What is XFN?
Hello! I am new to medium. I have been a Free Agent in the Canada’s Free Agent Program since November 2016 and a Public Servant since May 2011. I decided to join this platform to share about my experience developing and iterating a brand new program available to all indeterminate Government of Canada employees. This program is called the Cross-Functional Policy Mobility Program, also known as XFN.
I was given mandate/enabled by the Policy Community Partnership Office to develop XFN for the GoC Policy Community. The Policy Community is a functional community of policy shapers and influencers. It brings together public servants from across disciplines and all departments and agencies to improve how we shape policy in Canada.The Canada School of Public Service graciously accepted our request to be the corporate enabler for the program.
XFN is in prototype mode and began recruitment for its first cohort of participants in November 2018. The purpose of XFN is to give employees the opportunity to work in 2–3 new policy functions during the 18-month program. This serves many purposes, for example:
- provides participants with the opportunity to work in jobs they have no previous experience in (normally you have to have done the job to get the job);
- provides participants with the chance to explore a new area of work without committing to it for years (it can be very hard to get approval to go on an assignment to access an area of work you would like to try/gain experience in);
- encourages a cross-functional approach, meaning there is value in understanding how the different policy functions interact which each other and at what point to bring in colleagues/consult and engage;
- develops well-rounded policy practitioners, meaning participants will acquire a deep understanding of the policy lifecycle, resulting in more effective policy development, implementation and evaluation;
- promotes a culture of collaboration and creating multi-disciplinary teams;
- shows the potential for a new way of hiring, meaning that managers could hire based on skills/potential, as opposed to focusing on previous experience; and,
- shows the potential for rapid learning of new policy functions (we are testing the recipe for success that allows for this).
The assessment to enter XFN was different than a standard GoC process. Firstly, we had a self-assessment that allowed candidates to determine if XFN was right for them before taking the time to apply. Secondly, we assessed candidates for a developmental mindset, ones ability to persist through challenges, learn from failures and apply those learnings. We also assessed for eight competencies: analytical; collaborative; adaptable; storyteller; results-oriented; user-centric; creative; and, data literate. Secondly, we used a group, individual and written assessment to get a fulsome view of candidates abilities in the areas we were emphasizing. All assessments were weighted equally.
In the end, our assessment tools had lots of room for improvement, but were overall effective as our first cohort is a group of 10 amazing public servants ranging from the junior to senior level representing three different classifications. While highly skilled, these XFNers are also extremely generous, brave, curious, and kind-hearted. These folks are making magic happen and I am so grateful to be on this journey with them.
The XFNers started their first assignments on April 1/19 after completing onboarding from March 27–29. Eight of them will be in their current opportunity for six months while two have accepted one-year assignments.
The learning has already been so rich in these first five weeks and we are constantly pivoting to adjust to our findings. I am very excited to share more about the development process, as well as what is happening with the live prototype. I hope you will enjoy being on this prototyping journey with me!
For all the details on XFN visit: https://policomm-commpoli.gccollab.ca/en/xfn.html
Thanks for reading! :)
