CGE October 2012

KIM HENDERSON Open government

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HANNY TOXOPEUS Executive health

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OCTOBER 2012 VOLUME 18 NUMBER 8

THE MAGAZINE FOR PUBLIC SECTOR DECISION MAKERS

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contents

October 2012 – VOLUME 18 – NUMBER 8

FEATURES 14

Team sport Delivering the Pan Am Games

BY PAUL GENEST

18

Nonprofit modernization Updating Ontario’s corporations act

BY ALLEN DOPPELT

20

Nonprofit executives Attracting and retaining top talent

BY BRAD KELLY

21

Maturing systems Commonwealth performance management indicators

BY DAVID WAUNG

22

COVER 6

Failing health APEX survey shows impact of work on executive well-being

BY HANNY TOXOPEUS

Canada 3.0 Struggling to become a digital nation

BY IAN E. WILSON

8

Aid app Ontario’s mobile solution for student financial assistance

BY SOUSSAN TABARI

10

DEPARTMENTS 23

Countering shrinkage

BY JODI LEBLANC

Up-skilling for the digital economy

BY NAMIR ANANI

12

24

13

Money, mandate and political will

BY STEVE MONTAGUE

25

16

Dinosaur DNA

BY JOHN READ

26

Open government WITH B.C. DEPUTY MINISTER KIM HENDERSON

The Leader’s Bookshelf The power of being an oxymoron

BY HARVEY SCHACHTER

Turning past practice on its head Online ANExtras INTERVIEW

Procurement Buying shoes made for walking

Saskatchewan synchrotron shedding light on Scotty

BY CHELSEA COUPAL

Performance management Measurement in difficult times

Keys to Shared Services Canada success

BY JEFF BRAYBROOK

New professionals Building your online brand

28

Governing digitally Why election television trumps social media

BY JEFFREY ROY

Online Extras

30

Opinion Getting the best bang for your executive buck

Missed an issue? Misplaced an article?

Visit www.netgov.ca for a full archive of past CGE issues, as well as online extras from our many contributors.

BY DAVID ZUSSMAN

October 2012 // Canadian Government Executive / 3

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Technology and transformative change If there is a prevailing concern that has public servants queasy, it’s change. By change, I am not referring to the so-called new normal of ongoing churn at the top, middle and bottom. I am talking about transformative change which lies outside the performance envelope and comfort zone of managers and whose final outcome is unclear.

The drivers of change are multiple.

Some are deliberate (such as government direction) and some are what one might call environmental, such as the diverse generation of new employees with their own expectations of the workplace.

Somewhere in the middle, perhaps, is technology, both as an enabler and driver of change. As an enabler it has given powerful tools to citizens and governments to acquire and manage information. As a driver it is forcing governments to adapt in many areas, including policy development, corporate functions and service delivery.

In this edition we celebrate along with GTEC 2012 how governments are responding to the technology imperatives and opportunities that are unleashing the power of innovation and collaboration.

For example, on page 16, Kim Henderson, Deputy Minister, Labour, Citizens’ Services and Open Government, explains how British Columbia is a forerunner in adapting its service delivery framework in response to, among other things, the increasing use of, and demand for, mobile app services.

Ian Wilson, executive director of the Stratford Institute for Digital Media, and Namir Anani, CEO of the Information and Communications Technology Council, warn that Canada is not benefiting from its technological capacity: in spite of the fact that Canadians spend twice as much time online as the world average,

our global competitiveness is dropping.

He argues that governments, the educational and private sectors must work better together to rebuild the innovation gap.

I was looking back on a series we ran in 2011-2012 in which we asked distinguished public servants to explore what the future of the public sector would look like (see (R)Evolution at www.canadian governmentexecutive.ca/cat/?c=(R) Evolution). The writers – who included ex-federal Clerks and provincial heads of Executive Councils – were generally optimistic but warned that the scope of change that the public sector is facing could affect its overall effectiveness and result in poorer outcomes.

But what if the desired outcome of the churn being faced by public servants is not just change to keep everyone on their toes, but transformation to revolutionize the role of government as we know it, to remove government from the lives of citizens, to turn it into a vehicle for allowing other sectors to provide advice, carry the can and get the job done?

The present shaky financial climate is a terrific time for governments to undertake this transformative change for two reasons. First, the fact is, they are facing legitimate and significant financial problems. But second, under the shield of fiscal responsibility, dealing with the problems provides a cover for the transformative change that is really happening.

The Drummond Report had it right when it called for a reasoned approach to change based on some core questions.

What should government do (or not do)?

What does it need to spend to get it done?

And how can it use technology as an enabler to do it better?

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FEaturE iCt

Ian E. Wilson is founding executive

director of the Stratford Institute and a former Librarian and Archivist of Canada.

Becoming

a DIgItaL natIon

It is clear that mobile, digital media is transforming the way in which organizations, families and governments interact and communicate in an information rich, technology enabled society.

In this environment, the challenges are global. eAch yeAr Since 2009, more than 2000 key leaders from governments, the private sector and academe have met in Stratford to discuss Canada’s future as a digital nation. The Stratford Declaration expressed the profound commitment of the participants to help Canada succeed in the rapidly changing, highly competitive global economic environment.

Knowledge workers, industries and innovation can thrive anywhere. Canada 3.0 emphasized and has reiterated that success will depend on an unprecedented level of collaboration across government, education and the private sector. All agree but implementation remains fraught and elusive.

To help track Canada’s evolution toward an inclusive digital society, the Stratford 6 / Canadian Government Executive // October 2012

Institute for digital media has compiled the Stratford Index of key indicators and measures in ICT. These are taken from various national and international studies.

Individually they suggest trends. Cumulatively and wherever possible year-overyear, they present a striking portrait of Canada’s standing in the digital world.

In a review of 138 countries, the World Economic Forum documents Canada’s gradual decline: in global competitiveness, from 9th in 2009 to 12th in 2011, and in capacity for innovation – 24th. Echoing the WEF, the Conference Board of Canada rated Canada’s innovation 14th out of 17 peer countries. We are increasingly connected by broadband and Canadians spend more time online than any others

(almost twice the worldwide average) but the tangible results are lacking.

Over the years, various governments, federal and provincial, have announced their intentions to be “model users” of the rapidly evolving technology. Indeed, one would expect our governments to be leaders, supporting our world-leading technology industries and, by modeling the effective use of new solutions, helping market these to the world.

The trends, though, are stark. The World Economic Forum is blunt: in terms of the importance of ICT to government vision of the future, Canada ranks 28th out of 138 countries and in government prioritization of ICT, we rank 31st. In terms of government procurement of advanced technology products, Canada now ranks 35th, down from 26th in 2010.

Tom Jenkins and his colleagues in their influential report, Innovation Canada: A Call to Action, issued a challenge, calling for a “whole of government approach” to place business innovation at the centre of the government’s strategy for improving Canada’s economic performance. Canada

iCt FEaturE 3.0 has recognized this and would take the argument the next step: innovation is no longer simply an economic issue nor just for one level of government: it is an issue for all of a competitive modern society, governance included.

To explore innovation in the provision of government services, the Stratford Insti-

The collaborative spirit of Canada 3.0 needs to prevail. Canada has studied the issues thoroughly and now is the time for action.

tute commissioned Brainmaven Research to undertake a thorough and rigorous evaluation of the websites of the provincial and territorial governments. The results showed some promising developments as these governments explore the potential of the technologies to offer citizen-centric services.

Top performers in each of the three major categories are: QuĂŠbec for its provision of citizen-centric online services; Ontario for its provision of integrated online information; and Alberta for its effective use of social media to engage with citizens.

Considering overall performance, British Columbia rises to the top as the province with the most consistently citizen-centric and integrated e-government initiatives.

The purpose of this study is to serve as an impartial, data-driven analysis to facilitate discussion of and inspiration for the ongoing efforts of provincial and territorial CIOs as they continuously work to provide the best possible online offerings for Canada’s citizens.

In terms of online access to government services, much remains to be done. The Jenkins Report noted that businesses have great difficulty in identifying government programs of benefit to them. The report

recommends an online concierge service.

In the online world and as a few pilot projects suggest, all governments should be collaborating to offer one window into related services.

The collaborative spirit of Canada 3.0 needs to prevail. Canada has studied the issues thoroughly and now is the time for action. Ours is a pioneering generation, privileged to venture into this new terri-

tory. On the frontier we are permitted to question old habits and traditions while remaining true to underlying principles and truths. It is a time to create new structures, business models, partnerships and even professions.

For the Stratford Report 2012 and the Stratford Index (pages 6 to 9) please see: www.stratfordinstitute.ca

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Feature ICT

Soussan Tabari is the chief information officer for the Learning Ministries (Training, Colleges and Universities) as well as Ministry of Citizenship and Immigration, Ministry of Tourism, Culture and Sports and the Ministry of Municipal Affairs and Housing.

Student financial aid?

Ontario has an app for that The Ontario Student Assistant Program (OSAP) mobile application is challenging the traditional image of government being technologically behind the times and is making it easier for students to access college and university education with more financial aid options than ever before.

The mobile OSAP app, introduced in January 2011, was the first interactive app of its kind for the Ontario government. The app can be used to access OSAP information using over 300 models of smartphones currently available in the market, meaning students applying for OSAP can find out how much they can expect to receive from OSAP anywhere, anytime.

