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1. CORPorate PLANNING FRAMEWORK
cadre de PLANIFICATION MUNICIPALE
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COMMITTEE RECOMMENDATIONS AS AMENDED
That Council approve the Corporate Planning Framework as outlined in this report and as amended by the motions below, including directing the City Manager to work with the Mayor, and the Standing Committee and Transit Commission Chairs and Vice-Chairs to develop draft strategic priorities for the 2011 – 2014 term of Council for Committee and Council consideration in June 2011;
a. That City Council inform the Ottawa Police Services Board, the Ottawa Public Library Board, the Ottawa Community Housing Board of Directors and the Ottawa Board of Health about City Council’s Corporate Planning Framework and its strategic priorities for the 2011 – 2014 Term of Council; and
b. That City Council request the Ottawa Police Services Board, the Ottawa Public Library Board, the Ottawa Community Housing Board of Directors and the Ottawa Board of Health undertake a similar exercise to develop their strategic priorities for the 2011 – 2014 Term of Council and report back to City Council on any actions taken as a result of this request.
RecommandationS MODIFIéE du ComitÉ
Que le Conseil approuve le cadre de planification municipal tel qu’il est présenté dans le présent rapport et tel qu’il est modifié par les résolutions ci-dessous, y compris la demande au directeur municipal de collaborer avec le maire ainsi que les présidents et vice-présidents des comités permanent et de la Commission du transport en commun afin d’élaborer une ébauche des priorités stratégiques pour le mandat du Conseil de 2011-2014 aux fins d’examen par les comités et le Conseil en juin 2011;
a. que le Conseil municipal informe la Commission des services policiers, le Conseil d’administration de la bibliothèque publique, le Conseil d’administration de Logement communautaire d’Ottawa et le Conseil de santé d’Ottawa au sujet du Cadre de planification et des priorités stratégiques qu’il aura établis pour le mandat du Conseil 2011 – 2014; et
b. que le Conseil municipal demande à la Commission des services policiers, au Conseil d’administration de la bibliothèque publique. le Conseil d’administration de Logement communautaire d’Ottawa et au Conseil de santé d’Ottawa de faire de même dans l’élaboration de leurs priorités stratégiques pour le mandat du Conseil 2011 – 2014 et de lui présenter un rapport sur toute action prise à l’issue de cette demande.
DOCUMENTATION
1. City Manager’s report dated 4 May 2011 (ACS2011-COS-ODP-0007).
2. Extract of Draft Minutes dated 12 May 2011.
Report to/Rapport au :
Finance and Economic Development Committee
Comité des finances et du développement économique
and Council / et au Conseil
Submitted by/Soumis par :
Kent Kirkpatrick, City Manager / Directeur municipal
Contact Person/Personne ressource :
Donna Gray, Director / Directrice
Organizational Development and Performance / Développement organisationnel et rendement
(613) 580-2424 x25684 , donna.gray@ottawa.ca
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Ref N°: ACS2011-COS-ODP-0007 |
SUBJECT: |
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OBJET : |
REPORT RECOMMENDATION
That the Finance and Economic Development Committee recommend Council approve the Corporate Planning Framework as outlined in this report, including directing the City Manager to work with the Mayor, and the Standing Committee and Transit Commission Chairs and Vice-Chairs to develop draft strategic priorities for the 2011 – 2014 term of Council for Committee and Council consideration in June 2011.
RECOMMANDATION DU RAPPORT
Que le Comité des finances et du développement économique recommande au Conseil d’approuver le cadre de planification municipal tel qu’il est présenté dans le présent rapport, y compris la demande au directeur municipal de collaborer avec le maire ainsi que les présidents et vice-présidents des comités permanent et de la Commission du transport en commun afin d’élaborer une ébauche des priorités stratégiques pour le mandat du Conseil de 2011-2014 aux fins d’examen par les comités et le Conseil en juin 2011.
