Changing organizational culture in a tangible way

Asset management involves making coordinated decisions about maintaining, replacing and repairing municipal infrastructure. This practice allows municipalities to handle their assets in a sustainable way and provide reliable services to their citizens.

A key challenge for many municipalities, whether they are just getting started in asset management or further along the path, is to ensure that staff have the necessary knowledge, skills and behaviours (or “competencies”) to develop and implement asset management policies and programs.

About the Asset Management Competency Framework

The Asset Management Competency Framework for Canadian Communities (AMCF) is a tool that can help. The framework explains the different skills and knowledge needed for effective asset management, the job types where those competencies are relevant, and how all the pieces fit together across your municipality. It shows you how to assess and grow staff skills and knowledge in a systematic way. 

To complement the AMCF tool, CNAM is excited to offer a new Implementing the AMCF Framework E-Learning course. Learn how to take the recommended steps for implementing a competency framework and apply them to your organization with self-guided lessons by top industry leaders. You’ll learn about building a competency management program to enhance AM capacity with the flexibility to learn at your own pace and on your own schedule.

Ultimately, you will be able to create a map of the strengths and weaknesses of individuals, teams and departments. This provides a foundation for planning how to fill the gaps—through learning activities, recruitment and succession planning.

"Well-developed competencies that are aligned with an organization’s strategic priorities provide…a very clear description of the culture that you want to have as an organization."
– Iain Cranston

The Canadian Network of Asset Managers (CNAM) created this tool with assistance from the Federation of Canadian Municipalities (FCM) Municipal Asset Management Program.

In a truly collaborative effort, CNAM developed the AMCF in partnership with eight other national associations with expertise in various aspects of asset management, community management and associated industries. To ensure that it would be useful on a very practical level to a broad range of communities, two groups of communities piloted the framework.

Who is it for?

The AMCF was designed to be relevant to a broad spectrum of communities.

"Users of the AMCF can be confident that it will serve as a useful tool for all communities, regardless of their size or where they may be in their asset management journey. Using a standardized framework that aligns with industry best practices, significantly improves our ability to build asset management capacity within the organization."
– Chris Klos, City of Winnipeg, MB

What can the AMCF do for you?

The Asset Management Competency Framework can help you…

• Develop a shared understanding across your municipality of the asset management roles and responsibilities held by each department or job type
• Update existing job descriptions to include the knowledge, skills and behaviours (i.e. competencies) relevant to asset management
• Create new job descriptions for any full-time asset management positions you would like to fill
• Assess the competency proficiency levels of staff on a four-level scale
• Communicate to council the value of further training and additional staff
• Develop a program to address competency gaps through training and recruitment
• Improve succession planning

Sign up to access the Asset Management Competency Framework and learn more about how to get started.

"I have a better appreciation of how important people are in an overall asset management system”
– Logan McVeity, Town of East Gwillimbury, ON (cohort participant)

"The AM Competency Framework (AMCF) … supported my creation of new job descriptions and hiring of staff to support asset management within the City of Regina. The AMCF will further support development and training of staff both within my branch and also more broadly across the organization."
– Geoff Brown, City of Regina, SK (cohort participant)

Other resources

• With support from FCM, CNAM has developed an introductory booklet, Asset Management 101: The What, Why, and How For Your Community.

Contact

Iain Cranston
CNAM MAMP3 Program Manager
Tel:  250-801-0598

General inquiries about the AMCF