Canadian Government Executive - Volume 21

/ Canadian Government Executive

// October 2015

ike many other public sector or-

ganizations, the City of Toronto

faces a daunting demographic

staffing challenge: our work-

force is aging. Unlike the Federal govern-

ment and many Provincial governments,

however, the city had never had a corpo-

rate cross-divisional program to attract,

develop and retain high-calibre recent

graduates. We decided to change that.

Eager to attract talented early career

professionals to the Toronto Public Ser-

vice (TPS), the City of Toronto initiated

an Urban Fellows program in 2009. Five

years later, this effort has established it-

self as one of the most innovative and suc-

cessful public service renewal and trans-

formation programs of its kind in North

America. Among municipal governments

in Canada, it may be the only talent at-

traction and development program for

aspiring public service leaders and policy

entrepreneurs. Its strength, I think, comes

from its unique structure.

To be eligible to apply, candidates must

have graduated from a Masters or PhD

program within the past three years.

Each candidate is evaluated for their ex-

ceptional analytical, research, communi-

cation, and project management skills. In

the program’s first five years, it received

an average of more than 800 applica-

tions from across Canada and around the

world. Each year, seventeen candidates

are invited to become what we affection-

ately call TUFs (Toronto Urban Fellows),

not just because they are so talented, but

because they are tough.

Program Elements

We surveyed talent attraction and devel-

opment practices in other jurisdictions.

We also identified key strengths and weak-

nesses of the TPS as an employer. Putting

the two together, the management team

assembled an innovative program design

that combined various strengths, includ-

ing doing, observing and learning, each

activity reinforcing another. The program

is successful because of unique features:

Cohort-Based Structure

The TUF program uses a cohort-based

structure to attract, select, orient/on-

board, and develop a cadre of early career

professionals who are capable of working

in mid-level policy and program manage-

ment positions today, and assuming senior

management positions in the future. The

cohort structure:

• provides significant economies of scope

and scale with regard to recruitment, se-

lection, training and development activi-

ties;

• creates an instant professional network,

promotes cross-fertilization of interests

and perspectives, and supports a sense

of corporate collegiality and identity that

has proven highly effective in breaking

down long-standing divisional silos;

• bolsters the attractiveness of the TPS to

potential candidates, who increasingly

regard the program,(and hence working

with the City of Toronto and in public ser-

vice more generally) as dynamic, innova-

tive and something they can “belong to,

excel in, and identify with,” not merely as

a job or career in a given discipline.

Matching Process

The program uses a “speed interviewing”

process to match Urban Fellows to their

host City division projects (and Project

Guides). In this process, every Urban Fel-

low conducts a short face-to-face interview

with every Project Guide, giving each par-

ticipant the chance to learn more about the

Management

Attracting Talent

toMunicipal Government:

The Toronto Urban Fellows after five years

by Louise Gorby

person behind the resume or host division

project description. While no one is guaran-

teed their top choice, assignment matches

made by the TUF project team are informed

by the preferences of program participants.

The “speed interviews” are intense, chal-

lenging, rewarding and informative. They

support program orientation, networking

and development goals by giving each

TUF a “line of sight” into, and personal

senior management contact, at more than

a dozen City divisions in their first day or

two on the job.

Rotation

During their year-long fellowship, TUFs

undertake two six-month assignments

with two different City divisions. They are

asked to support projects involving (i) busi-

ness process re-engineering; (ii) program

review and evaluation; (iii) policy develop-

ment; (iii) stakeholder engagement; and/

or (iv) corporate project management and

co-ordination. One placement is usually

in a public-facing operating division, the

other in a corporate division which typi-

cally serves internal clients. Experiencing

two different operating environments, and

learning to think and move laterally across

the municipal public service, is a key ben-

efit and goal of the TUF program. The ro-

tation format encourages TUFs to view

themselves as members of the TPS first,

not as representatives of a particular City

program area or division.

Learning Series

Urban Fellows also participate in a unique

12-session “Learning Series” of workshops,

seminars and visits with municipal, busi-

ness and community leaders to broaden

their professional networks and deepen

their knowledge of complex urban gover-

nance, leadership and public administra-

tion issues.