McNair Business Development Blog

P3's - Appropriate Application, Best Practices & Public Engagement

noreply@blogger.com (McNair Business Development Inc.) — Fri, 05 Jul 2013 21:08:00 +0000

By: Matthew Styles, Senior Business Analyst

Public Private Partnership’s (P3s) have become more prominent in discussions between private enterprises and all levels of government for developing public infrastructure in recent years. Peaking in 2009 over an 11 year period when 39 projects were finalized for capital funding, totaling $21.7 billion. Yet there is evidence that the average tax payer supporting these projects is skeptical in trusting the private sector to deliver suitable and affordable public service’s due to the profit driven model of private sector companies. The most recent example is an Environics Study released by Public Interest Alberta indicating more than 2/3 of Edmontonians don’t approve of a Light Rail Rapid Transit (LRT) P3. This is in addition to the petition recently submitted by the Water Watch Group in Regina asking the City to put a referendum to the public on the Waste Water Treatment Plant Design-Build-Finance-Operate-Maintain (DBFOM) P3 model.

In relation to these issues, I had the opportunity to read through an article authored by Dan Ovsey of the Financial Post commenting on the public perception of P3’s and the way’s that the public sector can ensure the P3 model for projects is used when appropriate, and successful when utilized.

Dan Ovsey interviewed a number of sources to gain an understanding of what separates a successful P3 project from a bust. One of the individuals interviewed was Will Lipson a partner with KPMG who indicated that the public sector must be “…vigilant about the enforcement of contractual obligations” in order to ensure the private sector fulfills their role. If the private sector partner does not fulfill their role then penalties outlined in the contracts must be enforced. Yet, in order to develop a comprehensive contract that drives a P3 project, the proper personnel must be put in place, who dedicates the proper time and effort into developing a comprehensive contract. Mr. Lipson states that the biggest work is developing a successful contract, in which expert advisors must be involved in the technical and financial aspects to develop the best deal possible. Contracts must detail everything, down to the daily operations and maintenance of the P3 asset being proposed. Public sector needs to be open to increasing their capacity and expertise through the use of an external workforce with the proper knowledge to develop contracts.

Another key component in ensuring a successful P3 project is undertaken is a detailed analysis for value. John McBride, CEO of PPP Canada commented that P3’s are only applicable for 10-15% of infrastructure projects. A detailed analysis for value is also needed to showcase what the fundamental difference in cost is, and more importantly what risks, including financial, the public sector is transferring over the private sector through a P3 model. This is quite important as public sector finances are increasingly under the microscope and budgets are tightening.

One of the key challenges for implementing P3’s is buy in from the public. Andre Jureau, who acted as the Federal Government’s Deputy Minister of Infrastructure from 2002 to 2006 indicated that “the public for whom the service is being provided must buy into the concept before too many grand plans are made”

The City of Regina’s announcement of the DBFOM P3 has been met with much opposition, specifically the petition submitted by the Water Watch Group for a referendum on the issue. Pending the outcome of the petition the City may have to go forward with a referendum. Pending any outcome the City could look into increasing public engagement to detail why a P3 model is right for the Waste Water Treatment Plant, and why the project will be successful, this could include detailing:

- Project expertise working on developing the contract

o Include financial advisors, technical advisors, and fairness advisors

o Developing a high level list of private sector contractual obligations, if they are present at this time

- Aggressively promoting the detailed analysis for value

o Expanding beyond the savings of $58.5 million from Federal Funding, if the project operates under a P3 model

o Outlining the total cost of the project for or without a P3 Model

o Detailing a high level list of risks being transferred over to the private sector

Given that this is one of the first DBFOM P3’s in Saskatchewan, the general public has the right to demonstrate skepticism, but the City of Regina has a great opportunity to engage, educate, and demonstrate to the public that this project is right for a P3 model and has the right expertise behind it to be successful.

Dan Ovey’s article can be viewed by visiting the following link:

http://business.financialpost.com/2013/05/28/success-of-p3s-lies-in-public-sectors-vigilance-to-hold-private-sector-accountable/?__lsa=3c42-0ae4

For more information on PPP Canada please visit http://www.p3canada.ca/home.php.

Productivity 101 Workshop

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Wed, 19 Jun 2013 20:17:00 +0000

By Alex McNair, Business Analyst Intern

On Monday morning, a group of us from McNair attended a workshop called ‘Productivity 101’ presented by Productivity Alberta and made possible by the Saskatchewan Chamber of Commerce. As the title of the workshop suggests, everything from the definition of productivity to how to measure productivity to different tools that businesses can use to increase productivity was discussed.

There are many different definitions for productivity, as everyone at the workshop who offered their definitions came up with something different, but all followed the same idea – that productivity is the measure of output for one unit of input. Whether those inputs are people, natural resources, or knowledge, the question is, how do you get the most output for those inputs?

I’ll just touch on some of the things that I liked most about the presentation.

One reoccurring theme of the presentation was waste. The best way to remember the most common forms of waste is “Tim Woods”. Transportation, Inventory, Motion, Waiting, Over-production, Over-processing, Defects, and Safety. Although I have only been at McNair since the start of May, I still see how important it is to reduce waste. One project I have been helping on related directly with waste, and how they wanted to become more ‘lean’. Waste isn’t good for anyone, whether it be a waste of time, money or both (not to mention opportunity cost). That waste will either be absorbed by the business (decreasing margins), or be passed on to the client (decreasing demand). The bottom line for waste is that you are simply putting in too many inputs for a less amount of outputs.

I found the “Six Kinds of Innovation” quite interesting. They were market extension, re-inventing business models, process improvement, system solutions, product improvement/integration, and technology invention. The presenter had great examples for all six of these but I’ll stick with my favorite, and what it has taught me about business. For systems solutions, he mentioned FedEx. I thought it was funny that he mentioned FedEx because I remember hearing about the genesis of the company when I only about 15 or 16, and FedEx is still the first thing I think of when it comes to innovation. As far as I can remember what was told to me, FedEx began as an idea that some university student had for a business project in business school. As the tale goes (or as it was told to me) the professor laughed at the student, who turns out to be quite a genius. Before FedEx, it was really called ‘snail mail’ for a reason. Packages would be completely over-processed (view waste above), getting sorted through every major port that it went through. Now, what the founder of FedEx thought was that even if a packaged was going to a destination 100km away, that it would be more productive to ship every package to a central location, where it would be sorted once, and then shipped out to the desired location. The distance that a package would travel would be significantly higher than its displacement, but was far more productive. Granted, I’m sure it’s about a thousand times more complicated than how I just described it, but nonetheless I always think of that example when I think of innovation, or any sort of thinking outside of the box.

