Enhancing Public Services!
Municipal administration plays a crucial role in shaping the quality of life for citizens through the efficient management of local resources and services. This sector encompasses a wide range of responsibilities, from strategic planning to daily operations, all aimed at meeting the needs of the community. Effective municipal management involves balancing the interests of various stakeholders, ensuring transparency, and nurturing a sense of community among residents. The success of this sector is determined by strategic planning, effective communication, and a commitment to providing high- quality services to the public.
Maxime Boissonneault, the General Manager, has a rich background that reflects a strong connection to community service and municipal management. With a career that spans various roles in municipal administration and education, Maxime brings a wealth of experience and a unique perspective to his position. His journey from administrative assistant to the youngest municipal director general in Quebec highlights his commitment to public service and his ability to adapt and excel in diverse environments. His leadership style focuses on collaboration and empowerment, cultivating a culture of shared responsibility and continuous improvement.
Ville de Rigaud benefits from Maxime’s extensive experience and innovative approach to municipal management. The city’s administration, under his leadership, focuses on enhancing communication between the municipal council, employees, and citizens, ensuring that the needs and concerns of the community are addressed effectively. Maxime’s strategic initiatives aim to optimize the city’s resources, promote collaborative leadership, and implement forward- thinking policies that align with the city’s vision for the future. Through his efforts, Ville de Rigaud strives to maintain high standards of service while building a responsive and organized local government.
Let’s explore Maxime’s strategic leadership journey in municipal administration:
A Transition from Education to Municipal Administration
Maxime has an atypical background. He grew up in an environment where the spirit of community is important. His maternal grandfather was mayor of the Municipality of Saint-Stanislas-de-Kostka and prefect of the Regional County Municipality of Beauharnois- Salaberry. So, he had inspiration and examples from those around him.
When he was younger, as a student, he worked at the Municipality of Saint-Stanislas-de-Kostka as an administrative assistant. He contacted the administration and the workings of the municipal sector. Subsequently, he was able to work there as a janitor, public works employee, at reception, etc. So, these were his first experiences at the municipal level.
Afterward, he worked in the school environment as an educator, office worker, and administrative manager. Following these experiences, he moved into teaching: he did his bachelor’s degree in teaching at the University of Sherbrooke, and he then planned to do his master’s degree in school management to later become a school director.
However, in 2015, the Municipality of Saint-Stanislas- de-Kostka called him to replace the general director on an interim basis. He accepted the replacement. During the four months, he loved his experience: municipal organizations are local governments that work in different areas, both broad and specific, and have a direct impact on the population. He applied for the position, and following the recruitment period, he was selected. At that time, he was the youngest municipal director general in Quebec!
He worked for five years in this municipality; he learned a lot and took courses and specializations with associations, universities, etc. In 2020, he worked at the Quebec Municipal Commission, which is at the same time an administrative tribunal, an arbitrator, an investigator, an auditor, an administrator, an advisor, and a mediator for the municipalities of Quebec.
After a few months, he got bored of the direct impact on the citizens, and he returned to the municipal sector, this time to the Town of Dunham, a larger organization than the previous one. Finally, in 2022, an opportunity presented itself at the City of Rigaud, a larger organization with many challenges, and he accepted this new challenge!
Balancing Stakeholder Expectations
Maxime’s daily life is quite varied and vast, much like the services offered by the city. His main role is to ensure communications between the municipal council, employees, and citizens.
He ensures that all directions are put forward, that the issues raised by citizens are taken into consideration, and that he makes recommendations to the municipal council. He ensures optimal management of the city’s resources, as well as strategic planning and the implementation of projects, programs, and policies approved by the municipal council.
Every day, he supports the various municipal services, employees, and their management in achieving the mission they have providing quality services to all citizens at a lower cost. Overall, this translates into:
- Continuing the transformation and organizational mobilization of businesses.
- Mobilizing the city’s services around its primary mission, the citizen experience, among other things, by supporting each department in order to offer a simple, rapid, complete, efficient, and pleasant service for the services and for the citizens, and this on a daily basis.
- Ensuring integrated management of the relationship with citizens, the various internal stakeholders, and the council by showing listening and empathy towards the expectations expressed by each party and ensuring follow-up with resource people.
- Developing and implementing sound human resources management through the recognition and appreciation of employees while allowing the development of a sense of belonging and the achievement of set objectives.
- Exercising collaborative leadership by leveraging knowledge and management skills, supporting and directing staff, mobilizing them, and directing them towards achieving the organization’s objectives.
- Promoting a culture of collaboration and exchange of expertise between the different services.
- Attending and participating in committees, work meetings, or public assemblies and ensuring the necessary follow-ups.
- Acting as an advisor to the municipal council and ensuring liaison between the council and employees.
- Implementing strategic planning to pursue the city’s vision, focused on the future.
- Ensuring the preparation of the annual budget and the city’s capital expenditure program in conjunction with each department and the municipal council.
Recognition and Distinction
The spirit of community is an element that Maxime particularly likes and defends. He started his actions on a smaller scale. First, individually, and subsequently, on a larger scale, by becoming municipal director general. The proverb “Alone, we go faster. Together, we go further.” says it all for him.
