By Jean Rioux, Co-Executive Director (jean.rioux@skipatrol.ca)
At the 2017 annual general meeting that commenced April 1, 2017 at Big White Ski Resort, a members’ proposal was adopted that placed the division presidents on the national management committee (NMC) as full members instead of reporting through the VP Operations. Since that time, the division presidents have been participants at the NMC table on a regular basis.
Despite this significant step the organization has not had an opportunity to look at our national management structure. An internal review identified that a large number of the responsibilities of the VP Operations were now a division president responsibility. Consequently, a layer of management between the division presidents and the NMC effectively became redundant. A more logical grouping, focussing on our membership has been created, the position of VP Operations has been dissolved, and a new position has been created. Our goal with the review was to reflect the reality of what we do in our organization structure.
The CSP is a large, complex organization. The range of activities run from establishing standards at the national level to patrol operations and implementation of standards, and providing help to individuals on the ground. To get things done we also rely on leadership as much if not more than executive direction, although executive authority is still required. National position titles have also been changed to reflect this thinking. No changes to titles below the national level are affected.
As a key part of our focus is change to the membership experience, we have created a new portfolio, Member Services. The new portfolio will have the national level responsibilities for recruiting and retention, critical incident stress management, pro deals, human resources, talent management, the national annual conference, and our diversity and inclusion programs.
We have been a bilingual (French and English) organization since our founding 80 years ago, yet we continue to struggle with how we manage this vital requirement. We recommended to the board of directors that a specific focus on this topic was necessary and the board agreed. Consequently, a new translation services portfolio has been created. This portfolio will oversee and coordinate the translation needs of the national organization
There are also some committees of the board that you should be aware of, namely the legal advisory committee, financial oversight committee, and the information technology advisory committee. These committees report directly to the board, providing advice and in some cases oversight of activities within their sphere, and work in conjunction with the co-executive directors and the other committees of thebboard.
In this organizational change we have also formalized a position that reports through the co-executive directors. Although it doesn’t occur very often, the CSP and its members are involved in statements of claim (lawsuits). The insurance liaison is aniindividual who works as an expert witness in court for the CSP, works with our insurers and also supports the members to understand the process and we hope, reduce the stress load that comes with legal actions.
For more information on the new organizational structure, please reference the new org chart on the national website.
This post is also available in: Français