It is projected that, by the end of 2012, over 80 percent of Canadians will have access to a mobile phone that can browse the Internet. For many students, their smartphones are their primary, and preferred, way to access the Internet, either for convenience or as their only mobile wireless device.

Obtaining student financial assistance can be a life-changing event. OSAP wanted to give busy and tech-savvy students smartphone access to its online applications system, allowing them to get upto-date information. Now, checking the status of an OSAP application is as easy as posting on Facebook or Twitter.

Working collaboratively, the Community Services I&IT Cluster (CSC), the Student Financial Assistance Branch that manages OSAP in the Ministry of Training, Colleges and Universities (TCU) and the Cabinet Office, with support from Ontario Shared Services, successfully developed and deployed the OSAP 8 / Canadian Government Executive // October 2012

mobile application in front of a group of students at Carleton University. During the launch event, a student was chosen randomly from the crowd to try out the new mobile application and it worked perfectly.

OSAP mobile won a prix Realm award for innovation, received an honourable mention from ITAC, and received a Showcase merit award in the category of small projects with big impact.

Taking a step back, in 2010, OSAP launched one of Canada’s largest (possibly the largest) secure online government applications systems. The new OSAP app builds on a 15-year history of OSAP success online, and greatly improved the way students submit their OSAP financial assistance application electronically, with a secure user ID and password, and get other academic and financial information to help them plan their future.

The mobile app was a small project with a budget of under $100,000 and a timeline of just two and half months. It was an immediate success, and has had a big impact for the application users. Every month, there are over one million hits and over 490,000 mobile views.

The OSAP mobile app has now transformed how Ontarians can access their government. Its development led to the establishment of the first ever Ontario government IT standard for mobile devices websites. It is also the first for any Canadian student financial assistance program. The project team is being consulted

by other ministries interested in developing mobile applications.

As well as making it easier for current and prospective students to find the information they need to plan for their future, the app is also expected to save staff time by reducing the number of telephone calls and in-person inquiries to OSAP offices.

“The OSAP mobile application is a testament to the ‘can-do spirit’ of TCU and, more importantly, the ability of OPS staff to come up with in-house solutions when challenged and resourced to do so,” said Noah Morris, director of the Student Financial Assistance Branch, Ministry of Training, Colleges and Universities. “It is also a great example of the teamwork between staff in the ministry and the I&IT cluster who worked together towards common solutions. I cannot commend highly enough the dedication, enthusiasm and success of the OSAP mobile application project.”

Going mobile is just one of the recent OSAP improvements making life easier for Ontario students. The new OSAP Express process, just launched in September 2012, streamlines the loan agreement and enrolment confirmation process, by taking manual, paper-based processes online.

OSAP Express means that students no longer need to stand in line to get access to their funds. OSAP will continue to innovate and explore ways to provide the best service possible to students, so they can better understand what financial aid is available sooner, plan better and focus more on their studies.

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Feature ICT

Namir Anani is president and CEO of the Information and

Communications Technology Council (ICTC). Previously, he led policy development and research at the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission.

Countering productivity shrinkage in the new economy Steve Jobs once said: “Innovation distinguishes between a leader and a follower.”

An increasing number of economists have concluded that innovation – the creation, adoption and commercialization of new products, services and business models – is the key to improved standards of living. Others emphasize productivity as a key indicator of prosperity. Productivity is the result of effective use of innovation and resources to increase the value-added content of products and services.

Whether it’s innovation that wags productivity or vice versa, the important consideration is that both are derived from two essential catalysts: human capital and technology. While investment and infrastructure are also prerequisites for success, history indicates that it is not always a recipe for innovation. IBM research funding in the early 1980s was many times that of Apple’s, yet the personal computer story unfolded somewhat differently.

In the new Internet economy, barriers to entry are minimal, infrastructure needs are small and talent is key. Small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) play a major role in innovation and our economy’s productivity growth. The Information and Communications Technology Council’s (ICTC) recent research exploring the “Apps Economy in Canada,” which is made up predominantly of SMEs, showcases a growth industry that currently employs 49,500 workers. Employment is expected to grow by another 27,000 over the short- to mid-term.

Pervasive trends in cloud services, in the mobile arena, as well as in apps and services are set to affect in an important way many sectors of the economy in the next three to five years. Industries such as the financial sector, health, manufacturing, renewable energy, life sciences and oil and 10 / Canadian Government Executive // October 2012

gas will increasingly rely on technology to increase output and be more productive.

Observers, though, have noted with alarm that Canadian productivity growth has been much slower than for many other developed countries. Over a period of decades, Canada’s level of productivity has slipped among OECD nations, from third in 1960, to 11th in 1990, to 17th in 2010.

So, why is our productivity lead shrinking?

The need for digital up-skilling: Information and communications technologies (ICTs) are increasingly prevalent in every service line of our industry, from the way organizations manage their finances, provide efficient supply logistics, to how they deal with their own staff and clients.

An industry’s capacity to innovate and compete greatly depends on the ability of its workforce – including non-IT workers and business leaders – to partake in strategic discourse with ICTs as its focus. In the course of their career, few workers have the chance to stay abreast of new technologies and their role in creating a strategic business advantage. The industry’s ability to digitally up-skill its workforce will be vital if Canada is to continue to lead in this global economy.

The right talent supply: Our growth will be constrained if we do not emphasize meeting the continuing strong demand for the right talent. Increasing post-secondary enrolment in generic programs will not cure the talent shortage.

The combination of skills that is in greatest demand across the country consists of technical knowledge, business acumen and interpersonal abilities. Post-secondary

institutions need real-time information about current and future demand to produce professionals with the right skills for employers. Immigration can also be more responsive to directly match the need of the industry with global talent and ensure employability.

A responsive labour market information system: Finally, the impetus for change starts with a better appreciation of how the labour market is evolving. In Canada, there is a gap in mechanisms to nationally share, align and publish regional labour market research. This gap needs to be filled with collection and dissemination of data on changing trends, needs and potential shortages on a regional or even municipal basis. Employers, policymakers and academia need robust up-to-date information on the real talent demand of evolving skills to help them optimize investments.

A tracking mechanism should be responsive to providing real-time feedback for decision-making and evaluating choices made and resources allocated. It should be able to make Canadians more aware of employment opportunities throughout the country, facilitate increased labour mobility between provinces, and prepare Canada’s industries for productivity and growth.

On November 6, ICTC will present a GTEC session exploring the public policy implications of fast-changing technology, with an emphasis on the inter-linkages between skills, productivity, innovation and public policy.

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Feature ICT

Jeff Braybrook is former Deputy Chief Technology

Officer for the government of Canada and president of Blueprint, an independent consulting firm specializing in governance, information management and web strategy.

Keys to Shared Services Canada success Shared Services Canada (SSC), the new government department mandated with consolidating and streamlining departmental data centres, networks and e-mail between over 40 federal departments, should succeed where other attempts have failed because it has three essential ingredients: money, mandate and political will.

Why was the IT Shared Services Branch (ITSB) of Public Works and Government Services Canada unable to succeed where Shared Services Canada should be able to?

Money: The challenge for ITSB is that it had to convince departments to use its services rather than to do things in-house or through a cluster of departments. Typically this was more expensive than each department doing things on their own, because individual departments didn’t have to account for power and accommodation in their IT costing. ITSB had to fully recover all this in its pricing models.

Today, SSC is fully funded and doesn’t need to ask departments for money to provide the required services.

Mandate: Treasury Board, through the Policy on the Management of IT, directed departments to ensure that “common or shared IT assets and services are used in departments to avoid duplication, when such assets and services are available and appropriate.” ITSB had a mandate to provide services, but departments were not told that they had to use them. The one exception was the government’s Secure Channel initiative.

SSC has been given a much stronger mandate as well as assets and people.

Political will: The 2012 federal budget 12 / Canadian Government Executive // October 2012

makes it clear that the government intends to use Shared Services Canada to reduce the cost of information technology. There is no doubt that they are highlighting its success as a government priority. ITSB simply did not have this kind of profile.

So while all of this positions SSC to be successful, will it be?

A team approach will help. TEAM, in this context means: Transparency, Engagement, Accountability and Measurement.

Transparency: The more people feel fully informed on service levels, processes, expectations and decision-making, the more trust will be built between all the partners.

In the government of Canada, it can be challenging enough to know these for an individual department and between headquarters and the regions, let alone by introducing another department as a service provider. Providing transparency will enable strong engagement by building trust.

Engagement: There is a saying in the federal public service that you don’t have to agree with everyone, but everyone should be consulted. Engagement between SSC and departments will provide a means for everyone to ensure that their issues and priorities are being considered.

SSC may not always provide the service levels that everyone wants, but everyone will feel that they are part of the solution, rather than the problem.

Accountability: Reporting in this new shared services world just became trickier with the creation of Shared Services Canada. Many people now report to two different people in two different organizations, the home department and SSC. It is going to be increasingly important for everyone to know what, if anything, has changed in terms of where and how they fit and what they are responsible for. Clarifying accountabilities, roles and responsibilities for everyone is timely and always helps find the gaps and overlaps and close them.

Measurement: It’s usually not a good idea to ask someone if they are satisfied unless you first have told them what to expect. SSC is starting off with many different infrastructures and expectations of levels of service. It will be important to establish some key performance indicators and appropriate measures and analytics to show where things are and where they are going. In some cases it will take time to get the baseline data and set targets, but everyone will understand and agree with the short-, medium- and long-term measures of success. The success stories nowadays tend to be about organizations that have adopted a culture of measurement, such as Google, Walmart and Coca-Cola.

