ward3brighton.ca

That title is a reference to my previous post about Benjamin Franklin’s observations on the tendency of “those who govern” to be reactive.

With that in mind I wanted to highlight an initiative of the Human Resources Committee, which I chair, that was not “forc’d by the occasion”, as Ben put it, but rather quite forward looking. Last year the HR committee decided to develop a strategic plan for the management of the City’s permanent employees. After a lot of hard work, the result is the City’s new Corporate HR Plan. The document is a road map for the City to be a leader in HR management. Attracting and retaining qualified employees is becoming very difficult in all employment sectors and we wanted to get a jump on the competition and start developing a more professional, competency-based work environment and a corporate culture that values employees. The plan deals with retirement and succession planning, recruitment, training, performance evaluations, communications and a raft of other issues. Ultimately, the goal is better service for the residents of Charlottetown.

This will be an ongoing process. Management is currently developing a work plan aligned with the HR plan’s recommendations, and some immediate actions are already underway. This whole process has the support of Council, senior staff and management and employees were engaged in the process all along. This is not a report that will sit on a shelf gathering dust. Although HR is a pretty mundane topic for most people, and not generally newsworthy, I think this was an important step for the City.