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
This report provides an overview of the Corporate Planning Framework (CPF) initiative. This project was initiated in response to the Auditor General recommendations related to the alignment of planning and budgeting processes, previous Council directions on establishing accountability at all levels of the City, and Mid-Term Governance Review recommendations pertaining to strategic planning.
The proposed Corporate Planning Framework incorporates leading practices used by other municipalities around the world and comprises approaches and methods designed to enhance decision-making, improve transparency and accountability, and better align operations to Council’s priorities and the City’s long-term sustainability goals.
RÉSUMÉ
Le présent rapport offre un aperçu du Cadre de planification municipale. Ce dernier a été mis sur pied en réponse aux recommandations du vérificateur général en matière d’harmonisation des processus de planification et de budgétisation, aux lignes directrices antérieures du Conseil concernant l’établissement de processus de reddition des comptes à tous les niveaux de la Ville et aux recommandations de l’Examen de mi-mandat sur la gouvernance relatif à la planification stratégique.
Le Cadre de planification municipale proposé tient compte des meilleures pratiques utilisées par d'autres municipalités à travers le monde, comprend des approches et des méthodes visant à améliorer la prise de décisions, la transparence et la reddition de comptes, et permet de mieux harmoniser les activités aux priorités du Conseil et aux objectifs de viabilité à long terme de la Ville.
BACKGROUND
Since amalgamation the City of Ottawa has recognized the importance of long term planning and priority setting. While there have been many steps taken through the years to create a more comprehensive framework for corporate and business planning, the City has not yet reached full maturity in terms of strategic planning and performance management.
In 2006, the Office of the Auditor General (OAG) tabled an audit report that made recommendations for the City to improve its planning and performance processes including the introduction of performance measures against the key objectives within the City Corporate Plan, better linkages between the budget and the City Corporate Plan, and the integration of a priority setting tool used more broadly within the corporate planning process.
Since 2006, a number of reviews have occurred and reports generated – including a Performance Management and Reporting Framework (ACS2006-CMR-OCM-0003), an Integrated Planning Framework (ACS2006-CMR-OCM-0006) a Strategic Branch Review Process (ACS2008-BTS-EXD-0001), and a Mid-Term Governance Review (ACS2009-CMR-CCB-0043) – which assessed the City’s progress in addressing the Auditor General’s recommendations and evolving planning and performance processes at the City.
In 2009, the Auditor General assessed the status of the previous audit report recommendations pertaining to Corporate Planning. The report identified substantial and positive changes that have been made to modernize the Corporate Planning and Performance Management Framework. It also mentioned that, to be fully effective, the framework will need to continue to evolve to address the remaining deficiencies. Specifically, the report noted inconsistencies between documentation and progress reporting, and a clear disconnect between the planning documents and the reporting mechanisms.
This report describes the proposed changes to the existing corporate planning and performance management processes. It describes the work accomplished to date, a list of the key issues that the proposed changes are meant to address, and a summary of the proposed enhancements.
DISCUSSION
The approach to fully address the Auditor General’s recommendations included a review of the current planning and performance management practices at the City and the design of a new Corporate Planning Framework. The analysis of the existing City practices pertaining to planning and performance management yielded a number of findings which are summarized as follows:
- Alignment of corporate long-term planning (30 – 100 years), term of Council planning, and short-term operational level (i.e., department and branch) planning and the budget process is not yet mature enough to ensure that Council’s strategic priorities get effectively translated into tactical resource allocations (e.g., budget and FTE), that clear measures and accountabilities get defined, and that targets and timelines for execution are clear to Council and the public;
- Performance management that currently occurs across the City does not sufficiently inform decision-making. Council and City Management do not always have the right level of information to effectively make strategic “trade-off” decisions on where to make investments. While some performance management is conducted to satisfy external legislative requirements (e.g., Municipal Performance Measurement Program), those measures are generally not used to make operational decisions;
- Accountabilities for the execution of Council’s priorities are not well understood by staff at the departmental level. As priorities shift at the Council or corporate level, it is difficult to effectively shift resources accordingly at the department, branch and unit levels, resulting in ongoing “churn” in determining department priorities and confusion on the “front lines” regarding where to focus attention;
- In the absence of a centralized coordination process, proposals that contain financial impacts are made to Council outside the structured planning process. Without a linkage to the strategic planning process these proposals create additional budget and operational pressures for the organization;
- Extensive planning activities occur across the City of Ottawa, however the formal connections or integration points between the various planning processes, timelines and individual plans are perceived as unclear and in need of improvement. The approach to plan development is in many cases “bottom-up”, as departments develop their own plans and then try to align them with corporate strategic plans; and,
- There is an overabundance of styles, approaches and methodologies used to plan, measure and monitor performance at the City. This can create confusion and inconsistency in planning practices, which may result in duplicative or misaligned activities. It was also found that priorities are not shared, tracked, and reported consistently and regularly across the corporation.