We have all heard the expression, “there is no I in team.” In this case, there is a lot of “I in team.” Many people are asking, “how do I best meet management’s expectations, how do I manage differently, how can I best make a positive impact, how has my role or responsibility changed?”

Through transparency, engagement, accountability and measurement, more public servants will be able to answer these questions and make a positive contribution to the success of Shared Services Canada.

Chelsea Coupal is a communications

Innovation Feature

consultant with the Saskatchewan Ministry of Tourism, Parks, Culture and Sport.

Synchrotron

Tim Tokaryk with a fossil.

helping shed light on Scotty

A Saskatchewan team of geologists, physicists and palaeontologists is hunting for dinosaur DNA using a cutting-edge piece of equipment located in Saskatoon.

The Royal Saskatchewan Museum (RSM), part of the Saskatchewan Ministry of Tourism, Parks, Culture and Sport, is behind the research. RSM palaeontologist Tim Tokaryk teamed up with University of Regina physicist Dr. Mauricio Barbi to kick off the project.

They are furthering knowledge of dinosaurs using the Canadian Light Source synchrotron located at the University of Saskatchewan. A synchrotron is an intense light source that researchers use to gather information about a huge variety of physical, chemical, geological and biological processes.

“We’re really at the cusp of a new dawn of palaeontological research,” Tokaryk said. “And the fact that the RSM is playing a significant role in this is exciting.”

The synchrotron can be used to study fossils in two main ways. First, it can be used to examine the surface of the fossils, to create extremely high-resolution images, much higher than any microscope.

It can also be used to study fossils at the atomic level. Using the synchrotron, the researchers might discover DNA and other

organic materials inside the fossil, material they couldn’t find without it. Such material has the potential to reveal important information about the creatures they come from, such as evolutionary relationships among species. “With this added tool, we can potentially learn more about the environment the animals lived in,” said Tokaryk.

The machine can also be used to monitor changes in chemistry. Barbi wants to examine how the fossils’ fundamental properties changed as extinction approached.

It could, Barbi said, help explain dinosaurs’ extinction. “We are the only ones in Canada doing this sort of research and one of the few teams around the world.”

He is currently performing the handson work with the synchrotron, using it to study, among other remains, the vertebrae of Scotty, the Tyrannosaurus rex skeleton discovered in Saskatchewan’s Frenchman River Valley in 1991.

Barbi met Tokaryk by volunteering to “dust off dinosaur bones” in the RSM’s palaeontology department because his daughter loves anything dinosaur-related.

After attending a lecture at the Cana-

dian Light Source about palaeontology research using the synchrotron, Barbi called Tokaryk to discuss its potential.

The pair talked about physics and palaeontology and “played around with the idea of using the synchrotron,” Tokaryk said. Together, they created and submitted a proposal to conduct research with the synchrotron. It was accepted.

Research began in July 2011 and the early results are promising. Barbi said he hopes the team will be able to publish results by the end of 2012 or the beginning of 2013. “We are trying to build a network of institutions that are ready to put Canada in a leading position in this research.”

There are several advantages to using the synchrotron to study fossils instead of other methods. First, scientists can generate a large amount of extremely accurate data in a short period of time. “You can produce more data in an hour using the synchrotron than any other technique,” Barbi said. Scientists can also run tests on the bones without cleaning or preparing them. Other methods require scientists to modify the samples, which can potentially harm their preservation.

Tokaryk and the RSM are invaluable partners in this research, said Barbi. He is a physicist, so he appreciates Tokaryk’s palaeontological expertise. “Tim and the museum provide me with all the samples.

Tim organized fieldwork this summer, so we can go around and pick more samples.

The RSM Fossil Research Centre in Eastend is very handy. I simply can’t go forward without the museum, without Tim.” “The RSM is thrilled to be a partner in this research,” RSM director Harold Bryant said. “It’s an exciting project to be a part of. It reminds people that not only is the RSM a cool place to visit, it’s a wellrespected and well-recognized research institution.”

“I’m pleased that the RSM and its partners are using the synchrotron to study fossils. This type of innovative research helps create a stronger scientific community, a stronger Saskatchewan,” said Bill Hutchinson, Minister of Tourism, Parks, Culture and Sport. “I am eager to learn what our scientists discover about Scotty, our province’s most famous dinosaur.”

October 2012 // Canadian Government Executive / 13

Feature At arm’s length

Paul Genest is deputy minister of the Pan/Parapan American Games Secretariat and of the Office of Francophone Affairs. He is a former deputy minister of Intergovernmental Affairs and president and CEO of the Council of Ontario Universities.

Team sport

Delivering the Pan Am Games It will be the largest international multi-sport event ever held on Canadian soil – the 2015 Pan/Parapan American Games.

Aquatics Centre and Field House in Scarborough.

The Pan/Parapan Am Games rank third after the Summer Olympics and the Asian Games in size and scope. Ensuring the successful delivery of an event involves a major investment in new infrastructure, complex operations and balancing the diverse interests and priorities of three levels of government as well as a bevy of broader public and private sector partners and stakeholders.

There wasn’t a lot of direct experience to tap into when Ontario’s bid to host the 2015 Games succeeded.

The province’s last foray into staging a major international multi-sport competition was more than 80 years ago, when Hamilton hosted the 1930 British Empire Games. Those Games featured 400 athletes from 11 countries competing over eight days in six sports. By contrast, the Pan Am Games will feature about 6,000 athletes from 41 countries competing in 36 sports over 17 days. In addition, the Parapans will see about 1,500 athletes in 15 sports in competition over eight days.

Organizers must also deal with hard deadlines, respect budgets, manage within a multi-layered governance model and 14 / Canadian Government Executive // October 2012

operate with full transparency toward the tax-paying citizen.

And there’s that stone wall of a deadline.

On July 10, 2015, the venues for competition will have to be ready and tested.

The commitment is that the 2015 Games will not go over its $1.4-billion budget, which is vital for Ontario in its role as the deficit guarantor.

But perhaps the most unique aspect of the Games for a public servant is how complex the decision-making is because it involves all three levels of government and a variety of agencies, universities and other non-governmental organizations.

Of note, the Games are not awarded to Ontario or any other government.

The Pan American Sports Organization awards the Games to a city authorized by a National Olympic Committee – in this case the Canadian Olympic Committee (COC) – although the funds for the event come from governments, municipalities, universities and corporate sponsors.

The task of delivering the Games falls to an arm’s length organizing committee, Toronto 2015. It is overseen by a board that includes representatives selected by

Ontario (including the chair), the federal government, the city of Toronto, the Canadian Olympic Committee and the Canadian Paralympic Committee. Ontario’s relationship with Toronto 2015 is defined by a Transfer Payment Agreement and it must maintain effective relationships with all the parties to the Games.

Oversight of Toronto 2015 is one critical role for the Ontario Pan/Parapan American Games Secretariat (PPAGS). The Secretariat is also charged with ensuring that the vision of involving Ontarians and providing a legacy for future generations is achieved. It’s a big task for a small organization that was created from scratch in 2010.

We work closely with Toronto 2015 to ensure that its financial model provides a real-time view of spending and that it offers a robust risk-management practice. As well, we work closely with Infrastructure Ontario, which is delivering the major sporting venues – representing about 80 percent of capital expenditures – through the private sector. We oversee the development of the Pan/Parapan American Games Athletes’ Village, as well.

At arm’s length Feature

Perhaps the most unique aspect of the Games for a public servant is how complex the decision-making is because it involves all three levels of government and a variety of agencies, universities and other non-governmental organizations.

We work hand-in-hand with Sport Canada, which is overseeing Ottawa’s $500-million contribution for venue construction, the post-Games legacy of the major facilities and essential services.

PPAGS also plays a coordinating role within the Ontario government, through a network of cross-ministerial or inter-jurisdictional committees dealing with key planning and operational issues. For example, a transportation working group with repre-

sentation from the provincial government, local municipalities and agencies such as the TTC, GO Transit and Metrolinx is studying the smoothest way to get athletes, officials and spectators to and from venues around the Greater Golden Horseshoe.

There is also a deputies’ committee developing a plan for how government ministries will promote and celebrate the Games and ensure they leave a legacy that benefits the province long after the athletes have gone home.

Effective governance and rigorous oversight are critical to the success of the Games, but we must never lose sight of what the Games are really about – a celebration of our athletes, our creativity and cultural diversity, and the intricate tapestry of trade, tourism, culture and sport that connects Ontario to its neighbours across the Americas and the Caribbean.

A dynamic promotion and celebration program leading up to and during the Games will help ensure that the 2015 Games are a pan-Canadian experience that strengthens our sense of national identity and pride.

So, PPAGS has a lot on its plate. Just as we’ve seen with the Olympics – in Vancouver in 2010 and more recently in London – the 2015 Pan/Parapan Games, notwithstanding the challenges, promise to be a transformational experience for Ontario that will define our province for years to come.

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feature ICT

Open government Turning past practice on its head

When GTEC begins on November 5 in Ottawa, British Columbia will be on display. Kim Henderson, Deputy Minister, Labour, Citizens’ Services and Open Government, spoke with editor-in-chief Toby Fyfe about B.C.’s role as this year’s showcase province.

What progress has the province made toward open government?

