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/ Canadian Government Executive
// October 2016
Harry
Cummings
Shelley
Borys
Gail
Vallance
Barrington
T
he Government of Canada’s
newly announced
Policy on Re-
sults
replaces the former
Policy
on Evaluation
. One new and
welcome feature is that it declares in its
Directive on Results that heads of evalu-
ation are responsible for “ensuring that
departmental evaluators have opportu-
nities to develop their competencies and
to earn evaluation-related designations
or certifications from recognized profes-
sional associations and certifying bodies”
(paragraph 4.4.12).
This new policy is the first time that
that the professionalization of evalua-
tion through the use of competencies and
certification has been mentioned in the
federal evaluation context. While there
has been recognition in past policies for
heads of evaluation to possess relevant
competencies, this expansion to all fed-
eral evaluators and reference to evalua-
tion-specific designations or certifications
represent important steps forward in the
professionalization of the federal evalua-
tion function.
It is a milestone. But how do you devel-
op your evaluation skills and seek certifi-
cation?
Golf Anyone?
Practicing evaluation is a lot like golf.
First of all, you need to train to improve
your skills, getting out on the course at
least once or twice a week. Each time you
swing that club, you learn something new
and the more you swing, the better you
get. Evaluation is the same. You have to do
a lot of evaluations to really understand
what is involved.
Golf requires many tools—driving irons,
long irons, short irons, putters. They are all
important to the quality of your game and
that game is comprised of many different
processes. Evaluation also requires a whole
kit bag, from qualitative to quantitative
methods, from formative to summative ap-
proaches, you need to know what pieces to
use and how to fit them together to create a
competent and useful evaluation.
So what do you do when you need to im-
prove your game? In golf, you can choose
to play with a friend who has better skills
than you have. In evaluation, you can find
a professional colleague to act as a mentor,
guiding you through the many aspects of
practice that comprise the whole.
Or you could take lessons from a pro!
This could be the fastest and most reliable
way to improve your skills. In evaluation,
the competencies identified by the Cana-
dian Evaluation Society (CES) can be used
as a guide to identify areas where profes-
sional development is needed. Once you
have identified your skill gaps, you can
find the appropriate training.
Probably, not too many of us will be-
come golf pros, but we can still reduce our
handicap. Evaluators are luckier. They can
be recognized by their peers for having
attained the skills needed to be deemed
a competent evaluator. The Canadian
Evaluation Society’s Credentialed Evalu-
ator (CE) designation indicates that those
skills have been acquired (see evaluation-
canada.ca/ce).
Program Evaluation
Professionalizing Evaluation
in the Government of Canada:
How PHAC and HC Did it