Latest news with #ADMs
Vancouver Sun
01-08-2025
- Business
- Vancouver Sun
Ottawa's top HR official aims to reduce excess senior executives in public service: memo
OTTAWA — After 10 years of constant growth, the federal government now says there are too many senior executives in the public service, slowing productivity and creating workplace conflicts. In an internal memo Wednesday obtained by National Post, the federal Chief Human Resources Officer Jacqueline Bogden is clear: there are more assistant deputy ministers (421) in the bureaucracy than permanent positions at that level (355). Now, the top human resources official says her office will be cracking down on the overage, an exceptional move after years of substantial growth of the federal public service. Start your day with a roundup of B.C.-focused news and opinion. By signing up you consent to receive the above newsletter from Postmedia Network Inc. A welcome email is on its way. If you don't see it, please check your junk folder. The next issue of Sunrise will soon be in your inbox. Please try again Interested in more newsletters? Browse here. Bogden said just the assistant deputy minister (ADM) — the second highest ranking position in most departments — cadre ballooned by 50 per cent (or 140) since 2015. 'There is a need to take additional proactive measures to address the ADM overage situation and contain future growth of the ADM cadre,' Bogden wrote. An ADM's salary can range from $197,774 to $260,719 depending on their years of experience as well as their pay classification, according to the government's website . Bogden's memo says her office is implementing two new measures until the end of the year to address the overage. The first aims to reduce the number of ADMs by reviewing existing positions, particularly 'higher risk' situations where the senior executive is on a temporary assignment with no subsequent permanent position. The memo does not say if those positions will be demoted, eliminated or transformed into permanent positions to reduce the 'overage.' The second aims to 'contain' the growth of the ADM cadre by requiring all departments to get permission from her office before promoting a new person to the position. The internal announcement comes as Prime Minister Mark Carney's government is asking most departments and agencies to find spending cuts worth 15 per cent by 2029. It also comes after years of tremendous growth of the public service under Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, particularly during the COVID-19 pandemic beginning in 2020. Over his tenure, the public service grew by over 100,000, from 257,000 in 2015 to 358,000 this year , according to government data. Though Bogden's memo focuses on the ADM cadre, it also included a recent report by the Public Service Management Advisory Committee warning that there are too many executives overall in the public service. In fact, nearly half of all departments in the core public service are above the recommended average number of executives, according to the committee. 'New EX jobs at all levels are created, in many cases without a significant change in the organization's mandate. In essence, this can mean that the same pie is being sliced in smaller pieces,' reads the July 18 document titled 'Enabling a Robust Assistant Deputy Minister Cadre.' The boon, and now excess number, of senior executives has created significant risks for the public service, the committee warns, including poor performance and productivity issues. 'Dilution and duplication lead to unnecessary layers of decision making and unclear accountabilities. It slows down productivity and can create workplace conflicts,' reads the report. The excess of ADMs compared to permanent positions also means the number of senior executives ready to move to another job 'far exceeds' the number of expected vacancies to fill in 2025. That creates 'false expectations' for ADMs and 'impatience' among other lower-ranking executives hoping for a promotion, warns the report. Kevin Page, a former Parliamentary Budget Officer, said in an email that the review was useful and timely as the government embarks on a new spending review process. 'I hope one of the outputs of the review process will be a multi-year plan to manage the growth of the public service including the size of the executive group and a plan for military service people. The focus could be on productivity in the delivery of service,' said Page, now the President and CEO of the Institute of Fiscal Studies and Democracy. But the Parliamentary Budget Officer office said earlier this month that the federal government has missed its 'full-time equivalents' reduction targets four years in a row. 'For the fourth year in a row the government said: 'don't worry, next year we're going to reduce the number of full-time equivalents in the federal government' and they blew past it again,' Jason Jacques, the PBO's director general of economic and fiscal analysis, told the Ottawa Citizen . In an email to National Post, Page encouraged individual departments to publish data on executives yearly so that the public can keep the government accountable when monitoring growth in the federal bureaucracy. 'The lack of aggregation of numbers like that provided in the report on an annual basis does not allow the executive and Parliament to monitor the upward creep in the size of the public service including the growth of higher paid executives,' he told National Post. National Post cnardi@ Our website is the place for the latest breaking news, exclusive scoops, longreads and provocative commentary. Please bookmark and sign up for our politics newsletter, First Reading, here .
