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Integrated planning guide


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STEP 1 - determine your business goals

A solid understanding of organizational priorities and the business planning cycle is critical for effective alignment of human resources and business goals. As you begin your integrated HR and business planning, ask the following questions:

  • What are the government’s key priorities (e.g. Clerk’s priorities, Speech from the Throne)?
  • What are your organization’s ongoing HR and business priorities?
  • Have you reviewed the call letter on the Report on Plans and Priorities and the Departmental Performance Report?
  • What emerging directions and changes will have an impact on HR issues?
  • What legislative reforms relevant to your mandate need to be considered (e.g. HR modernization)?
  • Have all necessary strategic partnerships been established to facilitate your integrated HR and business planning efforts (e.g. corporate or program sector)?
  • Are you developing your plan taking into consideration the accountability requirements and HR supporting material (e.g. Treasury Board Secretariat Management Accountability Framework, People Component of the Management Accountability Framework, the Integrated HR and Business Planning Calendar)?

In this step, managers review business objectives in light of any issues likely to impact the business (e.g. government priorities, legislative reform, etc). As key input to the process, HR provides information regarding legislative and/or labour market data affecting the workforce.

In order to assess whether there is sufficient capacity (including skills, competencies and resources) to deliver on the business, it is first necessary to have a clear understanding of where the organization/region/branch is headed. In addition to knowing the strategic priorities at both the organization and branch/regional level, it is important to take into consideration government-wide priorities (e.g. Speech from the Throne, Clerk’s priorities) since they may well have an influence on the business priorities.

Supporting points to consider in determining your business goals

  • What are your vision and goals for your branch/region/directorate/unit?
  • Are they linked to:
    • Clerk’s priorities;
    • Speech from the Throne;
    • Department/Agency’s priorities;
    • Your mandate;
    • The performance agreement of your manager?
  • What emerging directions and/or changes to your business will have an impact on HR issues?
  • What impact will your vision and goals have on your finance, HR and information technology needs?

Additional information:

STEP 2 - scan the environment

Workforce analysis

A key component of planning is understanding your workforce and planning for projected shortages and surpluses in specific occupations and skill sets. Workforce analysis is an important element in the planning process. This section of the kit discusses nine areas that managers may consider in an effort to better understand their workforce.

  1. Skills and competencies
  2. Learning, training and development
  3. Employment type and resourcing
  4. Separation
  5. Organization structure
  6. Employment equity
  7. Official languages
  8. Workplace well-being
  9. Values and ethics

Analysis in these areas can include both quantitative and qualitative data.

A discussion of each of these areas follows.

A) Skills and competencies

The skills and competencies of the workforce (or team) are important contributing factors to organizational capacity. Key terms used to define an organization's capability are “competencies” and “skills”.

Competence is a combination of knowledge, skill, understanding, ability, application, behaviour, aptitude, attitude and performance. Skill is the practised application of a topic, technique or concept.

Information on skills and competencies could include the education profile of employees (e.g. major field of study, degree attained) and the skills, competency levels and learning/development required.

Questions to consider:

  • Have you developed a profile of the knowledge, skills and competencies that you will need to achieve your business objectives, now and in the future?
  • Based on the skill requirements of your key positions, do you have/foresee any gaps and if so, is there an appropriate course of action from a readiness perspective?
  • Do you know what the skills and competencies are of key feeder groups?
  • Do the employees have the tools to self-assess against the competencies of their positions?
  • Do the members of your team meet the language requirements? Are the results accurate and are any changes foreseen?
  • Am I using performance management and employee learning plans to the greatest extent possible in support of skills and competencies development?

Additional sources of information:

To obtain additional sources of information for the following documents, visit the Canada Public Service Agency Web site:

The Public Service Commission Web site has several articles and publications on skills and competencies. Use the search engine and type in competencies for a full listing: http://www.psc-cfp.gc.ca.

Your departmental/agency staffing program and supporting tools.

B) Training, learning and development

Training, learning and development can be important tools in ensuring effective integration of HR and business planning.

