Exploring Possibilities! Journeying Through Career-Related Learning in Grades 4–6: A Teaching Toolkit
July 6, 2026Career Work in Action: Discussions and Activities for Professionals
July 6, 2026
Author(s)
Lisa Taylor
Publisher
CERIC
ISBN
978-1-988066-64-6
Synopsis
This Playbook identifies 40+ low-cost tips, activities and actions that public sector managers can take starting today (some in only 10 minutes a day) to attract, engage and retain staff. Written in an innovative “travel guide” format, author Lisa Taylor integrates a focus on diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) throughout and recognizes the unique context of public sector workplaces. The Playbook also provides planning templates and links to additional resources.
Career management – at every level of government – offers a strategic lever for stronger organizational performance and success. Indeed, career management affects more than just employee satisfaction and loyalty. It drives better public service, faster identification of ways to deliver on your mandate and increased opportunity for innovation.
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In the news
- “Empowering public servants through effective career management” Policy Options, September 21, 2021
- “Canada’s Public Service Employee Survey 2020 says: employees happier and former top agencies still on top” ”The Hill Times, June 21, 2021
- “Effective public sector career management serves all Canadians” CareerWise, June 9, 2021
- “Lisa Taylor on using career management to attract, retain and engage staff in the public sector” All in a Day with Alan Neal, CBC Ottawa Radio, June 8, 2021
- “Retain and Gain for Public Sector Leaders: Integrating DEI into Career Management” Challenge Factory, May 11, 2021
Careers & Canadians: Virtual Fireside Chats with Policy Leaders
Reviews
Alastair MacFadden
Executive in Residence at Johnson Shoyama Graduate School of Public Policy and Former Deputy Minister, Government of Saskatchewan
“Public sector managers are in the driver’s seat of a leadership journey. Guiding a team to serve the public interest is not straightforward. It’s no small task for any leader to invite creativity, and support resilience and results. The circumstances for public managers are especially challenging. You are navigating obstacles, changing conditions, roadblocks, speed limits and frustrating traffic signals. The directions can sometimes put you on the wrong path while at other times they are ambiguous. Managers are maneuvering the heavy traffic of competing priorities in a vehicle whose dashboard offers limited information. The brakes are sticky. Your budget can offer fuel but maintenance or an upgrade can be tough to justify. What’s more, your passengers are with you but can get frustrated, restless and even car sick. This Playbook is designed to support your journey with compassion for your reality. The travel guide format satisfies a hunger for bite-sized, practical advice to super-charge relationships in a way that mobilizes progress. These tips will help you succeed by engaging the full capacity and talent of a diverse team. Whether you’re a veteran or beginner, you’ll find ideas to build your confidence and competence for the road ahead.”
Doug Ball
Executive Director, Ontario Municipal Social Services Association
“I found it a very interesting read, very appropriate and easy to follow. Looking back at my own career and the many leaders who inspired me through my journey in the public sector, I now realize they employed many of the actions steps identified within this Playbook and I am glad they did.”
Susan Osborne
CCDP, Career Development Consultant, Province of Nova Scotia
“Absolutely excellent publication! As with the other Playbooks in the series, the engaging travel guide metaphor and format makes this a very useful resource. I’m impressed with how well the career development guidance has been adapted to and customized for the public service context and I believe managers across the public sector will feel it speaks to their reality. It’s uniqueness as a guide for Canadian public service managers – on a topic of such importance to employee engagement and organizational culture – will make it an instant hit.”
Tony Haddad and Jim Pine
Co-Chairs, ONWARD – Building Tomorrow’s Ontario Municipal Leaders
“Attracting, retaining and developing the next generation of municipal staff leaders must be a priority to meet the needs of our cities and towns. In light of the disruptive change that will face municipal workforces over the next decade, this Playbook helps to mobilize talent through practical career management strategies that reduce skills gaps and enable responsiveness. Managers will find this to be an invaluable and easy-to-implement guide to leading more engaged teams.”
Dan Pontefract
Best-selling author of Lead. Care. Win. and Open to Think
“Retain and Gain masterfully connects the dots between career management and a meaningful employment path in Canada’s public sector. If you’re looking for a helpful travel guide that assists your career journey, this excellent Playbook is it.”
Rachel Haché and Nathalie Thériault
Co-chairs of the Interdepartmental Career Community of Practice, Public Service of Canada
“As career development professionals, we often hear that managers are afraid to have career conversations with their employees because they do not want to create expectations, lose talent, or they simply don’t know how. We refer to managers as career enablers and we believe that effective talent management begins with managers having career conversations with every single employee. We love this Playbook because it includes navigation tools that will equip managers with the career coaching skills, inclusive and agile career mindsets, and practical know-how needed to initiate career conversations with confidence.” students, helping them develop various facets of their lives, including healthy habits, social and emotional skills, self-confidence, and more, as they prepare to embrace their future.”
Alastair MacFadden
Executive in Residence at Johnson Shoyama Graduate School of Public Policy and Former Deputy Minister, Government of Saskatchewan
“Public sector managers are in the driver’s seat of a leadership journey. Guiding a team to serve the public interest is not straightforward. It’s no small task for any leader to invite creativity, and support resilience and results. The circumstances for public managers are especially challenging. You are navigating obstacles, changing conditions, roadblocks, speed limits and frustrating traffic signals. The directions can sometimes put you on the wrong path while at other times they are ambiguous. Managers are maneuvering the heavy traffic of competing priorities in a vehicle whose dashboard offers limited information. The brakes are sticky. Your budget can offer fuel but maintenance or an upgrade can be tough to justify. What’s more, your passengers are with you but can get frustrated, restless and even car sick. This Playbook is designed to support your journey with compassion for your reality. The travel guide format satisfies a hunger for bite-sized, practical advice to super-charge relationships in a way that mobilizes progress. These tips will help you succeed by engaging the full capacity and talent of a diverse team. Whether you’re a veteran or beginner, you’ll find ideas to build your confidence and competence for the road ahead.”