The new Corporate Planning Framework (CPF) intends to complete the integration of planning and performance management activities initiated in 2006 at the City of Ottawa by enhancing the governance and processes used to manage, execute and report back on Council strategic priorities and strategies. The objectives of the CPF are to:
1. Enhance the oversight and direction required for the effective execution of Council’s priorities;
2. Provide a clear line-of-sight between long-term sustainability goals, term of Council planning, departmental operational planning, budgeting, and resource allocation;
3. Offer a more rigorous approach and process to describing short and long-term quantifiable priorities and driving them into the organization;
4. Increase openness, transparency and accountability in the planning, budgeting and public reporting of financial, strategic and operational service results; and,
5. Integrate all components of the planning process including long-term planning, term of Council strategic planning, accountability, risk management, operational execution, performance reporting, Long Range Financial Plan and budget.
The design of the CPF was led by the Organizational Development and Performance Department (ODP), in collaboration with the Department of Community Sustainability (CS), under the guidance of a Steering Committee and the Executive Committee.
The scope of the CPF design included: 1) a review of best-in-class strategic planning and performance management practices in other relevant organizations across the world; 2) an examination of the current state of planning and performance measurement at the City; 3) a series of working sessions with staff across the entire organization, Senior Management and the Executive Committee to assess the current planning and reporting processes and to design the proposed future framework; and, 4) meetings with the former Council members (Mayor and the Standing Committee Chairs) to understand their experiences with the existing planning and performance management processes.
The examination of the leading practices in planning and performance management used in other municipalities showed that Ottawa’s planning framework is different from other city frameworks in that it integrates several planning documents prepared in virtual isolation of each other. The review of other cities indicates that it is the processes of preparing the various planning documents rather than the documents themselves that needs to be integrated. More specifically, leading practices include, but are not limited to:
- Governance Structure: to focus the level of discussion at the Council and Executive level on strategic decisions and key organizational priorities;
- Strategy Maps: to translate priorities into measurable strategies and provide an architecture for integrating the priorities into the diverse programs and services across the organization;
- Balanced Scorecards: to provide performance data from a balanced perspective (i.e., budget, people and information, processes and services/programs, and client) and link it to specific objectives in the organization’s strategy; and,
- Strategy Review Meetings: to provide Council and the Executive with the appropriate forum and structure to use performance reporting to assess the effectiveness of strategy, re-evaluate priorities and make trade-off decisions.
Other municipalities and organizations have tailored these tools and practices within their own unique environments to improve their operations and ultimately provide better service to the constituents. For example, the City of Charlotte North Carolina built its City level strategy map and balanced scorecard around five strategic themes (Community safety, City within a city, Restructuring government, Transportation, and Economic development) and then each operating unit (e.g., police, fire, sanitation, planning, community development, transportation) developed its own balanced scorecard that reflected both the operating performance of the unit as well as objectives and measures that were linked to one or more of the city’s five strategic themes. Management then used this structure to introduce theme-based “cabinets” which consisted of department heads whose departments could affect or influence the strategic theme. The cabinets, which met monthly to discuss progress in improving performance for the theme’s strategic objectives, provided a mechanism to get key operating people together with a common interest in a strategic theme. The result was increased cross-functional collaboration between departments, which in turn aligned departments around achieving the priorities established by Charlotte’s City Council.