The Government established a Policy on Learning, Training and Development (which, on January 1, 2006, replaced the Policy for Continuous Learning in the Public Service). The objective of the policy is stated as follows: “…to help build a skilled, well-trained and professional workforce; to strengthen organizational leadership; and to adopt leading-edge management practices to encourage innovation and continuous improvements in performance.”

The Public Service Learning Policy Centre has identified core learning needs and requirements through the establishment of a Library of Common Knowledge for managers of the Public Service. It covers the ten key elements of the Management Accountability Framework and supports the objectives of ensuring a highly competent, bilingual, and representative Public Service. The Library has served as a solid foundation for the curriculum review undertaken by the Canada School of Public Service.

Questions to consider:

  • As part of the integrated planning process, and based on the priorities/business objectives, what are the training, learning and development requirements of your team?
  • Are employees’ training, learning and development requirements taken into account in light of anticipated changes to programs and/or services?
  • Do members of your team have up-to-date learning plans that identify current and future training, learning and development needs and are they reviewed regularly?
  • Are employees’ training, learning and development requirements discussed during employee performance reviews?
  • What are the planned efforts towards fostering a continuous learning culture?
  • How are you supporting the career goals of your team members?
  • Have you made budget provisions to meet the training, learning and development needs of employees as well as their career goals?
  • What are the completion rates of the team learning plans?
  • What is the impact of the training, development and learning on performance and results?

Additional sources of information:

Consult your internal learning specialist for information on training, learning and development options (e.g. employee orientation, courses).

C) Employment type and resourcing

Employment type distribution (e.g. term, indeterminate, casual, etc.) gives you important information on the stability and sustainability of your workforce and can help inform short and long-term staffing decisions and actions that may be required.

Examples of employment type:

Term employment (less than and greater than three months); indeterminate employment (full time and part time); sunset; casual; seasonal; assignment; interchange; secondment; development programs (e.g. Career Assignment Program, Management Trainee Program); other (students, co-ops, Financial Officer Recruitment Development Program, etc.)

Questions to consider:

  • How stable and sustainable is your workforce? What is the split between term and indeterminate employees?
  • How many acting assignments do you have in place and what are the lengths of those assignments?
  • How many term employees will soon be eligible for conversion to indeterminate status?
  • Are the term employees clustered in a particular occupational group?
  • What are the staffing practices with respect to term employment?
  • What impact do the staffing practices have on organizational health and employee morale?
  • Is there an equal dispersion of ages at the various employment levels?
  • What are your current and projected (mid- and long-term) vacancies (e.g. retirements, maternity/parental leave, disability leave, language training)?
  • What recruitment sources and staffing processes are you using to hire new employees (e.g. pre-qualified pools, apprenticeship programs)? Are there other avenues for you to explore?
  • Is there/will there be a sufficient pool of candidates, including bilingual candidates, from within to fill these vacancies? If not, how do you anticipate filling the vacancies? Is there a sufficient pool of potential candidates external to your organization? Do you need a succession plan?
  • What resourcing strategies will best meet your current and future needs?

D) Separation

The literature suggests some organizations have used an annual attrition assumption of 4.5% as normal. Of course, this varies depending on the size and nature of your organization, hiring freezes, downsizing, restructuring and economic and political changes.

Attrition that exceeds normal patterns can result in unnecessary costs to the employer from lost productivity, workload related to staffing positions, training for new employees, etc. Answering some of the questions outlined below should help you develop plans for stabilizing and sustaining staffing levels, inform succession plans, and focus your training, learning and development.

Questions to consider:

  • Are there certain occupational groups with increasing employee attrition?
  • Which occupational groups have high levels of attrition?
  • Do you know why employees are leaving (e.g. results from exit interviews)?
  • Can the factors influencing attrition be identified? Alternatively, is there anything you can do to influence the attrition rate?
  • Has attrition reduced capacity in a certain occupational group?
  • Will your organizational structure require changes to recruit qualified replacements?

