Military Grievances External Review Committee

Goal setting

Question 1

Has your organization set goals (for fiscal year 2023-2024 or future fiscal years) for recruiting and promoting Indigenous peoples and Black and other racialized people?

• Work is underway to set goals.

Please provide details and/or examples, including what your organization is using to set its goals (e.g., operational priorities, labour market availability [LMA], population data, workforce availability [WFA]), and how these goals are communicated to employees, if applicable. What has been the most helpful in advancing towards the goals you have set? What challenges, if any, have you encountered?

Discussions are underway. Human Resources and senior management are developing concrete goals for the Military Grievances External Review Committee (Committee).

Question 2

Has your organization set goals to foster greater inclusion (for fiscal year 2023-2024 or future fiscal years)?

• My organization has set goals to foster greater inclusion.

Please provide details and/or examples, including which metrics or data your organization is using, if applicable (e.g., your Public Service Employee Survey results, pulse surveys, exit interviews, human resources administrative data).

The Committee has set goals to foster greater inclusion by advancing reconciliation, accessibility, equity and well-being in the workplace.

The Committee has reinforced cultural sensitivity and Indigenous reconciliation in our integrated Human Resources plan and mental health action plan. Aside from specific mandatory training and internal events/sessions, the Committee has endorsed recruitment campaigns to attract a diverse workforce and is committed to establishing a sponsorship program. Senior management has endorsed the champions and safe space ambassadors’ roles at the Committee to create safe spaces for employees’ voices to be heard. This includes promoting wellness, diversity and inclusion in our workplace by organizing activities and sharing resources to equip employees and managers in maintaining a work-life balance and fostering a positive and supportive work environment.

The following are metrics and data that the Committee is using to assist in setting goals and activities:

• Public Service Employee Survey results
• Mandatory training (completion rates from the Canada School of the Public Service
• Exit questionnaire
• Integrated (Human Resources) Plan
• Internal surveys (well-being in the workplace, accessibility)
• Human resources management system (MyGCHR) reports

Measuring progress

Question 3

Has your organization developed an approach for measuring progress towards your established goals? 

How is the approach being implemented within your organization (e.g., how is it communicated to employees? What are the roles of executive team members including the Chief Data Officer and Head of Audit and Evaluation and regional management if applicable? How are you reporting on results and outcomes both internally and externally?)?

Yes. For the first time, the Committee has organized a measurement system to track its progress towards established goals through a comprehensive integrated Human Resources plan. This evergreen plan includes concrete performance indicators, supporting complementary actions, leads, dependencies, timelines and results. As such, it permits thorough tracking as they unfold internally.

The integrated Human Resources plan outlines roles for the executive management team, the Human Resources team, the champions, managers and employees.

The results and impacts are communicated to the management team at management meetings and to employees either by blog posts or during all-staff meetings.

Consequential accountability

Question 4

How is your organization using performance management and/or talent management processes to establish accountability for results?

• Quantitative goals are part of performance management agreements. 
• Qualitative objectives are in performance management agreements.

Please provide details about how performance management and/or talent management processes are being used to establish accountability for results.

Common performance work objectives and concrete indicators were established at all levels within the organization (from senior management to managers and employees) in every performance agreement. At our micro-organization, the Director of Human Resources is the key driver in ensuring accountability and promoting/upholding accessibility, diversity and inclusion, and anti-racism values in our hybrid workplace. The work of the Human Resources team is upheld, supported and amplified by the work of the Committee champions, who play a role in achieving the goals set by the organization.

Specific, tangible actions outlined in the forward direction of the Call to Action

Question 5

Have you, as head of your organization, and/or your executive teams sponsored at least two Indigenous employees and Black and other racialized employees to prepare them for leadership roles?

• I have sponsored at least two Indigenous employees and Black and other racialized employees to prepare them for leadership roles.

Please provide details about the nature of sponsorship that you and/or your executive team have provided, along with other programs, such as mentorship or leadership development, if applicable.  

As the head of the organization, I have sponsored two individuals, who self-identified in a marginalized group, to mentor in preparing them for leadership roles in the organization. These mentorships were included in the individuals’ talent management plans.

Question 6

Have you, as head of your organization, personally endorsed at least one recruitment campaign for Indigenous employees and Black and other racialized employees?

• I have personally endorsed at least one recruitment campaign for:
  • Indigenous employees
  • Black employees
  • Racialized employees

Please provide details.

In the last fiscal year, the Committee ran two recruitment campaigns targeted to employment equity groups. The processes were successful. Three employees were hired.

Question 7

Has your organization prioritized official language training for Indigenous employees and Black and other racialized employees who are ready for advancement?

• My organization has prioritized official language training for:
  • Indigenous employees
  • Black employees
  • Racialized employees

How is your organization prioritizing official language training?