The last thing I will touch on is leadership. The key facet of leadership is empowering your employees. There was a graphic shown on the power point during the presentation that said that in Japan, they obtained one productivity improvement idea from each employee, on average every 10 days. While in the United States, they obtained one idea per every eight employees a year. The companies in Japan received more ideas from employees and they implemented many more of them each year. In the US the improvements saved on average about six thousand dollars, while each Japanese improvement saved only $126. But after doing the math, the Japanese ended up saving about $422,000 and the Americans? $22,000. Have I lost you yet? The moral of the story is that the Japanese have the right idea. Think of it this way, the old time American improvements only swing for the fence, going for the home run. The less flashy, more productive Japanese are hitting singles, but hitting a lot more of them. At the end of the day, the Japanese win this metaphorical game, by about $400,000. This is the basis for continual improvement. As mentioned in our handout an “excellent leader furnishes the link between innovation and productivity”. By empowering your employees and taking baby steps, you will constantly find yourself ahead of those swinging for the fences and only trying to score when it’s too late (see the automobile industry collapse).

All in all, this presentation resonates well in Saskatchewan. Bringing this back to the definition of productivity being “the measure of output for one unit of input”, Saskatchewan is at a point where productivity is essential, to partially address the labour shortage, to increase our global competitiveness, and to continually improve our prosperity. Being able to get the most out of what you put in is key to being competitive in any market. Whether it be the worldwide potash market or a Saskatchewan-based management consulting boutique firm, limiting waste, being efficient leaders, and staying innovative and ahead of the curve are all essential to being successful. It is too easy to use clichés, but none better describe the reoccurring theme of this workshop - it’s about working smarter, not harder.

Pursuing Saskatchewan Opportunity, Managing Risks, and Making Smart Decisions

noreply@blogger.com (McNair Business Development Inc.) — Tue, 11 Jun 2013 17:54:00 +0000

By: Doug McNair, President & Business Strategist

McNair Business Development Inc. over 17 years has been involved in over 600 consulting assignments, as Saskatchewan’s business development and management professional services firm.

Saskatchewan’s growth is exciting, but we need to be smart about how we assess, develop and manage business ventures and public investments. Saskatchewan businesses, communities and governments need to make smart choices about their opportunities, investments and new ventures. Strategic alternatives, opportunity definition, due diligence, risk assessment, value for money, and return on investment all need to be considered to make good business decisions about where to invest our efforts and resources.

And let’s manage these opportunities within the context of the needs, strengths and interests of the province and its people and our own businesses. Saskatchewan welcomes expertise and investment from outside the province, and we embrace new knowledge and innovation, and we need to develop our own local capacity and capabilities for managing a growing economy over the long term. We need to take what has worked elsewhere, consider it within the Saskatchewan context, be sure we understand and qualify what we are being offered, and ensure our expectations are met in an effective and efficient manner.

McNair is strongly positioned to continue to offer professional business development, management consulting and project development services within the Saskatchewan context. We can help define the opportunity, develop the scope and determine the costs and benefits. We can work with multiple stakeholders as the “owner’s representative” as a Project Director or Chief Project Officer. We can develop the plan, provide the team, manage the delivery and oversee the risks during the project phases, in order to achieve the best possible (and expected) outcomes.

Our passion is in helping our clients make smart choices that enable businesses to grow effectively, new ventures to succeed, and wise community and public investments to be made.

The Future of Saskatchewan Infrastructure

noreply@blogger.com (McNair Business Development Inc.) — Fri, 31 May 2013 20:08:00 +0000

By John Waller, Senior Business Consultant and Stephen Johnson, Senior Economist

After a classically Saskatchewan winter, construction season is in full swing continuing to advance the boom with gravel trucks extending to every corner of the province. The oil renaissance continues in the southeast and southwest, potash activity continues throughout the middle of the province, uranium is picking back up in the north and Saskatchewan’s two largest cities continue to grow upward and outward. While records that track people and permits continue to be broken quarter after quarter, there is one sector of the economy that feels a bit stretched by all this excitement – infrastructure.

Infrastructure is the enabler of growth in areas including transportation, water and sewer, electrical power, natural gas and telecommunications. All these elements are required to produce a new or upgraded development that supports employment and population growth. That population growth creates further demands for infrastructure and introduces additional demands on social infrastructure like hospitals and schools.

We view infrastructure developments as the transition points in the economic growth cycle, with each element of growth preceded and followed by required investment in infrastructure:

Private sector investment stimulates the process and without growth in those primary industries, there is little demand and little resources available for infrastructure investment. With prodigious provincial growth in private sector investment, every element of infrastructure in the cycle has experienced unprecedented demands.

Provincial government investment in infrastructure will total some $848 million in 2013-14: schools, health care facilities, roads, bridges, and highways. These take the form of either transfers to third parties or investments in government owned infrastructure.

Since 2008-09 almost $5.8 billion has been invested by the provincial government. This represents roughly 1 to 2% of provincial GDP. However, accounting for economic spin-offs, the impact is much more profound.

Using McNair’s Economic Impact Model, cumulative provincial government infrastructure spending since 2008-09 will have had provincial economic impacts of:

The 2013-14 provincial government infrastructure spending alone is expected to have the following impacts on the provincial economy:

In addition, provincial government infrastructure spending will return about $75 million in tax revenues to the province through taxes on new wages, profits, and goods purchased.

Impressive numbers? Yes, but consider these totals don’t even include investment and economic impact of Crowns, including SaskPower, SaskWater, SaskTel and SaskEnergy. SaskPower alone spent $981M on capital projects last year and plans capital spending of $10B over the next decade. Running the numbers for Crown investment and associated economic impact could make anyone’s head spin.

The only problem with massive capital investment that creates a multitude of positive spin off benefits is the massive capital investment itself. Money, and lots of it, is required for infrastructure to keep pace with growth. With infrastructure investment, you are making payments today for benefits in the future – bridges with 50 year lifespans, water pipe that will last for decades, etc. But with all these infrastructure needs rising in unison at the same time, Governments in growing economies are faced with difficult choices that will shape the fiscal and economic outlooks of their regions for decades.

- How can we make massive capital investments while balancing budgets?

- How can we use debt financing when our goal is to pay off the debt?

- What factors are most important if we have to choose between a highway and school?

- What if we build a new hospital in a booming area and the boom is over in 5 years?

- How can we manage and maintain all this while maintaining our commitment to reduce the size of the public service?

If we are being honest with ourselves here in Saskatchewan, we know that we don’t have all the answers to these questions since we’ve never faced decisions on the magnitude that we do today. That brings us to the Saskatchewan Chamber’s P3 Summit on Monday, June 3, at the Delta in Regina. P3s have been in the media over the past year with high profile projects in healthcare and wastewater being considered and apparently some sort of new sports facility in Regina.

The future of Saskatchewan infrastructure is going to include unique arrangements and innovative solutions not because past approaches were wrong, but because present and future challenges demand them. We are going to see traditional P3s, we are going to see unique partnership like the SaskPower/SaskTel/Camecoagreement to take fibre to the north, we are going to see more outsourcing that will include maintenance, independent power production like the Cowessess WindTurbine Battery Storage Project and private sector utility installation like the SaskPower Turnkey Program.