E) Organizational Structure

The Deputy Head or Chief Executive Officer is responsible for ensuring that the organizational structure in their department or agency is appropriate for the delivery of the departmental or agency program. The structure is formed by organizing work into functionally related units, such as branches, sectors, and divisions.

Within these branches, sectors, divisions and so on, managers design their own organizational structures, and organize and assign the work to the positions in the structure. The manager describes the work of each position in a work description, which is allocated to an occupational group and evaluated, using the appropriate classification standard, to determine its classification level.

Appropriate decisions on organization design and the assignment of work are all part of sound HR management. These decisions affect the long-term ability of departments and agencies to deliver programs and services, and to compete for resources and retain competent staff.

Managers are accountable for assigning or reassigning work in a timely and systematic manner and for analyzing the short- and long-term consequences of their decisions, within the context of effective integrated planning; otherwise, these decisions could inadvertently change the level of positions, impact on career mobility and employee productivity and/or increase the cost of the Public Service. In addition, being unaware of the impacts or waiting too long to take action could result in considerable salary liability for the department, and in some cases, the entire Public Service.

Questions to consider:

  • Does the organizational structure meet your operational needs now and in the foreseeable future? Is there a need for a change?
  • Can your current organizational structure support anticipated changes in program delivery?
  • Is all the work performed in your unit clearly and explicitly identified?
  • Does all the work performed in your unit facilitate the achievement of your business objectives?
  • Are the functions of each unit within the organizational structure clearly established? Are they evenly distributed?
  • Are the lines of authority and accountabilities clearly indicated so that overlap and duplication of effort are avoided?
  • Is each manager’s span of control reasonable?
  • Does your resource allocation and your organizational design mesh effectively and efficiently? Is a more efficient and effective organizational design possible?
  • Does the number of levels in your unit permit you to manage effectively?
  • Is the allocation of work effective and balanced? Is the workload evenly distributed?
  • Are services provided to your unit at the appropriate level in your organizational structure (e.g. administrative services)?
  • Are existing work descriptions and organizational charts accurate, up-to-date?
  • Are work descriptions free of gender bias?
  • Do all titles designate the work performed by that job clearly, and explicitly?
  • Does your organization allow you to recruit and train new employees as needed (levels, work descriptions, institutional linguistic capacity)?
  • Does your organizational structure allow for career progression?

Additional sources of information:

To obtain additional sources of information for the following documents, visit the Canada Public Service Agency Web site:

Tip

During your re-organization efforts, involve classification advisors at the front end so they can highlight organizational impacts.

F) Employment equity

The purpose of the Employment Equity Act is to correct conditions of disadvantage in employment faced by Aboriginal persons, members of visible minorities, persons with disabilities and women by removing barriers to employment and using positive measures. Departments and agencies are required by the Employment Equity Act to conduct a workforce analysis and develop an Employment Equity plan to address under-representation of designated group members. It is recommended that you review the departmental Employment Equity plan. Your own plan should in turn reflect the department’s or agency’s Employment Equity goals as highlighted in the departmental Employment Equity plan.

The data you receive on Aboriginal persons, visible minorities and persons with disabilities are based on those employees who have self-identified. Information on women is retrieved from the pay system. Employment Equity data covers all indeterminate employees, employees with terms of three months or more and seasonal employees.

As a manager, you will want to use this information to assess designated group representation in different employment categories and levels, set goals and monitor progress in reaching those goals.

Questions to consider:

  • Are designated group members well represented at senior levels and at all levels in all employment categories? (Note: Representation should be measured against workforce availability and should be compared to the department’s national targets.)
  • How stable is the representation? For example, what percentage of designated group members are term employees?
  • What percentage of designated group members are eligible to retire over the next five years?
  • What are the separation rates of designated group members versus the recruitment rate?
  • Does your plan address corporate priorities for building a representative and inclusive institution, such as implementation of the Embracing Change Action Plan?
  • Does your plan address the results of the departmental Employment Equity audit conducted by the Canadian Human Rights Commission?
  • The workforce analysis under the Employment Equity Act is designed to identify areas of under-representation of designated group members in the department’s or agency’s workforce (gaps). Does your plan incorporate Employment Equity considerations/requirements and identify ways to address gaps in participation?
  • Is Employment Equity a factor in any proposed recruitment or development programs? For example, what selection/advertising/recruitment and development processes (e.g. pre-qualified pools) will be used to increase representation of designated group members?
  • Are there plans for outreach activities to reach designated groups and achieve Employment Equity goals?
  • Does your plan include measures and costs to accommodate employees in accordance with the Canadian Human Rights Act and the policy on the Duty to Accommodate?