Miami Dade County uses the strategy map and balanced scorecard as the platform on which to build its governance structure, the purpose of which is to “improve service delivery, managerial and legislative decision-making, and public trust in County government”. In 2005 Miami introduced the Governing for Results ordinance, which is predicated on its strategic planning process and bolstered by its performance measurement and feedback systems. Governing for Results codifies planning practices in legislation and includes provisions for managing accountability and performance measurement, monitoring and reporting. The balanced scorecard is used to structure mandated performance reporting to the residents of Miami Dade County.
The City of Barcelona wanted to “help articulate, measure and monitor the strategy of City Council and the deployment of its public policies”. Barcelona employed the tools being proposed here in Ottawa to monitor the City’s long-term strategy execution as well as the execution of its day-to-day operations. Barcelona created strategy maps for each of its 24 organizational units and linked strategy to budget by breaking down the total numbers into the specific activities of the units and assigning those to the strategic objectives in the strategy map. City Management in Barcelona summarize the results as follows: “For the first time in Barcelona, it is possible for City Council to understand and visualize the link between strategic objectives, the actual mandate (defined in the Municipal Action Program and translated into strategy maps) and tactical objectives of each Sector and District, to establish measures that monitor performance of the public administration, and to assign budgets to each activity necessary to achieve the City’s strategic objectives”.
Canadian Blood Services (CBS), Canada’s blood supply system provider, is a seasoned user of the balanced scorecard management system. CBS put strategy at the centre of its plan to transition into a more critical player in Canada's healthcare system. The solution included adopting the balanced scorecard, implementing an office of strategy management, aligning resources to the strategy, and ensuring each business line was aligned to corporate priorities. For CBS one of the primary benefits sought in adopting the system was effective management of risk. CBS was created in 1998 in the wake of a national health crisis, when HIV and Hepatitis-C tainted the nation’s blood supply (then managed by Canadian Red Cross). At CBS, managing risk is literally a matter of life or death. Since its inception, CBS has transformed itself into a model of management excellence by using the balanced scorecard management system. The system has allowed CBS to achieve its risk management goals by integrating risk management into its strategic planning and performance management processes.
The Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) needed a simple method to express the highest level priorities for the organization, and to use those priorities to focus the efforts of individual departments towards common goals. The RCMP created a “strategic framework” to represent a multitude of cross-cutting strategic priorities in a format that allowed most of the Force to place themselves within the larger strategy. The framework allowed the RCMP to execute on priorities for which no single department had responsibility. For example, the priority “serious and organized crime” had no one department responsible for it, yet virtually all departments contributed resources towards achieving it. Using the same tools and approach being proposed for the City of Ottawa, the RCMP was able to facilitate cross collaboration of complex departmental mandates towards specific organization-wide strategic priorities.
As demonstrated in the above examples, organizations around the world have adopted the system being proposed at the City of Ottawa to improve their ability to execute their strategies. The strategy map and balanced scorecard management system was created by Robert S. Kaplan, the Baker Foundation Professor at Harvard Business School and David P. Norton, founder and director of the Palladium Group. The Palladium Group helps clients achieve an execution premium by linking strategy and operations and enabling mission critical links with timely, robust information and data. Palladium maintains the most comprehensive body of knowledge in the world on performance management that links strategy to operations. Hundreds of organizations from around the globe have partnered with Palladium to achieve breakthrough, sustainable performance. The firm has 18 offices worldwide and an additional 17 affiliate offices throughout Europe, Latin America, Africa and Asia-Pacific.
