The Action Plan
| PWGSC must enhance client service by breaking down existing stovepipes and integrating service delivery. |
PWGSC has been actively implementing modern comptrollership initiatives since 1998. Building on this solid foundation and on the departmental MMPA will involve a measured and sustained approach to meeting modern comptrollership commitments. An enlightened and forward-looking organization exists only if management and employees at all levels adopt the departmental vision for change and, with it, all related principles and core values. This action plan describes the current state of modern comptrollership practices within PWGSC and the department's future plans for improvement and key activities. A detailed Modern Comptrollership Action Plan, which includes specific actions, outcomes, responsibilities, timelines and resource estimates, is attached as Appendix 3.
The report of the Task Force on Service Delivery confirmed that for the department to remain relevant to the Government of Canada's agenda and to enhance service delivery, we should create a "one-stop shop" for government common services. Integrating service delivery, and therefore, providing clients with a single set of values and standards is our new service-delivery model — a model that strongly supports the Government's service agenda.
In the short term, PWGSC's modern comptrollership emphasis has been directed toward implementation of the recommendations of the Task Force on Service Delivery, which will drive the department forward. Implementation of these recommendations includes an internal reorganization, which will make the department more responsive and capable of offering higher quality integrated services.
Action and Progress
The department will initially concentrate its efforts on several key areas that are described here under the following headings:
- client relationship management, as described above, the department will fully implement its reorganization plans to better integrate services;
- resource management, includes implementing the results of the departmental assessment, as well as, implementing a cost management framework, improving financial information, and assessing sustainable workforce issues; and
- integrated management control framework, involves further implementing integrated risk management, clarifying roles and responsibilities, integrating planning activities, and reporting establishing a quality assurance program to address issues from the review of the Sponsorship Program.
Key actions, progress, and proposed next steps are summarized below for each of the enablers and pillars of the modern comptrollership framework.
Strategic Leadership
PWGSC's efforts in this area will largely be directed at two major initiatives: implementing the recommendations of the Task Force on Service Delivery; and completing a Departmental Assessment.
Task Force on Service Delivery
The Task Force on Service Delivery was created to:
- identify and address major barriers — both structural and organizational — to service delivery;
- promote a more integrated, strategic and client-centred service delivery framework; and
- recommend opportunities for effective and efficient service delivery.
To deliver on these expectations, the department must take two important steps:
- Integrate services to ensure that clients do not have to contend with separate service delivery channels, each with different approaches, funding mechanisms and service standards.
- Forge close partnerships with clients, providing them with a full suite of services and innovative solutions to support their programs and initiatives.
Successful implementation of these steps should deliver the following major benefits:
- easier access for clients to departmental services through better integrated service delivery;
- increased responsiveness to both department-specific and government-wide issues;
- an enhanced common philosophy that transcends business lines;
- a better balance between operational, program and corporate functions;
- clearer accountabilities and responsibilities for service delivery, internal services, and management of whole-of-government functions;
- stronger policy capacity, enhanced quality assurance and improved risk management;
- increased volume of current and new strategic advisory services business resulting from client partnerships forged by the Client Service Teams;
- clearer accountabilities in terms of program delivery;
- greater functional direction for operational personnel;
- more comprehensible reporting relationships; and
- improved career — and professional-development choices for employees.
The Departmental Assessment
The Departmental Assessment is a follow-up activity to Program Integrity-one of the six initiatives included in Results for Canadians. In March 2002, the department's Executive Committee had agreed that PWGSC had exhausted its capacity to absorb price and volume pressures. Later, the Committee recommended through consultation with Treasury Board Secretariat (TBS) that a Departmental Assessment be conducted prior to any future Treasury Board submission for funding.
The assessment is examining the department's capacity to deliver services on a sustainable basis and identifying options to address any capacity shortcomings. The assessment will also provide an opportunity to establish a shared agenda with TBS, and will form the basis upon which PWGSC will demonstrate responsible stewardship and define accountabilities for program integrity and sustainability.
To date, the Departmental Assessment has identified actions required for and impediments to achieving sustainability.
Next steps include the introduction of more extensive reviews and reallocation of resources at the branch level. All unfunded and under-funded branch priorities will be pooled and presented to the Resource Allocation Committee (RAC) for priority setting.
Shared Values and Ethics
Policies and activities that visibly support the ethical stewardship of public resources and give priority to modern comptrollership practices are vital. As part of the monitoring of its Ethics Program, PWGSC has conducted a study, the results of which have been incorporated into the Ethics Office's annual business plan. The Ethics Office will review the extent to which the study is the most effective and appropriate method of monitoring the ethics program. Employees and managers now have access to ethics-awareness and conflict-of-interest training, which will be updated as necessary to reflect changing TBS policies and directives.
Next steps include: alignment of processes, practices, and decision-making models with the Statement of Ethical Values; and the development and implementation of an updated communications strategy for publicizing the Ethics Program.