Just over a year ago B.C. went live with Canada’s first approach to open government with an open data platform. At the time we had over 2,400 data sets that citizens were able to reuse and repurpose. We also launched an open information platform where we’ve made available routine releases of information like expenses and also made available any general freedomof-information requests that are made by applicants.

As well, we launched a brand new web presence for the province that was based on focus groups with citizens on how they want to interact with government.

What did you learn in those consultations?

We learned that our web was designed around the structure of government. I 16 / Canadian Government Executive // October 2012

would challenge any of us to go on a government website and try and figure out where government programs may live at any given point in time. Citizens come at these things more intuitively and the structure of government doesn’t matter to them when they are trying to access services.

They just want to know how to get to the information they need quickly, so we completely redesigned the site so it isn’t based on ministry structure.

prove their identity online so they can do more high-value transactions with government in the future. The first agency that is joined up with us is Elections BC, so this will be the platform that B.C. uses for online voting.

Another project is the Drive BC Mobile Initiative. Is this a priority because more citizens are using these devices?

That’s right. I think government has taken too long to catch up with that revolution; if we were a private sector corporation, I don’t think our customers would have waited this long for us to get to mobile. Drive BC is an excellent example where folks are going to want to use their mobile devices to find out what road conditions are like.

You have also made great progress in identity management.

What other mobile apps do you envision?

We will launch the BC Services Card in November and we will be the first province to do any kind of program such as this. Citizens will have the option to have a combination of healthcare card and their driver’s license. On that card will be a chip that will enable the identity authentication services that BC will provide. We see this being a new authentication model for citizens to

We are doing an app now for healthcare information that will provide you with access to your closest public health clinic and general healthcare information. We are building one that will help you find service centres in B.C. We’re trying to figure out different ones we can use in education such as one where parents can go and see all the different ways their school is per-

ICT feature ent ways that’s jelled well for us.

We have a group of deputy ministers that we call the Committee on Transformation, which is chaired by our deputy minister to the premier, and it provides the governance on how we’re able to drive B.C. agendas like open government and the BC Services Card. These 12 high profile deputies have helped drive the strategy and enable us as the central agency to get cross-government buy-in on lots of our programs.

What would you say to colleagues across the country?

forming. We’re looking at fun apps to help parents come up with nutritious ways to pack a kids lunch.

There are some things governments can build but we don’t have all the answers.

That’s why we’ve made our data available to developers. We need to grow that data catalogue so we can get some really high value apps.

What is your connection to the BC Education Plan?

Obviously the policy side of the BC Education Plan is being driven by our Ministry of Education and their stakeholders. We’ve been able add some value on how to engage citizens, which happens to be one of the main goals or shifts we have as part of our open government plan.

It’s one thing to make information available to citizens, but how do you encourage citizens to be engaged in these public policy issues so they can add value? I think citizens’ attitudes have changed; they don’t think that they elect a government and four years later they get to have a say again as to what that government should be. Social media has really changed that.

Citizens want to interact and the BC Education Plan is a key example where we’ve added social media elements so teachers and parents and students and the general

public can provide feedback and richness to the policy debate.

Is your role with the BC Jobs Plan the same?

This is another way where we’re trying to engage citizens in a different way so government has some ideas for things that they want to do. We partnered that up with some data so that folks can analyze and release a lot more information than we ever would have made public before. It’s not just limited to social media because not everyone wants to engage that way.

There will still be some traditional styles of outreach to stakeholders, but it’s really trying to encourage citizens to be participants in their government.

What’s the driver for all this?

We pride ourselves in being creative and innovative in B.C. We’ve had a really good leadership team that has prized innovation.

And from tight budgets come real ingenuity in how to do some things. And I give a lot of credit to our government chief information officer, Dave Nikolejsin, who’s always trying to push the boundaries. But I think it’s the combination of some bright creative staff and the leadership team being able to take those risks and think in differ-

My core message is to take risks. Government really needs to be part of this revolution built on openness, transparency and the use of social media to engage with citizens in different ways. B.C.’s taken the approach to say, “we want to be at the front of the pack here.” We don’t want to have this happen to us in several years.

Citizens will demand this. In B.C. we built a really solid platform that can be repurposed across the country and we’re happy to share our lessons learned. We’ve got a long way to go; it’s a massive cultural shift for the public service, politicians and the public to see this new style and its going to take some time.

What, in your experience, is the cultural shift for public servants?

I think we breed public servants to be risk averse, especially when it comes to outreach.

Using different social media styles to communicate with citizens and being more open about information is not anything we’ve ever preached before. We’ve preached the opposite, which is more a culture of confidentiality where only officials can speak to media and only officials can speak publicly. We’re turning that on its head.

It takes some time for folks to realize that they’re going to be supported in having those conversations and actually encouraged to do so. For example, the BC Education Plan had a whole team to monitor and be part of the blog postings and the Twitter account and it changed the nature of the work for those employees because people aren’t going to participate just between 8:30 and 4:30. We had to have completely different working hours.

October 2012 // Canadian Government Executive / 17

Feature Nonprofit governance

Allen Doppelt, barrister and solicitor, is senior counsel with the Ontario Ministry of Consumer Services.

Modernizing not-for-profit corporate legislation The not-for-profit sector is an important part of Canadian society. In Ontario alone, 46,000 nonprofits incorporated under Ontario’s Corporations Act employ about 16 percent of all employed Ontarians and generate nearly 50 billion dollars in annual revenues.

Yet governing corporate law in Ontario and most provinces is out of date. in force in October 2011. Although differing in some important details, it includes many of the same corporate governance principles as ONCA.

Key features

Good corporate governance for nonprofit corporations is a concern for governments. They fund many nonprofits and use them to deliver important services, especially in the areas of health, social services and culture. Hospitals, long-term care centres, children’s aid societies, art galleries and museums are only a few examples of important not-for-profit corporations.

Government also regulates many nonprofit corporations. Occasionally, it even delegates regulation of industries or professions to these corporations.

In recognition of the compelling need to modernize the Corporations Act, the Ontario government began a consultation process in 2007. Three consultation papers were released in 2007 and 2008.

Meetings were held across the province to obtain stakeholder feedback on a wide range of issues. Nonprofit corporations and associations, including the Ontario Bar Association, responded with detailed submissions. All of this work culminated in the enactment of a new Not-for-Profit Corporations Act (ONCA) in October 2010. ONCA is anticipated to come into force on January 1, 2013.

The equivalent federal law has also recently been updated. The Canada Notfor-Profit Corporations Act was proclaimed 18 / Canadian Government Executive // October 2012

ONCA will apply immediately to all nonprofit corporations currently incorporated under the Act except for a small number of share capital social clubs, which will have a special five-year transition period.

There is an expedited streamlined incorporation process. Electronic incorporation will be permitted and will allow for same day incorporation. Paper-based incorporations will occur more quickly (less than the current eight days required for an expedited incorporation). Charitable corporations will no longer need the consent of the provincial regulator of charities (the Public Guardian and Trustee’s Office) to incorporate.

The new Act clarifies that corporations will be permitted to engage in commercial activities that support their nonprofit purposes.

Regarding directors and officers, in addition to the duty of loyalty – a duty to act honestly and in good faith with a view to the best interests of the corporation – they must exercise the care, diligence and skill that a reasonably prudent person would exercise in comparable circumstances.

Conflict of interest rules for directors and officers have been expanded.

Directors and officers have also been given greater protection from personal liability through the addition of due diligence and good faith reliance defenses.

Member rights have been increased. Ten percent of the members can call a special members’ meeting to remove directors

or to discuss any other matter of concern related to governance of the corporation.

They can initiate changes to the incorporation document (now called articles of incorporation) or the by-laws. Basic procedural rights are given to a member who is to be disciplined or expelled. Members on request can obtain a copy of the financial statements and any audit report at least 21 days before the annual meeting to allow sufficient time for review.

There is an expanded right for members (with at least an 80 percent majority) to approve annually an audit exemption or a review engagement (a lesser form of financial review) in place of an audit. This will relieve smaller corporations of the high financial and administrative burdens associated with an audit.

In transition After ONCA comes into force, corporations will be given three-years to change any conflicting rules in these documents.

At the end of this three-year transition period, any such conflicting rule will be effectively invalid.

It is important that boards of directors engage in a careful review of their letters patent (incorporation document) and bylaws for the purpose of making necessary changes to comply with the requirements of ONCA and its regulations. This review is also an opportunity to update these documents to reflect good corporate governance and current practice.

ONCA is a comprehensive, flexible, modern statute that should facilitate improved corporate governance and encourage volunteers to serve as directors and officers. It will inaugurate a new era for Ontario nonprofit corporations.

INFORMATION UPDATE

Paul Crookall is editor emeritus of Canadian Government Executive.

Sponsored by

The Triple Play in Digital Government Improve service to citizens and improve governance, while reducing the deficit – that’s the mandate from the Prime Minister, and from most other political leaders.

B

ut where to start? How can you do all three at once? Well, consider how often interactions with the government start with a document? It has been estimated to be about 80% of the time.

What if that process could be improved?

Some examples where improvements are happening: Nova Scotia has reduced the burden of obtaining a small business license from in some cases, more then a dozen forms and transactions across three levels of government, to one application.

The rest is now filled in by “the back end.”

The Ontario Homicide Investigators Association has reduced the average 40,000

pages of evidence documents for each case to one USB key, which is then shared with the Crown, the defense, the jury. That saves money and it frees up investigator time for higher-value activities.

