The Public Service Staffing Modernization Project

The Public Service Staffing Modernization Project (PSSMP) is a comprehensive, government-wide initiative that is modernizing staffing in the federal public service. Led by the Public Service Commission, the project is a collaborative effort involving the Canada Public Service Agency and the Treasury Board of Canada Secretariat, as well as federal departments and agencies.

Vision

The project vision is a government-wide approach to staffing that focuses on attracting, hiring and grooming talented individuals to meet the current and future needs of the public service by:

• providing a flexible environment for diverse organizational needs;  
• providing common staffing tools and support; and
• supporting accountability, oversight and the values of merit, non-partisanship, fairness, transparency, representativeness and access.

Goals

The staffing modernization project has four goals, to:

1. enhance the protection of merit and non-partisanship by providing delegated organizations with common staffing standards, tools and processes;
2. improve the quality of hiring across government;
3. significantly reduce the time and costs involved in filling positions through internal and external staffing processes; and
4. to improve client satisfaction for managers, employees and job seekers.

To support these goals, the PSSMP will focus on defining, designing and implementing solutions to improve internal and external staffing for the Government of Canada.
The project has two parallel streams.  The first stream focuses on expanding the use of the Public Service Resourcing System (PSRS) for external staffing in federal departments and agencies. This stream also includes the overall planning, coordination and management of PSSMP, as well as the sharing of best practices and initiatives. The second stream involves  developing a modern staffing service solution that integrates external and internal staffing.

Stream I - Public Service Resourcing System

Stream I was implemented in December, 2005, and has since been deployed across the Public Service Commission and in twelve federal departments.

PSRS is an interim, Web-based screening and recruitment tool that makes external staffing easier and addresses the critical requirements and responsibilities of the Public Service Employment Act (PSEA). It is efficient in managing the increased volumes of applications associated with the expanded National Area of Selection, a policy aimed at providing Canadians greater access to federal public service jobs.

PSRS screens external applicants in minutes, based on their responses to a customized on-line application form. From April, 2007, to February,  2008, this tool processed 925,000 applications for over 4,700 advertisements. The system has many built-in features including:  the posting and tracking of information, Web-based advertising, screening and e-communication with candidates. 

PSRS is available across Canada through PSC Service Delivery offices. Federal job opportunities open to the public are posted on the PSC’s jobs.gc.ca Web site.

Although PSRS has been effective to date, the system itself is limited in scope. It does not handle external recruitment from start to finish, nor does it handle internal staffing. PSRS will eventually be replaced by a long-term staffing solution – Stream II.

Stream II – A modern staffing service solution integrating external and internal staffing

The development of detailed staffing business design and requirements for Stream II began in January 2008. 

Stream II will provide a long-term Government of Canada solution for both external and internal staffing, based on the project definition requirements developed in Stream I. Ultimately, the long-term solution will include technological tools that are more interoperable and compatible  with other government–wide initiatives related to Human Resources Modernization, the Service Transformation Agenda and Public Service Renewal.

Stream II will include common systems, services and tools for a flexible staffing environment. This staffing system will:

• provide fast, sleek, easy-to-use tools to support job seekers, hiring managers and HR advisors in the staffing process;
• provide information on, and access to, federal government employment opportunities to both internal and external applicants;
• provide organization managers and human resources professionals with electronic access to information and tools to simplify the staffing process and fully support the PSEA. This will include tools to better manage collective staffing, electronic testing, e-screening, electronic communication with candidates, and electronic monitoring and reporting ; 
• support increased accountability and oversight, and the values of merit, non-partisanship, fairness, representativeness, transparency and access;
• centre on the needs of the job seeker, by providing improved information on federal government jobs, based on that person’s needs; and
• provide managers and HR advisors with access to just-in-time staffing solutions through electronic inventories and pools of qualified candidates.