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ARCHIVED - Treasury Board of Canada Secretariat - 2013–14 Report on Plans and Priorities


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Organizational Overview

Organizational Priorities

For the period 2013–16, in support of the government's ongoing commitment to cost-reduction, cost-containment and public service excellence, the Secretariat will continue to exercise leadership in rethinking government to make it increasingly cost-effective, responsive, productive, competitive and innovative.

The Secretariat's plans and priorities will remain focused fundamentally on ensuring value for money in government spending, modernizing government operations and implementing a sustainable approach to people management. Working with departments and agencies, the Secretariat will pursue these objectives by continuing to advance innovative solutions across government that are aimed at:

  • Streamlining and consolidating business processes and systems;
  • Reducing administrative burden while enhancing efficiencies;
  • Ensuring effective oversight; and
  • Promoting productivity and strong performance in the public service.

The Secretariat will also continue to transform and modernize its own internal operations to maximize its efficiency and effectiveness in all areas of its activities.

The Secretariat has identified four priority areas for 2013–14, which will contribute to achieving its strategic outcome, “Government is well managed and accountable, and resources are allocated to achieve results.” These priorities will be supported by efforts within the Secretariat's programs, including a number of specific initiatives outlined in the tables below. Information about each of the Secretariat's programs is provided in the section Analysis of Programs by Strategic Outcome.

Priority 1: Strengthen government financial and expenditure management to support value for money, including ongoing cost-containment and increased operational efficiency
Type See footnote [1] Linked to Programs
Ongoing
Description

Why is this a priority?

An efficient, well-managed public service contributes to Canada's competitiveness. In recent years, substantial efficiencies have been achieved through a series of targeted measures (e.g., $5.2 billion in ongoing savings announced in Budget 2012 based on a comprehensive review of program spending, and over $2.8 billion in ongoing savings generated from strategic reviews from 2007–08 to 2010–11 and other measures to restrain growth in spending).

There is now a need to enhance continuous innovation and cost-containment across government. This includes broadening the focus of expenditure control to focus not only on proposed new spending, but also on the continuous review of ongoing spending to ensure that resources are aligned to current and future needs. The incentive structures within government also need to be re-examined to encourage cost-effective practices, innovation and continuous renewal.

The implementation of smart systems for collecting and managing financial and performance information can also support stronger oversight of expenditures and performance while reducing administrative costs. The Secretariat will work with departments and functional communities (e.g., human resources, finance, information technology) to adopt common government-wide processes and tools where they make sense, while reducing unnecessary administrative requirements in areas where deputy heads are best placed to manage.

This priority aims to achieve an increased government-wide focus on value for money, lower administrative costs, enhanced support for innovation, and better management of information.

Plans for meeting the priority

Plans for meeting this priority include the following:

  • Enhance the effectiveness of the Secretariat's challenge function and its oversight, monitoring and reporting of government expenditures and cost-containment measures, without increasing the reporting burden;
  • Modernize and standardize government-wide financial management systems, processes, data structures and systems configurations to increase efficiency and enhance oversight;
  • Review government procurement policies, with an emphasis on better procurement planning;
  • Reform the Lobbying Act to increase transparency and compliance, and to support integrity in decision making;
  • Improve information provided on government program expenditures and look at ways to use technology to make information on government expenditures more accessible and usable, including e-reporting, in keeping with the goal of open government; and
  • Further reduce regulatory red tape and support business competitiveness by implementing the Red Tape Reduction Action Plan.

Priority 2: Continue to support departments in improving their people management practices, to ensure comprehensive management of compensation and to improve government-wide human resources systems and service delivery
Type Linked to Programs
Ongoing
Description

Why is this a priority?

Maintaining a values-based public service that is competent, productive and engaged means attracting and motivating talented employees and developing effective leaders. This includes providing employees with opportunities to learn, innovate and achieve efficiencies in supporting the delivery of programs and services to Canadians. A renewed emphasis on talent management and integrated human resources planning is needed to maximize the contribution and the engagement of skilled public servants. Enhanced support to managers is also required to manage, promote and recognize excellence.

Modernization of people management across government includes taking steps to align employment conditions with the Canadian economy of the 21st century. To ensure all compensation levers are working optimally for employees and the Government of Canada (as an employer), compensation must be designed and managed holistically and in a way that is sustainable over the long term. The people management processes and systems across government should also be standardized to improve human resources services delivery and enable more effective and coherent system-wide workforce planning, while allowing for flexibility in workforce management.

The objective of this priority is an efficient and affordable service-oriented people management regime focused on employee performance and optimal use of talent, effectively supporting program and service delivery to Canadians.

Plans for meeting the priority

Plans for meeting this priority include the following:

  • Advance a sustainable and holistic approach to public service compensation that reflects modern employment conditions, with a focus on position classification, pensions and equitable compensation;
  • Strengthen strategic workforce planning and management, and increase support for managers to promote and recognize employee excellence and excellence in public service management; and
  • Modernize the delivery of government-wide internal human resources services, with a focus on common business processes, data structures and system configurations.

Priority 3: Provide leadership in the strategic use of information technology (IT) to enable more efficient and effective delivery of government programs and services
Type Linked to Programs
Ongoing
Description

Why is this a priority?

The continued rapid evolution of IT is fundamentally changing citizens' expectations about the delivery of government services. There is now greater demand for an integrated and e-enabled service experience. The adoption of smart, IT-enabled solutions creates opportunities to increase transparency, accountability and access to government services and information, while also reducing the cost of service delivery.

Adopting modern processes and technologies can also support a more efficient and modern back office, with improved government administration, increased employee productivity and enhanced oversight of government spending and performance, without increasing administrative costs. In this context, the Secretariat is leading government-wide efforts to enhance the effectiveness and usability of investments in technology, and to reduce IT and online platform costs across government.

This priority aims to produce high-quality services that are efficiently delivered to internal and external clients with a focus on stewardship, transparency, openness and enterprise-wide modernization.

Plans for meeting the priority

Plans for meeting this priority include the following:

  • Support more efficient and effective multi-channel service delivery by modernizing the government's online presence, making greater use of e-services and implementing better cyber authentication;
  • Continue to implement Open Government, including key commitments in Canada's Action Plan on Open Government, in particular “open data,” and modernize the Access to Information and Privacy program; and
  • Standardize, consolidate and re-engineer government back office systems to increase efficiency and reduce costs, with a focus on common IT applications and end-user devices.

Priority 4: Renew the Secretariat's workplace to enhance internal efficiency and effectiveness
Type Linked to Programs
Ongoing
Description

Why is this a priority?

The Secretariat is applying the principles of cost-containment and innovation in an effort to renew its workplace. This includes leveraging leading-edge practices in both the public and private sectors to streamline internal operations, reduce office space and enhance employee productivity and collaboration.

This priority aims to ensure an efficient and effective Secretariat and a well-managed workforce, while maintaining strong internal controls and enabling employees to play an effective challenge role in support of the Secretariat's central agency responsibilities.

Plans for meeting the priority

The Secretariat's plans for meeting this priority include the following initiatives:

  • Review, redesign and automate business processes;
  • Upgrade its technologies to meet the needs of new business processes and a mobile and connected workforce;
  • Optimize and leverage existing data and information; and
  • Pilot new approaches for organizing its work environment to foster innovation and collaboration, and reduce office space.