6 / Canadian Government Executive // Winter 2023 Our work environment continues to change right before our eyes. According to Statistics Canada, before the pandemic, less than 10% of Canadians worked fully remotely and today that number is above 20%, with an even higher percentage working partially remotely. A recent survey by the Global Government Forum amongst Federal Government knowledge workers indicates that more than 80% of these employees currently work in either a remote or hybrid manner. Many of the other roles within the Federal Government such as Border Agents, Service Canada Passport Agents, Correctional Workers, Parks Staff, Food Inspectors, and many others are in fact first line jobs that do not offer the opportunity to work remotely in any form. Since the onset of the pandemic, it has been largely left to Middle Managers to implement and support the progresPERSPECTIVE Sponsored Content By Adam Ali, MBA, PMP Partner - Public Sector Consulting sion to remote and then back and forth through various degrees of hybrid depending on the policies of the day from the Treasury Board Secretariat (TBS) and considering the equity of those in roles that cannot be performed remotely. Through our advisory work with many federal departments, we have continued to witness Middle Managers who must deal with the impact of these changes themselves, while simultaneously being left to execute the directions amongst their staff, usually with incomplete information, unclear rationale and most importantly limited tools. So, what is a Middle Manager anyway? BetterUp (Meg Lyons) defines the middle manager as someone who is in a leadership position and also reports to top management. Middle Managers manage up, and they manage down. They take direction and they give direction. When employees have questions or concerns MIDDLE MANAGERS: From Surviving to Thriving
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