Report
to/Rapport au :
Submitted
by/Soumis par : Stephen
A. Finnamore, Executive Director, Business Transformation Services / Directeur
exécutif, Services de transformation des activités
Contact Person/Personne ressource : Stephen A. Finnamore, Executive
Director,
Business
Transformation Services/Directeur exécutif, Services de transformation des
activités,
(613) 580-2424,ext 28859,
Stephen.Finnamore@ottawa.ca
SUBJECT: |
|
|
|
OBJET : |
That Council receives this report for
information.
Que le Conseil prenne connaissance de ce
rapport.
BACKGROUND
On 11 July 2007, City Council approved the
2007-2010 City Strategic Directions, which outlined a series of priorities and
objectives over the next three years.
The strategic planning exercise set the groundwork for Council to begin
a transformation process that will improve service delivery, enhance Council
governance and establish strategies for financial sustainability.
The strategic directions approved by Council
on 26 September 2007 concerning service delivery are as follows:
1.
Continue
to improve the current service delivery culture that recognizes and balances
the needs of all citizens in their encounters with City services, programs and
staff in both English and French, pursuant to current policy.
2.
Integrate
outcome-based performance measures into a flexible and evolving service
delivery model that respects triple bottom approaches, to respond to community
and environmental demands.
3.
Establish
an agreed-upon set of flexible and appropriate service standards (one-size does
not fit all) across the corporation.
4.
Deliver
agreed to level of service at the lowest possible cost.
5.
Increase
staff engagement including participating in decision-making about service
delivery improvements.
The
three-year fiscal framework for 2008-2010 and the 2008 budget directions
acknowledged the need to provide funding for New Operating Needs to
achieve the business transformation to support the above-mentioned strategic
directions. More specifically, the
budget directions identified a budget envelope of $3M in 2008, $2M in 2009 and
$1M in 2010.
In
September 2007, following the Strategic Priority Setting exercises and on the
recommendation of the Long Range Financial Planning Sub-committee, City Council
directed staff to find efficiencies totaling $100M over the next three
years. These amounts will be included
in the budgets and addressed through productivity improvements, technology
investments, asset rationalization and procurement.
|
2008 (M$) |
2009 (M$) |
2010 (M$) |
Total (M$) |
Productivity
|
$8 |
$12 |
$15 |
$35 |
Technology
|
$0 |
$5 |
$10 |
$15 |
Assets |
$2 |
$5 |
$8 |
$15 |
Procurement |
$10 |
$10 |
$15 |
$35 |
Total |
$20 |
$32 |
$48 |
$100 |
The Business Transformation Services Department will play a key role in assisting Branch Directors across the corporation to achieve both the service delivery priorities set by City Council, and the efficiency savings.
DISCUSSION
Organizations
go through a transformation process to respond to changing environments. There
are clear indicators, as identified in the recent Environmental Scan presented
to City Council earlier in 2007, that identify the need for the City of Ottawa
to change and transform the current service delivery model:
·
The population is becoming older
and more racially and culturally diverse.
·
The City must continue with succession planning
for the large numbers of its employees eligible for retirement in the near
future (25% of
full-time City staff will be over 55 by 2010).
·
The City will become more dependent on
technology to increase the efficiency of its operations.
·
Ottawa, like
other cities in Canada, are challenged to ensure they have the financial
resources to be able to meet their responsibilities, including infrastructure
renewal.
·
Public demand for
greater access to municipal information, services and democratic processes,
along with the desire to be more efficient, means that a shift towards a more online
governance model is inevitable. eDemocracy, for example, allows broader and
deeper public involvement in discourse on municipal government through tools
that overcome time and distance.
The City of Ottawa is already experiencing challenges attracting and retaining high quality staff in many parts of the organization. At the same time, public demand for greater access to municipal information and services is evolving with the community we serve, with expectations for broader involvement in municipal government and democratic processes and more accountability in achieving long-term environmental, social and fiscal outcomes. Our internal and external stakeholders are clear. To succeed, Ottawa must take proactive steps to:
· Be an employer of choice,
· Embrace the use of technology as a strategy,
· Demonstrate relevance to its citizens.
The
purpose of this report is to inform Council of the strategic approach to
transformation and to outline the measures and associated resources needed to
support Departments and Branches in achieving their objectives with respect to
outcome performance, staff engagement and efficiency savings, in accordance
with the Strategic Directions approved by Council.
