ARCHIVED - Service Improvement Initiative Learning Event

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Ottawa Congress Centre
March 8th, 2001

Transcript of Mel Cappe's Video
Clerk of the Privy Council and Secretary to the Cabinet

It's truly a pleasure to come and speak to you this morning because, as Ralph was saying, improved service delivery is one of my priorities, as I was saying in the annual report of the Clerk to the Prime Minister last year. And so, I want to talk to you in terms of service improvement and the Service Improvement Initiative, about two things and I want to leave you with two messages.

The first is that service improvement is everyone's responsibility, and the second is that we need to do it, we need to improve our service in a fashion that is both creative and innovative, and I'll come back to those two themes throughout.

I'm very happy to see so many of you here this morning, to see you improving services to Canadians and to see that you want to know more about the initiative that's been set up for that purpose.

We have identified service delivery improvement as one of my priorities as I have just said, and in my report to the Clerk of the Privy Council this year, I will point out your efforts to improve service delivery to Canadians. The Canadian government is the greatest supplier of information and services in the country. We supply a number of services to our clients; for example, consumers who are concerned with the safety of products, people seeking training, people on holidays who would like to find out about cultural events, for example, inside and outside the country, entrepreneurs who explore market opportunities, volunteers looking to build community organizations and citizens outside Canada looking in, trying to understand Canada and recognize Canada on the international stage.

So one of those messages to you today is that, to be effective, all public servants have a role to play in improving service. Those who deliver the services that interact with Canadians on a daily basis have the greatest impact on improving citizen satisfaction. They are the face of government. It's not people like me who work in the Langevin Block that have a great deal to do with any of the real transactions that take place on a daily basis between Canadians and their government, and that's where their impression of the quality of service is formed.

Central agencies and headquarters, however, need to foster an environment that will support front-line managers and employees and encourage innovative and creative ideas for improving service delivery. And we need to listen and consult with Canadians and with our front-line employees to understand their needs and their expectations, what works and what doesn't work. When I was Deputy Minister of the Environment, until I actually went to a front-line office and listened to the calls coming in asking for weather information, I didn't really understand that contact that our Environment Canada officers were having with the client. Until I visited a plant as it was being inspected, I didn't have an appreciation – fully – for the kind of service we were providing. Until I visited the telecentres at HRDC and listened in on the phone calls, I didn't have a real appreciation for what service was, or service improvement was, and until I visited the front-line office and – Martha, you'll have some funny stories later, I hope – but I didn't have an appreciation for what, how important that contact our staff has with the Canadian public.

This is to say that we are collectively responsible for modernizing and improving service delivery. We are all accountable to ministers and, through them, to Parliament and, through them, to Canadians. We all need to work collaboratively to ensure that we create a public service that is distinguished by excellence and equipped with the skills for a knowledge economy and society. That isn't just me speaking – that was the Governor General in the Speech from the Throne. That is a commitment of the government, committed to a public service that is distinguished by excellence and equipped with the skills for a knowledge economy and society. And that will be the kind of focus that we will need in the Service Improvement Initiative to improve the quality of service to Canadians.

Over the last year, Departments and central agencies have worked ceaselessly to improve services to Canadians. Many of you have worked to lay the groundwork for the changes that citizens are looking for. We have reached the objectives that we had set for the first year, after making the commitment to provide all government services on-line by 2004. It is a great pleasure, then, to tell you that the research upon which our strategy was based received the Silver Medal from CAPAM, the Commonwealth Association of Public Administration and Management, for service to public during a recent conference in South Africa. I congratulate Ralph and all the civil servants who took part in that research for their work and their dedication.

As you can see, we are moving forward, we are making progress, but we need to do better, particularly in the areas of innovation and reliability. In a recent survey, "Listening to Canadians", which was conducted this winter, 2001, Canadians were asked to rate service delivery in four aspects, and the results were: 51% indicated that service was respectful; 49% indicated the service was accessible; 39% indicated the service was reliable; but only 29% indicated the service was innovative. You may ask, well, why would we care whether Canadians thought our service was innovative or not. And the fact is that Canadians are measuring us against everyone else who provides service. Now, anyone who has tried to book a plane reservation knows that service is relative. Anyone who has tried to deal with a bank knows that service is relative, and if you have a relative at the bank you get better service.

