Case Study:

The Saskatchewan Property Management Corporation ("SPMC")

Moving Human Resources from a Transactional to Transformational Role

A Case Study

Bonnie Nixon became the Director of Organizational Development for the SPMC within the government of the Province of Saskatchewan. The public sector had been undergoing rapid change over the past several years and there was a demand to change the role of human resources from transactional to strategic. There were three consultants, a previous manager and a part-time assistant who would need to learn a whole new role within human resources. They were all very skilled, even though at the time they weren’t aware of it because they hadn’t been given the chance.

Creating a Plan
Learning by experience is a transformative experience. The first area that had to be decided is how we wanted the staff to transform. A plan was created with the staff on what needed to be done in the corporation to move it to more strategic function. Teams were set up to work on all the areas of implementing competencies within various departments of the organization. The consultants selected the department that they felt was the best fit and could provide the department with the greatest benefit. Bonnie, as Director of Organizational Development, would oversee overall management of the project and provided the needed coaching and expertise across the teams.

How to Solidify Skills
As the teams worked, it became apparent that there were additional organizational needs. These were built these into work plans for the “new” OD consultants. Each consultant signed up for areas that interested them and that they felt they could make a positive contribution toward. The consultants were provided with regular meetings with the Director to chart progress. Bonnie maintained an “open door” policy whereby consultants and staff could come and chat when they needed assistance or just another point of view.

The consultants took on lead roles in and were given continuous feedback and coaching. They were to come up with a project plan and timeline for their team. They were expected to lead meetings. When it was identified that additional help in facilitation would be necessary one of the consultants co-presented a 2.5 day workshop with the Director. This not only helped the consultant learn facilitation skills but increase the competence of her peers at the same time.

The Results
Change and growth by their very nature make people uncomfortable. By allowing these consultants the experience, space and support to move from being a transactional force to a strategic one, both the organization and the individual benefited. From an organizational perspective, the accomplishments included:

Developing a human resource plan with an advisory committee of senior managers under the title Improved Organizational Performance. This provided strategic direction for human resource initiatives in the corporation.

Facilitating 10 division and branch/regional strategic planning sessions in alignment with the corporate plan and priorities.

Work that was normally farmed out to external consultants we now done in-house, thus saving to corporation in excess of $89,000 a year.

Designing a best practice 3 year leadership development program that enabled mangers, directors and executive members to reach their full potential as leaders to the benefit of themselves, the corporation and those it services and a 2 year learning and development program that enabled employees to meet their full potential.

Lessons Learned

Create a ‘win’ for the individual. People are stepping outside their comfort zones and you need to give them the opportunity to succeed and recognize it when they do to raise their self-esteem and internalize the learning.

By learning through example, people not only transformed how they looked at their job but how they looked at themselves. This change has continued to the current time as people are still applying the tools and behaviors that they applied to their jobs.

Learning by example allows participant to become more engaged in their work and has a significant impact on retention of talent.