Additional sources of information:

Check your departmental/agency Employment Equity plan for additional information, your branch Employment Equity workforce analysis as well as the Canada Public Service Agency Web site:

Tip

If there is an under-representation, you may want to include in the plan the measures you will take to close the representation gap.

G) Official languages

Equal opportunities: Members of both official language groups have equal opportunities to obtain employment and advancement in federal institutions.

Workforce composition: The composition of the workforce of federal institutions tends to reflect the presence of both the official language communities of Canada.

Language skills: English and French are the official languages of federal institutions. Members of the public have the right to communicate with federal institutions and receive services from them in their preferred official language at designated offices. In regions designated as bilingual for language-of-work purposes, both official languages are the languages of work. In other regions, the language of work is generally the one that predominates in the province or territory.

As a manager in a designated bilingual office for service to the public, it is important that you identify and maintain the necessary language capacity to provide quality services in both official languages.

As a manager in bilingual regions for language-of-work purposes, it is important that you create and maintain a work environment conducive to the use of both official languages, and ensure that employees can exercise their right to choose either language as it pertains to supervision, training, tools, meetings, documents, or personal and central services.

Questions to consider:

  • Do English-speaking and French-speaking Canadians have equal opportunities to obtain employment and promotion within the institution?
  • Are English- and French-speaking Canadians well represented at senior levels and at all levels in all employment categories? How stable is the representation?
  • What percentage of members of each official language group are eligible to retire over the next five years?
  • Are there enough bilingual positions with the right language requirements to provide good service to the public in both official languages, and to respect language-of-work rights?
  • Do the employees meet the language requirements of their positions?
  • Have you made budget provisions to meet the language training needs of employees?
  • Do the personal language training plans of employees address current and future language skill requirements and career aspirations?
  • What is the impact on organizational performance?

Additional sources of information:

Canada Public Service Agency's Official Languages site

H) Workplace well-being

Organizations that create an “HR dashboard” to monitor key indicators of workplace well-being and employee engagement are better equipped to develop integrated HR and business plans that contain meaningful actions aimed at specific areas of improvement. Employee engagement lies at the heart of both performance and retention; it is based on job satisfaction and rational and emotional commitment to the workplace. It is therefore important to develop both objective (quantitative) and subjective (qualitative) indicators to allow organizations to have a full picture of how “well” they are doing.

Workplace well-being is a holistic approach to creating high performance organizations through establishing the right workplace conditions to generate high levels of employee engagement. It assumes that achieving high levels of organizational performance depends on employees who are strongly committed to achieving the goals of the organization and who show this through their actions. This behavioural objective is influenced in turn by levels of employee satisfaction and by supportive, respectful and healthy work environments. Workplace Well-Being is connected to physical health and wellness but primarily emphasizes the social and psychological dimensions of three inter-related elements: the workplace, the workforce, and the work people do.

Questions to consider:

  • What is the state of employee engagement and how willing are employees to strive to achieve the results at which the organization aims?
  • What drives employees' decisions to volunteer extra effort on the job?
  • How committed are employees to their job, team, manager and organization?
  • What is the level of job satisfaction and how does it influence employee commitment?
  • Are managers evaluated for how well they lead their team?
  • Does your organization have a way to set targets for employee engagement and workplace well-being, track improvements and hold managers accountable?
  • What is done to facilitate employee career development and a meaningful work/job fit?
  • How well is workload managed?
  • Number and nature of conflicts, time resolved and trends?
  • What are the unscheduled absenteeism and long-term disability rates and trends?
  • What are the leave and Employee Assistance Program utilization rates and trends?
  • What are the number of Workplace Safety and Insurance Board (WSIB) claims filed and WSIB premiums paid/trends?
  • What is the return to work success rate/trend?
  • What workplace arrangements are in place (e.g. part time, compressed, telework, accommodation of Employment Equity designated group members) and how successful are they?
  • Is the workplace (in bilingual regions) conducive to the use of both official languages?
  • Is there sufficient infrastructure in place (e.g. equipment, office space, technical aids, employees returning from long-term disability leave) to accommodate all employees in your unit?

