ARCHIVED - Professional Development and Certification Program for the Procurement, Materiel Management and Real Property Community: Learning Toolkit

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Professional Development and Certification Program Description

The Environment

Citizen-focused, results-oriented government requires the sustained efforts of a professional and motivated workforce across the public service. The importance of a well-qualified and motivated workforce is reflected in the Government priorities for recruitment, retention and continuous learning and the Federal Accountability Action plan’s Commitment is to “provide accreditation and training for Procurement Officers”. Furthermore, it supports the New Treasury Board Policy on Learning, Training and Development and Directing on the administration of Required Training.

The Procurement, Materiel Management and Real Property community is operating in an environment that has created many new opportunities. At the same time, however, the challenges are greater than ever. Increased complexity and pressures have led to new risks to be managed, such as increased parliamentary and public scrutiny, accountability and transparency; evolving trade agreement obligations; Canadian International Trade Tribunal complaints; significant increases in legal risks; and the impact of e commerce on contracting, procurement and life cycle management of assets.

Background

Over the years, the Auditor General and others have identified long-standing deficiencies in the government's materiel management practices. Departmental initiatives since 1995 have attempted to reduce excess inventory and address other shortcomings.

In 1998, the Modern Comptrollership Learning Advisory Panel approved the creation of a Materiel and Supply Management Steering Committee (MSMSC) - comprising senior members of the community across government - to develop and implement a professional development program to respond to the challenges of Program Review and La Relève. Its aim was to provide advice and assistance to the Treasury Board Secretariat in moving the community from a transaction-based process to one that adds value within the context of the strategic needs of departments and agencies. To do so, new skills and knowledge would be required.

Reports from the Standing Committee on National Defence and Veterans Affairs and the Standing Committee on Public Accounts have identified deficiencies in the policy framework, business processes and practices. Treasury Board Ministers have also indicated that future delegations of procurement and contracting authority may be contingent on demonstrated capacity to properly manage the function, including having properly trained and qualified staff within departments to exercise those authorities in a sound professional manner.

In response to these and other challenges, the Government of Canada has recognized the need to reconstitute the professional development and certification of the community and to develop a cadre of practitioners who have the learning tools needed to work effectively in this new environment.

In September 2000, a Treasury Board of Canada Secretariat Program Management Office was established to bring a full-time dedicated focus to develop and implement the Professional Development and Certification Program, advancing the efforts accomplished by the community through the MSMSC and its sub-committees.

The development and implementation of a comprehensive government-wide program must address the needs of many stakeholders with varied interests. In the spring of 2001, the Treasury Board of Canada Secretariat Program Management Office commissioned a study to solicit the views of stakeholders on their challenges. The purpose was to identify the areas of highest priority on which to focus efforts in developing learning solutions and the core program components.

The overriding conclusion of the Highest Priorities Challenges Study was that the community is faced with a widening gap between the work required and the skills and capacity available. Specific challenges and suggested solutions were offered regarding community management, individual learning, recruitment and retention, and an environment of increasing complexity and rate of change. An action plan was subsequently developed in collaboration with the Professional Development Advisory Committee (PDAC) to develop the learning tools of the program. The first steps were to develop the core competency profile and web-based assessment tool and define a program curriculum to address the most critical areas where knowledge and skills need to be developed or enhanced.

In February 2006 the PDCP was launched across Canada to explain the various components and the certification process.

The Community

The Procurement, Materiel Management and Real Property community plays an essential role in delivering the federal government's program and services - providing expertise in the assessment and planning of requirements; acquisition; operation, use, maintenance; and disposal of most government resources. These resources include:

• materiel asset holdings valued at over $50 billion,
• real property holdings valued at over $35 billion, and
• a direct impact on over $13 billion in contracts annually.

An estimated 6,000 public servants and uniformed personnel in 1,200 locations in Canada and abroad are directly or indirectly involved on a full-time or part-time basis in the life-cycle management of federal government assets. The community is made up of three functional specialties: procurement, materiel management, and real property. They comprise a diverse group of occupations, including contract management, procurement, engineering, inventory control, warehousing, disposal and materiel, asset, supply, project and fleet management, and occupational classifications (AR, AS, CR, EG, ENG, ENG, ES GL, GS, PG, PG, PM and SO, as well as other related classifications and uniformed personnel).

What Makes this Community a Community?

Unlike many government-wide communities, such as Financial Officers and Human Resources, that share similar job-classifications and roles, the procurement, materiel management and real property community consists of a diverse group of occupational categories including PG, ENG, AS, CR as well as other related classifications and military personnel.

While the community cannot be distinguished by the job classification, they can be by the type of work they engage. What binds this community is their relationship to and responsibility for the life cycle management of assets. As a consequence of this shared responsibility, the community shares many core competencies. One of the unique features of the Professional Development and Certification Program is its explicit recognition of this community commonality and the creation of a competency profile and learning mechanisms that target them.

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Program Objectives and Benefits

The objectives of the Professional Development and Certification Program are:

1. to provide employees with the tools to acquire the skills, knowledge and expertise to meet evolving and complex business needs, government priorities and management initiatives; and
2. to ensure that departments have the capacity to implement modernized management policies and practices and associated delegated authorities.

It is expected that professionally trained employees will have the knowledge and skills required to both exercise greater levels of delegated authority in a more strategic role and to serve their clients and meet the challenges of an increasingly complex environment.

Successful implementation of the Professional Development and Certification Program will better prepare the community in carrying out its roles, and will in turn foster professionalism and recognition for the value-added of the community as a vital component of government through:

• greater standardization and transferability of core knowledge, skills and training requirements in this field across functions and departments;
• a program of excellence, responsive and adaptive to meet evolving requirements, taking advantage of best practices and modern techniques developed in the field at large (both private and public sectors);
• reduction of duplication of departmental in-house courses where feasible;
• effective management of the current transition facing a workforce subjected to high turnover as a result of significant demographic changes; and
• an environment that fosters continuous learning, innovation and change.

Target Audience

The Professional Development and Certification Program is specifically for federal government Procurement, Materiel Management and Real Property practitioners and their supervisors, as well as those who aspire to these positions. Operational managers who must knowledgeably access the services delivered by these practitioners or are involved in the life cycle management of assets, and senior managers who receive and direct the delivery of these services within their departments will also want to take advantage of the program’s comprehensive learning opportunities.

Guiding Principles

In light of the unique, dynamic and ever-changing environment of the federal government, the program must be responsive and adaptive - a program of excellence.

Implementation

Our Partners

Many partners will be involved in ensuring that the Professional Development and Certification Program is successfully implemented. First, the learning agenda must be owned by employees and their managers. They are jointly responsible for pursuing and promoting learning.

Employees must commit to and actively participate in the elements of the Learning Framework.

Line and Senior Managers must play a leadership role in supporting the program and participate in a range of ways.

Departments and Agencies contribute to program development and manage implementation.

The Treasury Board of Canada Secretariat's Program Management Office plays a leadership role in program design and development.

Bargaining Agents play an active role in representing employee interests.

CSPS and PWGSC are the two delivery agents.

Canada School of Public Service (CSPS)
CGSB is the Certification Body

The Professional Development and Certification Program Advisory Committee (PDCP-AC) and the Continuous Learning Working Group (CLWG) provide advice and support to program development and implementation.

External Professional Certification Programs and Professional Institutes, such as the Materiel Management Institute and the Real Property Institute of Canada, provide relevant additional learning opportunities and community growth.

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Timeline

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