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About the CFIA > Reporting to Parliament > Annual Report > Annual Report 2002 - 2003  

3.6 HUMAN RESOURCES MANAGEMENT

The Agency's Human Resources (HR) Strategy 2000-03, in its final year, has served as an excellent HR management framework and performance reporting tool for the Agency. This report will outline the Agency's inputs, activities and outputs that are essential to achieving our three strategic HR themes: Maintain a Qualified Workforce; Attract and Retain Skilled Employees; and Continue to Build a Supportive Work Environment. Last year, the Agency devoted much effort to the planning function to ensure the evolution of strategic priorities fit the business needs of the future. In consultation with employees and stakeholders, a new Corporate Business Plan was developed for 2003-08 which includes a focus on good governance and sound HR management.

Maintain a Qualified Workforce

In 2002-03, the Agency underwent a restructuring of its workforce to better align its organizational structure with its corporate priorities. These changes can be seen as part of our transition from an Agency in formation made up of parts from different departments to one with an established role and culture. The Agency's population was 5585 as of March 31, 2003, representing a workforce growth of 2.2 percent. In 2003, the proportion of indeterminate employees (compared with 2002), increased from 80 percent to 82.5 percent. The scientific and professional community⁶ has one of the highest indeterminate representations at 92 percent. To support the responsible use of term employment, the Agency produces a yearly report on terms to ascertain if term or indeterminate employment is appropriate.

While the overall workforce growth was 2.2 percent, the Agency's scientific, professional and technical community⁷ population increased by 5.8 percent. This concentrated increase was necessary to deal with recent world events that have affected the work of the Agency by creating a demand for heightened security and increased vigilance at border entry points.

The CFIA's strength and future will be determined by its intellectual assets--its employees. Keeping CFIA employees' knowledge and skills current, relevant and leading-edge requires a permanent commitment to learning and innovation. The Agency has demonstrated its commitment to building a strong culture of continuous learning by investing $5.2 million, which represents over 50 percent more in direct training investment in 2002-03 than in 2001-02. In addition, CFIA has reorganized the learning function and brought the responsibility for management learning and scientific and technical training together to form a distinct group in the HR Branch. This move is expected to enhance the effectiveness and prominence of learning within the Agency and to ensure a strategic approach to addressing Agency training needs.

Over 60 percent of the training expenditures were devoted to CFIA science-based technical training. Approximately 100 national training initiatives involved teams of Programs and Operations staff as subject matter experts in the design and development of training materials and programs. Key elements of these initiatives included emergency response and management training, national training standards and biotechnology training.

The magnitude and importance of the responsibilities of the Agency require that staff must always be ready to respond to present and future emergencies. Preparing for and responding to crises require that CFIA staff are knowledgeable about national, provincial and municipal emergency response structures, and are able to react quickly to work with their counterparts and colleagues. Examples of emergency response training efforts in 2002-03 included:

• approximately 100 employees were trained to respond efficiently and effectively to plant, animal health or food safety crises;

• over 115 employees were trained in foreign-animal diseases in domestic livestock and wildlife; and

• approximately 50 staff were trained in sampling techniques specific to transmissible spongiform encephalopathies (TSEs).

Furthermore, the development of National Training Standards for 14 programs has continued throughout the past year. This work will identify the specific competencies required to perform functions in each program and will form the core in developing training plans for new employees and employees new to a program. The ultimate goal will be the development of training modules and reference documents to match the required competencies. The development of formalized training programs will be a multi-year project, the focus of which will be determined through priority setting by the various programs. Three programs--Seeds, Feeds and Fertilizers--have advanced to the point that inspector certification systems are being developed, based on the National Training Standards and completion of training modules.

Approximately 93 percent of CFIA inspection staff have begun the Food Safety Enhancement Program curriculum; 33 percent of these have completed the classroom components and 13 percent have completed all components thus becoming CFIA certified.

