Human Resources Gaps and Planning Priorities

Three overarching realities inform the Human Resources work plan set out in Section 5.

First, WD faces a renewal challenge that is both acute and urgent given the fact that the EX and EX feeder groups are approaching retirement age.  The CO population is also advanced in service and this group contains most of the institutional knowledge and experience needed to effectively deliver judgment-based economic programming in an extremely complex environment.  This renewal challenge comprises recruitment and retention of staff, leadership development, learning, succession planning and knowledge transfer/mentoring.

Short-term priorities include the launch of succession planning initiatives in each office of the department (based on an ongoing pilot and toolkit from the Manitoba region), hiring interns and improving our orientation support for new staff.

The second reality is the clarification that has recently occurred of our specific business goals.  There is much greater emphasis today on improving the productivity and accountability of our service network delivery partners, on achieving results in terms of commercialization of technology in the West, on developing R&D based knowledge clusters, on trade and export promotion, on value-added resource processing growth and on improved competitiveness of western manufacturing industries.  These first tier priorities should influence group learning, recruitment and, where necessary, access to expert opinion in highly specialized industry areas (such as life sciences, venture capital attraction and resource sectors).

One early step will be to assess our internal capabilities with respect to technology commercialization, trade development, R&D based clusters and value-added resource processing, with a view to developing strategies to enhance our analytical capabilities in these areas.  Another priority will be to build staff skills related to building capacity in not-for-profit organizations (including our service network partners) to make them more effective and accountable in their use of public funds.

Finally, the successful execution of WD’s business and human resource plans hinges on attaining management excellence throughout the organization and strengthening systems of accountability.  This takes a strong organizational commitment on an ongoing basis in terms of time and resources.  It means understanding what we currently do well and, more importantly, where we need to improve.  Priorities include management training in the interpretation of collective agreements, training for all employees on giving and receiving feedback, promoting respect in the workplace, and focusing on the development and demonstration of core competencies.