Fall 2008

Proudly Working Together Staff Events a Huge Success

Start a Wave! Recognize. That was the theme of this year’s Alberta Public Service staff events held between September 12th and November 4th in seven locations across the province. And start a wave, they did.

Different deputy ministers served as Master of Ceremonies for each of the events and their competitive edge showed when they tried to outdo each other with their best “stadium wave”.

“Our goal as a deputy ministers’ team”, said Brian Manning, Deputy Minister of Executive Council, “is to bring Alberta Public Service employees together to celebrate our accomplishments and highlight how we proudly work together as one big team.”

The events were designed to be fun and casual and that mission was accomplished. Several deputy ministers attended each of the events and mingled with staff for brunch and the program that followed.

The events, attended by a total of 3800 public service employees from across the province, also included an interactive exercise in which staff shared their ideas for recognizing and rewarding good work.

At the close of each of the events, deputy ministers issued a challenge to the staff to “think about how you can make a difference in your workplace and start a wave of your own.” From the feedback so far, they seem to have done just that.