With improvements in the way information workers deal with documents, in addition to the benefits of improved service, improved governance, and reduced cost, there is increased staff satisfaction as they are better equipped to do their jobs. It’s a marked contrast to organizations where the mantra is a top-down “Do more with less.”

Public servants are inspired when given the tools, the organization, the opportunity to

improve service delivery and client satisfaction. They appreciate being empowered to better achieve their mission.

The Front End A lot of attention is shifting to back office shared services; but we shouldn’t forget what has been referred to as “the 25%” – the $1.9 billion federal spend on front-end, client-facing data management. It has been estimated that up to 45% of the Deficit Reduction Action Plan (DRAP) reduction targets can be achieved in this domain alone.

The Institute for Citizen-Centred Service has identified a public servant’s “willingness to go the extra mile” as a source of citizen satisfaction. But wouldn’t it be better to have smoother systems in place so public servants didn’t need to “go the extra mile” so often? Adobe strives to help government achieve this. Area Vice President of Public Sector for Adobe Canada Shawn Cruise explains: “we leverage our rich heritage in content and document creation, and add to it process and web content management, personalization, mobilization, and analytics. We focus on (1) making; (2) managing; and (3) mobilizing content, then delivering it through personalized media; and (4) monetizing – finding measurable cost reductions.

“That’s accomplished through advanced analytics, which provide real-time, on demand information to identify opportunities and trends, and understand what is happening with the content. It’s flexible, personalized dash boarding to help create strategy and achieve the three key objectives of deficit reduction, improved service delivery and improved governance.”

GTEC attendees can see a practical example: Citizenship and Immigration Canada’s Christopher Clissold and Chan Chac will be speaking on a global case management transformation project to reduce immigration application wait times while driving down transaction costs, in a presentation November 6 at 11:15 a.m, visit www.adobe.com/ca/government

Feature Nonprofit governance

Attracting and retaining Compensation is often raised as a key tool that can either aid or hinder the attraction and retention of executive talent within not-for-profits (NFP).

With the proper compensation design, and the provision of additional incentives, NFP boards can easily increase their success in “catching� the right people.

What amount is fair?

A good starting point before filling any key executive position is to obtain an assessment of what the market is currently paying individuals in similar roles and similar organizations. NFPs should compare themselves to other NFPs that are similar in size and in a similar type of industry if possible. Easy indicators for NFP size are elements such as annual revenue/donation levels, total assets and overall staff size.

When comparing roles, organizations should go beyond the job titles and look at job descriptions if available. This is especially the case with smaller organizations where many responsibilities can often be rolled into one position. Overall, comparison roles should be similar in scope of control, level of responsibility and overall job expectations.

What can we afford?

When searching for talent, boards of NFPs need to be realistic with their prospects.

Conducting a reasonable assessment of what your organization can afford is a good second step. Understanding what you can afford enables your board to determine where in the compensation range they are able to target. Likewise, if an organization has not initially budgeted what the market is paying, it allows boards to strategize on how they will find the additional dollars that will get compensation to the previously assessed fair market level.

20 / Canadian Government Executive // October 2012

Brad Kelly is director for Global Governance Advisors (brad.kelly@ ggovernanceadvisors.com or www.ggovernanceadvisors.com).

top talent

What is the purpose of the compensation elements?

A strong executive compensation design includes an incentive level that comprises the majority of its overall opportunity. All too often, NFP compensation mirrors the compensation design of the public sector that has the lion’s share of its value rooted in the base salary component.

Consider what the purpose of each design element is and what the resulting behaviour will be. Normally a base salary is meant to provide a secure competitive base of cash compensation and is awarded to an executive for the completion or maintenance of the base responsibilities associated with the job. However, regardless of the sector, the majority of executives are not only expected to maintain an organization but also to improve and grow it as well.

An approach that is fair to both the executive and the stakeholders is one that places less emphasis on the maintenance aspect of the executive role and more on the overall improvement and growth expectations. Implementing a strong performance management plan and offering a larger proportion of the executive compensation in incentive pay, enables boards to align compensation levels to actual performance and improvements achieved.

If components of the performance expectations are tied to financial growth or savings, boards effectively tie compensation to the expectations and therefore have them self-funded through the additional realized resources.

What else can we offer?

NFP organizations need to understand that there are other elements that boards can offer. The board should be responsible for the provision of mentorship services for key executives, and they should also be open to furthering this mentorship role through the provision of introductions and opportunities. Ambitious executives will most certainly appreciate opportunities to attend additional community events

and be introduced to notable business and community leaders.

The provision of additional exposure is definitely alluring to ambitious executives and, therefore, the provision of a national or wide-based campaign or program could be alluring to potential executives because of the exposure, networking and development opportunities it can provide.

Improving the probability for success If it is determined that the compensation is not sufficient as an attractive consideration, your board can easily choose other elements that can increase the probability for success.

Offering a progressive performance management plan with mutually beneficial expectations is a good way to increase the compensation opportunity in a fair and manageable way. As well, compensation is not always the sole reason for accepting an executive position, therefore, board members need to be open to providing additional support to ambitious individuals who would appreciate your board providing non-compensation elements such as exposure to influential individuals who could also provide additional opportunities in the future.

David Waung has been the executive director and CEO of CAPAM since 2008.

He is stepping down in October.

Management Feature

neW peRFoRManCe InDICatoRS for the Commonwealth Canada was at the table when the “Commonwealth of Nations” was reconstituted in 1949 and has remained one of its strongest supporters ever since. The Commonwealth today comprises 54 nations, and is home to two billion citizens, of all faiths and ethnicities, and includes some of the world’s largest, smallest, richest and poorest countries.

WItHIN tHe coMMoNWeaLtH, the Canadian public service is rightly recognized as one of the best in the world and our institutions serve as benchmarks for good governance. Canada’s development as a nation has been smooth and, for the most part, uneventful. The same could not be said for many of our Commonwealth brethren.

Using Kenya as an example, its independence was particularly hard fought and bloody. The Mau Mau uprising (19521960), which pitted Kenyans against Kenyans, eventually led to independent rule in 1962. While the Republic of Kenya was subsequently formed in 1964, remnants of the power struggle between tribal groups persisted. When violence broke out after the 2007 presidential elections, it was clear that their system of governance was ill equipped to deal with the decades old perceptions of inequality and unfair representation.

In March 2008, all political parties agreed on the principles for a constitutional review process, and Parliament established a Committee of Experts on Constitutional Reform to gather views from the public, deliberate on contentious issues and come up with a draft of the new constitution. The level of citizen engagement was indeed remarkable, with radio talk shows explaining the various points of view, massive outreach campaigns to all corners of the country, and public gatherings to solicit citizen input.

Key elements of the new constitution included the transfer of executive authority from the President to the Prime Minister as the Head of Government, the establishment of a Senate with regional repre-

sentation, and realignment of the eight provinces into 70 counties, each having representation in government. In 2010, the new constitution received 75 percent approval from the citizens of Kenya.

Other countries in the Commonwealth are more mature and can turn their attention to improving public service performance. Most performance management systems are based on assessing results against some form of key performance indicators.

Commonwealth countries have a wide spectrum of processes for establishing appropriate indicators ranging from structured schemes similar to Canada’s Management Performance Framework, to subjective assessments of contributions towards national objectives. The “rewards” for good performance are equally varied across the Commonwealth. Generally, these include some combination of bonus payments, consideration for promotions and renewal of employment contracts.

It is interesting to note that in addition to these financial rewards, Malaysia has found that public recognition (or embarrassment) can have a much greater impact.

They have implemented a “Star Rating System” where senior executives will be awarded “stars” in accordance to their annual performance.

Notwithstanding the range of performance management systems that are in place, experience has shown that a usable and credible system is not sufficient to stimulate high performance.

Countries such as Australia also devote much effort in establishing a work place culture that values performance and puts

in place support systems for those in need of assistance. Experience has also shown that the effectiveness of any performance management system is only as good as how it is implemented. In depth reviews have proven that perceived biases and inconsistencies can serve as strong disincentives for employees.

Public servants across the Commonwealth face similar challenges. A common refrain is the need to embrace new ideas to solve old problems. India improved the plight of the very poor by coordinating the efforts of 100 community-based organizations. Trinidad and Tobago re-engineered business processes to virtually eliminate long queues at citizen service centers. Nigeria implemented a Midwives Service Scheme that dramatically reduced incidences of infant mortality in rural areas.

In 1998, the Commonwealth Association for Public Administration and Management (CAPAM) instituted the International Innovations Awards. This highly contested award serves to showcase the ingenuity of public servants across the commonwealth and to recognize their tenacity and determination in implementing new ideas. Twelve finalists will be vying for the 2012 Gold Award for Public Service Innovation at the Commonwealth Conference and Ministerial Forum in New Delhi, India, October 24-26.

The spirit of the Commonwealth for sharing and mutual support lives on in conferences such as these. While the Canadian public service has achieved great successes, we can still learn a great deal from other members of the Commonwealth family.

October 2012 // Canadian Government executive / 21

Feature well-being

Hanny Toxopeus is the CEO of the Association of Professional Executives of the Public Service of Canada.

the impact of work on executive health In October 2012, the Association of Professional Executives of the Public Service of Canada (APEX) is launching its fourth executive work and health survey. proMotING tHe HeaLtH and well-being of federal public service executives has been a primary strategic objective of APEX for more than 15 years. In October, all executives in the federal public service, including both those in the core public administration and in separate agencies, will be invited to complete APEX’s 4th EX Work and Health Survey. Survey results will provide evidence-based intelligence and unique insights into the health of federal executives and their workplaces.

