Canadian Government Executive - Volume 24 - Issue 03

30 / Canadian Government Executive // May/June 2018 young professionals A cross the country, a group of ded- icated public servants is driving change in the way we approach our work and deliver services to the public. Energetic, innovative and ambitious, this is group that is usually categorized as ‘young professionals’ or ‘new public servants’. Last year however, consultation across the Institute of Public Administra- tion of Canada’s (IPAC) former New Pro- fessionals Network found its membership was more diverse than these categories would indicate. Many members of the network indicat- ed that they did not consider themselves young professionals because although they were new to the public service, they had transitioned mid-career from the pri- vate or non-profit sectors. Others indicated that as students, academics, or indigenous leaders, although their work is connected to the public sector, they did not consider themselves public servants. Despite these differences, members identified a number of key themes that were of interest to them. These themes in- clude the importance of bringing outside perspectives to government; building in- clusivity into service design and delivery; and collaborating and connecting with other organizations and stakeholders to improve policy. In response to these findings, at the an- nual IPAC National Conference, the New Professionals Network was relaunched as “IPAC-Incite”. The new name is intended to be inclusive of all of those who are new to the public sector and are interested in working to incite positive, meaningful change through their work. Although the name and scope of IPAC- Incite has changed, the focus of the group remains the same – to connect public sec- tor players across the country. The goal is to create opportunities to learn from each other and provide mentorship. This could include foster professional development by collaborating on projects and sharing expertise. It also includes creating oppor- tunities to connect with senior leadership and help develop relevant skills for future cohorts of public sector leaders. As public sector organizations look to the future and the challenges facing our work, there is an increasing recognition of the importance of bringing new per- spectives and skills into the workplace. We are facing generational transition and technological change. There is a need to help connect the ideas and knowledge of those entering the public service with the perspectives and expertise of those who are leaving, in order to ensure that we can simultaneously maintain functional pub- lic service structures and traditions while finding ways to adapt them to work effec- tively for the changing world around us. With membership from across the coun- try at all levels of government and aca- demia, groups like IPAC-Incite present a unique opportunity to share the perspec- tives and ideas of those entering public ser- vice. Canadian Government Executive has offered IPAC-Incite a platform to do just this. In coming issues, IPAC-Incite mem- bers from across Canada will share their perspectives and thoughts on some of the important issues facing the public sector to- day. Our hope is that this series will provide insight into how this demographic views public service, what supports they value from management, and their ideas on how we can improve the way we serve. This series will be avoiding discussion of “millennials in the workplace” or genera- tional differences. Instead, we have asked authors to discuss topics like “what do you want management to know about how to help you” and “what specific actions can we take to change the way we do things”. Our membership has had some great discussion around some of these topics, and we hope you find them interesting as well. S pencer S andor , IPAC-Incite Co-Chair By Spencer Sandor the New Professionals Network