McNair is happy to be a sponsor at the P3 Summit, not because we are experts in the area, but because we think the event is playing an important role in bringing in new knowledge to the province and connecting it with local decision-makers and professional service providers.

Supporting a little boy with a ton of fight!

noreply@blogger.com (McNair Business Development Inc.) — Tue, 23 Apr 2013 19:18:00 +0000

By Rachelle Holterman, Senior Business Consultant & Manager of Business Development

In the fall of 2012, my close friends and neighbors were thrown into nightmare – their 5 year old son was diagnosed with a rare form of brain cancer called Diffuse Intrinsic Pontine Glioma (DIPG). It is inoperable and the median overall survival of children diagnosed with DIPG is approximately 9 months. This has particularly hit home for me as not only is this family close friends of ours but my two daughters went to daycare next door and grew up to be best buddies with Tyler and his younger brother Brayden. How life can change so dramatically in an instant…

It has been incredibly hard watching our friends go through this, I still can’t fathom what they have been going through. However, the support from family, friends and complete strangers has been absolutely amazing. In particular, a Facebook page called Sailing Around the World for Tyler has become a popular page which started as something fun for Tyler and his family to watch a journey of a monkey around the world to get their minds off this beast called cancer, to now an outlet for Kelly (Tyler’s mom) to update everyone on Tyler’s progress and receive thoughts, comments and prayers from people around the world, most complete strangers. This page is now up to 2,335 followers.

Recently, one of the followers decided she needed to do something and came up with the idea for Tyler’s Fight Auction. Again the idea caught on quickly and within a weekend about $20,000 was raised for Tyler and his family. McNair Business Development Inc. also participated in the fun of the auction and bought a West Wind Aviation certificate for $350. Not only was the firm interested in providing support for a cause that was near and dear to the heart of an employee, but also it supports our interests in making more trips to Saskatoon to grow out our presence in that market.

I want to personally thank Doug and Shanna for supporting Tyler and his family and I am very proud to work for an employer that gets involved in supporting important causes in the community.

I have learned from watching the strength of Kelly and her family in going through this that we all need to remember what is most important in life, don’t stress about the little things, and focus on what really matters. Unfortunately Tyler is nearing the end of his battle and will soon earn his angel wings. I am so lucky to have had the opportunity to live next door to this amazing little boy and will forever remember him as a superhero that wouldn’t let cancer keep him down. Love you Tyler!

Now go give your loved ones an extra hug tonight.

‘Big Data’ Applications in Saskatchewan

noreply@blogger.com (McNair Business Development Inc.) — Fri, 12 Apr 2013 22:44:00 +0000

By John Waller, Senior Business Consultant

McKinsey recently released their latest Insights Article on a subject that is gaining more and more attention – Big Data. Big Data has varying definitions but put simply it refers to large and complex data sets. Data analytics has long been a staple of leading industries like finance and computer engineering, but is beginning to explode in industries like healthcare, public sector management and manufacturing. For me, it begs the question – what aspects of the Saskatchewan economy are active, or should be active, in Big Data?

Understanding that manufacturing is a broad and diverse sector, generally I’d guess that Saskatchewan manufacturers wouldn’t have quite the demand for Big Data analytics relative to other jurisdictions. Many of our large manufacturers, think agriculture equipment, rely on high value, low volume sales to relatively fewer customers. Big Data in manufacturing has been applied to customer relationship management that provides insights into ideal sales and marketing tactics to diverse customer segments. Saskatchewan’s resource industry likely has a number of niche data analytics applications that support exploration, production timing/volumes and employment. It would be interesting to have a look inside Potash Corp. or BHP Billiton data analysis groups to see the key indicators affecting investment decision-making at those companies. The construction sector (including trades) has become such a massive part of the Saskatchewan economy but Big Data doesn’t seem to be an area where companies will prioritize time and effort.

Saskatchewan’s public sector is beginning to explore enhanced data analysis, especially in infrastructure investment decision-making. All areas of infrastructure are considering economic impact and advanced cost benefit analysis to determine how public sector entities (including the Government of Saskatchewan and municipalities) can best allocate capital investment dollars. The creation of SaskBuilds and continued pursuit of P3 projects shows the continued commitment to leveraging data to justify major investment decisions.

At McNair we have worked on a variety of data analysis and econometrics projects and have made it a focus area for the firm moving into the future. By bringing local data whiz Stephen Johnson on-board as a Senior Economist we are broadening our analytical capabilities. Big data is an area that intrigues the firm and we hope to continue to learn alongside our clients about innovative applications of data analytics here in Saskatchewan.

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Tue, 26 Mar 2013 20:59:00 +0000

More Exciting News for the GTH!

By Rachelle Holterman, Senior Business Consultant & Manager of Business Development

I just wanted to take the time to congratulate one of our clients, The Global Transportation Hub Authority, on attracting two new exciting clients to the GTH in west Regina – The Emterra Group and The Saskatchewan Liquor & Gaming Authority.

The Emterra Group will invest more than $8 million on land, building and equipment for a new 13-acre development at the GTH. Emterra, the City of Regina’s new curbside recycling contractor, is building a 45,000 square foot “world class, state-of-the-art” material recovery facility (MRF) at the GTH. Click here for the full Government of Saskatchewan news release.

The Saskatchewan Liquor and Gaming Authority (SLGA) is moving forward with plans to relocate and expands its liquor distribution warehouse in Regina. SLGA and the GTH are currently finalizing the sale of a 15 acre parcel of land. The new 145,000 square foot warehouse is expected to be operational by spring of 2015. Click here for the full Government of Saskatchewan news release.

Our firm has been working with the GTH since its inception in 2009 in various aspects of business model development, business planning, process definition and project management. We appreciate and have seen all the hard work that goes on behind the scenes by the GTH team to attract and develop every new client deal. Each one of these new clients brings significant potential to Regina and Saskatchewan through new business, investment and employment opportunities.

Congratulations to the entire team at the GTH!

The Global Transportation Hub (www.thegth.com)

The Global Transportation Hub (GTH) is a major Canadian transportation and logistics centre located in Regina, Saskatchewan. GTH is home to Canadian Pacific, Loblaw, the Yanke Group of Companies and Consolidated Fastfrate. To date (including Emterra), a total of $338 million of private sector investment has been secured at the GTH.

Muda (Waste) – How do the eight wastes relate to business consulting?

noreply@blogger.com (McNair Business Development Inc.) — Wed, 20 Feb 2013 22:18:00 +0000

By Leslie Moldenhauer, Quality Analyst

Reading through my recent ASQ Quality Progress magazine, I came across an article on waste commonly found in business environments. Originally applied to a production environment, this information can readily be applied to making improvements to every business from business consulting to production of products.

Taiichi Ohnoⁱ originally identified seven wastes (muda) and later added underutilized people as the eighth waste commonly found in physical production. Removing waste from your business and your processes can have a positive impact on the quality of products and service you provide and can help with your overall productivity and profitability.