The 2012 survey follows three previous surveys on executive work and health in 1997, 2002 and 2007. The 2012 survey results will not only offer an up-todate snapshot of executive and workplace health, but also permit identification of trends over time. APEX has worked closely with its research partner, Gap-Santé, Institute of Population Health at the University of Ottawa, on plans for the survey. GapSanté will be emailing the survey questionnaire to executives, receiving online responses and conducting the statistical analysis. Paper survey questionnaires are also available on request.

ing been harassed, with 55% of victims reporting that their superiors were the main source of harassment.

The average executive worked 52 hours per week, with 75% in the high range for fatigue. Sixty-four percent thought about leaving their organization every month or more frequently. Executives in the core public administration reported stress in higher proportions than their separate agency and private sector counterparts.

Selected findings

In 2011, APEX members told us that they expect executive health and well-being to be a top challenge over the next one to three years (second only to the workload challenge). Health and well-being – physical, psychological and organizational – are now recognized in both public and private sectors as having potentially significant benefits such as higher performance and retention or costly consequences including loss of productivity and turnover.

The Fifth Report of the Prime Minister’s Advisory Committee on the Public

The 2007 survey results demonstrated that the physical health of executives had improved with respect to respiratory illness (smoking rates had decreased from 9% in 2002 to 6% in 2007), likely as a result of non-smoking policies. Musculo-skeletal disorders had spiked to 27% in 2007 (from 20% in 2002), probably due to ergonomic issues related to computer and Blackberry use. Cardio-vascular disease was at 20%; 32% reported a sedentary lifestyle. And 20% of executives surveyed reported hav22 / Canadian Government executive // October 2012

APEX principles APEX supports the empirically verified proposition that too much demand coupled with too little job control, and too much effort coupled with too little reward, produce stress leading to poor outcomes for both the individual and the organization. The physical and psychological health of individuals is a window into organizational health, performance and productivity. APEX also believes that executive health is a shared responsibility between individual executives and their organizations.

Performance, productivity

Service, the Clerk’s Eighteenth Annual Report to the Prime Minister on the Public Service of Canada, and the Fourteenth Report of the Advisory Committee on Senior Level Compensation and Retention (2011) have all endorsed the importance of health and its relationship to engagement and productivity. Health-linked issues are also a key reason why executives seek the support of the APEX Advisory Service for Executives, a confidential service available free of charge to all federal executives at all levels across the country and abroad.

Survey participation The federal executive survey response rate in 2007 was 40 percent. APEX is seeking an even higher response for the 2012 survey to ensure robust results and a high confidence level. An increased understanding of executive health at both the individual and organizational levels will serve as a basis for developing better workplace practices and elimination of risk factors.

Changing the current public service culture to allow more innovation and creativity, more positive and respectful environments and more control and ownership over responsibilities are some effective ways to promote a healthier workplace.

Particularly within the deficit reduction environment, there will almost certainly be greater stresses for executives that will need to be acknowledged and addressed.

We know for certain that the core public administration can do better, because separate agencies and the private sector both are already doing better vis-à-vis executive health outcomes.

APEX is looking forward to your participation in the survey. For updates, please refer to the APEX website at www.apex.gc.ca.

If you have questions about the 2012 APEX EX Work and Health Survey or did not receive a survey questionnaire, please contact Stuart Campbell, Visiting Executive (613-943-8916 or stuartc@apex.gc.ca).

Jodi LeBlanc is a values and ethics advisor with Veterans Affairs Canada and is a member of CGE’s editorial advisory board (connect with her via: http://ca.linkedin.com/in/jodileblanc).

New Professionals

Virtual networking: Building your online brand With the recent launch of the Guideline for External Use of Web 2.0 and the Values and Ethics Code for the Public Sector, there has been a lot of discussion around professional versus personal virtual networking.

The fact is the lines between our professional and personal lives are blurring: we are taking our work home with us and bringing our personal lives to work.

Networking has become more important than ever, while at the same time developing our professional brand that will assist us in our future career aspirations.

Social media such as LinkedIn and Twitter allow us to build relationships at lightning speed, where geography and circumstances are no longer a factor.

Nevertheless, there are always some risks associated with online social media usage so there are a few rules of thumb that I keep in mind in order to balance my professional and personal networking experience.

Individuals do not log on to social media sites to read static updates only, they come for interaction and conversation.

Engage them in appropriate meaningful discussions and find areas of interest and commonality to develop a range of networks. Just like using the telephone, using social media professionally takes a commonsense approach. When tweeting or blogging about your personal and professional life, the content you post should reveal a dimension of your personality.

Associating your character traits to your personal brand makes you more memora-

ble to your virtual networking audience.

Go beyond your industry when developing your network. Connect with individuals on a variety of levels from a wide range of areas. By growing your network outside of the common areas you will be more valuable to people that are in your immediate industry. By developing an extensive network, you can be the individual that connects colleagues across industries. Seek out opportunities to meet your virtual connections face-to-face whether at a conference, event or local Chamber of Commerce mixers – it will make your networking relationships that much stronger.

When posting remember your comments are public for the entire world to see. Comment online the same way you would at a meeting, over coffee or a public forum. The safest assumption you can make is that absolutely everything you publish on your personal social media pages can be read by everyone you come in contact with, sometimes even after the post has been deleted. Always think twice before you post. Be interesting, engaging, creative and display a positive attitude through your postings and interactions. It can be tempting after a hard day at work to go on your social media page and vent about your day; however, this will only hurt your online reputation in the long run. You don’t want to post something in the heat of the moment that you will regret in the future.

Be clear and transparent that your views are your own, but remember your duty of loyalty to your employer still applies. This is the same for every line of work, not just for government employees. For example, if you work for the private sector or a notfor-profit you are an ambassador for your organization, and if you as an employee do not support and stand behind programs and services that your organization offers, why would the public? As public servants we need to refrain from public criticism and balance our right to freedom of expression with loyalty to our employer. Ask yourself, would you want your manager seeing your post? Even better, would you want your post to appear on the cover of the Globe and Mail?

A short video was recently launched that explains the most important points to keep in mind as public servants when using social media as part of your work and professional interests. You can view the video at: http://bit.ly/Mxqanh.

In short, reach out to various networks and let your personality and positive attitude shine through in your posts. Where possible, take opportunities to meet your new connections face-to-face. Respect the guidelines and remember your responsibilities as public servants – think twice before you post. Continue to build your professional and personal brand as it will open doors and present opportunities that will assist you throughout your career journey.

Happy networking!

October 2012 // Canadian Government Executive / 23

Performance management

Steve Montague is the co-president of the Performance and Planning Exchange (PPX) and a partner of Performance Management Network (Steve.Montague@pmn.net).

Performance measurement in difficult times On May 9, Canadian Government Executive hosted a webinar with Steve Montague of the Performance and Planning Exchange. What follows is excerpts from a conversation between Montague and CGE editor-in-chief Toby Fyfe.

In difficult financial times, overheads need to be cut. Performance measurement and systems to support it cost time and effort. Should these be cut like everything else?

It depends on how you see performance measurement, and more broadly performance management. If you see it as a necessary evil like paying your taxes then certainly you should trim costs like anything else. But if you believe that performance measurement is a vital part of feedback about whether what you are doing is reaching people and making the difference you want, then perhaps when times are tough, you need to do it more rather than less.

That means focusing on the key elements to one’s value proposition rather than on force-fitting standardized measures to all situations. The first is to adopt a “managing for results” orientation. Many analysts have talked about this, and in fact the federal government has had a self-assessment tool out for about a decade now which can help groups to self-assess where they are (see http://publications.gc.ca/collections/Collection/BT22-88-2003E.pdf for more on the self-assessment tool).

In addition, I like to focus on three important related ideas: Spheres of influence: We do a lot of different things to influence those in need or those from whom we need support. We can consider the groups who we reach outside of ourselves to be groups within 24 / Canadian Government Executive // October 2012

our spheres of influence. Some are groups who we touch directly with our work, people and groups within our sphere of direct influence. Others are part of broader communities who are indirectly reached by our efforts.

Results chains (who as well as what): A chain of behavioral expectations or results can be plotted as progressing through the spheres. The outside influences grow stronger as we move outward from our sphere of control. This has implications for predictability, planning and management.

Start with needs: One of the key concepts is to start with needs before plotting results.

This can be an important “front end.”

The above ideas should support the telling of a performance story. This may be a story about the past or the future, but it is always a story. The key elements of the story involve the discussion of why we are doing the initiative (program, project, etc.), who we intend to reach with it and what difference we intend to make, and how we intend to operate – including how much we invest, how we deliver and how much we deliver. (Note the other Ws of where and when may also apply to our “story.” These are typically part of specific plans and reports.)

if you see performance measurement as something to help you manage within the context of your situation and you have worked out the needs and at least a basic chain of expected results, then a “scorecard” can be appropriately constructed.

Note that by using a results chain or hierarchy approach, set up by a precise analysis of needs, not only can you set up appropriately targeted measures, but you can also note the links between the levels. This allows you to put things like efficiency, effectiveness, return on investment, cost-effectiveness and cost-benefit into proper context.

So how can it more broadly help planning and management?

