Canadian managers confederation

Follow-up to the second study-and-exchange meeting dedicated to raising the status of senior managers

The Canadian Managers Confederation and the Confédération nationale des cadres du Québec, in conjunction with the Senior Managers Job Placement and Training Centre, invited board-of-governor members from all senior management associations in the public, parapublic and peri-public sectors, as well as interested managers working in these sectors, to a second meeting on the theme of raising the status of senior management. No fewer than sixty participants were in attendance!

This invitation came as a follow-up to reflections initiated by professors Joseph Facal and Jacques Lusignan in May 2011. In reality, the working conditions of senior managers have not improved since, quite to the contrary. And the same holds true as for public opinion concerning the status of senior management… How can managers remain motivated in such a context? How can we as an association reverse the trend and raise the status of senior managers in our communities? Professor Jacques Lusignan has been interested in this subject for some years, and especially enjoys addressing the subject with large groups of senior managers, and he agreed to continue in the same vein as during his 2011 talk by sharing his changing reflections, analyses and proposals, in a concrete and dynamic manner.

As a backdrop, Mr. Lusignan first painted a portrait of the present context, including the current crisis in the workplace, the malaise of senior management, and the whys and wherefores of the malaise itself. This starkly realistic vision led to much reflection. Moreover, his remarks to the effect that "management is a profession in search of meaning" awoke his audience to the fact that clarifications are needed regarding the organizing and redefining of roles, as well as with respect to legal status (powers and duties). In his view, this is clearly a profession in the building stage, and it is therefore imperative that the nature of management work and the professional identity of the manager be subject to questioning and debate. As we are also faced with an issue of image and representation, the social and professional status dimension must not be overlooked.

Furthermore, in order to develop a strategic plan to raise the status of senior management, it would seem appropriate to take a closer look at sources of motivation and organizational commitment. Indeed, despite the enormous challenges that they face, and working and operating conditions that are often rather unattractive, the vast majority of managers enjoy their work and devote a great deal of effort and energy to fulfilling the mission of their institution. According to Jacques Lusignan, there are important avenues to consider as a means of raising the lacklustre status of senior management:

Rebuilding a sense of identity for public consumption
Adopting new management policies and practices
Negotiating working conditions – for real this time
Developing a collective sense of efficiency
Networking based on ties of solidarity.

Senior management associations from all sectors clearly have their work cut out for them. That is why concerted action is the best hope, and sooner rather than later. The CNCQ and the CCC-CMC will be keeping a very close eye on this file…

STUDY-AND-EXCHANGE DAY DEDICATED TO RECOGNIZING AND RAISING THE STATUS OF SENIOR MANAGERS AND IMPROVING THEIR WORKING CONDITIONS IN OUR SYSTEMS:

A time for spirited discussions …

Over 70 managers from the public, parapublic and peri-public systems came together on May 12, 2011 to attend a study-and-exchange day specially dedicated to recognizing and raising the status of senior managers and improving their working conditions, an event organized by the Canadian Managers Confederation (CCC-CMC) and the Confédération nationale des cadres du Québec (Québec managers confederation, or CNCQ).

There were a number of underlying reasons to hold the event, and in this regard we must not downplay the fact that the media and various political commentators have become increasingly critical of the role and behaviour of Québec’s senior managers from public, parapublic and peri-public organizations. Paradoxically, in such a difficult context, the government’s actions in response to these sorts of observations have especially resulted in a deterioration in the working conditions of senior managers over the last few years, particularly through the passing of Bill 100:

minimal salary increases
increased accountability
suspension of performance bonuses
less money for travel and professional development
and more.

And with all of this, we must not forget the significant increase in contributions to the Régime de retraite du personnel d’encadrement (supervisory staff retirement plan, or RRPE).

Consequently, in his opening remarks, Jean Perron, the CCC-CMC chair, concentrated on portraying the deteriorating working conditions of senior management staff in the CEGEP system and the increasingly thorny problems that have arisen in matters of recruitment. It goes without saying that these are realities shared by senior managers from other systems as well.

The next speaker, Joseph Facal, former head of the Québec Treasury Board and currently a professor at HEC Montréal business school, focused, for his part, on the causes of this deterioration in the status of senior managers, which he feels has become more palpable than ever over the last few years. He also examined the role of the media in this state of affairs, doing so from a sociological perspective in a very forthright manner.

Next, a discussion panel made up of representatives from various employers’ federations and managerial associations fielded a wide variety of questions. The panelists’ shared observations can be summed up as follows:

Make every effort to further highlight the work done by senior managers in our different systems (concentrating on successes), with an eye to improving the image of supervisory staff and enabling recruitment;
Answer the various media “attacks” out of a concern with transparency; and
Continue to hold senior management meetings and gatherings in spite of the critics and criticisms.

Lastly, to close the day’s events, Jacques Lusignan, a professor at the Université de Sherbrooke, proposed certain very interesting pathways for reflection and action with an eye to further raising the status of senior managers and improving working conditions. With this end in mind, he suggested, among other things, that particular attention be paid to the following:

Strengthening professional identity;
Building a software repository of managerial skills;
Maintaining a significant difference in salary between senior managers and their employees;
Assessing the possibility of inter-system mergers among groups providing similar services, governed by flexible supervisory methods;
Improving local management policies;
Determining a reasonable average workload;
Focusing on career plans for new managers;
Assessing the possibilities for amending the Civil Code of Quebec with regards to the labour relations plan for senior staff;
Working to rehabilitate the middle managers; and
Concentrating on a series of concerted collective actions.

This study-and-exchange day certainly fulfilled its primary mission by enabling a collective soul searching and awakening as well as a sharing of information. Given the importance of the problem areas addressed and the scope of the actions eventually to be put in place, other meetings of the sort are certainly in the offing…