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Welcome to the Managers' Toolkit

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As a manager or supervisor within the Government of the Northwest Territories, one of your primary responsibilities is to provide your employees with guidance, direction and assistance, to help them maximize their potential and help contribute to the success of the organization.

In this Managers' Toolkit you will find resources to help you in your everyday work as a manager or supervisor. The answers are written in an easy, step-by-step format to provide you with straightforward answers to your questions.

You may also find answers to many of your questions in the easily searchable Human Resources Manual.

Your Human Resource Representative is also available to help answer any questions you might have.

The Managers' Toolkit for Managers and Supervisors is primarily a set of guidelines and is subject to ongoing revision. When referring to information in the Toolkit it is important to remember that source documents should always be your primary point of reference. The information contained in this Toolkit is intended as a support tool and to provide guidance. As a manager or supervisor you need to ensure you consider the source documents, such as the Collective Agreement for clarification before relying on the guidelines in this Toolkit.

Managers may wish to consult with their Human Resource Representative or the helpdesk for clarification on the guidelines contained in this Toolkit.

We appreciate and welcome any comments, suggestions or recommendations that you might have that will help make the Managers’ Toolkit a more useful and effective tool for managers. Please submit any comments or feedback on the toolkit through our online feedback form.

Why Human Resource management is important to your business

Human resource management is the integrated use by an organization of systems, policies and management practices to recruit, develop and retain employees who will help the organization meet its goals.

Human resource management is not just for the responsibility of the Department of Finance. It is also the responsibility of leaders and managers, who exercise HR functions with their staff every day. Leaders and managers can use skills and tools to enhance their own performance and the performance of their employees. By using these tools and working closely with HR professionals, managers can help build their employees' capabilities and strengthen employee commitment to the organization. This in turn can strengthen individual and organizational performance and further the organization's ability to meet its goals.

Department of Finance and program managers each have a role to play...

In 2005, the GNWT supported the centralization of its human resource (HR) services into a comprehensive shared service model. Centralization supported the GNWT’s need to improve the consistency and fairness of the staffing processes; to improve the quality of service being provided to existing staff; improve human resource planning, and recruitment and retention strategies; and to increase efforts in achieving a representative public service.

The new HR service delivery model moved HR services from separate departments/agencies into a consolidated Department of Finance that is mandated to provide leadership and direction to the GNWT and its boards and agencies in all areas of human resource management.

The consolidated model is intended to integrate, connect and leverage HR services within the GNWT as well as provide  corporate  oversight while remaining flexible enough to respond to the unique human resource needs of different departments, boards and agencies (the “clients”).  Human resource management is implemented within the framework provided through relevant legislation and policies, including the Public Service Act and the Human Resources’ Establishment Policy.

To this end, the management of human resources within the GNWT is a partnership.

The Department of Finance recognizes and  respects that clients have a lead role to play in:

  1. Managing their staff – performance management, oversight of time and labour, developing and implementing human resource plans, managing talent, et cetera
  2. Strategically managing their human resources, using value-added tools and supports from DHR , in actions such as recruitment and staffing, succession planning, et cetera
  3. Managing their resources – fiscal authority and accountability rests with partners so DHR must provide quality service that does not adversely impact clients’ fiscal position

Clients recognize and respect that the Department of Finance has a lead role to play in:

  1. Delivering core transactional services directly on behalf of the employer (GNWT)
  2. Developing the tools and resources that support partners in managing their staff
  3. Adding strategic value to human resource management and supporting a corporate approach across the GNWT
  4. Regularly reporting and monitoring service levels