At the Canadian Cancer Society we have been using this kind of needs-results hierarchy to actually plan forward and to some extent review backwards. We are still in relatively early days, but thinking about spheres of influence, results chains and the notion that performance should always be considered vis-à-vis needs can help managers to implement a performance planning, measurement and management system which will serve organizations well in difficult times.

What about scorecards and dashboards? These have been popular: how do they fit? It sounds as though what you are saying runs counter to these tools.

Well, if the scorecard is determined without reference to needs, without the basic depiction of who needs to be reached, what changes we need to see and why these make a difference to the mission, then, yes, I would be against jumping in to do a scorecard. But on the other hand,

For examples on the use of spheres of influence, results chains and need, see the Canadian Cancer Society’s presentation at the 2011 PPX symposium: www.ppx.ca/ download/symposiums/2011/ concurrent/2011_CS_1&6_ VezinaMontague_E.pdf

John Read provides procurement consulting services to public sector clients.

He served for almost 15 years in the Public Works procurement arena.

Procurement

Are these shoes really made for walking?

Preparing a detailed procurement manual for a client is like trying to write how to tie shoelaces – it’s not easy.

While I was writing one of those manuals, an article about contracting for professional services appeared in the newspaper.

Not being privy to the details, I will not discuss the article’s sub tones of longstanding malfeasance; I will not even cite the article to avoid further spreading of what could be unfair innuendo. That’s a shame, though, because the writer nonetheless did a good job of raising some important issues relating to contracting for professional services.

One of those issues arose from a quotation from a former public servant, who said in part: “I’ve been on both sides of this divide.” A crucial concern that is often overlooked: there are two sides to every story.

Although that person was referring to the divide between buyer and seller and the complexities of designing a procurement that will attract the right number of quality bidders, the divide also appears in a different form within a buying organization.

For public servants buying professional services it is all too obvious. Trying to meet numerous and often-conflicting objectives is high risk.

It is particularly challenging when you need a consultant, and you already have one that you have confidence in on site.

How do you trade off the benefits of a known quantity in terms of producing results against the opportunity to find some-

one who will do even better (or as well, at lower cost); a fast solution with a likely result against a longer and “cleaner” one of uncertain outcome; or tangible program delivery results against the government’s commitment to fair, open and transparent actions?

Balancing any of those pairings is difficult; when all apply to any given situation the potential for disaster is all too apparent. The fact is, the way ahead is not always clear.

How, then, to tell people how to tie shoelaces? My manual is not finished yet; this article will help me find its final form.

Here is what I think it will say.

First, clearly hammer out the ethical commitments of the organization.

Make sure everyone knows and commits to what is acceptable behaviour and what is not. Prove those values every day, by the actions of the most visible people (not just the most senior) in the organization.

Glowing statements soon turn to dust when staff see that they shine on paper but not in reality.

Then, make sure that the priorities of the organization are clear. Giving people ten priorities is giving them none.

In particular, make sure that staff know what they are expected to do when faced with choices, both good or bad: which is the clear organizational path?

Back that up by very visible management commitment. Staff need to know that when they have acted ethically to drive toward the priority, they will not

later be disowned by management if something goes wrong.

Listen to Mike Holmes. Take the training of staff beyond the “what and how” to the “why.” We tell procurement people that when “buying” they should specify results to be achieved rather than how the consultant/service provider is to deliver. The goal is to increase competition and generate innovation, but then we tend to deny government staff the same flexibility. Without clear priorities and the strong ethical foundation referenced already, staff will naturally gravitate to the rules. On the other hand, tell them the “why” within the strong framework of real ethics and priorities and they should be able to achieve more.

Renew and revitalize the old saying “speak truth to power.” It too often seems that the people upstairs only want to hear the good news; the possible negative consequences of decisions or actions are forcibly downplayed if not eliminated entirely. Bad decisions based on bad information are almost inevitable when you take away the need to present all sides of a situation, accurately and in balance.

Interestingly, my directions above are not about tying shoelaces. But they are about teaching people about shoes – what they are and when to wear which style.

Give people the right context and, as described, they will get it right by themselves.

Except, of course, if they are told that shoes are not meant for walking but rather to look good.

October 2012 // Canadian Government Executive / 25

The Leader’s Bookshelf

Harvey Schachter writes The Globe and Mail’s Managing Books and Monday Morning Manager columns.

He is a freelance writer specializing in management issues.

The power of being an oxymoron

Paradoxical Thinking Jerry Fletcher and Kelle Olwyler Berrett-Koehler, 219 pages, $34.85 Are you an iron-willed pussycat? A creative imitator? A hesitant risktaker? A competent self-doubter?

In short, are you a paradox?

In an age when we’re told to be focused, determined and consistent, having paradoxical tendencies would seem a guaranteed barrier to success. But high performance consultants Jerry Fletcher and Kelle Olwyler, in their 1997 book Paradoxical Thinking, argued that it can actually be the recipe for success. “We discovered that individuals are always paradoxical when they are performing at their best. More importantly, each individual seems to express a particular and unique paradox when achieving his or her best results,” they write.

Of course, the yin-yang symbol, a central feature of Asian thinking, highlights the importance of paradoxes, and how each contradictory element can accentuate the other, in a counter-intuitive interplay. The consultants’ book, which to my joy I recently rediscovered while cleaning bookshelves, came out before Steve Jobs’s second coming at Apple, but certainly those of us who read Walter Isaacson’s massive biography of the zealous, creative, Zen jerk were confronted with a host of paradoxes in his character that made him both compelling and repulsive.

26 / Canadian Government Executive // October 2012

Conventional thinking says paradoxes should limit us – we need to be consistent for success. But the authors found that wasn’t true and when they trained individuals to be paradoxical thinkers their performance improved.

In the book, they quote U.S. sprinter Michael Johnson, who said to hit world record speeds in the 400-metre dash you need aggression and relaxation. They point out that Microsoft chairman Bill Gates had been called, by writer Stewart Alsop, a “practical visionary.” They note that some people might argue he would have been more successful if he was more definitively one side of the paradox undiluted by the other, but they disagree.

“Consider what would happen if Bill Gates didn’t have both strengths. If he just focused on being visionary, sensing where technology is leading but unable to guide Microsoft to get products into the marketplace in a timely manner, Microsoft would not be the number one player in the industry. Similarly, if he only focused on creating and getting practical products out to market, he might miss a key shift in the direction of technology’s development, and other companies could seize the lead,” they write. Of course, since their book came out, Steve Jobs may have out-paradoxed Bill Gates into technology leadership.

Wal-Mart founder Sam Walton was also a paradox. David Glass, who at the time of the book’s writing was CEO of the discount retailer, said Walton was relentless, and if others brushed aside an idea he felt was right, he would keep coming back at it, week after week after week, until everyone capitulated. But at the same time, he noted that when Walton saw he was wrong on something, it never bothered him, and he moved on comfortably in another direction. Jim Walton described his father as being incredibly flexible. So again, a paradoxical blend that the authors feel contributed to Sam Walton’s success: at times relentless and determined, and at others flex-

ible, two traits that allowed his company to grow. With only one of those traits, perhaps Wal-Mart would not be what it is today.

One of the towering political figures of the past two decades has been Bill Clinton, who like Jobs has been a bundle of contradictions. A review of a biography

by David Maranis described Clinton’s “sincerity and calculation, his boldness and cowardice, his calm and his temper tantrums, his loyalty and his infidelities.”

Maranis had written: “It is often tempting, but usually misleading, to try to separate the good from the bad, to say that the part of him that is indecisive, too eager to please and prone to deception, is more revealing of the inner man than the part of him that is indefatigable, intelligent, empathetic, and self-deprecating.

They co-exist.”

Like Jobs, Gates, Walton and Clinton, you can also take advantage of paradoxical thinking, the authors argue, and they present a five-step process for achieving powerful inconsistency. It starts with identifying your core personal paradox.

You want to list your personal qualities and characteristics, using the phrases or words that people who know you best would use to describe you – not just the individuals who like you, but also the folks who dislike you. If you have a significant characteristic in mind but no single word captures it, use several words. “It is important that you not reject descriptive words or phrases that you dislike. If a word could be used by you or someone else, even in a small way, to describe you, jot it down at this point,” they stress.

Renee, an example they cite, developed a list of 24 characteristics, including careful, take-charge, insecure, overachiever, talented, cautious, vague and goal-directed. She then marked with an asterisk the words or phrases that described qualities she liked about herself and with an X the ones she disliked.

The idea is then to combine these per-

The Leader’s Bookshelf sonal qualities and characteristics into paradoxical pairs, using oxymorons. You need to make as many paradoxical combinations as possible, typically by combining one positive item with a negative. So Renee is a careful risktaker, self-doubting overachiever, vague analyst, meticulous planner, and take-charge namby-pamby.

This step closes by picking your core personal paradox, the one from the list that has deepest meaning for you because it describes a central conflict or tension you struggle with. For Renee, it was selfdoubting over-achiever.

The next step in the process, perception shifting, involves expanding your understanding of your core personal paradox. You need to list the positives of the preferred side, the negatives of that preferred side, the negatives of the disliked side, and positives of the disliked side. With all those choices before you, the authors want you to pick from the positives of both sides of your core personal paradox, to determine what they call your high-performance oxymoron.

If people can be highly effective when they use both sides of their contradictory nature simultaneously, and there are positives even to the side of your core personal paradox that you had viewed

bleakly, you are proposing a double-barrelled positive that when harnessed can help you in your daily life.