Working in the consulting industry, I tried thinking of some of the waste we have in our environment and where we have opportunities for improvements. The eight wastes and some examples of where I’ve observed them in the consulting world include:

1. Overproduction ahead of demand.

In the business consulting world this can be seen as working on a project prior to actually receiving the go ahead from a client. Something is produced when there is no demand. Sometimes this risk is deemed appropriate, other times it is not warranted and a loss to the firm is the result.

2. Waiting for the next process, worker, material or equipment.

I am sure that many of you in the business consulting field have waited on co-workers, clients, office supplies or equipment to be fixed before you can move ahead to the next step in a deliverable. This results in down time, and sometimes extensions in the timelines of a project.

3. Unnecessary transport of materials (for example, between functional areas of facilities, or to or from a stockroom or warehouse).

If you have more than one location and availability of certain items only at one of them resulting in having to ship items back and forth. Or the movement of items through email where limits on file size may cause inconveniences or waits due to inability to send required items to a client, supplier etc.

4. Over processing of parts due to poor tool and product design.

Again, difficult to translate into business consulting, I see this as over delivering on what the original scope of a project is. Sometimes over delivering is ok if you have time left in a project and want to wow a client, usually this is not the case and you run into the risk of going over time and over budget.

5. Inventories more than the absolute minimum.

How many pens do we really need stockpiled? Or paper, binders, obsolete computer parts? Perhaps performing a 5Sⁱⁱ exercise may help to identify and clean up unneeded inventory and recycling or disposing of obsolete items.

6. Unnecessary movement of employees during the course of their work (such as to look for parts, tools, prints or help).

How about unnecessary steps to a printer that is located half way across the building? Or items located in areas that are not always consistent, having to search for what you need?

7. Production of defective parts.

This one is a little more difficult but could be related to something as simple as not everyone following the writing principles as set out by your firm, thusly creating extra re-work to ensure standards are being met prior to release of a deliverable. This can also result in delivery of a less than standard product to a client, which no one ever wants to have happen.

8. Underutilization of employees’ brainpower, skills, experience and talents.

Sometimes in a firm we are not completely aware of what our employee’s skills, experience or talents are, so do not take full advantage of what they can offer. If everyone in your firm was fully utilized on projects that were a fit for the skills, experience and talents they have, I am sure the bottom line would be more profitable.

At McNair, we are ISO 9001:2008 Certified, which means we utilize a management system and continuous improvement to eliminate waste from our processes. This process is ongoing and we are always looking for ways to make improvements. Reflecting on the 8 wastes is a great way to help me and our team to prepare for our annual ISO audit next week and to look for additional ways we can reduce waste this year and ongoing.

These are my thoughts on where waste can be found in our industry, and I’m sure there are many other ways to relate this to your business. Take a little time to think about how this would relate to your business and I can almost guarantee that you will think of things a little differently and maybe even make some changes to how you conduct business in the future.

i. Taiichi Ohno was a prominent Japanese businessman. He is considered to be the father of the Toyota Production System, which became Lean Manufacturing in the U.S. He devised the seven wastes as part of this system. Wikipedia

ii. 5S – Sort, Simplify, Sweep, Standardize, Self-Discipline

Employer Branding – More than a Fancy Logo

noreply@blogger.com (McNair Business Development Inc.) — Tue, 12 Feb 2013 15:19:00 +0000

By Andrée Carpentier, Senior Business Analyst

Recent reports on Saskatchewan’s labour market continue to point out the growing gap between labour supply and demand in our province. The Government of Saskatchewan estimates that an additional 60,000 workers will be needed by 2020 to meet the economic growth projections. With forecasts like these, Saskatchewan businesses will inevitably be faced with a predicament – how can they differentiate themselves as an attractive employer in order to attract and retain quality employees?

Last year we posted a blog that discussed employer branding and its numerous benefits; particularly during this period of economic growth that Saskatchewan is experiencing. Many of these benefits can be observed in organizations that have successfully developed a strong employer brand. WestJet and Farm Credit Canada (FCC) are two North American companies that are looked up to for their ability to attract and retain quality employees and their ensuing business performance.

WestJet, FCC and numerous other top performers follow many similar organizational practices that have led them to hang awards up on their walls like “Most Admired Corporate Culture” and “Top 50 Best Employer”. Here are 9 success factors that are often observed in strong employer branded organizations.

1. Leadership Commitment

The leadership team grasps the concept that increasing employee engagement leads to greater workforce satisfaction and ultimately, better results.

2. Leaders Walk the Talk

The CEO and senior management team understand that the employer value proposition isn’t just a statement – it’s embedded in the organization and can be observed in senior management’s consistent behavior. The organization’s leadership knows when to react and adapt to internal and external factors, and innovation is embraced. The workforce also tends to receive regular communication from the CEO.

3. Employee Empowerment

All employees, no matter what their position in the organization, are empowered and encouraged to show leadership in their thought and actions. A team approach is taken, where it is not only those in management roles that are expected to lead. Shared responsibility and accountability are expected from all.

4. Recruitment Process

Cultural fit is viewed as critical when hiring, and interview guides are designed to help assess whether or not candidates will integrate smoothly into the existing environment.

5. Onboarding and Training

Once hired, new employees complete a training session to discuss the culture and employer value proposition so that they can understand how it is integrated into their everyday life in the office.

New management and leaders also go through training, which is more extensive than the employee training. The focus is on how to continuously implement and measure that the organization is in line with the desired culture and employer value proposition.

6. Clear Goals, Roles, and Accountability

Employees have a clear understanding of organizational goals and how they fit into the bigger picture. Roles and responsibilities are clearly outlined and communicated. As a result, everyone knows what they are accountable for and are empowered to take action when they see a problem or area that needs improvement.

7. Continuous Conversation

Management values and seeks the employees’ input. As a result, channels such as internal message boards and group sessions are made available to allow employees to ask questions directly to organization leaders, and to share workplace experiences.

By having a means to share workplace experiences and ask questions, the workforce feels more connected to the team and the brand, and they get first-hand examples of how to put the company’s values into practice.

8. Wellness at the Workplace

The organization values the health of its workforce and understands that it is a contributor to the organization’s wellbeing.

To demonstrate this commitment, cafeterias offer healthy food choices, and wellness centres are accessible in the workplace along with different wellness programs offered to increase participation.

9. Meaningful Rewards and Recognition

Employees that exceed and live out the employer brand are recognized and rewarded. Personal thank you notes from senior management are given to employees who exceed or accomplish a feat. More importantly, failures are not penalized; they are considered lessons to learn from and move forward with.

Working in conjunction with each other, these best practices have assisted many organizations to differentiate themselves from other employers. In many cases, it has provided them with a competitive advantage. Strong employer branding is already beginning to play a more crucial role in Saskatchewan’s labour market as the province continues to experience unprecedented growth. Is your organization ready?