As the field of biotechnology expands, so does the need for a knowledgeable workforce to regulate and inspect agriculture products. Specific training was undertaken by over 110 employees in the Seed and Feed Programs to fulfil new knowledge and activity requirements of inspection staff. More than 30 CFIA staff took the opportunity to obtain or enhance a broad working knowledge of biotechnology through introductory courses.

The CFIA has begun to explore various methods of training its technical and non-technical staff, including thorough electronic learning. Where applicable, Web-based training, as well as software-specific programs, are being pursued to train the maximum number of staff. The implementation of these innovative training methods is expected to address the geographic and operational challenges that the Agency experiences.

From a leadership development perspective, the Agency shifted its focus this year from federal programs to Agency programs aimed at developing CFIA's management group. The Agency has implemented and delivered over 50 management and supervisory competency program courses to half of the 1200 CFIA managers and supervisors. The goal is to continue to train all managers and supervisors. The courses offered range from Classification, to Coaching for Performance, to mandatory courses such as Access to Information and Privacy, Occupational Safety and Health, and Diversity Awareness. These programs have brought relevant learning to the new generation of managers with the objective of enhancing consistency in training to better equip them to handle their responsibilities.

The Agency developed a Learning Strategy aligned with the Agency's business needs. This coordinated and strategic approach to learning lays the foundation upon which recruitment and learning priorities will be built: achieving a balance between accommodating changing needs, collecting training data, evaluating the return on investment and monitoring results, all of which have been challenges for the Agency in the past. The implementation of the Learning Strategy will take place in 2003-04 and will be carried out over the next five years. During the first year, the focus will be on putting the appropriate policies in place to build the governance and accountability structures, refine roles and responsibilities, and provide other basic corporate learning services. Another key deliverable under the Learning Strategy is the implementation of learning plans, which will reflect strong links to corporate business planning, provide direction and serve as a benchmark for evaluation. Agency-wide implementation is expected to be initiated in the upcoming year.

Progress has been made in implementing the PeopleSoft training module used to track training information. In 2002-03, all Areas were trained in utilizing the new module. However, issues raised by the Areas, including security and data transfer from existing systems, have necessitated further modifications to be made to the module to accommodate these specific requirements prior to implementing the new module across the country. These modifications are expected to be completed in the next fiscal year, followed by full implementation.

Maintaining a qualified workforce also means providing employees with the tools to take advantage of educational, career and skill development opportunities in line with the Agency's commitment to continuous learning. Employees' pursuit of educational and career development opportunities resulted in 15 percent of the total Agency training expenditure being dedicated to tuition and course costs. In 2003, a renewed focus on official languages training for developmental purposes resulted in an additional $250 000 investment to fund this training. This approach to language training is expected to support the succession planning process and lead to an increase in pre-qualified employees filling bilingual positions. The Agency plans to formalize its approach to education by revising its learning policy to include educational leave and educational assistance training policies, and an Agency-wide business process for authorizing and recording learning activities.

Finally, another key element of the Learning Strategy is the identification of key competencies, along with the required career management and training needs for specific groups. For example, in June 2002, the development of the competency profile for non-technical competencies was completed for veterinarians (VMs) and approved in principle by the Project Working Group; final approval is dependent on completion of the National Training Standards. The competency profile is currently being piloted by Agency VMs so that it is a practical and applicable tool for the development of career paths for VMs within the Agency. The pilot training program is expected to be completed in November 2003. Following any necessary redesign of the pilot training program, it will become available for training VMs nationally by 2005.

Attract and Retain Skilled Employees

Demographics and today's highly competitive, knowledge-based economy have required the Agency to develop and implement aggressive succession planning, recruitment initiatives and innovative, values-based HR management practices.

In 2002-03, only 64 employees out of the 414 eligible to retire actually retired. This is in line with the Agency's trend over the past five years, which has shown that approximately 15 percent of those who are eligible to retire take their retirement. However, the Agency must prepare for the departure of a significant number of eligible retirees in the next five years. The Agency's forecasted five-year retirement eligibility is 23 percent; it is slightly higher for the scientific, professional and technical community at 26 percent and the Executive (EX) group stands to lose the largest percentage of employees to retirement at 38 percent.