Council’s Strategic Directions have the potential to enable significant
change within the City. The Business Transformation Services Department,
working in concert with all City Branch Directors, will design a dedicated
Transformation Program to support Branches in:
l
Improving
communications to increase the engagement of citizens and elected
representatives;
l
Developing
tools and training requirements for short and long-term solutions to find
productivity savings;
l
Identifying
and implementing opportunities to leverage technology and assets across the
corporation; and
l
Establishing
clear service delivery outcomes for each of their Branch programs to support
transparency and continuous improvement
l
Providing
leadership strategies to instill the concept of excellence and leadership at
all levels of the organization;
l
Developing
change management strategies to enable a positive culture shift;
l
Coordinating
a staff engagement and empowerment program that will:
-
Embrace
vision, goals and values
-
Clarify
accountabilities
-
Improve
communications to increase internal staff engagement
-
Improve
service delivery
-
Increase
productivity and reduce costs
The
Transformation Program will focus on people, process and
technology to ensure that programs continue to be linked to Council
priorities and are effective, efficient and sustainable.
Critical Success Factors
The
Transformation Program will be built to value the insight and expertise of City
employees as well as engage private-sector individuals with relevant
subject-matter expertise. The following factors are critical for success:
Strong leadership depends on careful
planning and management of the changes involving vision, people, organizational
alignment, processes and systems, both in the short and long term.
Consultation and guidance with elected officials, Directors and staff,
to achieve corporate-wide buy-in for business transformation initiatives
and outcomes.
Strategic thinking to ensure corporate consistency
in the development of transformation tools, technology solutions, business
processes, integrated corporate approaches to service delivery and performance
measures.
Change
management and communication strategies to engage City staff at
all levels to understand and support the transformation goals, to empower staff
to deliver change, and to provide staff with the
knowledge, skills and abilities to operate successfully in a changing
environment.
Accountability at all
levels of the organization to ensure Branch-specific and interdepartmental
projects have clear performance measures to demonstrate progress against
desired outcomes.
Outcomes
The strategies associated with the
Transformation Program, mutually developed and implemented by City Branches and
the Business Transformation Services Department will result in the following
outcomes:
·
Local
municipal services are accessible, easy to use, comprehensive;
·
Services
and programs are linked to Council’s priorities;
·
Elected
officials and the public receive timely, relevant and concise information;
·
Public
knows who is responsible/accountable for which services and has confidence that
local municipal services are delivered in the most efficient manner possible;
and
·
City
staff is responsive and creative in their approach to local problems and have a
sense of engagement in municipal decisions and ownership of the outcomes.
BUSINESS
TRANSFORMATION INITIATIVES 2008-2010
Many
of the initiatives that will form the basis of the Transformation Program
support more than one Council Strategic Direction and have been grouped under
three major categories: Citizen and Council Engagement; Efficiency,
Effectiveness and Accountability; and Staff Engagement.
The initiatives listed in each of these categories are meant to provide examples rather than a definitive list. Consultation with Councilors, citizens and staff will be needed to ensure clear meaningful activities are implemented to achieve shared objectives and meet Council’s strategic directions, to strengthen service responsiveness as well as efficiency, effectiveness and accountability.
1. Citizen and Council Engagement
The
City’s 2007 Citizen Survey determined that public demand for easy, reliable,
customer-oriented and integrated access to public services is increasing. The
Internet has stimulated an increase in public demand for greater access to
municipal information and a larger role in municipal decisions. This will
inevitably cause a shift to greater online information, services and
governance.
Working in conjunction with all Branch Directors, over the next three years, the Business Transformation Services Department will continue to develop a client service culture whereby citizens are provided with the right channels and tools to access and provide input into public services. A performance measurement framework will continue to be developed to demonstrate how the City is achieving program efficiencies and effectiveness in a sustainable and cost-effective way.
The following initiatives will support this agenda:
·
Develop
a bi-annual strategic planning exercise (no
funding required) and establish an annual process to review and
refresh the City Strategic Plan.
·
Develop
and implement an annual citizen survey ($80K base) to establish a regular
formal feedback approach and provide Council with better public input.
·
Improve
ottawa.ca ($200K
base; $380K one-time; 2 FTE’s) in order to increase the efficiency of service delivery and respond to
demands from citizens for a greater range and quality of web-based
services. Specific initiatives will
include: improved information architecture, corporate survey tool, web-based
interactions, web payment gateway, online service requests, subscription
services, better access for the disabled, etc.
