Directions for Change

Section 3:
What supporting strategies will enable us?

3.2 Embedding flexibility

The environment in which we operate will change in the coming years in ways that we cannot fully anticipate. Our clients' needs will evolve as technology opens up new possibilities. New partnerships will be possible. We therefore need to be a nimble organization so that we have the capacity to deliver on our mandate in the most effective way at any point in time.

Flexibility must be built into all our systems-whether organizational or technological-to better respond to changing priorities and to deploy and re-deploy our human, financial and technological resources to optimal effect.

HR flexibility

As a professional organization, our most important resource is our employees' expertise and creativity. Salaries are by far the greatest portion of our budgets. We must build flexibility into our organizational design and into our approach to human resource management. We will implement human resource policies and practices that allow an easy and timely reallocation of staff to new priorities. We will analyze our human resource needs and formulate competency profiles and recruitment strategies. We will look to build breadth and flexibility into positions through generic work descriptions, and place increased emphasis on transferable skills and competencies.

Effective organizations use a variety of work models to bring diverse expertise and perspectives together. The organization of some of our work will be modular, matrix, or project-based. Innovation requires collaboration, so we will foster team-based approaches, and develop a corporate-wide management philosophy and a set of HR policies and practices that support staff mobility.

Financial flexibility

Likewise, our approach to financial management, guided by a more responsive set of financial services, will furnish the latitude to manage our financial resources on a corporate basis, and shift funds toward corporate priorities on an ongoing basis. Reliable management information will be available to support corporate financial decision-making.

Lastly, the dynamic organization we envisage will also require flexibility in our accommodations, so that staff can come together readily to work on new initiatives.

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