From recruiting the right candidate to developing new leadership from within, succession planning is an essential ingredient in building a workforce capable of achieving the Agency's strategic goals. To this end, in 2002-03, the Agency identified succession planning as a top corporate priority. The Executive Vice-President was appointed Succession Planning Champion, and will direct and support the goals aligned with human capital needs. The Agency is currently developing a succession planning process that will include critical position analysis⁸ and support tools. The objective of this formal succession planning process will be to maintain continuity in leadership and business capacity. The research phase of the succession planning project was initiated in January 2003. Project development and implementation will continue into next fiscal year.

Effective succession planning initiatives already in place at the Area level will be used as the basis for developing the Agency-wide approach:

• In the Atlantic Area, a successful transition fund was established and implemented, which allows a double-banking of employees to facilitate knowledge transfer by allowing a departing employee to work concurrently with a newly hired employee. A total of four employees have gone through this process to date.

• In Ontario, managers have been holding anticipatory competitive processes to prepare for retirements or other known departures. Rotational acting assignments and temporary assignment service are common methods of preparing potential candidate pools for competitive processes in the future. Double-banking of positions and specified period appointments are used as a means of transferring knowledge in critical positions; at least four instances of this have occurred in Ontario in the past year.

• Quebec continues to focus on employee leadership development through the launch of a second cohort of its working internship program. There are currently four employees enrolled in the program and they are expected to complete their internships in 2004.

• In 2002-03, the Laboratories Directorate of Science Branch also initiated a pilot project on succession planning and developed a model to be implemented throughout the national lab system. The model emphasizes identification of needs for key positions. This in turn leads to the identification of gaps that require attention for future delivery of the CFIA mandate.

In this highly competitive labour market, the CFIA recognizes the importance of recruiting a skilled workforce to respond to business priorities. In 2002-03, hiring was concentrated in areas where business needs were the greatest. The number of VMs hired increased by 12 percent over 2001-02, while inspectors (EGs) accounted for 45 percent of all hires in 2002-03. The CFIA was successful in enhancing its bio-security measures by hiring additional staff, including inspectors at airports, seaports and land borders to protect the safety of our food supply and the health of Canada's plants and animals. We have also added more detector dog and handler teams to our airports.

The Agency has been successful in attracting future employees by offering students and new and recent graduates interesting and challenging work experiences and placements. At the Area level, career fairs and student exchanges were held with university and college partners, resulting in the Agency hiring a total of 189 students in 2002-03. The CFIA also supported the Science Horizon Program (under the Youth Employment Strategy) by hiring four students to work on science-based initiatives, one of which was hired as a permanent employee. The Agency plans on hiring another five students under this initiative in 2003-04. Continuing its commitment to the hiring of students, the Agency has allocated a total of $250 000 to the hiring of summer students in 2003. The expected result is to increase the number of students hired in the upcoming year to secure young talent for the Agency's future and to promote the Agency as an ideal employer.

Over the past two years, the Agency has instituted the Officer Training Program (OTP) to help build recruitment capacity and respond to our forecasted needs. In 2002-03, the Agency retained 23 out of the 25 officers in the first cohort of the program. Of these, 20 found positions in the scientific, professional and technical community with particular concentration in the agronomy, biology and inspection disciplines. The second cohort recruitment campaign, held in 2002-03, canvassed 27 universities and resulted in the receipt of 1160 applications. A total of 546 candidates were screened in, and 25 positions were subsequently filled. The majority of the recent graduates hold undergraduate and graduate degrees in science ranging from microbiology to animal science.

The success of the OTP program and the high retention rate for participants has required the Agency to review the program to ensure continued relevance, effectiveness and affordability. No OTP intake will occur in 2003-04. However, money will be devoted to internal development programs that are closely linked to succession planning. The CFIA will also review student and entry-level programs to ensure the continued delivery of high-quality workplace experiences.