Additional sources of information:

To obtain additional sources of information for the following documents, visit the Canada Public Service Agency Web site:

I) Values and Ethics

Enhancing and maintaining public trust in the institutions of government is a fundamental element of the work of the Public Service of Canada. Managers have a key role in ensuring that all their responsibilities – whether for people, money or programs – are carried out in such a way that the values of the Public Service are upheld, and that all employees maintain high ethical standards in their actions and decisions.

To guide public servants in upholding the organization’s values and to foster public confidence, the Treasury Board adopted the Values and Ethics Code for the Public Service (the Code) in September 2003. It is a condition of employment in the Public Service. It contains a statement of Public Service values and ethics, developed following extensive consultation with public servants, which highlights four fundamental families of values: democratic, professional, ethical and people values. The Code also contains conflict of interest and post-employment measures, and provides avenues of resolution if there are perceived breaches to the Code or in cases of disagreement about its interpretation. Deputy heads are accountable for ensuring the Code is implemented in their organizations, and for decisions made under the Code. Managers will need to familiarize themselves with this and other related, important policies such as the Policy on the Internal Disclosure of Information Concerning Wrongdoing in the Workplace (IDP) and the Policy on the Prevention and Resolution of Harassment in the Workplace, as part of their own responsibilities to provide sound ethical advice and guidance to employees.

Managers, whose responsibility it is to exemplify Public Service values, must strive to create and maintain a work environment that encourages dialogue on organizational values and on the ethical dilemmas unique to their operations. As part of their planning, managers are encouraged to assess employees’ level of awareness and understanding of the Code and related policies, as well as the extent to which staff feel the Code is upheld and their degree of comfort in raising concerns or ethical dilemmas within the organization. Managers should also contact the senior official responsible for the Code within their department or agency to familiarize themselves with the organizational plan of action on values and ethics or for help determining appropriate initiatives for their own work units.

Questions to consider:

  • Are all employees aware of the existence of the Code and other related policies? Do they know that the Code is a condition of employment? How do you know whether they know? What assessment instruments or procedures are in place?
  • What do you or your organization have in place to ensure new employees are aware of the Code and its significance to them as public servants? Is the Code integrated into all orientation materials, procedures and events for new employees?
  • Do employees perceive that the organization’s values are practiced and standards are applied fairly to everyone? How do you know? Do you have mechanisms or procedures to obtain staff feedback on organizational performance against Public Service values and ethics?
  • Do you have sound advisory and recourse mechanisms in place, where employees can receive advice on ethical dilemmas or where they can make disclosures about such things as wrongdoing or harassment in the workplace?
  • Are employees comfortable raising ethical dilemmas or making disclosures within your organization? Do they know what mechanisms exist and whom to approach within the organization when they are faced with an ethical dilemma? Are they comfortable coming to you? How do you know? What measures are in place to assess staff awareness and comfort?
  • What initiatives could be undertaken within your branch and/or the organization to assess awareness of Public Service values and ethics and perceptions of values and ethics in the workplace?
  • Does your organization supplement the Values and Ethics Code for the Public Service with its own customized code or guidelines, reflecting the specific challenges and dilemmas of your workplace? If not, why not?
  • What measures could be taken to increase familiarity and understanding of the Code and related policies among employees? What orientation, learning and other tools are in place?
  • What do you personally do as a manager to strengthen Public Service values and ethics as a reality of practice and behaviour in your organization? How do you measure progress?
  • Does your organization set targets and measure progress for workplace well-being, including such things as employee satisfaction and commitment?
  • As a manager, are you familiar with the Code, including its objectives, and are you ready to help others better understand and apply its principles in their daily work? Are you confident that your behaviour and conduct would be seen by your colleagues and employees as embodying Public Service values and ethics? How do you know? What assessment procedures or techniques do you use?
  • Are you aware of the information sources and tools that exist to help you in these responsibilities?
  • Do you have a branch action plan that fits in with the organizational plan? Does your plan include a series of goal levels, planned follow-up and mechanisms to measure actual results in values and ethics, including from the point of view of stakeholders and employees?