Edmonton Journal
01-08-2025
- Business
- Edmonton Journal
Ottawa's top HR official aims to reduce excess senior executives in public service: memo
Article content OTTAWA — After 10 years of constant growth, the federal government now says there are too many senior executives in the public service, slowing productivity and creating workplace conflicts. Article content In an internal memo Wednesday obtained by National Post, the federal Chief Human Resources Officer Jacqueline Bogden is clear: there are more assistant deputy ministers (421) in the bureaucracy than permanent positions at that level (355). Article content Article content Article content Now, the top human resources official says her office will be cracking down on the overage, an exceptional move after years of substantial growth of the federal public service. Article content Article content Bogden said just the assistant deputy minister (ADM) — the second highest ranking position in most departments — cadre ballooned by 50 per cent (or 140) since 2015. Article content 'There is a need to take additional proactive measures to address the ADM overage situation and contain future growth of the ADM cadre,' Bogden wrote. Article content An ADM's salary can range from $197,774 to $260,719 depending on their years of experience as well as their pay classification, according to the government's website. Article content Bogden's memo says her office is implementing two new measures until the end of the year to address the overage. Article content The first aims to reduce the number of ADMs by reviewing existing positions, particularly 'higher risk' situations where the senior executive is on a temporary assignment with no subsequent permanent position. Article content Article content The memo does not say if those positions will be demoted, eliminated or transformed into permanent positions to reduce the 'overage.' Article content Article content The second aims to 'contain' the growth of the ADM cadre by requiring all departments to get permission from her office before promoting a new person to the position. Article content The internal announcement comes as Prime Minister Mark Carney's government is asking most departments and agencies to find spending cuts worth 15 per cent by 2029. Article content It also comes after years of tremendous growth of the public service under Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, particularly during the COVID-19 pandemic beginning in 2020. Over his tenure, the public service grew by over 100,000, from 257,000 in 2015 to 358,000 this year, according to government data. Article content Though Bogden's memo focuses on the ADM cadre, it also included a recent report by the Public Service Management Advisory Committee warning that there are too many executives overall in the public service.
GMA Network
03-07-2025
- Politics
- GMA Network
DepEd: Measures in place to prevent 'learning loss' due to class suspensions
The Department of Education (DepEd) has rolled out a comprehensive set of initiatives designed to make the Philippine education system more "flexible and disaster-ready." This, as DepEd prepares for possible class suspensions amid the rainy season. DepEd Secretary Sonny Angara said that while safety should be a top priority, learning continuity must be part of every suspension decision. Below are key programs and reforms from DepEd: Deployable learning continuity packages Durable and mobile modular classrooms will replace temporary learning spaces in disaster-hit areas. A pilot rollout in high-risk zones is slated for August 2025. LIGTAS AI tool under E-CAIR An AI-powered system that predicts geohazard risks, enabling schools to make better contingency plans. Upgrades to the system are expected by the third quarter of 2025. Revised suspensions as guidelines (Released December 2024) These empower school heads to: Declare localized or granular suspensions even without LGU declarations. Coordinate with LGUs for class suspensions based on real-time conditions such as flooding or earthquakes. Read the official guidelines here. Learning and service continuity plans (LSCPs) All schools are required to have LSCPs, which include: Use of Alternative Delivery Modes (ADMs) like self-learning modules and online platforms. Secure storage protocols for learning materials and devices. Teacher training for quick transitions during disruptions. Omnibus flexible learning policy (Releasing July 15) This new framework institutionalizes flexible learning across grade levels and creates one-stop-shops for schools to access support services, materials, and guidance. Tablet distribution for ADM learners DepEd is actively distributing tablets to learners in disaster-prone areas, enabling continuous learning when physical attendance isn't possible. Stronger LGU engagement The department has issued letters to the Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG), the Union of Local Authorities of the Philippines (ULAP), and other local leagues to encourage alignment with the new suspension protocols. 'Learning loss' Previously, class suspensions were automatic—like the cancellation of kindergarten classes under Signal No. 1. But under new protocols introduced in December 2024, schools and local governments now have more discretion, allowing suspensions to be tailored to real-time conditions rather than blanket rules. Angara has reminded school officials and local governments to be prudent in declaring class suspensions, emphasizing the department's priority to avoid unnecessary learning gaps. 'We wish to minimize learning loss, so long as ligtas ang mga bata at titser and staff,' Angara told GMA News Online via Viber message. (We wish to minimize learning loss, so long as the safety of students, teachers, and staff is ensured.) 'So sana 'wag basta-basta lang mag-declare ng cancellations sa baba unless talagang hirap na hirap pumasok,' he added. (We hope suspensions won't be declared casually at the ground level unless it's truly difficult for students and staff to attend school.) 'Sa mga kasong ganun, may substitute naman kami,' he noted. (In such cases, we have alternatives in place.) —VAL, GMA Integrated News
Indian Express
28-06-2025
- Business
- Indian Express
Daily Briefing: Trump hints at ‘opening up India' with trade deal; L K Advani's prison notebook; Maa movie review
