UPCOMING CAMA EVENTS 

CAMA Connects - October 19, 2022

CAMA Connects is a one-hour facilitated informal social networking event for regular members to still make those “face to face” connections and discuss a pressing municipal issue. This session will be held on Wednesday, October 19, 2022 from 2:00 p.m. to 3:00 p.m. EST and the topic will be "Managing a Hybrid Workforce."

If you would like to register for this session, please e-mail Jennifer Goodine, CAMA Executive Director at admin@camacam.ca

Webinar with The Canoe Procurement Group of Canada - November 2, 2022

CAMA's Platinum Partner, The Canoe Procurement Group of Canada, will be hosting a webinar on Wednesday, November 2, 2022 at 2:00 p.m. EST.  Watch for more details in your inbox. 

2023 CAMA Annual Conference

The hotel room block for the May 29-31, 2023 CAMA Conference at the Deerhurst Resort is open. If you haven't booked your room yet visit the Conference website for details. 

THANK YOU FOR YOUR PARTICIPATION IN THE EXECUTIVE ASSISTANT SURVEY

We had a tremendous response to the recent surveys circulated to get feedback for the “Toolkit for Effective Executive Assistants to the Chief Administrator Officer” to be launched on May 31, 2023 at the Annual CAMA Conference being held at the Deerhurst Resort in Ontario. 

Thank you for taking the time to complete the survey and for forwarding it to your Executive Assistants. We truly value the information and the sharing of experiences that have been provided that will help highlight the important aspects of their job and profession. An Executive Summary of the survey results will be circulated in the future.

One of our CAMA members provided the following advice to Executive Assistants: 

"You must have a servant's heart. This is the foundation for everything else. A rockstar Executive Assistant wants to serve - and not just your company or organization. A rockstar Executive Assistant wants to serve you. Whether the task is big or little, they achieve their goals by helping you achieve yours. If potential Executive Assistants don't have this quality, no problem. But they probably should look for a different opportunity."

Following are the top ten skills that the Executive Assistants have told us are the most important in their role:

DID YOUR MUNICIPALITY WIN AN AWARD OR AUTHOR A GREAT ARTICLE? WHY NOT SHARE IT WITH YOUR MUNICIPAL COLLEAGUES?

CAMA and muniSERV work together to continuously bring our members cost-effective resources that help make your job easier.  Click here to learn more about our partnership with muniSERV.

Did your municipality recently win an award? Congratulations! (Go ahead, it’s ok to brag a little!) Or did you or a staff member, author an amazing article you’d like to share with your peers? Just send it to info@muniserv.ca and muniSERV.ca will publish it on the muniBLOG, share it in their newsletters and on their social media channels.

Become a member today or subscribe to our newsletter to stay in the loop with new members, articles of interest to municipalities & events/free webinars & training for your staff.  It takes less than a minute to register your municipality for free! Subscribe! Join Today!

Over the next few editions of e-Brief, we will feature muniSERV's services individually and introduce you to some of the new and innovative platforms they are developing for municipalities.

Watch for the next one on “Ways to Stay Informed on New Municipal Products & Services.”

CAMA'S HUMAN RESOURCES TOOLKIT

COMPENSATION & BENEFITS - JOB EVALUATION

CAMA's Human Resources Toolkit is designed to provide information regarding several different human resource topics with support through samples and links. Today's featured topic is Job Evaluation.

Job evaluation is the systematic process of determining the relative value of different jobs in an organization. The goal of job evaluation is to create an internal hierarchy of job worth to create a pay structure that is defensible, equitable, and consistent for everyone. This ensures that everyone is paid according to the worth of the position. Of respondents to the 2021 CAMA Survey, 67% used a job evaluation system to determine the relative value of the jobs within their municipality. The main advantage of job evaluation is that it does not consider the individual in the role but rather the role itself. The relative worth of a position is determined by a ranking system which determines salary structures such as wage grids or salary ranges. The job holder's qualifications are accounted for when placing them at the appropriate step in the applicable grid or range. 

The first step is to complete a job analysis to gather job specific information (i.e. required tasks, responsibilities, qualifications, etc.) Often you will start with the job description, provided it is up to date. Alternatively, the employee can be interviewed to determine the duties and responsibilities of the position. The goal of the job evaluation should be to determine the value of the job to the organization and then it is placed in the job structure accordingly. There are many systems that can be used for job evaluation. Generally, job evaluation methods are broken down into two categories: qualitative and quantitative methods. 

Visit the Compensation & Benefits Chapter of the Human Resources Toolkit to learn more about the following topics:  Wage & Salary Administration, Market Compensation Review, Market Adjustments, Promotional Adjustments, Salary Compression, Red Circling, Substitution Pay, Averaging Agreements, Vacation, Pensions, and Health Benefits.

The Toolkit can be found in the CAMA's Member's Section (Click the Toolkit Button).

2022 CAMA AWARDS OF EXCELLENCE NOMINATIONS

CITY OF RICHMOND & CITY OF MARKHAM

Willis Award for Innovation Nomination

Population Over 100,000

Flood Protection Management in the City of Richmond

Richmond is an island city situated one metre above sea level and faced with flood risks, including storm surge, freshet, rainfall, and sea level rise. The City has developed and continues to improve on its comprehensive flood protection program to address and mitigate these risks, with the objective of protecting the health, safety, and economic viability of Richmond.

The Program includes a Flood Protection Management Strategy (FPMS), Dike Master Plan (DMP), Capital Program, and Drainage and Diking Utility. The FPMS provides long-term guidance on the ongoing development of world-class flood protection for Richmond that manages dike integrity, land use, infrastructure, emergency response, and sustainability; and addresses climate change implications. The DMP is guided by the FPMS and it determines dike upgrade configurations throughout the City. With guidance from these strategies, the Capital Program identifies and implements flood protection improvement projects, funded largely by the City’s dedicated Drainage and Diking Utility.

All of these components of Richmond's flood protection program have driven the success with addressing climate change and mitigating flooding, particularly during recent atmospheric river storm events.

To view the entire awards submission visit the CAMA Member's Section/Awards of Excellence Best Practices (Search for "Flood Protection").

Willis Award for Innovation Nomination

Population Over 100,000

Recreation Reopening Financial Forecast Modelling Tool

The emergence of COVID-19 and its subsequent shutdowns resulted in severe financial impact on Recreation Services in the City of Markham. Shutdowns resulted in significant revenue lost, where most revenues were originally used to offset operating expenses such as staffing and maintenance costs to maintain healthy community facilities. In addition to the impact to Recreation, financial pressures were also felt by many members of our community. The plethora of COVID-19 issues resulted with Council making a difficult decision to close some community services, so that the City does not have to increase property tax.

To assist our executives with determining the appropriate community facilities to open and close, staff were tasked with outlining the cost of every community centre and amenity. The challenge was the limited amount of time to complete the exercise, COVID-19 was evolving rapidly and that the Recreation’s operating budget is severely complex. In the face of mounting pressure to quickly provide multiple scenarios with accurate results, a small team of staff created a Recreation Financial Forecast tool (tool) aimed at providing timely and precise financial information that assisted with difficult decision-making process. 

To view the entire awards submission visit the CAMA Member's Section/Awards of Excellence Best Practices (Search for "Financial Forecast").

WELCOME NEW CAMA MEMBERS

Katherine Risley, Managing Partner, Knightsbridge Robertson Surrette, Halifax, NS