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Operational Considerations

Human Resources

From the perspective of human resources management, there will be a number of key issues that must be addressed if CRC's strategic direction is to become successful and productive. Foremost, there is a need to clarify CRC's size/growth guidelines to ensure that there is a proper balance of experienced and junior staff with the required skill sets. The current phenomenon of an aging CRC population combined with normal attrition will also influence the development of these guidelines. It is also imperative to examine the capacity of CRC's corporate support organizations to handle any staffing challenges. Solutions include mechanisms for career and succession planning, encouragement of staff and management training, and a flexible culture for employees to maintain a healthy work/life balance.

More broadly, CRC will review the current organization structure to ensure that it supports the direction of its business objectives. Moreover, CRC will need to ensure that there will be a sufficient managerial complement and sound management practices in place to ensure the integration of new recruits into the organization.

In embarking on these initiatives, CRC will continue to ensure that its core human resource practices continue to be in tune with new government policies on hiring, diversity, ethics and values, and that CRC management is fully apprised of the impact that these reforms may have on the ongoing conduct of business.

Finally, CRC will continue to foster relationships with Canadian universities with a view to encouraging graduate student placement in our laboratories to work on projects of mutual interest. CRC already has a number of adjunct professors attached to various universities on staff which should facilitate this effort and also offers the opportunity for professors to spend sabbatical time within the various groups. Student placements are beneficial to both parties and have the positive effect of increasing the resources that can be applied to a given task at moderate cost.

Fixed Assets and Campus Infrastructure

CRC is not only responsible for managing its own assets, but is also the landlord of the Shirleys Bay Campus, a 700-hectare site with a number of other government tenants. As such, CRC is responsible for maintaining much of the infrastructure, some of which dates back to the early 1950s. Although the tenants contribute to this financially, the size and age of the campus makes this task an annual budgetary challenge. However, CRC does find that having a large area of land is critical for research work involving satellite and radio antennas. Furthermore, the campus as a whole has grown to over 1,000 workers and has become a major research centre in its own right, particularly for agencies that require some degree of physical security. CRC will therefore continue to try and address the issue of funding and maintaining this important infrastructure with Industry Canada and Treasury Board.

CRC is also in the process of undertaking some additional construction to add new laboratory and office space for its research program. In particular, a new antenna laboratory and an expanded facility for photonics research are currently in progress. Any vacated space will then be modified and used for other programs. Although these projects have encountered some problems and are somewhat behind schedule for a variety of reasons, they are considered important for CRC's future growth and will provide critical space and new capabilities. Therefore, all avenues will be explored to ensure their successful completion.

Finally, a research organization such as CRC requires an internal communications network that is robust, fast and secure. It must operate within the constraints of government regulations but at the same time, be somewhat independent so that new protocols, hardware and services can be tested in a working environment. CRC will continue to review its network infrastructure to determine the best balance between researcher requirements and those applications that need to interact with Industry Canada and other government central agencies.