McNair Welcomes Stephen Johnson to the Firm

noreply@blogger.com (McNair Business Development Inc.) — Fri, 01 Feb 2013 19:58:00 +0000

McNair is excited to announce that effective January 1, 2013 Stephen Johnson has joined the firm as a Senior Economist. Stephen Johnson holds a Bachelor of Commerce and a Masters of Economics from the University of Saskatchewan and has had over 15 years of experience with development and use of economic impact models for the Federal and Provincial Governments and for private sector clients. He has been principle of SJ Research Services Inc. for the past 10 years.

Stephen has developed provincial and territorial models for four provinces, two territories and several sub-provincial economic impact models. He has successfully completed over 60 economic impact and demographic projection projects including environmental impact assessments for ten oilsand developments, five potash mines, two nuclear reactors, and two arctic mines. He has also developed numerous models for most major provincial events over the past several years.

Stephen joins McNair as part of our firm’s expanding role in assessing investments and projects, conducting due diligence, and economic impact on public infrastructure and private investments in the province. Our firm is committed to acquiring the right resources to help with Saskatchewan’s growth and evaluate value for money and returns on investment for larger projects and ventures.

Happy Holidays and Best Wishes

noreply@blogger.com (McNair Business Development Inc.) — Mon, 24 Dec 2012 20:12:00 +0000

I enjoy this time of the year because it’s the time to focus on family and friends. We can also take a few moments to reflect on the last year, and be thankful for our good fortune and blessings. And we can always look forward to the new year with optimism and a sense of purpose. No doubt we are all wiser.

Best wishes to our colleagues, friends, associates, clients and partners. In fact, best wishes to everyone!

Doug McNair

McNair has joined Facebook

noreply@blogger.com (McNair Business Development Inc.) — Tue, 18 Dec 2012 20:17:00 +0000

McNair is pleased to finally be a part of the social media trend! Last week, we signed up for a corporate Facebook account and we’ve already seen interest through several “likes” and interaction with our photos. If you’d like to stay current with McNair and what we’re up to, please “like” us on Facebook! www.facebook.com/McNairBusinessDevelopment

Great People, Great Food, Great Wine – Annual McNair Business Celebration

noreply@blogger.com (McNair Business Development Inc.) — Fri, 09 Nov 2012 17:05:00 +0000

By Rachelle Holterman, Senior Business Consultant

On the evening of October 18, McNair held our Annual Business Celebration at our office at 3419 Pasqua St. All of us at McNair look forward to this event each year as an opportunity to connect with our clients, colleagues and the business community. Our guests were treated to delicious food from Crave Kitchen + Wine Bar, accompanied by great drinks and fabulous music provided by Kevin Kosha Jazz Band. The ambiance created the perfect setting for over 85 guests to network and enjoy the evening together.

Our President, Doug McNair, provided some inspiring words to the crowd about why we do what we do at McNair. This is what attracts and retains our wonderful and diverse clients:

We are passionate about making a difference.
We are not just interested in doing work – we are interested in projects that matter.
We are focused on creating value.
We are enthusiastic about creating a brighter future
We are interested in opportunity – opportunity to make Saskatchewan and the world a better place, even if in just a small way.

Because we focus on the Why and not the What, we believe this differentiates McNair. This is what attracts and retains top talent to the firm, this is what attracts and retains our wonderful and diverse clients, and this is what brings us exciting and challenging projects.

At McNair we pride ourselves in the strong relationships we have built with our clients, business and government leaders and contacts in the community. The Annual Business Celebration provides an excellent avenue for us to make connections between these people and stimulate discussion about the opportunities to work together on projects that matter and where we can create a more prosperous Saskatchewan.

For everyone that attended, we want to thank you for helping us create an unforgettable evening and we look forward to doing it again next year. Cheers!

Building a North/South Trade Corridor

noreply@blogger.com (McNair Business Development Inc.) — Fri, 19 Oct 2012 20:12:00 +0000

I recently had the opportunity to help facilitate a strategic planning session for the Northern Working Group of the Ports-to-Plains Alliance. The Ports-to-Plains Alliance is made up of people from various states and provinces who are championing this trade and transportation corridor that runs from northern Mexico to northern Canada.

The objective of the Alliance is to establish a strong business case whereby affected governments and others within the Ports-to-Plains economic region realize the benefits of supporting economic development initiatives and infrastructure investments along the entire corridor.

I heard a convincing case for Saskatchewan membership in the Alliance. A Ports-to-Plains official pointed out that Saskatchewan exports to the US states along the corridor and to Mexico have grown to about $1.9 billion annually. In comparison, annual provincial exports to China are currently $1.7 billion.

The Honourable Bill Boyd, Saskatchewan’s Minister of the Economy, was the keynote speaker. He provided an informative overview of the provincial economy, and emphasized how important it was for Saskatchewan to build stronger trading relationships. He also expressed a desire to see improved US/Canada border service.

Besides two officials from Ports-to-Plains Alliance, the planning involved about 30 representatives from government, cities and towns, community organizations, economic development professionals and interested individuals from North Dakota, Montana, Alberta and Saskatchewan. Saskatchewan participants came from a wide swath across province including Regina, Lloydminster, Swift Current and Yorkton. Over two days, the Northern Working Group identified some strategic priorities, such as:

Building a strong northern business casefor northern governments and others to support the corridor;
Improving the capacity and effectiveness of the Northern Working Group through education and creating working partnerships along the northern sections of the corridor;
Working jointly with Canadian Border Services Agency and the US Customs & Border Protection Agency to improve border service levels and ensure security; and,
Promoting common regulations and permitting along the corridor to improve the efficient of movement of people and goods.

Leaders and action steps were identified for each of the priorities and support for implementing them will be provided by the Ports-to-Plain Alliance office.

Northern Working Group In Action

Wind Turbine Site and Foundation Construction Underway

noreply@blogger.com (McNair Business Development Inc.) — Sun, 30 Sep 2012 21:35:00 +0000

By: Jessica Nixon, Senior Business Consultant

As an update to a post we wrote back in April, we are pleased to provide the following information on the Cowessess Wind Turbine Battery project that is under development just 3km south east of Regina.

- The civil construction work started in mid August and was completed on September 8^th by HCL Construction based out of Moose Jaw. HCL spent 3 week stripping, excavating, hauling and building up the access road and site compound where the turbine and battery will be situated.

- This past week WKA Montague, based out of Germany, started work on the turbine foundation which is expected to be complete in mid November.

- Following the completion of the foundations the turbine can be erected. The 73 meter high turbine will definitely draw some attention and it is shipped to site and installed.

- The Enercon E53 turbine was shipped from Germany and is in secured storage in Regina awaiting transport to the site.

- The contract with the battery supplier was recently finalized and we expect to see the battery units delivered to site in November.

- SaskPower crews have finished installation of the three phase line that will connect the project to the SaskPower grid.