Corporate Planning Framework (CPF)
The proposed Corporate Planning Framework (CPF) incorporates leading practices used by other municipalities around the world and comprises approaches and methods designed to support Council and City Management in making the City a more strategy-driven organization. The starting point for the CPF is the development of term of Council priorities. Term of Council priorities are articulated through the strategy map (illustrated below), which provides the architecture for integrating priorities and aligning programs and services to what the City wants to achieve over the term of Council.
In addition, it is proposed that the CPF also integrate the City’s long term sustainability planning efforts, currently known as the Choosing our Future initiative. Choosing our Future provides an overarching set of goals and principles that describe long-term aspirations and collectively make up a vision for a sustainable, liveable and resilient National Capital Region.
The Choosing Our Future goals are the articulation of the community’s desired end state in terms of long term sustainability. These goals were established through extensive public engagement and consultation held in 2008 and 2009. In 2010, they were received by the Tripartite National Capital Planning committee, communicated to City Councillors, and released to residents. These Choosing Our Future goals will guide the identification of the new Council priorities by ensuring that long-term impacts on Ottawa’s economic prosperity, cultural vibrancy, social well-being and environmental integrity are considered. (Document 1)
ILLUSTRATION ONLY
The strategy map tool comprises part of a continuum of performance management and strategy execution. It links strategic planning with performance measurement by converting strategic objective statements into measures and targets that will be captured in the City’s balanced scorecard. While the strategy map and balanced scorecard are distinct tools, they work together. The strategy map provides the foundation for the balanced scorecard.
The balanced scorecard is the framework used to translate an organization’s strategy into operational objectives that drive both behaviour and performance. Once developed, the City balanced scorecard will track the progress of performance against the City’s strategy, and act as the basis for strategic discussions at Standing Committee and Executive Committee. The balanced scorecard emphasizes financial and non-financial measures as part of an information system that links all levels of the City to the priorities of Council. It uses strategic objectives set out in the strategy map and adds measures, targets, strategic initiatives and budget impact. It provides a clear statement of what really matters to Council, the Mayor and City Management. Knowing what outcomes the City is trying to achieve, departments can be much more confident about how to set their own priorities and allocate resources. The intention is to ensure that the CPF provides the critical strategic and operational performance, risk and financial information to Council to support their deliberations in the annual budgeting process. Recommending the balanced scorecard as a primary tool within the CPF also addresses a motion to Council put forward on March 8, 2011 by Councillor Blais “that staff be directed to examine how a Balanced Scorecard approach could be developed for the City of Ottawa and report back to Committee and Council in advance of the 2012 budget process”.
The City will implement these new tools (strategy map and balanced scorecard) and processes at all levels of the corporation, which will allow departments and branches to outline how they plan to achieve Council priorities and objectives. Departments will determine which corporate objectives they have a direct impact on and develop measures to track their progress in contributing to the achievement of those objectives. Cascaded planning using the same tools, provides the structural alignment between the term of Council priorities and departmental/branch plans, and demonstrates how each informs the other and how they operate under a coherent planning regime to support Council’s priorities. The result is alignment of the City’s resources at all levels with Council strategic priorities and, increased alignment to long-term sustainability goals and long-term Committee defined visions and directions.
In conjunction with the new tools, regular strategy review meetings will facilitate review and adjustment of the City’s short-term financial and operational performance and, performance against the execution of term of Council objectives. The purpose of a strategy review meeting is to provide a cross-departmental forum for insight into how well the organization is doing in executing the Council priorities. Strategy review is supported by enhanced reporting mechanisms at the department, Executive and Council levels that align with new balanced scorecard structures. The Organizational Development and Performance Department will centrally coordinate Ottawa’s CPF and, in collaboration with the City Manager’s Office, the quarterly strategy review meetings for Executive Committee.