Higher morale leads to higher staff retention and to a positive corporate image. The Agency has been successful in retaining employees at the rate of 94 percent in 2001-02 and 92 percent in 2002-03. The scientific, professional and technical community, the Agency's core business, has experienced an even higher rate of retention (94 percent) with the highest retention rate in the scientific researcher (SE), chemist (CH) and veterinarian (VMs) groups, at 98 percent, 97 percent and 95 percent respectively. The Agency can, in part, attribute its high retention rate to a focus on wellness programs, including the Employee Assistance Program and flexible working arrangements. Given the increased pressure to recruit and retain a highly capable workforce, the CFIA will continue to look at what can be done to improve employee satisfaction and workplace well-being. The Agency is working on a Wellness Strategy, which is expected to result in improved employee health morale. Key components of the Wellness Strategy will be based on the Agency-wide employee survey and quarterly HR measures reports, which are key to the identification of problem areas.

In February 2003, senior management recommended that the Agency undertake a CFIA-wide employee survey to gather employees' opinions on workplace issues. The information collected will provide the Agency with benchmark information related to employee satisfaction and will allow for improved planning of programs, strategies and services to best meet employee needs. The survey content will mirror that of the 2002 Public Service-Wide Employee Survey questionnaire and will take place in fall 2003.

Beginning in 2003-04, quarterly HR measures will be introduced to track absenteeism, attrition, workplace accidents and other indicators of wellness. These indicators serve as good starting points for a program that is focused on more proactive measures.

The CFIA has created a culture that emphasizes respect and appreciation of individuals through its Reward and Recognition Program, which has been in existence for more than five years. Having one's efforts recognized is a dominant factor in increasing employee job satisfaction and retention. The Agency recognizes the significant achievements of employees across the country using formal and informal mechanisms that are both internal and external to the CFIA. Over 75 employees were recognized under the President's National Awards, the highest level of recognition within the CFIA. In celebration of the Queen's Golden Jubilee more than 85 employees were granted the commemorative medal for their significant contribution to their fellow citizens, their community and our country. Agency employees were also recognized under the Treasury Board Secretariat's Head of the Public Service Award and Award of Excellence for their outstanding contributions.

The following corporate initiatives build awareness and capacity of the Agency's values-based approach to HR management and are aimed at providing information, policies and tools to hiring managers, to ensure they understand the flexibilities available to assist them in recruiting strategically.

In 2002-03, the Agency developed and approved a new Staffing Accountability Policy outlining managers' authorities and accountabilities for undertaking staffing processes and decisions in accordance with CFIA policies and values and relevant legislation. This new policy sets the groundwork for all other staffing-related policies and will make managers more aware of their responsibilities with respect to staffing. In addition, the Agency has continued its research and development of a CFIA electronic staffing manual in 2002-03. In June 2002, the CFIA created and launched another online staffing tool called "Values in Action," to guide staffing processes, support organizational values and principles, and assist managers in applying the staffing values of competency, fairness, openness, non-partisanship, representativeness, equity and effectiveness.

The Agency continued its consultations between management and bargaining agents at the local, regional and national level to ensure effective labour/management relations. In addition, in the coming year, the Agency plans to develop a Consultation Policy to formalize an approach to union/management consultations. The Agency is preparing for the introduction of the new Public Service Labour Relations Act, which will have a significant impact on labour relations activities at the Agency. There will be extensive consultations with the unions prior to the implementation of the Act. The Agency's redress mechanism is available to employees and grievances are filed in accordance with collective agreements. The total number of grievances received declined by 45 percent in 2002 compared with 2001; collective agreement grievances, which accounted for 75 percent of all grievances in 2001, declined to 55 percent in 2002. CFIA management continues to work with staff and union representatives to maintain good employer/employee relations.