The project team from Cowessess, SRC and McNair along with all sub-contractors are working hard to ensure that the turbine will be erected the last week of November! It is hard to believe that in a few short months the Regina skyline will change!

It sure is great to see a First Nation community execute such a leading edge project!

The project has received some recent media coverage in the Grenfell Sun. For more information, check out the article at:

Cowessess leads First Nation’s communities in clean energy technologies

Also provided are some pictures of the work underway at the site:

SaskPower Crews installing the three phase service (September 24, 2012)

Preparing the turbine foundation (September 26, 2012)

Thoughts on the 2nd National Infrastructure Summit

noreply@blogger.com (McNair Business Development Inc.) — Mon, 17 Sep 2012 15:23:00 +0000

by: John Waller, Business Consultant

I had the opportunity to sit in on several sessions at the National Infrastructure Summit held at the Delta here in Regina last week. Here were some of the best takeaways from my time at the summit:

Fairly unified belief among presenters and attendees that infrastructure needs to be viewed as an investment rather than a cost. Further, infrastructure investment can be a critical enabler of economic development.
Municipal representatives all focused on the need to diversify tax revenue to supplement core revenues generated by property taxes. Multiple presenters hammered home the point that our municipal tax system really hasn’t changed since the 17^thor 19^th century depending on the presenter. Whatever century they quoted, all agreed that substantial changes to tax policy are a strict requirement to future growth.
Casey Vander Ploeg, Senior Policy Analyst from Canada West Foundation, made a seemingly obvious but brilliant comment on how property taxes encourage urban sprawl – namely, that assessed values and property taxes are higher the closer you get to downtown, which has encouraged people to move to the periphery of cities; moreover, it costs municipalities considerably more to provide infrastructure to those peripheral areas, making the flat tax approach completely counter-productive in discouraging urban sprawl.
Casey had another of my favourite quotes of the conference when asked how the public sector can embrace innovation and get away from risk averse behaviour – namely, that “the public sector lacks the reward for taking risk.” Again, seemingly obvious, but that basic reality has a profound impact on the reluctance the public sector has in thinking of new ways to deliver infrastructure.
Another interesting theme from the NIS both this year and last year is how little municipalities truly know about the state of their infrastructure. A real focus is on developing asset management plans that lay out maintenance and replacement strategies, but also serve to simply educate municipalities on what they have for roads, water and sewer. In discussions with Humboldt officials, they have actually applied a program presented at last year’s conference that has set them on a path to making more informed and strategic infrastructure investment decisions. It is great to hear of actual application of concepts discussed at the NIS.
I also had the pleasure of sitting with a City Councillor from Summerside, P.E.I. who discussed his municipalities wind farm with me. The City has an electrical utility and the 4 turbine wind farm helps make the town self-sufficient; additionally, they actually export some of the power created from their wind farm. They are looking to expand should another opportunity to receive federal funding present itself. Their funding model seemed similar to the federal/provincial/proponent split that Cowessess has on their Wind Turbine Battery Storage project, currently under construction East of Regina. The City of Regina also is doing some feasibility around wind, so it looks like the smaller-scale application of wind is becoming more prominent.

Prince Albert Diefenbaker Bridge Open House

noreply@blogger.com (McNair Business Development Inc.) — Fri, 31 Aug 2012 16:18:00 +0000

By: David Stewart, Senior Business Consultant

Last month, I participated in an open house in Prince Albert to inform the public about a study we were doing along with Stantec on the need for a second bridge in the city.

McNair was engaged to do the business case and Stantec is undertaking the technical and engineering analysis on the best location for a second bridge.

About 100 area residents attended the open house and expressed a variety of opinions and concerns on the need for a second bridge. Mayor Scarrow and city officials also attended, along with Provincial Government MLAs and representatives.

In August of last year, a crack was found on the Diefenbaker Bridge and most trucks and heavy equipment were unable to use the bridge until March of this year. And from time to time, passenger traffic is delayed as repairs are being made. The bridge should return to normal service levels by the end of October.

Any traffic restrictions on the Diefenbaker Bridge pose a serious problem as about 8 million vehicles cross the bridge annually and the bridge serves as an important gateway to Northern Saskatchewan. The mining, forestry and tourism industries are particularly vulnerable to bridge closures or restrictions as the bridge is the only access across the Northern Saskatchewan River for 100 km or more. Also, residents on the north side of the river use the bridge to access medical and educational services and do much of their shopping in Prince Albert.

Our report on the need for a second bridge will be provided to Prince Albert and the Provincial Government and released later this fall.

My Summer Experience: An Attest to the McNair Culture

noreply@blogger.com (McNair Business Development Inc.) — Fri, 24 Aug 2012 17:35:00 +0000

By: Alex McNair, Administrative and Accounting Assistant

I have been working at McNair for the last four months as a summer job in an attempt to gain some real world experience in a professional business setting. It was a gratifying experience, and it’s hard to believe that I’m heading back to London, Ontario tomorrow to start my second year of my HBA at the Richard Ivey School of Business.

During my first year in university, I learned a lot about corporate culture through various case studies. And it’s very obvious to me that culture means everythingin an organization. Google, for example, has one of the most heralded cultures in the entire world. They hire creative and motivated people, and in return those employees get to work in the most amazing offices that I’ve ever seen. (You should “Google” them; one has a bowling alley!) I knew what culture was but I didn’t understand its relevance until I started working at the firm. McNair hires employees that are motivated, determined, inspired and inspirational – and all together they form a culture that is great to work in. I’ve also found that people really enjoy what they do here as they are engaged in top tier projects that are helping to grow this incredible province that I’ve been so lucky to grow up in.

My time at McNair has allowed me to take what I learned in the classroom and transfer it into the working world. Doug has always told me how the culture that he tries (with success) to create in this firm is essential, and now I understand what he means. Although I’m excited to be heading back to my second year of university, I’m glad that I got to spend my summer in this office, with some great people, and I’m excited to have the chance to come back in the future.

