In the 1990s, they became human punching bags for governments bent on fiscal responsibility — the largest group of Canadians to be bloodied by a seemingly endless flurry of downsizing and reorganization.

Workers in the public service sector have taken their lumps, says Graham Lowe, a director at the Canadian Policy Research Network (CPRN).

And big changes lie ahead, he says.

“There is a crisis, or crunch, coming,” says Lowe. “I like to look at it as an opportunity. This sector is at the leading edge (of change) and how this is all handled may offer lessons for all sectors of the economy.”

While governments willingly signed severance packages only a few years ago, they now face the first wave of the Baby Boomer generation, which begins turning 55 next year.

Public service employees are eligible for pensions at 55, and many of them, suffering from burnout and demoralization, will likely leave.

“Governments are facing this huge exodus and saying: ‘What are we going to do? How do we recruit new people?’ ”

Lowe spoke in Calgary last week about the impact of extensive downsizing and restructuring in the public service in five jurisdictions: the federal government, and the provinces of Alberta, Manitoba, Ontario and Nova Scotia.

Lowe has synthesized the results from a number of studies begun in 1997 by CPRN, an independent organization whose mission is to educate and prompt public debate on social and economic issues.

Lowe says that governments want to become “employers of choice,” and many are striving to be more flexible, knowledge-intensive and learning-based.

He admits that when he joined the research project, he expected to find many negatives. Instead, he found encouragement.

One of the key findings showed that in 28 per cent of the work units studied, managers had been given the mandate — or just seized it — to create a more flexible work environment.

Flexible cultures mean more than just allowing staff to pick the hours they want to work, says Lowe.

It means expanding people’s job descriptions, allowing staff to use more of their skills, to continuously develop skills on the job and to move laterally throughout the company.

It’s that type of environment that fits the needs of public service workers, and might allow governments to recruit and retrain people.

Government is unique in some areas, says Lowe: it relies heavily on knowledge-based workers with university educations and it has invested heavily in information technology, more than most sectors in the economy.

“If people feel more challenged and rewarded on a personal level . . . the message will get out.

“We can all think of organizations that people would like to work for, even though they can’t pay in the top 10 per cent.”

In order to create better environments, it is critical that unit managers be given the mandate and tools to initiate change.

Paradoxically these managers have traditionally (since the turn of the 20th century) been most resistant to change. “They have the most to gain, but also the most to lose,” explains Lowe.

And a flexible workplace where many people can do various functions may be the only way to stem the wave of workers who will begin leaving.

“At the executive level in federal government, you are looking at 70 per cent of these people hitting retirement eligibility within a few years,” says Lowe.

“They have a lot of knowledge that hasn’t been captured. It’s just in their heads.”

He believes the public service will have to recruit older workers. Faced with a shrinking skill pool globally, governments may have to strike deals with the private sector to share or borrow workers for certain periods of time. And they will have to share their own resources across the country.

At the same time, government must find a way to put down the gloves and shake hands with bitter unions shoved to the sidelines in the ’90s.

Governments can’t match the highest bidders in private industry, nor can they pay stock options, says Lowe. Therefore, he believes, they will have to be able to offer flexible payment systems (performance-based pay).

The concept undercuts the negotiated basis for compensation, but government must reward workers for coming forward with innovative solutions, he says.

Currently, only senior managers in the public service sector normally qualify for performance pay.

Governments that can find agreement will move ahead the fastest.

“All of this is still in the direction of greater flexibility. You need to take some of the rules and regulations away for that to happen.”

Lowe will be eagerly watching as the entire process unfolds.

“It isn’t going to be easy,” he says. “But if they can find a way, it will unlock doors for everyone to learn from.”

Web Watch:
www.cprn.org