Additional sources of information:

To obtain additional sources of information for the following documents, visit the Canada Public Service Agency Web site:

Tip

  • Work with the senior official for the Code in your department or agency to further integration initiatives, including employee surveys, branch meetings, retreats, etc.

  • Undertake dialogue with management and other colleagues to compare experiences and brainstorm ideas for initiatives with potential long-term positive effects.

  • Review and become familiar with the departmental/agency values and ethics integration plan

STEP 3 – conduct a gap analysis

Based on an analysis of the environmental scan and business goals, what are the organization’s current and future HR needs?

Examples of considerations:

  • Based on projections, do you foresee a skills shortage in specific occupational groups?
  • Will changes in program delivery require the acquisition of new skills?
  • Do you have enough qualified middle managers to feed into the EX group?
  • Have Official Languages and Employment Equity obligations been met?
  • Have you conducted a risk assessment on elements of the scan critical to your organization’s success (i.e. probability of occurrence and their projected impact)?

Supporting points to consider in the gap analysis

  • At this point, you will have completed Step 2 and have an analysis of those areas that are having an impact on the HR capacity to deliver on your business objectives. This may include how your branch/region/directorate/unit is designed, the people you have to do the work, the necessary skills and competencies, the workplace (equipment, tools, etc.) to get the job done and the cost implications.
  • At this stage in the planning process, you will want to conduct a gap analysis of the shortages and surpluses, identify the gap(s) and determine the extent of the impact/risk. You may want to review your department’s or agency’s corporate risk profile for additional information on key risk areas, risk tolerance of stakeholders, etc.
  • You can use the worksheet below to assist in this exercise or use any other process to support you.
Worksheet - Sample gap analysis
What are my business objectives? What are the HR requirements to deliver on the business objectives? Gap - Do I have what I need to carry out my activities or business objectives (yes/no)? What is the outcome of not addressing the gap Potential solutions/strategies to address the gap
Example: Technology launch Technical Staff trained to install and maintain technology No High
  • Include training in employee learning plans
  • Work with internal learning specialists to explore in house training options
  • Examine change delivery mechanisms

STEP 4 – set HR priorities to help achieve business goals

Based on the organization’s goals, environmental scan and gap analysis:

  1. What are the major HR priorities?
  2. What strategies will achieve the desired outcomes?

Work plans may include strategies on:

Recruitment/Staffing, Retention, Mobility/Redeployment, Employment Equity, Official Languages, Classification/Organizational Design, Change Management, Systems Capacity, Leadership Development, Learning, Training and Development, Performance Management, Competency/Skills Development, Succession and Contingency Planning, Corporate Knowledge Retention, Health and Safety, HR Planning, Employee Engagement, Reward and Recognition, Workplace Well-being, Workplace Accommodation, Labour Management Relations, Values and Ethics, Organizational Development, Disability Management

Examples of considerations:

  • Are the HR priorities and key planning issues included as part of the Report on Plans & Priorities?
  • Are budgetary considerations factored into the work plan/strategy?
  • Is it possible to leverage expertise through partnerships with other organizations (e.g. Federal Regional Councils, Functional Community Secretariats)?
  • Are you incorporating the research from “promising practices” into your work plan/strategy?
  • Are you taking advantage of your departmental/agency staffing program and tools?
  • Is the work plan/strategy being cascaded to organizational units?
  • Are strategies effective and efficient in achieving objectives?