·
Establish
media analysis/scans and enhanced media training to provide better support for Committee Chairs, Councilors
and City management ($100K base; one FTE) to provide more timely
information flow and issue/trend analysis on a range of issues. Develop a
marketing program (no funding required in 2008) to promote
the City's programs and services and increase citizen satisfaction.
·
Augment
3-1-1 service requests reporting (no funding
required in 2008) for
Councilors and Branches on key public service request trends,
incorporating service standards and regular performance reporting.
2. Efficiency,
Effectiveness and Accountability
To increase efficiency and effectiveness and reduce costs, the Business Transformation Services Department will work, in conjunction with all Branch Directors, over the next three years to confirm core services, set standards for service delivery, and ensure continuous improvement of internal business processes. The process review will ensure the current service delivery model is assessed, whether delivered through internal, external resources, and/or in partnership based on sound business planning that achieves programming objectives and best value for money.
Initiatives will focus on clear expectations and outcome-based performance measures, better use and functionality of e-business tools, increased engagement of staff, the public and elected representatives and timely and effective communications. This work will contribute to better productivity, full accountability for spending decisions and a fiscally responsible business model. The following initiatives will support this agenda.
·
Strategic
Branch Reviews to establish service standards and
outcomes and associated performance measures for Branches that reflect Council’s priorities
($300K base) and that support transparency, continuous
improvement and options for service delivery.
·
Review
of internal support services (Centres of Expertise) ($100K base) to establish service
standards and outcomes and associated performance measures that meet both the
needs of the Corporation and Departments/Branches with clear accountabilities, governance,
resources, roles and responsibilities and options for service delivery.
·
Enhance
existing and develop new business tools and train management across the
corporation ($250K
base) through an accelerated Business Process
Review Program to continue to identify efficiencies within each
Branch and across key cross-corporate business processes. New strategies will
be developed to identify efficiency opportunities and potential savings by
engaging frontline staff and management in efficiency initiatives.
3.
Staff Engagement
Recruitment and retention is a world-wide problem in developed countries. With the unemployment rate at a 30 year low, projected labour shortages within the next five years, and one in four full-time City employees 55 or older by 2010, the City of Ottawa is no less challenged to attract and retain talent.
Staff
engagement currently exists in many areas of the organization. The Conference Board of Canada defines
employee engagement as the following: Employee engagement is a heightened
emotional and intellectual connection that an employee has for his/her job,
organization, manager, or co-workers that, in turn, influences him/her to apply
additional discretionary effort to his/her work.
There is clear evidence that staff engagement and satisfaction have a direct impact on performance, productivity and client satisfaction. As stated by the Conference Board of Canada (2006): Highly engaged employees have overall performance scores 20% higher than those with average level of engagement and have voluntary turnover rates one-half (1/2) that of average employers with a corresponding high level of customer loyalty.
The
management of the City understands that a focused resourced corporate infrastructure
is required to fully realize and achieve the following benefits:
·
Creation
of a more positive culture;
·
Increased
pride in the organization;
·
Increased
customer satisfaction;
·
Increased
creativity and productivity, and
·
Increased
staff retention.
The
following graphic, taken from a survey by the Peel Region as part of their
excellence program, provides an overview of the relationship between support
for staff and staff satisfaction. The relative size of the bubbles is an
indication of the importance of each support function in achieving the level of
satisfaction that leads to increased staff engagement and improved service
delivery.
The
Environmental Scan determined that by 2010, 25% of full-time City staff will be
over 55 and as the population ages, the retention and recruitment of staff, at
all levels, will become an even more important component of service delivery.
Staff
engagement and development is essential to ensure the long-term sustainability
of the programs and services endorsed by Council. The development and
implementation of staff engagement initiatives will be based on key principles
as follows:
Leadership –
Management at all levels is committed to a renewed and shared vision, goals and
values; a focus on building trust and commitment; and on establishing a culture
of creativity, collaboration and innovation.
Worthwhile work – Staff are guided by a vision, goals and
values represented through strong leadership at all levels of the organization;
have a pride of ownership necessary to contribute to the goals of the
organization; and have the ability to communicate ideas and issues to create a
mindset of innovation, new possibilities and enthusiasm for achieving business
outcomes.
Empowerment – Staff are provided with the tools and
resources to do the job; have a clear understanding of their roles and
responsibilities with appropriate authority to make decisions; and know that
they will be supported in taking those decisions.
