People: hearts and minds. The City of Mississauga, Canada
| DOI | http://doi.org/10.1002/(SICI)1099-162X(199610)16:4<295::AID-PAD888>3.0.CO;2-3 |
| Author | MARGARET RODRIGUES,JOY HALVORSON |
| Published date | 01 October 1996 |
| Date | 01 October 1996 |
PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION AND DEVELOPMENT, VOL.
16,295-304 (1996)
People: hearts and minds
The
City
of
Mississauga, Canada
MARGARET RODRIGUES and JOY HALVORSON
City
of
Mksissauga, Ontario, Canada
‘Not
only is the learning organization a new source
of
competitive
advantage, it also offers a marvellously empowering approach to work.
.
.’
Peter
M.
Senge, Fifth Discipline
SUMMARY
The City of Mississauga is located on the western boundary of the Greater Toronto Area
(GTA) in Ontario, Canada. As
a
municipality it is undergoing rapid urban growth, pressure
from citizens to keep the taxes down, political pressure to reorganize the surrounding
municipal areas, rapidly changing technology, increasing competition for economic
development and increasing demands for high level services from its citizens.
This article will indicate how, in the face of the challenging demands of the
’~O’S,
the city is
making a significant shift in the ‘culture’ of the organization. The City is moving from a
traditional style of management emphasizing control to one that stresses leadership and
empowerment
of
the workforce. It involves changing from
a
hierarchical bureaucracy
to
an
organization that is more flexible, responsive, innovative and creative with a strong customer
focus. To meet the demands of this shifting culture there needs to be a highly skilled
workforce. There are a number of initiatives in the City to accomplish this ‘cultural shift’.
This article deals with the continuous learning aspect called Capability Development,
focusing on Team Effectiveness, Continuous Improvement and Customer Service. We
developed two phases for the learning. Capability Development Phase
I
outlined the concepts
and tools for managers at all levels to be able to support the learning required to accomplish
the ‘cultural shift’. Phase
I
included the City Strategic Plan, Management Strategy and Human
Resources Vision and practical management tools. Phase
I1
was designed for front line staff
working in their ‘intact teams’. It incorporates the concepts and tools from Phase
I
and
is
being delivered by trained volunteer facilitators within the City. We will discuss the process,
the results and learnings we have discovered on our journey.
INTRODUCTION
Background
The City
of
Mississauga covers
28,750
square hectares, has a current population
of
more than
530,000
residents, and is expected to grow to
750,000
in the early part
of
the new century.
Margaret Rodrigues
is
Commissioner for Corporate Services and Joy Halvorson, Director, Organizational
Effectiveness, City
of
Mississauga, 240 Strathbury Bay,
SW
Calgary, Alberta
T2H
1N4 Canada.
Paper presented
to
1996
CAPAM Biennial Conference, ‘The New Public Administration: Global
Challenges-Local Solutions’, Malta,
21-24
April,
1996.
CCC 027 1-2075/96/04029.5-10
0
1996 by John Wiley
&
Sons, Ltd.
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