Supporting points to consider in priority setting and strategy development

It is now time to prioritize the gaps based on the relative importance of carrying out your programs/activities and/or business objectives.

  • As part of integrating human resources with business planning, when describing the business objectives, you may want to include the HR strategies and explain how their implementation will be funded and how they will achieve the results.
  • Successful approaches to prioritizing and strategy development include:
    • consulting with HR, business planners, unions, clients, and employees;
    • capitalizing on knowledge gained in “best practice” research, as well as exemplary practices used in other departments and agencies. You can find out what other departments and agencies are doing to improve HR management by reviewing the most recent publication of Promising Human Resources Practices in Times of Change – 5th edition. There may be strategies that can be easily adapted to meet your needs;
    • working horizontally and developing partnerships with other branches/regions, councils, networks;
    • “right sizing” the plan and covering only those areas where it can have a significant impact (Keep it Simple!); and
    • consulting your department’s or agency’s staffing program and supporting tools.

N.B. When setting HR priorities and strategies, it is important to introduce an integrated risk management approach to the process. For more information, please visit the Treasury Board Secretariat Web site:

Federal Regional Councils have good examples of carrying out horizontal initiatives. For example, under the mandate of the Quebec Regional Council, the Quebec Region Interdepartmental Committee of HR Directors has developed a horizontal approach to developing HR initiatives. For additional information, please visit the Federal Regional Council site at http://www.tbs-sct.gc.ca/fcer-cfre/index-eng.asp

STEP 5 – measure, monitor and report on progress

Measuring, monitoring and reporting HR performance outcomes is key to assessing progress in target areas, organizational learning and improvement and determining future priorities.

  • Does the organization have clear and measurable HR-related goals?
  • Are the HR performance measures aligned with indicators in the Treasury Board Secretariat Management Accountability Framework and the People Component of the Management Accountability Framework?
  • Are systems in place to track performance indicators and analyze cost benefit?
  • Do results from your performance indicators inform your priority setting for the next fiscal year?
  • Does your Departmental Performance Report include a section on the degree of success of your integrated planning and management-related efforts?
  • Have you analyzed data elements that are included under formal reporting requirements (e.g. Employment Equity, Official Languages)?

Supporting points to consider for measuring, monitoring and reporting

  • The ability to measure progress on priority areas is critical to continuous organizational improvement.
  • Results from program performance-related data can assist in the determination of future priorities and inform decisions on the allocation of resources, as well as decisions regarding the continuation of programs and activities. Performance-related data can be at the Public Service-wide, departmental and/or local level.
  • The plan should be considered a "living document" and be subject to review. If an organization/region/branch/unit does not regularly review its planning efforts, it runs the risk of failing to respond to unanticipated changes or changing circumstances.

Consequently, you may wish to establish a process that allows for a regular review of planning efforts in order to:

  • review performance measurement information;
  • assess what is working and what is not working;
  • adjust the plan as necessary and advise your senior managers accordingly; and
  • address new HR issues that occur.

The following considerations support the questions outlined above in the Checklist and may help determine whether or not your plan needs revisions (Note: Most of these questions will become relevant after you are fairly far along in implementing your strategies.)

  • Is the plan accomplishing what is needed? For example, are the people, skills and jobs appropriate to ensure that your objectives can be achieved in the short-term, medium-term and long-term?
  • How are you evaluating your progress against your timelines and milestones?
  • Have conditions changed such that strategies need to be revisited?
  • Are the assumptions used in both the current and future needs analysis still valid?
  • What is working well? What is not?
  • What adjustments to the plan will be made, and how will you communicate any changes to your stakeholders (where required), or alternatively, how will you involve them in the process?
  • Are you gathering the information you need to determine priorities and meet formal reporting requirements?

Tip

In deciding on what to measure, it is important to consider:

  • the effectiveness of HR activities in supporting the achievement of key business objectives;
  • indicators in the Management Accountability Framework and the People Component of the Management Accountability Framework;
  • formal reporting requirements (Employment Equity, Official Languages);
  • published research on HR metrics.


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