Good morning, Remember that cup of your favourite tea, served with some biscuits or wafers, and that tempting whiff of cakes getting baked in your neighbourhood, on a cloudy morning? Well, that's what the mood is like among the cricket club members in Yorkshire, England's deeply traditional county. With about 800 clubs and over 125,000 recreational players, just like at home, tea here is never taken light or lightly. The 'Cricket Yorkshire Tea of the Year' competition is back, with participants gearing up to send pictures of their mouth-watering tea spreads to the organisers. Word of mouth appreciation and some field trips during tea time shall decide the winner. The contest is expected to get spicier in the coming years with a few Indian clubs. With that, let's move on to the top 5 stories from today's edition: 🚨 Big Story Indian trade negotiators landed in the United States on Friday for in-person talks before the July 9 deadline for the reciprocal tariff pause runs out. American President Donald Trump said that the US and India 'may' sign a trade deal under which the country would 'open up.' The roadblock to a trade deal comes as the US has flagged several non-tariff barriers and high duties in India; however, it has yet to commit to several Indian demands. As the negotiations between India and the US for an interim trade deal enter their final phase, India's oil imports from the US jumped over 270 per cent year-on-year in the first four months of 2025. This jump underscores Delhi's strategy of enhancing American imports amid trade pact negotiations and diversifying its sources of crude oil in a volatile geopolitical and geo-economic environment. India is attempting to step up imports from the US across categories to address America's key concern of a widening goods trade deficit. ⚡ Only in Express The Emergency, 50 years on: Meenakshi Datta Ghosh was the youngest of the five ADMs posted in the national capital when the Emergency was imposed, only to find herself witnessing the Ramlila Maidan rally that preceded, and maybe even hastening the Indira Gandhi government's crackdown. The silence on the Delhi streets was heavy, laced with fear and dread, carving a perfect sight for Ghosh to see how the levers of power were oiled and wills were bent. 'The issue was do I comply with the law, or follow the political cum bureaucratic commands? Do I preserve process and procedure, or do I enable power?… I feel that the Emergency prepared me to overcome everything that came my way,' Ghosh recalls. From the prison diaries: Detained without trial for months in Bangalore Central jail, Lal Krishna Advani maintained a prison notebook. On December 28, 1975, when Emergency was in full swing, the then Jana Sangh leader wrote that PM Indira Gandhi wanted the Constitution to be changed after a public debate, but questioned her intentions, and countered her claim that the Opposition was in favour of an 'inflexible Constitution'. 'It is the democratic content of the Constitution which the present Establishment regards as a roadblock to its ambitions,' the Jana Sangh leader wrote. Read Advani's full entry here. 💡 Express Explained Danish pharmaceutical giant Novo Nordisk launched its blockbuster weight-loss injectable semaglutide earlier this week, months after its competitor Eli Lilly's tirzepatide hit Indian markets — and nearly four years after these GLP-1 therapies took the United States by storm. These drugs are highly effective for weight loss, helping people lose 15% to 20% of their body weight. So, how do these 'miracle drugs' work? How were they discovered? And what are the other benefits of these drugs? We explain. ✍️ Express Opinion In our Opinion section today, Kanti Bajpai delves into the three major issues arising from American strikes against Iran's nuclear facilities, and the possibility of a nuclear deal. He writes: 'The conditions are ripe, therefore, for a new nuclear deal. That said, the ceasefire must hold, and Iran must have an authority figure that can deliver a deal. Neither is certain. In addition, the US may have to sweeten the deal economically by lifting sanctions. This will depend on Trump overcoming domestic and Israeli opposition. In short, there is a road ahead, but it is a rocky one.' 🍿 Movie Review Wondering what to watch this weekend? We've got you covered! Kajor-starrer 'Maa' has hit your nearby screens this Friday, presenting the story of a mother who would go to any lengths to save her family. Shubhra Gupta, in her review, writes: 'Mixing mythology and technology, 'Maa' presents Kajol as a contemporary woman fighting with all her might to keep at bay the dark forces targeting her young daughter… This is a film which is clearly well-intentioned. Smashing patriarchy is a task that films need to keep taking up, and Kajol has the heft to get the job done.' That's all for today. Have a lovely weekend! Until next time, Ariba
Time of India
20-05-2025
- Politics
- Time of India
UP Jal Shakti minister to check water projects
Lucknow: Amid reports of laxity in work and discrepancies in implementation of 'Har Ghar Jal' scheme, jal shakti minister Swatantra Dev Singh will visit villages in Bundelkhand and Vindhya regions for ground level fact-check and to evaluate progress of Jal Jeevan Mission . During a review of the scheme on Tuesday, additional chief secretary Anurag Srivastava had expressed concern over reports of progress of the project in Mirzapur. He told officials to probe implementing agencies Ramki Baba and Megha and initiate necessary action if discrepancies were found and also directed ADMs and executive engineers to conduct regular block-level monitoring to ensure efficient execution of water supply initiatives. tnn The inspection will be conducted in phases, with nine districts included in first phase. Singh will speak to locals to gather feedback on tap water connections. In Tuesday's meeting, Singh directed officials to formulate plan for his visit and provide district-wise list of villages where 'Har Ghar Jal' scheme had been implemented. The minister also issued stern warning to agencies lax in their work, stating that any irregularities would result in strict action, including jail for those responsible. To maintain accountability, third-party inspections will be conducted, with daily reports submitted to govt.