Observations from Europe – Part II: The World of Finance

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Fri, 03 Aug 2012 14:28:00 +0000

By: John Waller, Business Consultant

As a follow up to my past entry (Part I: Infrastructure and Stadiums), my second round of observations will be related to finance in a time of great turmoil for the Eurozone. As the world’s foremost financial minds continue to struggle to straighten things out, I certainly won’t be providing any ideas on fixing problems, but here were a few observations on the subject:

We spent 10 days in Greece, including a couple of days in Athens and a shade over a week in the Greek Islands. We arrived in the buildup to the Greek election in June that was being promoted as “Greece Votes: The Future of Europe” virtually around the clock on the BBC (until 48-hour-a-day coverage of the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee took over). The islands seemed to show no ill-effects of the turmoil, but really the islands are their own world almost entirely reliant on tourism that seemed bustling to us. After spending such little time in Athens I cannot intelligent comment on the true effect of the turmoil there, although the Athenians we encountered appeared to had “lost their swagger” and looked generally a bit solemn. The problems in Greece, and other European nations, seem to me to be structural and are likely to cause long-term issues. At the crux of their problems is a government pension issue that even basic math shows is unsolvable without significant changes. With the City of Regina and many other North American entities going through their own pension problems, they do not need to look far to find test cases on what can happen if you let the issue linger too long. All in all, general feeling was split in Europe on whether the Eurozone would survive these issues, but all agreed that major changes would be forthcoming. One thought that came to mind on the subject – as Eastern Canadian manufacturers continue to complain that the Western-fueled petrodollar is killing Eastern Canadian exports, how could a country like Greece compete on exports with a powerhouse like Germany if their exports are on the same currency? I am sure this was addressed when developing the Eurozone and is an answer I’d like to find.
Our second sad story of modern finance in Europe takes us straight across the continent from Greece to Scotland. On a tour from Edinburgh focused on history with stops in Stirling and the Highlands, the first bit of info our guide provided was on the impact of the economic crisis on Edinburgh. We drove through a commercial area that was supposed to be the new home of high finance in Scotland, but skyscraper plans had been scrapped after the collapse in 2008. The worst news however was that Scotland’s two largest banks, The Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) and the Bank of Scotland, had both suffered massive losses that led to ownership changes. RBS required a Government bailout and the U.K. government now owns more than 75% of the bank. The Bank of Scotland was bought out by the Lloyd’s Banking Group headquartered in London. Tens of thousands of high-end jobs were lost and that has had a profound impact on the economy as those bankers supported the region’s retail, entertainment, housing and other commercial industries. In the case of the Bank of Scotland, the corporate headquartered technically somehow remained in Edinburgh, but our guide indicated it was more of a political announcement and that most people felt that after the recovery any new jobs would go to London. Any economist will tell you that losing a corporate headquarters with high-end jobs can have profound negative impacts and that will be one of the lasting legacies of the financial crisis on Edinburgh.
At the forefront of present Eurozone discussions is Germany, the continent’s strongest economy. We had multiple stops in Germany, spending time in Berlin, Munich, the Rhine Valley and Frankfurt. Germany and its Chancellor Angela Merkel have become the de facto leaders of the Eurozone and were being portrayed as sitting directly across the table from Greece in finalizing bailout terms. We did not spend much time discussing the issues with Germans, although we did chat with our host in Berlin who felt that “It was unfair that Angie was being portrayed in the media as the villain – it is not our fault that Greece did not have proper management.” One man’s opinion is enough to broadly generalize on behalf of all Germans isn’t it? As a classic twist of fate, Germany and Greece met in the Euro Cup quarterfinals right in the middle of all these discussions with Germany soundly defeating Greece 4-2. One noteworthy thing we saw in Frankfurt (Germany’s financial capital) was a protest outside of the European Central Bank, which resembled what I’d imagine Occupy Wall Street looked like. But, the protest area looked like nothing more than a large group of peaceful tent dwellers.

So, those are some thoughts on the European financial crisis based on firsthand accounts. Part III of my Observations from Europe will be a hodge podge of other interesting business and economic musings from my travels.

The Little Free Library

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Thu, 02 Aug 2012 15:15:00 +0000

By: Jessica Nixon, Business Consultant

In preparation for my weekend at the lake camping, I thought I should ask around if any of my colleagues had any good books they could recommend or lend me for the weekend. Now I have to be the first to admit I am not an avid reader, I would rather spend time catching up on business news or political happenings. But in attempts to relax during my time away from the office grabbing a good book seemed like a good idea.

A colleague recommended that I check out the Little Free Library located on the 2300 block of Athol Street in Regina. The premise is “take a book…leave a book”. On my lunch hour today I stopped by to check out the library and while browsing through the books noticed that a reporter from Global News was filming the library. What are the chances that the very remote time I decide to read and actually get a book that it is caught on film?!

You can see the Global News clip on the Little Free Library at the following link: http://www.globalregina.com/video/the+little+free+library/video.html?v=2262884256&p=1&s=dd#stories

It’s a great idea and I encourage you to stop by and check out the library!

Observations from Europe – Part I: Infrastructure and Stadiums

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Tue, 24 Jul 2012 22:06:00 +0000

By: John Waller, Business Consultant

After working for the better part of two years straight, I was lucky enough get spend six weeks in Europe this summer travelling to eight different countries. After abandoning my McNair colleagues for such a long stretch, the least I could do is chip in some blog entries to detail some of the interesting business and economic musings from the adventure.

I am putting together a three part series of entries that starts off with some observations on infrastructure and stadiums – two central issues facing the Saskatchewan economy right now.

Istanbul is a fascinating city that boasts as much interesting history as just about any place in the world, but that has undergone a transformation into a modern metropolis attracting investment and diverse cultural development. It did however have the worst wastewater infrastructure of any spot we visited – despite staying in an apartment in the heart of the bustling New Town, we were not permitted to flush toilet paper! As with most places in the New Town and Old Town areas, toilet paper and other “rubbish” needed to be placed in bins and taken outside after use. A bit different than we were used to!
Part of our travels included a stop in Wroclaw, Poland to take in the opening day of Euro 2012. The “football” tournament was co-hosted by Poland and the Ukraine at 8 venues, 6 of which required state-of-the-art stadiums to be built. In addition to billions spent on stadiums, considerable transportation infrastructure was built for the games as well that included a new bridge and new train station in the city we visited. Having been awarded the games in 2007, a year before the economic crisis, there is considerable worry that the costs of these investments will haunt the two countries for years. With that being said, post-tournament sentiment is that the games highlighted Poland’s continued emergence as a developing nation and that investments will support long-term growth, but that the event may have been ambitious for the Ukraine as incomplete development and safety concerns actually had some Ukraine-based teams staying in Poland. As the stadium debate rages on in Saskatchewan, don’t be surprise to hear about the Poland/Ukraine developments and how things work out for the communities after the Euro – the stadiums have slightly larger capacity but similar design concepts and the smaller host cities would share a number of similarities with Regina. Finally, I can confirm that the “covered seating” stadium design worked wonders to protect the crowd from the pre-game downpour we experienced; ironically though, the premium seats at field level were still at the mercy of wind pushing rain coming through the center of the stadium. Could create some interesting seat-swapping opportunities around playoff time for those who can brave the elements.
Transportation infrastructure in Europe is a real highlight with cheap flights and convenient trains making country-hopping really easy. The sheer volume of customer trips has created incredibly efficient systems with a multitude of low cost flight options and trains that run like clockwork. Comparing transportation infrastructure between Europe and Canada is comparing two different worlds – population density and general geography make it infinitely more expensive in Canada, which means planes will always be more expensive and passenger trains, specifically in the West, will need ground-breaking innovation to ever become feasible. Even the least supportive citizens of a Regina stadium would agree it is more feasible than a Regina-Saskatoon bullet train – I think.