As a micro-organization, we have the ability and privilege to encourage and support all employees if they choose to take official language training. Monthly all-staff meetings at the Committee are fully/equally bilingual. Employees are always invited to speak in the language of their choice. Learning tools, like Mauril, are promoted on the intranet regularly throughout the year, as are Francophonie events.

Does your organization offer access to Indigenous language training or have plans to offer access? Please provide details. 

The Committee does not currently have plans to offer access to Indigenous language training. However, this initiative could be offered in the future if a need within the organization is identified.

Question 8

Has your organization provided support and/or invested resources for organizational employee networks and communities?

• Engagement with employees and employee networks in my organization’s decision-making is meaningful and regular.
• Governance structures are in place to support employee networks and communities (e.g., champions, champions/chairs participate at management tables).

Please provide additional detail about how your organization engages with and supports employee networks and communities.

The Committee decided to celebrate the role of “champion” by offering it to any employee who was interested. So, the champions at the Committee are employees who have voluntarily taken on the responsibility to be the voice of their respective files within the organization. There are champions for Official Languages, Beyond 2020 and the Future of work, Mental health, and Accessibility, Gender-based Analysis Plus, Equity, Diversity and Inclusion. The fact that the champions at the Committee are regular employees (and not senior management) has afforded a credibility and audience within the organization. In short, they are listened to.

There is a governance structure in place where champions advise and assist Human Resources in advancing Government of Canada priorities such as diversity, inclusion, accessibility, official languages, mental health and future of work. Aside from meeting monthly with the Director of Human Resources to discuss priorities and activities and to participate in the development of annual action plans, the champions post messages to the blog, recommend and organize events for all employees, attend Government of Canada interdepartmental committees and share perspectives for management’s consideration. Their recommendations are presented at the senior management table for decision and implementation. Lastly, they coordinate and implement the approved activities.

Question 9

Has anti-racism, equity and inclusion work been embedded in your organization’s integrated business plan and/or mental health plan?

• Anti-racism, equity and inclusion work has been embedded in the organizational plan.

Question 10

Does your organization have a calendar to avoid holding major meetings and events during significant religious, spiritual, and cultural periods?

• My organization currently has a calendar for this purpose.

If the calendar already exists, please provide additional details on how this calendar is communicated or promoted within your organization.  

The champions and the Communications team work together to issue monthly blog posts that celebrate, highlight and promote religious, spiritual and cultural periods to sensitize and inform employees. At the moment, this calendar is for their exclusive use, however the intention is to make the calendar available to all employees via the intranet.

Additional information about your organization’s ongoing initiatives 

Question 11

What are two or three specific barriers that you have faced in advancing work on the Call to Action?

Please provide two or three examples.

1. As a micro-organization, there is a smaller number of recruitment campaigns conducted during a year, therefore making it more challenging to meet targeted representation of under-represented group.
2. Majority of the staffing processes are for functional specialist positions, therefore rendering the qualified pool of under-represented candidates quite small.
3. Lastly, the organization does not have a resource or a team focused on advancing work on the call to action. The Human Resources team is comprised of three full-time employees responsible for all Human Resources disciplines within the organization.

Question 12

Recognizing that employees often have multiple identities, what actions is your organization undertaking to support Indigenous employees and Black and other racialized employees who are also members of other communities, such as persons with disabilities, 2SLGBTQIA+ communities and religious minorities who face compounding barriers of discrimination?

Please provide details.

Employees are frequently encouraged to seek information or support from their supervisors, Human Resources and the champions. The intranet (with its blogs, specific web pages and graphical event/initiative promotion on the home page) is the primary and effective tool that supports all employees, including marginalized groups, by providing news, events, resources, and information related to the various communities who often face discrimination and barriers. Additionally, a Safe Space Ambassador Program was launched within the organization and is being promoted regularly. This is how our organization, with limited resources, can be there for employees and offer that kind of support.

Question 13

In your first year of implementing the forward direction of the Call to Action, what impact has this work had on the culture of your organization?

Please provide the two or three most important impacts. 

• Openness to understand the impact of inclusion on our organization.
  • Investment was made for specific training to management team on psychological safety in the workplace and the impact of mobilizing people. Senior management supported the launch of a safe space ambassador program. Resources were purchased to address unconscious bias and psychological safety in the workplace and these are available to all employees.
• Concrete changes resulting from our promotion efforts have been noticed.
  • Employees are discussing the issues they were sensitized to (for instance commenting that they are glad to know more about Ramadan), are using their second official language more confidently (or trying to use their second official language more), are coming forward with views about the cultural calendar (noting significant religious festivals which had not been announced), etc. In other words, we are noticing a more engaged employee group resulting from our efforts to promote more widely.
• Role of the champions at the Committee.
  • Senior management made the decision to offer the role of champion to any employee who was interested. This resulted in securing several engaged employees to take on this role. Their voice is heard at the management table. These champions actively participate alongside the Human Resources directorate to advance the Government of Canada priorities within the organization.