Mature Risk Management
PWGSC is taking steps to ensure that measures are in place to identify, assess, understand, act on and communicate risk issues in a corporate and systematic fashion. A departmental Integrated Risk Management Framework (IRMF) was published in early 2001 and a risk policy based on the IRMF was published in August 2002. Each of the department's branches has now developed approaches to the management of risk based on the IRMF. Risk management learning tools, including a half-day training program and Web-based tutorials, are under development.
In response to issues arising from an audit of PWGSC's former Sponsorship Program, the department is in the process of implementing a quality assurance program to improve financial controls. This program includes:
- quarterly reports to the Executive Committee;
- financial training, including related values and ethics, for all new employees as a prerequisite to receiving delegated financial authorities;
- Section 34, FAA assurance;
- delegation forms being kept up-to-date and reviewed quarterly; and
- contracting compliance.
Next steps include the development of a communications strategy to increase risk awareness and improve the departmental risk culture.
Motivated People
PWGSC recognizes the importance of monitoring employee morale and staff relations, and managing the energies of staff wisely to help sustain the department's viability. PWGSC will analyze the results of the 2002 Public Service Employee Survey (PSES) and plans to integrate its conclusions into business plans for 2003/2004. Communications Branch has developed a proposal to coordinate public opinion research and employee satisfaction research. Employee feedback will be obtained on a regular and ongoing basis, particularly through the period of transition to integrated service delivery.
To help employees achieve a better work-life balance, PWGSC has reviewed and developed — and now promotes — training in areas such as teleworking, work planning, and conflict and stress management. Managers have access to training on work planning and work-planning performance support tools. PWGSC has developed a Human Resources Management Framework and a National Recruitment and Retention Framework.
The department will focus on ensuring that its people are well equipped to implement modern comptrollership. To support this, public service-wide competencies for mangers and specialist communities will be addressed. A TBS Innovations Fund project has begun to develop a competency standard for the Federal Procurement, Materiel Management and Real Property Community. This competency standard will identify a uniform set of skills, knowledge, training, experience and abilities for functional specialists and line managers at all levels across the department.
Next steps include: applying lessons learned and developing broad guidelines to support a Workload Management Framework (WMF). Four priority areas have been identified as necessary to advance the WMF agenda: leadership, external and internal drivers, and governance.
Clear Accountability
To ensure clarity of responsibilities and accountabilities throughout the organization, PWGSC will implement the recommendations of the Task Force on Service Delivery and assess their impact on the department's governance framework, and Planning, Reporting and Accountability Structure (PRAS). A change-management strategy has been developed and implemented to support the merging of branch cultures and the development of a client-service culture during the period of transition to integrated service delivery. Employees now have access to individual and group career counseling, group diagnostics based on an internally developed organizational-wellness model, and individual and group orientation sessions and tools.
Next steps include: developing organizational designs that facilitate information sharing, and the promotion and delivery of service solutions to clients both inside and outside the department.
Integrated Performance Information
PWGSC will revise its Performance Management Framework to reflect the department's new organizational structure and anticipated risks, and to better reflect key departmental results and outcomes.
Other activities necessary to the integration of performance information include incorporating evaluation or results-based management and accountability frameworks. The incorporated frameworks will be used as tools to support managerial efforts to track and report actual performance, and to help decision-makers objectively assess program, policy and initiative results. In addition, the effectiveness of financial reports will be improved.
To support departmental decision-making using integrated financial and non-financial information, a cost management framework (CMF) has been developed, a draft departmental policy has been released, and a centre of expertise has been established to support the implementation of this framework.
Next steps include: obtaining Executive Committee's approval on the CMF policy and to conduct a number of pilot projects, and to work in conjunction with branches to develop detailed implementation plan.
Rigorous Stewardship
Rigorous Stewardship incorporates many important practices in the department, including knowledge management (KM), asset management and the audit function.
The provision of a knowledge management (KM) focal point for the department will lead to improved knowledge sharing. PWGSC will implement its KM vision and strategy through creation of a departmental Knowledge Management Office (KMO), a common KM toolset and common approaches to KM initiatives. A departmental KM website is under development, and initial research has begun into KM tools and technologies.
The department realizes that rigorous stewardship demands that assets be managed and utilized efficiently based on a lifecycle approach; that records of assets be properly maintained; and that assets be accounted for on an accrual basis. In November 2000, PWGSC established a departmental policy on the management and reporting of capital assets. Two separate tools to track assets have been implemented:
- Peregrine, which tracks all assets by asset number; and
- the Automated Material Management Information System (AMMIS), which provides asset-management information directly to the Common Departmental Financial System (CDFS).
A monthly reconciliation process for the two systems has been implemented to ensure all assets are accounted for.
The Audit and Ethics Sector will focus on developing a business case for an assurances-services model, and using internal audit to evaluate ethics and values as risk drivers in planning future audits based on risk assessments within program areas.
Next steps include: formalizing the mandate and role of the KMO as a central advisory service and increasing the awareness of departmental policy on asset management.
