In the public service, proving oneself to secure growth opportunities or promotions can often involve a lot more steps than those finding themselves in the private sector. We hear it all the time: “Private sector companies can see talent and promote it, public sector requires an eight month competition or longer – among other factors.”

That said, in principle, we know why these HR hurdles are designed … to ensure transparency, accountability, and fairness in decision-making. However, as a result, we are slowly creating systemic challenges in recruiting, retaining and developing talent, thus inadvertently hindering our ability to grow the public service with the diverse skill set and perspectives needed.

Like the private sector, we do have mechanisms to see talent and promote it – the non-advertised appointment is one of them. The challenge, these alternative means are the exception and not the norm. And yet, we all know such alternatives are being used for some but not others, depending on the hiring manager or organization. But why couldn’t we use it with existing proof points already in place – other than competitions?

Each year, managers assess their employees using the PMA cycle.

“Performance management is an ongoing process that involves planning, developing, coaching, providing feedback and evaluating employee performance.” – TBS

Why couldn’t we then use successful PMAs, and indicators that employees are ready for advancement, to support their growth in lieu of forcing additional competition to demonstrate further proof? The PMA is meant to speak to work experiences and competencies but in many organizations it has become another process whose purpose is lost on paper. Some organizations are using them to do exactly what I am proposing here, however, many more are not, and many others are not leveraging them equitably across the board. So, the circle brings us back to the need for competitions instead.

When we talk about a fair, equitable and modern workforce, we need to think about the role HR plays in that in order for us to continue to retain talent. While this post explores options, HR broadly across government needs to be reviewed and updated to meet today’s realities.

Horizontally we manage talent at the executive level but maybe we need to start considering ways to manage the rest of the public service in a similar manner so that we can identify talent, help to grow it, and more importantly, keep it in the GC. If one department can’t offer the right opportunities, send them off to another. Surge capacity during the pandemic proved how powerful this interchange of talent can be.

Ultimately, we must prioritize HR to meet the present and future needs of Canadians. But like technology in government, perhaps HR needs an improved enterprise approach as well.💡