bout de papier, Vol. 4, No. 2 (1986) — Spring/Summer 1986 // Printemps/Été 1986, p. 35
In a talk that lifted some of the veils on management and its practices, Associate Undersecretary Derek Burney told a PAFSO breakfast seminar on April 17 that with the trauma of reorganization behind us, the time had come to “get on with the job”. The message was similar to that delivered by the Undersecretary, Si Taylor, some months ago, but the delivery was in the inimitable Burney style and it went over well with the capacity crowd which had turned out to hear him.
Burney set out three objectives for the coming year: building confidence in senior management; changing the image of management from that of a burden to a recognized instrument for doing the real work of the department – trade and foreign affairs; adapting the department into the times, recognizing that the climate of restraint is likely to endure.
Promising a clear sense of direction, he said that while senior management would lead the orchestra, the desk level was where “quality control” began and that there was room for improvement. Burney also warned against expending energy in wasteful internal battles.
“We hurt ourselves when we fight the department” “, he argued, “what we need to do is make it work better in a tough environment”
Looking ahead, Burney pointed out that External had to redress its undeserved “fat” image through performance and through the way it presented itself to others in government. Pointing a damning figure at the gossips in the cafeteria, Burney complained that complaints about the department should be handled within: “venting frustrations internally is healthy. Venting internal frustrations on others is suicidal”. Such comments only served the case of those critics who think the department is bloated.
There will not be new resources for the new tasks at hand. Rather, the department will have to absorb a cut of 1.5 per cent of its p/ys in each of the next four years, on top of a four per cent cut in 1985/6. This will mean a net reduction of up to 250 Canada-based positions. The collective impact of recent restraint programs has been to cut 20-30 per cent from programs and activities.
Burney said that the department had been given $40 million less than last year and $75 million less than requested by posts and headquarters. In such a climate, A-based reviews will have to continue to be normal practise. At the same time the department is working to improve its capacity to account for its resources so it can demonstrate better how they serve the government and the public. Resource allocation will be tied directly to the objectives approved by Cabinet. Paper exercises will be stemmed, and Burney said that shotgun telegrams that clog the system with hundreds of copies, long memos that could be replaced by a transmittal slip and the hundred page unread reports were no longer acceptable. The administration system needs to be tightened with the introduction of the kind of automation that has “given us a top class telecommunications system.”
Burney cited some improvements that have already taken place – – the nightwatch has replaced the duty officer system and policy task forces have given “quality officers at all levels from across the department a real crack at fundamental policy formation” – Towards that end, Burney noted the establishment of a Communications Branch in the department to get the message out, especially in the area of trade and trade promotion.
In the area of resource management, Burney noted that the department would be recruiting new officers again. Restructuring the FS group is being examined to improve equity and morale. A separate Foreign Service Act is under consideration. It would provide the flexibility to manage and remove the department from adjusting to regulations written for others. In the meantime, Burney said the department was seeking an exclusion from the existing Public Service Employment Act to reinforce the FS assignment and promotion systems.
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Originally published in bout de papier, Vol. 4, No. 2 (1986) — Spring/Summer 1986 // Printemps/Été 1986, p. 35. Read the rest of this issue →