Appreciation/cheering each other
on – Staff are recognized and rewarded for achieving the
organization’s goals and objectives.
Development and succession opportunities – Staff are encouraged to grow and develop
through key training initiatives such as: leadership/management; customer
service; business case and project management; business process review;
competitive assessment training; and innovation.
Working in conjunction with Branch Directors over the next three years,
the Business Transformation Services Department will facilitate the development
and implementation of the following new initiatives associated with service
culture and the recruitment, development and retention of staff, to maintain a
highly skilled dedicated workforce, to delivery quality service to the public.
·
Implement
a Staff Talent Plan ($800K base; $60K one-time; 6 FTEs) to ensure the availability of appropriate
resources and manage the flow of talent ensuring a supply of highly capable
individuals with key initiatives to focus on:
o
Recruitment (internships, branding, online applications);
o
Retention strategies (measure baseline satisfaction levels (survey)
and develop programs to improve satisfaction, create alumni optimization
program);
o
Training,
development and succession
planning (e.g. development tools - mentorship, apprenticeship, leadership,
client service, certification programs for new managers/supervisors,
training/language training);
o
Develop and
deliver training for staff to support business transformation to
improve service delivery and achieve savings; and
o
Implement and
enhance employee recognition program.
·
Develop
a Staff Engagement Program ($370K base; $100K one-time; 1 FTE) to ensure that staff are
engaged, responsive and creative in their approach to local problems, and
contribute directly to ensuring that municipal services are delivered in the
most efficient manner possible and are accessible and responsive to the needs
of the community. Key initiatives
include:
o Develop and communicate a new management vision, mission and values
o Develop and implement a change management strategy; and
o Enhance the Performance Development Program (PDP) (performance management and employee development) or related programs for employees to ensure accountability around efficiency standards and to transform the culture to adopt advanced business approaches to achieve efficiencies and cost savings.
·
Develop
and implement a Communication Framework and Improve the Corporate Intranet
program ‘Ozone’ ($800K
base; $100K one-time; 4 FTE’s) to increase the efficiency of service delivery, respond to needs of
employees for a greater range and quality of web-based services and provide
management with better employee input to support decision-making and provide
input to Council's strategic planning process.
Key initiatives include:
o
Development
and administration of a regular employee survey
o
Development
of improved internal communication programs designed to increase employee
engagement on policies, issues of interest, seeking feedback
o
Improved
information architecture on Ozone, interactive survey tools, enhanced online
functionality, online registration for training, and development of web-based
chat functionality for expert focus groups.
The
Transformation Program will be coordinated through a dedicated Transformation
Program Office (TPO) providing a corporate role to provide key services as
follows:
·
Research
best practice/benchmarking information
·
Develop
key transformation strategies
·
Develop
and coordinate corporate-wide applications and tools
·
Develop
and coordinate change management initiatives
·
Monitor
and report on program outcomes
The Transformation Program Office will work hand-in-hand with all Branch Directors to ensure that
program initiatives are consistent, flexible and value added in the development
of transformation tools, technology solutions, business processes, integrated
corporate approaches to service delivery and performance measures, and at the
same time, aligned with the needs of the Branches. Centres of Expertise from across the organization will support
the Transformation Program Office in assisting Branch Directors to implement
their transformation initiatives and to meet the efficiency targets for productivity improvements, leveraging
technology and leveraging assets.
On behalf of the City Manager and the
Executive Management Team, the Transformation Program Office will establish
a performance support framework to provide a practical roadmap of how the City
can monitor proposed business transformation outcomes, including program
efficiencies. The Office will also produce an annual report on all
business transformation outcomes and efficiency measures identified by the
various Branches across the corporation.
CONSULTATION
Executive Management Committee
FINANCIAL IMPLICATIONS
Implementation of a Service Transformation
Program will require the investment of $6,000,000 over the next three-year
period and a one time funding of $640,000 in 2008 in one time funding subject
to approval during the budget process.
Financial Requirement |
|||
|
2008 |
2009 |
2010 |
Base
Funding |
$3,000,000 |
$2,000,000 |
$1,000,000 |
One
time funding |
$640,000 |
TBD |
TBD |
FTE
Requirements |
14 FTEs |
TBD |
TBD |
As the Business Transformation
Program is implemented throughout 2008, the Business Transformation Services
Department will report back to Council at year-end, prior to budget, to confirm
progress and details for funding requirements for 2009 and 2010.