Collective agreements were signed with the Professional Institute of the Public Service of Canada and representatives from CFIA management in 2002, giving employees in the scientific and analytical (S&A) group and veterinary medicine group (VM group) improved benefits and pay. A tentative agreement reached for the informatics (IN) group was ratified. Notice to bargain has been served by the Public Service Alliance of Canada, and negotiations commenced at the end of May 2003.

Continue to Build a Supportive Work Environment

In this highly complex and dynamic work environment, CFIA continues to build a professional and inclusive workplace for all of its employees. The Agency has worked hard to ensure that its employees feel valued and safe and that they are equipped with the appropriate tools to carry out their work. In a highly operational organization, such matters are of paramount importance. The following initiatives have been developed to advance the Agency's commitment to providing a supportive work environment.

To outline the Agency's expectations within the work environment, a Code of Conduct is being developed; it is intended to help employees understand the rules and standards of conduct which are desirable to achieve the goals of the CFIA. It will provide direction in situations where the right course of action may not always be clear. A Discipline Policy, which motivates employees to accept CFIA's rules and standards of conduct, is also under development. The policy also contributes to public confidence in the integrity of the CFIA and its employees. It is intended that both the Code of Conduct and the Discipline Policy will be finalized and released in the upcoming year.

During 2002-03, the Agency finalized the development of the Staffing Recourse Policy with an effective date of April 1, 2003. Of the 177 staffing complaints the Agency received since the inception of the Staffing Complaint Policy, 28 complaints remained unresolved as of March 31, 2003. Staffing complaints initiated through recourse rights provided under the previous Staffing Complaint Policy that have not been resolved as of April 1, 2003, will now be subject to this new policy and the associated CFIA Guidelines for Transition to the CFIA Staffing Recourse Policy. The Staffing Complaint Policy was reviewed and the recourse policy was then streamlined to optimize effectiveness and efficiency, and reflect CFIA values and principles. The policy provides a consistent standard for reviewing staffing complaints, a staffing recourse process with specific timeframes to expedite the resolution of staffing complaints and the provision for an independent third-party review of the staffing complaint.

The CFIA experienced a significant decline (35 percent) in the total number of harassment complaints received in 2002 compared with 2001. The Agency also issued its new policy on Prevention and Resolution of Harassment in the Workplace on April 1, 2003. The new policy places greater emphasis on the prevention of harassment, its prompt resolution and the promotion of alternative methods to deal with conflict in the workplace. The Agency now requires mediation services to be provided to parties in a dispute, with the objective of resolving complaints and workplace issues much earlier in the process. An important element of the revised policy is the recognition that CFIA employees may be subject to harassment from regulated parties and assures employees that management is responsible for taking corrective measures.

The CFIA is committed to providing a safe and healthy working environment for all of its employees. To ensure that managers and employees understand the complexities of safety and health legislation, policies, standards and guidelines, as well as their rights and responsibilities related to safety and health in the workplace, a Practical Guide to Occupational Safety and Health (OSH) was developed and distributed nationally. To establish and maintain effective OSH prevention programs pertinent to the Agency's operations and to minimize the hazards that employees are exposed to in the conduct of their duties, a template and methodology have been developed and are currently being used for undertaking the task of completing job hazard analysis. In addition, a training module has been developed and, pending approval from the National OSH Committee, is expected to be disseminated by fall 2003. Work-related injuries have remained relatively stable with a four-year average of 265 injuries per year, which can, in part, be attributed to significant progress made in building occupational safety and health capacity and awareness among employees and managers.

In an effort to have an inclusive workforce, the Agency has continued to focus its priorities on increasing its representation and reinforcing its commitment to official languages. The representation of francophones at the Agency remained relatively unchanged since last year, at 26 percent compared to 23 percent for the overall Canadian population (2001 Census).