It is important for him to be a member of different associations to be able to share, experience the community spirit, be inspired, and continue to grow as an individual and as a professional. He first joined the Association of Municipal Directors of Quebec in 2015, when he started at the municipal level.
Subsequently, in 2017, he joined the Order of Chartered Administrators of Quebec to provide additional liability insurance regarding his actions carried out in the exercise of his duties. In 2018, he joined the Corporation of Municipal Officers of Quebec. In 2021, also working in human resources management, he joined the Order of Certified Human Resources Advisors of Quebec, and, finally, in 2022 and 2023, he respectively joined the Association of Municipal Directors General of Quebec and the Canadian Association of Municipal Administrators.
In addition to sharing and community spirit, all these associations provide a wealth of knowledge through continuing training. Coming from a teaching background, he believes in the necessity of continuing training throughout one’s career.
Finally, he has received a few awards and distinctions in his short career, and he believes that these simply demonstrate the added value of his daily actions in his circles:
- 2017: Recipient of the Merits-Strategic Positioning Award from the Association of Municipal Directors of Quebec.
- 2017: Personality of the Month TC Média / Max 103- Caisse Desjardins Salaberry-de-Valleyfield.
- 2019: Recipient of the Mérites Prize – Municipal Management from the Association of Municipal Directors of Quebec.
- 2022: Recipient of the Emerging Excellence in Public Administration prize from the Institute of Public Administration of Quebec.
Transforming Public Organizations
According to Maxime, public organizations are often too entrenched in the spirit of bureaucracy, leading to a loss of human contact. Yet, these are public organizations that provide public services and, as he believes, are made up of humans serving humans. This belief leads him to review the structures and ways of thinking in public organizations, focusing on adapting to the needs of citizens rather than the other way around.
For Maxime, “each person within an organization has an important role and can influence the mission, vision, and values of that organization. He is both an actor and an ambassador; he must have the opportunity to contribute to inspiration and make the required changes without having to be confronted with bureaucracy himself.”
The organization chart applies the agile governance organizational system based on the implementation of collective intelligence. This organizational system allows for the dissemination of decision-making mechanisms internally and further promotes the organization of self-organized teams.
Maxime emphasizes the objective is to empower each of the city’s departments and its employees by decentralizing decision-making and eliminating all hierarchical barriers found in a conventional organizational chart. The members of the general management act as leaders by supporting all City services within a strategic vision. This is how the orientations and actions can be implemented by each employee, and general management supports the implementation of professionals. Citizens are at the very heart of the organization chart, the main framework around which municipal services evolve.
Everything involves taking ownership of the work of each employee, making daily decisions, assuming responsibilities, and monitoring their actions, all through dialogue and constant learning. This orientation focuses on increased mobilization of staff to empower everyone, increase their autonomy, and promote career development within the city. His team has left aside the more paternalistic and hierarchical approach, where they find constant supervision and the regulation of behavior.
As an organization, the aim is to have healthy cohabitation between all the generations found in the environment, but above all, to take advantage of the skills of all members. This is how each employee becomes, in a way, an entrepreneur and is responsible for their tasks with the support and guidance of general management.
Inspiring Change and Growth in an Organization
Maxime is a facilitator, a conductor—that person who brings breath, energy, and inspiration to help the people in the organization grow. In his role, he works to develop and light the stars in each person so that they can, in turn, grow and help the organization grow. He brings people out of their comfort zone to experience change, to tame it, to grow, and then to make it grow.
Keeping Pace with Evolving Municipal Legislation
As for the strategies he uses to stay updated with the latest developments and trends in municipal management, Maxime is a self-taught person; he likes to read specialized journals, research, and books, with the aim of inspiring himself and staying up-to-date with new developments. In Quebec, he also has municipal legislation that evolves rapidly, with significant modifications.
Also, coming from a teaching background, he believes it is essential to do ongoing training, both to be up to date in the municipal field and in the public management aspect. Finally, being a person who likes to share, he puts forward his discoveries and new developments by sharing with his colleagues, which also allows him to develop his knowledge while providing constructive exchanges.
Key Traits for Aspiring Municipal Leaders
Maxime’s advice to someone aspiring to achieve a leadership role in municipal administration is that “Regardless of the path, it is possible, through your background and experience, to access a leadership role within a municipal administration. For a person who wishes to access it, you must keep an open mind: we work on different files, sometimes which take us out of our comfort zone, on different issues that are sometimes important social issues and for which we would like to have an impact faster, but above all, with and for humans. You must know how to roll up your sleeves, show empathy, and be ready to weather storms.”
The Future of Public Service
In Maxime’s opinion, the City of Rigaud is currently on a good track to fully assume its role with the population. In parallel with the various organizational changes, beautiful and large projects are being prepared to further structure the offer of services to the population, always in response to citizen demand.
Maxime, therefore, wishes to bring to fruition both this important change and the projects that are currently developing. Afterward, he lets himself be carried by life and wherever it wishes to take him; however, he aspires to continue in larger municipal organizations and to continue to have a community impact, regardless of the size of the organization.
