Gerry Green, Director Human Resources Programs, has been tasked with bringing the CFPSA closer to becoming an Employer of choice

For the CFPSA, Serving Those Who Serve will soon not only apply to customers, but to employees as well.

As part of its goal to continually improve the programs and services it delivers to the Canadian Forces (CF) community, the Agency has officially embarked on a program to improve the workplace for the 5,600 CFPSA and Non-Public Funds (NPF) employees across Canada. Striving to be an Employer of Choice (EOC) - a term synonymous with corporations that attract and retain the best and the brightest - the Agency has recently appointed Gerry Green as Director Human Resources Programs, to explore what it will take for the CFPSA to become an EOC.

According to Green, EOC is a loosely based term that means different things to different people.

"EOC is a combination of values, terms and conditions of employment," he says. "It's what the organization represents that attracts high-quality people. EOC is a very fluid and conceptual idea and my challenge over the next year will be putting a framework to it."

EOC is a large part of the Agency's customer service approach. CFPSA executives and senior managers understand that the key to improving customer service comes from enabling employees to take ownership of their work. Green says, "We need our customers - members of the CF community - to think of us first and walk away with all their needs met. Human Resources can help achieve that through implementing a CFPSA EOC program."

Green has been given a clean slate to assess what it will take to transform the agency into an EOC. Possible changes for employees could include a streamlined approach to solving workplace disputes; more competitive wages and benefits; a process for acknowledging good ideas; surveys and better workplace communications; improved opportunities for training and giving employees more say over their work.

"Simply getting more money or more vacation time is not what it's about," says Green. "Employees have to believe that they're making a contribution and that their supervisors recognize it."

Green can't say how long it will take before the Agency can be considered an EOC but he does admit implementing such a concept will take some effort.

"We have a lot of work ahead of us," he says. "But our organization is made up of a good group of people and the prospect of someday becoming an EOC looks achievable."