Monitoring, Evaluating and Reporting
| PWGSC is committed to defining strategic outcomes, focusing on results, and measuring performance regularly and objectively. The department will learn from this information and adjust management practices as required. |
As a major component of modern comptrollership, PWGSC has devised a strategy by which it will monitor, evaluate and report results. The strategy describes a model of activities and outputs, and short- and long-term outcomes for the MCI, as well as a tentative timeframe for achieving the desired results. The modern comptrollership enablers (strategic leadership, motivated people and clear accountability) and pillars (integrated performance information, mature risk management, shared values and ethics, and rigorous stewardship) are used throughout. The monitoring, evaluating and reporting strategy is intended to provide an appropriate infrastructure to measure progress in the implementation of the MCI and deliver useful decision-making information without being overly resource intensive.
The model described below and in Appendix 2 is based on TBS's draft Results-based Management Accountability Framework (RMAF). The model will be finalized subsequent to the release of TBS's RMAF.
Activities and Outputs
The department will undertake two broad types of activity:
Establishing and monitoring the MCI: includes establishing project structures, developing governance structures, funding the MCI, allocating resources and monitoring progress. This initiative also includes identifying shortcomings in practices and developing action plans to address shortcomings deemed to be departmental priorities.
Implementing the MCI and sustaining modern comptrollership practices: includes completing the necessary undertakings called for in the action plan.
Short– and Long–Term Outcomes
Successful establishment of the enablers and pillars of modern comptrollership within PWGSC will help executives and managers at all levels engage in the practice of modern comptrollership, specifically:
- Integrated financial and non-financial performance information will be used in decision-making;
- Ethical behaviour and considerations will enter into decision-making;
- Risks will be managed and decisions made only after all options have been rigorously analyzed; and
- Public resources and assets will be properly managed and accounted for.
A detailed list of outcomes in relation to the modern comptrollership enablers and pillars is included as Appendix 2.
Timeframes for Realizing Expected Outcomes
Fiscal years 2002/03 - 2005/06: Key outputs in place and some short-term outcomes achieved
Within the first year of implementation, the department is on track to meet its MCI objectives. A project and governance structure has been established, a capacity assessment has been conducted, and an action plan to address deficiencies and priorities has been developed. At the end of the first three years, PWGSC expects that the majority of key outputs will be in place and some of the short-term outcomes will be apparent. During this period, progress on the action plan will be monitored, and annual reports will be made through the Departmental Performance Report (DPR). Towards the end of this period, the department should consider conducting a detailed assessment to examine progress to date and adjust plans accordingly.
Fiscal years 2006/07 - 2009/10: Short-term outcomes achieved and some long-term outcomes apparent
During this period, elements of the modern comptrollership pillars begin to appear. Shared values and ethics should be well established and the enablers should become more solidly entrenched in departmental culture. By 2009/2010, all pillars should be in evidence in the department. Monitoring and reporting on the MCI will continue.
Eight years and beyond: Long-term outcomes evident
After eight years, modern comptrollership practices should be normal departmental practice. Annual reporting on the MCI will cease or evolve into an annual report on the state of departmental management generally.
On-going Performance Measurement Strategy
The purpose of an on-going performance measurement strategy is to establish a plan for the regular collection of information, monitoring of achievement of planned results, and tracking of performance trends over time. This requires the identification of key information and performance indicators.
Departmental performance indicators in this case will focus on progress towards achieving the results.
Reporting Strategy
| Continued reporting will ensure that the Modern Comptrollership Initiative remains a top priority on PWGSC's modernization agenda. |
Treasury Board Secretariat requires departments to provide an annual report on the state of comptrollership through the DPR. TBS intends to provide two progress reports on the MCI — one in December 2002 and the other in March 2004. It will be necessary for PWGSC to make an overall assessment, in narrative form, of progress and degree of success in implementing the MCI and associated practices. Key achievements and accomplishments not previously covered will be highlighted. Specific mention will also be made of results of projects using the Comptrollership Innovations Fund. At the same time, any major barriers to implementation of the MCI will be highlighted.
Reporting will focus on the activities associated with the MCI, but eventually DPRs will concentrate on the state of management generally as modern comptrollership practices become fully integrated into the administrative practices of the department. Early on in the Modern Comptrollership Initiative, most reporting will focus on activities and outputs, except where PWGSC has demonstrated an existing capacity such as that related to values and ethics. Indicators related to activities and outputs as well as the performance indicators described are currently under development.
Quarterly and Quality-Assurance Program Reporting
PWGSC will monitor implementation of this action plan through quarterly status reports to the Executive Committee. Additional information on financial management controls and departmental risks will also be provided. The quarterly status report will be structured around the seven elements of modern comptrollership. For example, the financial management controls might be reported under Rigorous Stewardship or Clear Accountability. A draft report template for the quarterly status report will be devised to ensure consistent treatment of results from quarter to quarter.
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