For example, Renee, at her best as a self-doubter, is thoroughly prepared. At her best as an achiever, she is expectations-oriented. So together, her high performance oxymoron – when she will be at her best – is as a thoroughly-prepared expectations exceeder. Her nightmare oxymoron, developed by combining the negatives of both sides of her paradox, which she has to beware of, is a hopeless wheel spinner.

That’s quite insightful and helpful, even if you stop at this point. The authors continue by asking you in the next step to pick an important, current problem that is not going as well as you would like. Renee was preoccupied with whether to continue working at a bank or leave to start a floral design business, and she outlined the issues bedevilling her.

She then moved on to the next step, assessing how well she was using her core paradoxical qualities in addressing the problem or goal selected. The authors call this Fletcher’s Pendulum: imagine a string hanging from a nail, with a weight on the bottom, and a pendulum swing-

ing between both sides of your oxymoron as you wrestle with your problem.

Renee swings at the extremes on her selfdoubting side from thoroughly prepared to hopeless. On her overachiever side she swings from expectations exceeder to wheel spinner.

That helps her to understand that when she can’t make up her mind and is swinging between both sides, if she doubts herself too much she feels hopeless and gives up. She also has a tendency to get into a frenzy of activity, but that can lead her to spin her wheels.

Studying those tendencies, and giving yourself ratings of ineffectiveness on the problem at hand, sets up the final step: choosing action steps that will lead you ahead more productively. You need to list actions that will boost you, taking advantage of the positive aspects of your paradoxical qualities.

It’s an interesting approach, even if you don’t follow their method slavishly through to draw a pendulum and figure out how to attack a specific problem. At a basic level, knowing our paradoxes, becoming comfortable with them, and understanding their strengths and weaknesses is likely to help make us more effective at work.

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October 2012 // Canadian Government Executive / 27

CANADIAN

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Honorary Conference Chairs Preston Manning President & CEO, Manning Centre for Building Democracy

Dr. Elizabeth Cannon President and Vice-Chancellor University of Calgary

CSPC 2012 Themes

Dr. Eric Newell Chancellor Emeritus, University of Alberta Former Chair and CEO, Syncrude Canada Ltd.

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Jeffrey Roy is associate professor in the School of Public Administration at Dalhousie University (roy@dal.ca).

Governing Digitally

Why election television trumps social media During the month of October tens of millions of viewers will tune into three presidential debates, and maybe a fourth between vice-presidential candidates. For the Democrat and Republican tickets, there is no bigger occasion to solidify support and sway any remaining undecided voters.

As a moderator of the first debate in Denver, long-time PBS host Jim Lehrer was interviewed as to his reasons for accepting such a role and asked as well whether social media would have an impact. His replies were not unrelated: tough to turn down such a consequential and widely-watched occasion and as far as social media goes, largely inconsequential.

To be fair, his explanation was a bit more nuanced, pointing to social media as an important outlet for the campaign teams to spin the outcomes and subsequent news cycles. But nothing, according to Lehrer, can rival the unfiltered dual of President Obama and Governor Romney in front of a live television audience.

As a semi-retired television personality and presidential debate historian, perhaps his views may be somewhat jaded. After all, PBS provided live online streaming and constant social media discussions during the August-September party conventions.

Yet for Republicans it was an unscripted and unwanted television moment provided

by Clint Eastwood that would set Twitter feeds alight.

In the summer, meanwhile, those Quebecers paying attention to their own election watched party leaders brawl their way through an open debate of four candidates followed by a unique series of one-on-one matches featuring the three leading contenders for premier (each contest garnering roughly one and a half million viewers nightly). Lauded by several television

pundits and journalists as innovative and worthy of replication across the country, nothing in the social media universe seemed to rival the importance and impact of these events.

Yet Americans elect their heads of government; we do not. The centralizing confines of television debates thus makes more sense for a presidential model where, with few exceptions, two candidates are vying for a single office every four years. In this country, however, shining the spotlight uniquely on party leaders accentuates the decline of the legislature and those in it, beginning with how they are elected.

In Quebec, widely watched televised debates epitomized the unrelenting focus on party leaders at the expense of hundreds of other candidates vying for elected office. More television coverage means more tweets – unless an online posting is outrageous enough to warrant a response from the leader. In both countries, moreover, top-down campaigns bring ever-more centralized and aggressive partisan tactics, especially south of the border where the absence of meaningful public financing laws means hundreds of millions of dollars poured into television ads targeting so-called swing States (that could break either way).

Despite the vaunted potential for expanding grassroots conversation, the conditions for discourse and compromise narrow. As political operatives are fond of saying, negativity may not be pretty but it often works (except occasionally when a line is inadvertently crossed). Even television journalists are worried. In a recent Commencement address, long-time network anchor, Ted Koppel, spoke of the changing relationship between technol-

ogy, politics and media in a prescient manner: “political debate is a wonderful thing; but partisan shrieking is corrosive and destructive.”

Such is the stark and disconcerting contrast between the Obama 2008 campaign that energized so many new and younger voters, and the present variant described by one sympathetic reporter of the Washington Post as nothing short of “betrayal.”

A prominent Democratic mayor notably characterized campaign attacks on both sides as “nauseating.”

On the other hand, if social media is gaining some traction it is in a truly local sense, at the municipal level where television is far less prevalent. Calgary’s Mayor Nenshi has been much discussed in this regard, though the overriding media focus on the Mayor gives room for pause. It is encouraging, then, to see one Torontobased initiative by a local company (Metaviews) aimed at evaluating the usage of social media by all city councillors.

Local elections happening this fall across Nova Scotia similarly feature a widening array of digital innovations meant to both communicate and engage. In a city known for backroom secrecy, the leading contender to become Halifax’s next mayor promises systemic transparency and open data.

In sum, if a more participative democracy is to become infused with civility and genuine engagement online as well as offline, it will happen from below and in unique manners across diverse communities. Such onetime virtues of the parliamentary model have instead given way to a digital universe where social media – for the time being at least – accentuates the “mad men” mentality of consumerism and television advertising and the sorts of politics that come with it.

October 2012 // Canadian Government Executive / 29

Opinion

David Zussman holds the Jarislowsky Chair in Public Sector Management in the Graduate School of Public and International Affairs at the University of Ottawa (dzussman@uOttawa.ca).

Getting the best bang for your executive buck The last great international effort to refashion the public sector took place during the 1980s in tandem with efforts of conservative politicians to limit the size of government and to lower taxes in order to stimulate economic growth. The characteristics of the New Public Management (NPM) doctrine were to preserve the “steering” role for government and give the “rowing” role to non-governmental agencies such as the private sector or notfor-profit organizations that specialized in service delivery.

One of the elements of NPM that persists to this day is the use of performance rewards as a way of increasing workplace motivation that in turn is intended to increase productivity and improve service delivery. While there is little reliable empirical evidence that bonuses and other forms of financial rewards actually improve outcomes, most modern public service organizations, nonetheless, moved to emulate the popular private sector practice of establishing performance-based incentive systems for many executive positions.

In addition to establishing bonus systems for executives, during the past 15 years public service compensation in Canada also increased to keep pace with the cost of living and economic growth that characterized the latter years of the 1990s.

Finally, at the highest executive levels in the public sector, governments also established a compensation system that was more competitive with the private sector by increasing salaries in the core public service and in those agencies that constitute the larger public service. The primary 30 / Canadian Government Executive // October 2012

reason to seek comparability was to ensure that the public service could compete with the private sector for the “best and the brightest” graduates to take on leadership roles in the public sector and to retain them in subsequent years.

As a consequence, the compensation packages of deputy ministers and the CEOs of public institutions such as crown corporations, hospitals, universities, liquor commissions, provincial lotteries, airports and ferry services were all ramped up to match the risk/ reward balance that emulated the model used in the private sector.

The logic of the argument was articulated by the Advisory Committee on Senior Level Retention and Compensation chaired by Carole Stephenson (the dean of the Ivey Business School at Western University) in the following way: managing a large public organization is difficult and demands first-class management skills and a high level of expertise.

Given the importance of these institutions to the well-being of Canadians, every effort should be made to ensure that the most qualified people occupy the most senior positions. To attract and retain this level of talent, the level of compensation should reflect the risk of accomplishing the organization’s short- and long-term goals, the level of personal accountability and the degree of public oversight.

The “key” elements in designing the best compensation system for a particular organization was in finding the right mix of base salary, performance pay, outcomes and time frames.

While compensation is a significant de-

terminant of overall government costs, the issue of executive compensation in the Canadian public sector has received little public attention and only limited interest among public management experts. In fact, it appears that the only time compensation gains any public scrutiny is when there are reports of officials spending “too much” on travel or entertainment.

However, in recent years the House of Commons in the United Kingdom has looked at the issue of public sector compensation and other related human resource issues as a way of ensuring that their public services are led by the most qualified professionals who are producing high value public goods. For example, in the past six months, the U.K. government has published reports on executive compensation, public sector recruitment and the appointment process in government. The general implication of this work is that the current human resource system in the U.K. needs a fundamental overhaul that should create a more diverse workforce with a broader set of modern management skills to reflect the changing needs of their public sector.

The U.K. reports are a useful reminder that executive compensation is an issue that should be of interest to legislators as they look for new ways to improve value for money, to be more innovative and to constrain government expenditures. At the same time, the weak link between performance and bonuses suggests that there may be a better way to structure public sector executive compensation that avoids negative reaction to large bonuses and yet produces more positive results.

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