As of March 31, 2003, the Agency's representation rate is below the Labour Market Availability (CFIA) in three of the four designated groups. However, the actual proportion of departures of the same three groups was lower than expected according to the LMA statistics. This indicates that the Agency is retaining at a higher rate than expected. Nevertheless, the CFIA must increase its representation through recruitment efforts. The following table depicts the Agency's representation rate compared to the LMA:

To address these gaps, the Agency has completed an Employment System Review that has identified some barriers that could be affecting the representation of the four designated groups. However, the review did not provide sufficient explanations for the under-representation found in each of the occupational groups and further work is required to address these specifics. Once this process is completed, the Agency will develop an Agency Employment Equity Plan to address the 12 requirements of the employment equity framework, to be in compliance with the Employment Equity Act and to reflect Canada's rich ethno-cultural society. The Agency is expected to be in full compliance with the Employment Equity Act by the end of the 2003-04 fiscal year.

To further support the employment equity initiative, a restructuring and streamlining of the Agency's Employment Equity Councils took place in 2002-03. The expected result of the restructuring is to enable Council activities to become increasingly reflective of Agency priorities and to enable all CFIA Areas to implement Area-specific employment equity activities that would cascade from the priorities of Area management teams.

In keeping with the Agency's focus on results-based management, the President has established clear accountabilities for Executive performance, which will form the cornerstone of the Agency's performance evaluation framework. The intention is to ensure that commitment to results, linked to business objectives, begins at the most senior level and is carried out by all employees. To enable a more accountable assessment of Executive performance, a mid-year review of Executive Performance Agreements was conducted this year to ensure quality in the identification of key commitments and performance measures, including employment equity, official languages, and occupational safety and health.

In an effort to get a clear picture of the demographic make-up of the Agency, the CFIA continues to produce and improve upon a detailed statistical report that includes trend analysis on HR performance indicators. The report provides managers with insight into workforce trends at the national, Area and branch levels to plan for future HR needs and, where applicable, reflect back on historical data. This information is used on a regular basis by managers for a variety of reasons, including carrying out HR planning.

To support CFIA-specific classification needs, the Agency has initiated the development of classification standards for evaluating the work of its veterinarian, scientific and analytical communities. The standards are expected to evaluate scientific, analytical and veterinarian work mandated by the CFIA Act and other legislation enforced by the Agency. The four Treasury Board classification standards that are being used currently cannot fulfil this function. The new standards will reflect the Agency's values in the evaluation of work and be more up-to-date than the standards now being used. The implementation of the VM standard is scheduled for December 2003 followed by the Scientific and Professional standard in the following year.

Conclusion

In keeping with efforts to integrate business and HR planning, in 2002-03, HR Branch worked closely with the Corporate Business Planning team to develop a new Business Plan and an accompanying HR Strategy. The new HR Strategy will provide an HR management vision for the next five years that is more disciplined and more demanding. The strategy was developed in consultation with employees and managers across the country and reflects the results of an environmental scan of internal and external factors influencing HR management in the future. It is in line with the direction of the new 2003-08 Corporate Business Plan and will focus on four key strategic priorities: effective leadership, a productive workforce, an enabling work environment and a sustainable workforce. It is expected to be released in fall 2003 and the Agency will be reporting progress achieved in 2003-04 against these four HR strategic priorities.

While it is vital that the Agency set out a plan for HR management over the coming years, that plan is effective only if it is put into action. In 2002-03, the Agency further developed its performance management system to enhance the capacity to report meaningful results for Canadians. HR Branch was involved in this change process and in the next fiscal year will adjust its HR performance measurement framework to be in line with the Agency's performance management system. This is expected to result in improved performance measurement capacity and ability to report on the results of the Agency's HR management.

⁶For purposes of this report, all references to the scientific and professional community will include the following occupational groups: Agronomist (AG), Biologist (BI), Chemist (CH), Scientific Researcher (SE) and Veterinarian (VM).

⁷For purposes of this report, all references to the scientific, professional and technical community will include the following occupational groups: Agronomist (AG), Biologist (BI), Chemist (CH), Inspector (EG), Scientific Researcher (SE) and Veterinarian (VM).

⁸Groups found to be critical to the organization based on specialized skills development, availability and impact on fulfilling the Agency’s mission.

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