Posts By Scott McNaughton

Absenteeism in the Public Sector – Is cutting jobs really the solution?

A recent report by the CBC has pegged the cost of federal public service absenteeism at $1B per year. According to the CBC story, the average public servant is taking 18 days a year in sick leave, double what their private sector counterpart does in that same year. While the story does discuss fairly obviousRead… Read more »

Bring Your Own Device – Can it work in the public sector?

Bring your own device (BYOD) policies are corporate policies that dictate the rules around the use of employees personal tablets, smartphones, laptops and other devices for work purposes. Often, a BYOD policy is brought to help manage IT costs or are developed out of a recognition that employees will be using personal assets for businessRead… Read more »

I Can’t Share Large Files – Why Poor IT is Killing Productivity

Shrinking budgets especially in the IT world are putting pressure on public organizations to do the same work (if not more work) on aging technology and infrastructure. The government is not the standard setter when it comes to advancing to the latest and greatest technology. The perfect example: I’m using a Pentium 4 single processorRead… Read more »

Job Losses and the Effect on Innovation

As the Canadian Public Service navigates through the recent job cuts as part of the 2012 budget, I’ve written about different skills that will help any public servant through cutbacks including survival tips for those who survive the job losses and a call to truly think if the public service is the right career forRead… Read more »

How to Set Effective and Achievable Goals

It’s that time of year once again. For public servants in Canada, we are (or have) embarked on a journey to evaluate ourselves against performance indicators and set our learning targets for the upcoming fiscal year. The two documents encompassing this effort are the Performance Discussion Process (PDP) and the Personal Learning Plan (PLP). I’veRead… Read more »

Defining Boundaries: The Challenge of the Connected Bureaucrat

The connected bureaucrat faces many challenges and pitfalls in a world where what you say on Twitter, Facebook or just about any social network becomes part of the public record. As more and more public servants begin to use social networking, it is important to begin defining boundaries and addressing the life of the bureaucratRead… Read more »

So You Survived The Job Cuts – A Survivor’s Guide

What a rough past month it has been for public servants from across Canada. All told, around 12,000 notices have gone out to public servants represented by the Public Service Commission. Personally, I am unaffected by the recent job cuts. During these tough times, it is hard to not feel survivor’s guilt as the processRead… Read more »