious don't you think? I think it's a little bit of karma coming our way... as for once the Ontario feds are getting the short end of the stick. I imagine on February 18th many non-federal government employees will be saying 'take that' with a devious grin on their faces - and for one day, all the feds in Ontario will be wishing they worked somewhere else!

Look out public health, here I come!

It's late breaking news (as of last Friday), but I had such a busy weekend away from home, that I didn't get a chance to post some exciting information. I have accepted a job offer from the Public Health Agency of Canada (PHAC), and I start on June 4th.

It's a communication's position, I will still be doing strategic advising, but the subject matter will be quite different... no more income tax, I'm onto health promotion and chronic diseases, and all the communications that revolve around these topics: healthy eating, healthy living, healthy pregnancy, physical activity, breast cancer, diabetes, asthma, stroke, - and the list goes on.

Since my return from French training in March, I have been wanting to make some changes on the career front. I would have been willing to do that within CRA, but the right opportunity just wasn't available at the right time, so when this offer from PHAC fell into my lap, it was something that immediately excited me, because of the subject matter. I mean really... income tax can't hold a candle to health and the human body.

Its hard to believe that I have been with CRA since 2002. I like to think of my career and my life in 5 year segments. I always said when I started in revenue, I would try it for 5 years, and then reassess my position after that. Now... without actually setting out to make a career assessment, this job opportunity presented itself, and I really couldn't say no - its a move I have to make in my career, and one that will allow me to grow as a communications advisor, and a public servant.

I have been on a slow learning curve at CRA. I was a student when I started in 2002, and I was able to learn the ropes in a rather leisurely fashion, compared to what is going to be expected of me when I walk through the doors of PHAC. This is the part that scares me, I am going to be thrown into the job and expected to perform on the spot (which is something I can do), but not necessarily something that I want to do, without knowing the files inside and out, like I do with tax. It's definitely going to require me to step outside of my comfort zone, and get my hands dirty if I want to show my new management that I am just as capable in health communications as I am in income tax.

Friday, I had to let my management in on the changes I am going to make, and it wasn't easy. It was emotional and bitter sweet. CRA is the only home I have ever known, so its going to be hard to say goodbye, without feeling like I am leaving behind some family. I have the same feeling now, as I did, when I left home to go to University. I wanted to go away, but I was scared to leave behind my small town roots. This career move is much in the same, its terrifying to leave the only 'real' job I have ever had, and venture off into uncharted territory, but if this job is as fun and adventurous as my days at Ottawa U, I will not regret making the move.

I like to think that I am good at what I do, and the confidence I have in myself as a communications advisor, is something that was instilled in me while working at CRA. I have worked for, with, and around some great people in the last five years, and through each experience at CRA, good or bad, I have learned something, which has allowed me to develop my competencies in communications. CRA has equipped me with all the right tools to continue my career in communications, and for that I will always consider CRA my home in government.

The opportunity that awaits me at PHAC is finally something I am excited about, and as you know, my excitement surrounding my job has been non-existent since the inception of my French training -- but I think I can finally put that experience behind me, and move onto greener pastures in Public Health.

8 working days left at CRA, and counting down quickly!

The Sleeping Dog

Oh, sweet Canadian government, how I love to hate you.

While I generally love my employer of choice, there are times when I hear things in the media that make me want to scream.

Take for instances a news piece I heard earlier this week about how the government is encouraging Canadians who are nearing retirment to work longer, in order to avoid a shortage of personnel in the workplace.

Excuse me if for some reason the potential of a workplace shortage in the coming years is actually a news-worthy item.

It seems to me that this shortage of employees could have been foreseen since say... ohhhh, the 1950s? It annoys me to no end to think that the government is treating this shortage of personnel as a CRISIS situation, when in fact we have known since the baby-boom years that there has been the potential for this to occur.

The government has played the role of sleeping dog for years on this issue, and now they are slowing waking up to the fact that valuable employees with years of experience and expertise are walking out the door, and no one has thought of creating a knowledge transfer plan to help utilise these sacred resources.

In typical government fashion, we are waiting until there is 10 seconds left on the bomb, to try to figure out whether or not to cut black or red.... its ridiculous.

I think this little plea for help from the government goes hand in hand with their recent decision to allow citizens over the age of 65 to continue working 'if they wish to' - it seems more like they are encourgaging it but spinning to it to sound like its a personal 'choice' for each individual (got love those folks in government communications!).

To all the near-retirees out there, I say... take your pension and run, if Stephen Harper and the conservatives are just now hatching a plan to deal with this shortage problem, its not your fault... and you definitely do not need to be working well into your 70s just to help Mr. Harper get through his little crisis period.

I would also like to believe that the young pups of today are smart enough to fill the vacant voids in the workplace... and who knows... maybe this would even be an opportunity for the government to ... (dare I say it), discover news ways of doing things... or heck, even get a little creative?

(Is it just me or I am sounding like bitter public servant who has been stuck on language training for 12 months?)