The challenge for us is to continue to do better than those other service providers, but the public is looking at us and saying, "There are other people who are more innovative in the way they are providing service." Now it's important to also note that the federal government received better ratings than provincial governments in the first three aspects, but not in innovation.

Citizens are demanding faster, better, more dynamic and customized service from government, putting a premium on service innovation and results. They are increasingly asking to be engaged in the development and delivery of policies and programs. They want a say in how we spend their tax dollars. We need to focus on results, not just process, and encourage innovation and creativity. This must be balanced, of course, with sound financial management. We need to provide citizens with different ways to reach the government, in person, by mail, over the telephone and especially through the Internet.

Now, technology is making it easier to exchange information and helping to create and better disseminate new knowledge and enabling society to be more effective. But technology provides new service delivery opportunities. We must remember the very foundations of a proud public service heritage. That is, we will continue to emphasize our strong and unwavering commitment to public service values. Innovation doesn't mean starting anew and abandoning the traditions, but rather building on them. And the four categories of public service values that we speak about – democratic values, recognition of the role of Parliament; professional values, trying to do as good a job as possible; ethical values, honesty and integrity and a higher standard than the private sector; and people values, recognizing the importance of our staff in serving Canadians. We are, and will remain a non-partisan, bilingual institution, national in scope and outlook, and we will serve Canadians with professionalism, integrity and excellence.

For us, service delivery presents several challenges in a knowledge-based economy. Another challenge is to find innovative ways to better serve Canadians who have multiple needs, who contact the government more often, and who don't have very easy access to electronic services. Another challenge is that of offering a greater number of services in both official languages. We must unite our efforts in order to ensure that all Canadians are able to communicate more easily with the Canadian government in the official language of their choice. It is not only desirable; it's the law.

"Results for Canadians" addresses two basic needs, and Ralph spoke about this earlier. Canadians have identified these needs as their priorities for government. The first is easier, more convenient and more seamless access to government services. Canadians don't really care if they're getting good service from HRDC and good service from Revenue Canada – or the Customs and Revenue Agency. They care that they're getting good service from the government of Canada. Seamless service is key. And the second category is a higher level of quality and performance in service delivery by government.

In order to meet citizens' expectations and needs over the coming year, we need to continue to put government on-line. This will need to a larger transformation to e-government, which goes beyond simply digitizing service delivery. This is not someone else's responsibility. It is the responsibility of all public servants. We need to better integrate service delivery channels, between electronic and non-electronic means, to improve access, quality, efficiency and citizen satisfaction as well as delivery of service in both official languages. This is not the responsibility of the central agencies, this is every public servant's responsibility. We need to ensure that the programs and services being offered are sufficiently developed and will have a positive impact, and that objectives are well-defined, so that we can measure results. And this isn't the role and responsibility of policy planners in headquarters only; this is the responsibility of all public servants. We need to ensure we have the tools, learning and infrastructures to foster innovation and creativity with limited resources, and we need to try new approaches. And it isn't the responsibility of some policy wonk in headquarters to dream up those new ideas. It's much more likely to come from the opportunities presented of all our front-line staff, and therefore it's the responsibility of all public servants. And we need to place greater value on innovation, while at the same time letting front-line staff in departments have a bigger say in day-to-day operations; and again, this is a reflection of the fact that it's everyone's responsibility.

In conclusion, today you will receive information from people who are in a very good position to know what is happening in departments and the responsible agencies. The Assistant Deputy Ministers have participated in the development of the strategic framework for service improvement, and they are now directing the implementation of that strategy. I encourage you to find new ways to listen to your clients. I encourage you to share your ideas, to help the government reach its goal to grow client satisfaction.

The challenge is to recognize and embrace this new environment of innovation and creativity and to work as a community, not as a collection of individual departments or branches. We must support those public servants on the front line and ensure that they are equipped with the tools, the learning and the infrastructure to work effectively and efficiently. They are the face of government. Looking around this room, I'm confident that you are up to the job. The job is not an easy one. If you are looking for a boring job, you made a career choice mistake, but if you are looking for an interesting challenge and a chance to make Canada a better place, you are in the right place. And so I wish you all a very good day. Thank you.