Voting for global competitiveness (Editorial)

Feds have a role to play in increasing businesses' productivity

Essentially the focus of an HR department that is adding value can be summed up in one word: productivity. Whether it’s ensuring an organization finds and keeps top talent, that people are properly trained, managers receive development, teams work efficiently, that staff are healthy and engaged, that processes aid rather than impede and risk is managed, it all comes down to productivity. How do we produce superior products and services at prices that other nations will buy?

Productivity is more than just a concern for HR professionals and their organizations. Canada’s ability to compete on the global market has a number of macro-level elements that require government strategy and planning. Unfortunately, in the flotsam and jetsam of the election campaign, the need to improve Canada’s productivity hasn’t received the attention it’s due.

Instead election coverage gets sidetracked by minor occurrences, such as someone digging out an old speech where Stephen Harper praises the Bush administration (a no-no in Canada) or a Liberal aide’s foot-in-mouth comments about parents wasting child-care support funds on beer and popcorn. Or the Bloc confusing Quebecer’s dislike for Liberal corruption with separatist support.

But whether your concern is health care, the environment, social services, the defence budget, the nation’s infrastructure or support for business, Canada’s ability to compete in the global marketplace will determine whether funds are available to strengthen programs and services to maintain the standard of living this nation has achieved.

During this election, Canadians have heard little about how the country’s would-be leaders plan to develop a global edge. The division of powers between Ottawa and the provinces is often a convenient excuse for losing issues between jurisdictions, but the fact is that even when the federal government isn’t controlling all the funds or directly delivering programs, it has a role to play in strategy development and co-ordination.

Issues to tackle include the training and development of the workforce (which includes everything from kindergarten classes to retraining laid-off workers), investments in technology, trade agreements and the supply and conservation of energy. Open the pages of a daily newspaper and you’ll be lucky if you find discussion of these issues somewhere below coverage of Belinda Stronach’s wardrobe.

Canadians are often asked to vote for who is more trustworthy. Voting for the “trustworthy” one hasn’t quite delivered over the years (pick a jurisdiction, pick a year and find your own example), so maybe it’s time for another approach — examining platforms and issues.

The opportunity to put a focus on global competitiveness doesn’t end with the Jan. 23 election. The party that forms the new government will have to tackle this one, and it will be up to Canadian businesses to help guide the way. It will be up to HR professionals and their associations to ensure workforce issues receive the same attention as taxation, trade and investment policies.

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