HRD: Better Service through Credentialling?

Abstract

More is and will be expected of public service employees. Human resource developers, trainers and educators can do much to help the public service move more assuredly into meeting the changing demands of the public in what is becoming an information oriented society. One of the ways in which the government of Ontario, Canada has determined it can better serve its public, was in the restructuring of the human resources management of the Public Service. A letter from the Premier of the province to the 80,000-member civil service, outlining some of the objectives of the government, and a summary of the March 1986 Report “Managing Human Resources in the Ontario Public Service” are cited. The call was for more clearly communicated goals and policy priorities, training and workplace enhancement, and regular feedback on employee performance. The author's personal view is that the time is ripe, in both the public and private sectors, for the traditional role of staff developer to likewise be strengthened through an enhanced form of personal professional development, professionalization, and the promotion of a new image of the profession by their professional associations. A key link in the process is found in the credentialling question. A model and a personal appeal to “trainers” is put forward to address this question.