Reforming the way in which civil servants work will be crucial to ensuring that governments can retain key skills for the future, according to Canadian cabinet secretary Wayne Wouters.

Speaking to CSW at the Global Public Service Leaders Summit yesterday, Wouters said that the Canadian government learnt – following its 1990s experience of fiscal consolidation – the importance of continuing to recruit during a period of workforce reduction.

The effect of a recruitment freeze in that period is now being seen at senior levels, said Wouters: “We’re seeing something of a reduced number of high-potential executives as a result of not hiring” during the mid-1990s, he explained.

The Canadian government is now going through another period of workforce reduction, but this time it’s still recruiting in strategic areas.
As well as attracting talented graduates or skilled workers, Wouters said, it is important during times of workforce reduction to “ensure these individuals are retained and continue to contribute to the public service.”

He emphasised the need to maintain a positive brand for public service; highlight career opportunities; and reform working environments to meet the expectations of younger generations.

The Canadian government is currently working to modernise its office spaces, and supporting greater use of social media and Web 2.0 technologies.

“If we aren’t doing that and changing how we work it will be hard to retain a lot of our new, very bright civil servants that we’re bringing into the system,” he said.

The two-day Global Public Service Leaders Summit was organised by CSW, hosted by the Institute for Government, and supported by the Blavatnik School of Government, HP and BCG. It brought together senior officials from the UK, Russia, Canada, Germany, New Zealand and South Africa.

On the first day delegates discussed global economic challenges, with a presentation by the deputy MD of the IMF, Minouche Shafik. On the second day the focus shifted to strategies for, and experiences of, public service reform.

Dr Cassius Lubisi, a director general in the South African president’s office, told CSW that the conference would plug a “missing link” in dialogue between civil services across the world.

In the past, he said, discussions on improving global economies and governance have taken place on the political level. “But once those decisions are taken they have to be implemented, and the challenges that are faced by civil servants are pretty similar across the various parts of the world,” he said. “We believe quite strongly that we can share experiences, learn from one another in order for us to best implement political decisions. It’s been a missing link, this civil service dialogue.”

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Written by Matt Ross and Suzannah Brecknell, CSW