That wraps up by observations on European infrastructure. Part II of the series will look at the world of high finance and some thoughts on the Greek financial crisis.

Start with the “Why”

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Mon, 16 Jul 2012 19:06:00 +0000

By Rachelle Holterman, Senior Business Consultant

Twice a year, our entire staff gets together at a planning retreat to discuss our business plan and strategies for the year, check in on our performance and how we are doing, discuss opportunities for improvements and change, and make adjustments to our plans as required to achieve the outcomes we are looking for. At our July planning retreat, we watched and discussed a thought provoking YouTube video entitled “WHY?” from presenter Simon Sinek at a TED Conference. Here is a quick bio on Sinek from his website:

A trained ethnographer and author of Start With Why: How Great Leaders Inspire Everyone to Take Action, Sinek has held a life-long curiosity for why people and organizations do the things they do. Fascinated by the leaders and companies that make the greatest impact in the world, those with the capacity to inspire, he has discovered some remarkable patterns of how they think, act and communicate. He has devoted his life to sharing his thinking in order to help other leaders and organizations inspire action.

The main premise of the video is that most people think in the order of What – How – Why. However, great inspirational leaders and organizations reverse this thinking and focus on the Why first. They let the “Why” and their beliefs drive “How” they do things and ultimately “What” they do. “What” you do just serves as the proof of your belief. Apple is an example of an organization that focuses on the "Why". Martin Luther King and the Wright brothers are examples of inspirational leaders that focused on the "Why". Because of this thought process, they were able to achieve what others could not.

I found myself getting goosebumps listening to Sinek speak – his message resonated with me in terms of what we believe in at McNair and what drives us every day to get up in the morning and do work for our clients. We are driven by the “Why”, that we want to make a difference for our clients, Regina and ultimately the province of Saskatchewan. About two years ago we started using a tagline – “Projects That Matter”. This was a conscious effort by our firm to focus on the projects that we believe in, where we can make an impact for our clients and that would ultimately bring business and economic success in Saskatchewan. When scoping an opportunity with our clients, we always focus on defining the outcomes they are interested in achieving from the project which then drives how we will achieve this (our methodology) and ultimately what we will do (our deliverables). Once again, the “Why” is what McNair focuses on first.

I recommend this video to anyone that is looking to get inspired about what you believe in and why you are doing what you do. For me, it was a confirmation of our beliefs at McNair and an important reminder to let the “Why” drive what we are doing every day. It is also an opportunity to think about what we can change and do differently to allow us to focus on the “Why” even more moving forward and inspire others to change.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u4ZoJKF_VuA

Innovation Starts with "Developing Innovators"

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Wed, 13 Jun 2012 17:00:00 +0000

By Scott Langen, Director of Operations & Senior Business Consultant

In a previous work life, the goal of our organization was to inspire young minds towards science and technology. Our purpose was not to just teach facts, figures, and data, but to actually challenge and support youth in thinking scientifically and innovatively.

It was the “ability to think” that was our key focus. It was not about knowing the right answer, but more about developing minds to get to an answer, to get to “your” own answer through the scientific process, and sometimes get “different” answers.

And what we discovered were the following “best practices” in terms of Developing Innovators:

Creativity – support and encourage individuals to think up and explore new and unique ideas;
Problem-Solving – challenge the mind to think through issues and obstacles;
Team Building – create opportunities for “teams” to have to work together in order to succeed.
Collaboration – innovative ideas typically come from groups collaborating and sharing ideas, problem-solving together, and encouraging team creativity and idea development.
Risk-Taking – encourage and congratulate risk-taking practices and endeavours; and finally,
Critical Thinking – allow the mind to question, doubt, and challenge orthodox thinking and practices.

There are a multitude of other qualities and ingredients that could be expanded on (luck being one of them), but for the most part, these “5 Innovator Behaviours” were what we found developed and led to innovation, new ideas, different answers, and unique solutions.

And I would argue that these are also the types of behaviours that the workplace and office should also be encouraging and promoting.

The equation is simple: Innovator + Process + Resourcing + Environment = “innovation”

And if we start first with “inspiring innovators”, the outcome will be predictable and encouraging!

Newest Addition to McNair Team

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Mon, 11 Jun 2012 15:15:00 +0000

By: Andree Carpentier, Business Analyst

As the newest addition to the McNair team, I would like to take a minute to provide a bit of information on my background and highlight a few of my reasons for joining McNair.

While completing my commerce degree in Ottawa, I participated in the co-op program where I gained experience in the federal government as well as the non-profit and private sector. I moved to Saskatoon after completing my degree and worked in the startup community in marketing, strategy and process improvement. I also co-founded an online employee scheduling tool. With the majority of my family living in Regina, I decided it was time to move back home and pursue a career in consulting.

Why McNair?
McNair has a set of unique offerings as an employer. The team environment and entrepreneurial culture creates a motivating work space. We each work on a variety of projects with different organizations across the province at one time, which keeps the workload interesting and challenging. McNair also focuses on taking on meaningful projects - those whose outcomes will impact Saskatchewan and its citizens.

With strong core values that align with my own, I am thrilled to be part of the team and look forward to working with clients in Regina and across the province.

Challenge Facing Saskatchewan Municipalities

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Tue, 01 May 2012 19:21:00 +0000

By: Jessica Nixon, Business Consultant

The Canadian Home Builders Association of Saskatchewan in partnership with Saskatchewan Housing Corporation hosted a two day Housing and Development Summit in Regina on April 24 and 25, 2012. Forecasted population growth is expected to increase demand for housing (rental and ownership) and infrastructure investment, which was the basis of the two day conference.

The session title, The Role of Local Governments, reaffirmed what McNair recently heard while undertaking a Housing Needs and Demand Assessment for the Prairie Innovation Enterprise Region in the Humboldt area. The municipalities that we visited in the Humboldt region reported that the existing infrastructure is aging and needs reinvestment; meanwhile there is a demand for new housing development. As such these municipalities are faced with significant demands on their limited budgets. Do existing residents pay the price for new development? Or does new development pay for new development? I tend to believe that new development should pay for itself. However, from the time the first dollar goes in the ground to service lots, built roads, and provide core infrastructure to the time the lots are sold and revenue is generated either through the lot sales or tax dollars the community is exposed to financial risk. Most communities do not have financial resources on hand to undertake the required upfront investment so the default is to debt finance, which in itself is very risky for smaller communities who have minimal access to debt financing.

Also, many communities lack affordable housing for low and moderate income households. These types of developments require financial support if they are to be built. Most communities do not have the resources to support affordable housing projects, but they have to deal with the social and economic issues associated with housing shortages. There is a need for innovative financial solutions if Saskatchewan is going to address its growing housing needs in this “SASKABOOM” era.

Whose responsibility is it to make sure municipalities have access to the resources needed to accommodate the demand for housing and development?

There was good discussion at the conference by the panelist on the topic. Perhaps a new approach to core and application based funding programs is needed here in Saskatchewan.