DM/CDS Message to Defence Team members on transitioning to a Hybrid Workforce

August 11, 2022 - Defence Stories

** This message, and the Directive it references, applies to all Department of National Defence (DND) public service employees and Canadian Armed Forces (CAF) members who supervise public service employees.**

Team,

As you’ll be aware, the Government of Canada is actively considering what post-pandemic working environments will look like in the medium-to-long term for all of us who serve Canadians. And it’s complicated. In the meantime, it’s likely you have questions about what a “hybrid workforce” might mean for you and those you may supervise. It would also be natural if you were comparing experiences with friends, acquaintances, and family members across different federal departments, including our own, and agencies. That’s why we’re writing to you to put the Defence Team approach firmly within that wider context.

COVID-19 will be with us for some time yet, but given the positive results from vaccination and other protective health measures, we’re actively examining how we can keep meeting our defence mandate and priorities. We are providing direction on this through the DM/CDS Initiating Directive on Transitioning to a Hybrid Workforce to Support Full Business Resumption. All DND public service employees and their chains of command are encouraged to read the directive in full.

This Directive reflects new Treasury Board of Canada Secretariat (TBS) direction and outlines how those of us who haven’t already, will gradually transition to a hybrid workforce over the coming months. While this direction applies across the federal public service, it’s important to remember that while many departments went almost fully remote, approximately 50 per cent of our Defence Team was working on-site during the entire pandemic. We acknowledge that many of those not in the National Capital Region have already been working on-site or adapted a hybrid model prior to this direction. We are not all starting from the same position.

A hybrid work model – one that combines on-site and remote/telework – allows for continued operational effectiveness, increased creativity and innovation, the ability to mentor junior employees, and talent manage our future leaders, while still offering flexibility to the degree that’s possible. We are all in uncharted territory and so the next few months will be about exploring new ways of working. We will need to see what works, and what doesn’t, before we formalize our Defence Team approach in late fall.

Our goal is to regain the important in-person connections we have lost, while still retaining the best of telework.

We’re asking for your active participation in this process. Managers and employees should test out different work arrangements leading up to the implementation. That could mean: defining specific days in the office, or determining which activities are better suited to in-person arrangements to see what works best for both the employee and the department.

Depending on where you work within the Defence Team, Assistant Deputy Ministers and Commanders of Commands have the authority to apply the flexibility required to establish hybrid work criteria. They’ll do so in accordance with the Directive, based on their business and operational needs, while carefully assessing the ongoing COVID-19 situation.

Consideration for hybrid work will be based on factors such as, and not limited to operational requirements, mental and physical health conditions, dependent care responsibilities, and public transit limitations. Stay tuned for more detailed information from your respective chains of command on what this means for you.

We’ll continue to adjust our approach based on expert medical advice, guidance from regional health authorities, and lessons learned as we test out different ways of working.

Over the coming weeks, we will be updating existing tools, providing additional guidance documents, and are developing an updated Flexible Work Arrangement form to ensure everyone can work effectively in a formal hybrid environment. We encourage all employees to share their feedback during the summer to help inform our products by contacting the Future of Work team. You can also visit the FAQ: Hybrid Work web page or submit additional questions through the Ask Anything: COVID-19 inbox.

We look forward to understanding your experiences over the coming weeks and months and are jointly committed to ensuring a smooth transition to our new posture, understanding that it will take time to adjust to the new workplace reality.

Thanks, team, for your continued support and resilience.

Deputy Minister

General Wayne Eyre
Chief of the Defence Staff