Enhanced governance occurs through Standing Committees, which will take on additional oversight responsibilities with respect to term of Council strategic priorities and will provide direction to departments responsible for execution. As noted earlier, objectives to support Council priorities will be established in the strategic planning process. These strategic objectives are specific directional statements that represent exactly where the City will focus during this term of Council. The CPF recommends that each strategic objective be aligned to a Standing Committee. Finance and Economic Development Committee (FEDCO) will have oversight responsibility for objectives that are across all Standing Committees. In the situation where alignment is not clear, agreement between the Mayor and each Committee Chair is necessary to identify who will be responsible for this strategic objective.
Reporting on a particular objective will be tabled at the Standing Committee that has oversight responsibility. For objectives owned by FEDCO that are within all Standing Committee mandates, the report will be tabled at FEDCO and then approved at each of the respective Standing Committees. Any changes to a particular strategic objective will be approved by City Council. A future consideration of the CPF will be the possible adoption of a centralized coordination process to track and monitor relevant Council motions pertaining to the planning process to ensure Standing Committees are clear of the linkages between them.
The Proposed City of Ottawa Planning Approach
The CPF includes a planning and execution process based on best practice that has proven to be successful in linking strategy to operations in order to achieve sustainable performance within an organization. It is intended, in a “normal” planning year, that the planning cycle will align with the annual budget process and any required refresh of the City’s Long Range Financial Plan. The 2010 election and subsequent turnover of Council have resulted in a condensed planning timeframe in 2011. As such, the process of developing and approving proposed priorities for the 2011 – 2014 term of Council is also somewhat condensed in order to ensure proposed priorities get considered in the 2012 budget process and included in the Long Range Financial Plan. The planning cycle being proposed incorporates the unique elements of the City of Ottawa, including its Council and Standing Committee structure. The key elements in the proposed City of Ottawa planning cycle are as follows:
Develop Proposed Term of Council Priorities: It is recommended that the Mayor work with the Chairs and Vice-Chairs of the Standing Committees and the Transit Commission to develop a set of proposed strategic priorities that represent the highest level expression of what the City hopes to achieve over the term of Council. With direction from the Mayor and Chairs and Vice-Chairs, City Management will work to articulate the priorities in concrete terms that outline what will be accomplished during the term of Council. It is then recommended that the Mayor and Chairs and Vice-Chairs, in consultation with members of Council, define objectives that specify what outcomes are expected to be achieved during the term of Council for all priorities.
Propose Standing Committee and Transit Commission Oversight: It is recommended that the Mayor, Standing Committees and Transit Commission increase the oversight role with respect to term of Council strategic priorities. The Mayor and City Manager should work with Standing Committee/Transit Commission Chairs and Vice-Chairs to propose their oversight responsibilities within their terms of reference. Once oversight responsibilities are proposed, mandate letters from the Mayor should be used to communicate to Standing Committee/Transit Commission Chairs the specific objectives they will be accountable to oversee.
Seek Council Approval: Once the Mayor, Standing Committee and Transit Commission Chairs have agreed in principle on the proposed priorities, objectives, strategic initiatives and related oversight for the term of Council, a report will be tabled at Committee and Council. Standing Committees and Transit Commission will then review, consider public delegations, discuss and make recommendations to Council for approval.
Align Strategic Initiative to Objectives: Strategic initiatives are projects or programs undertaken by the City that will contribute to the achievement of the specific objectives for the 2011 – 2014 term of Council. They are how the City allocates resources and delivers services in concrete terms. In some cases they are on-going, in other cases proposed. Standing Committees and Transit Commission will consider a list of proposed strategic initiatives and resource requirements (budget and FTEs) provided by staff, which will be executed by departments to achieve objectives in the strategic plan.
Link to Long Range Financial Plan and Budget: The priorities and objectives endorsed by Council would inform the update of the Long Range Financial Plan (LRFP) and the budget process. The required resources (budget and FTEs) for strategic initiatives that will contribute to the achievement of term of Council priorities will be identified and incorporated into an LRFP update and be reflective of a review of the current Fiscal Framework. The financial impacts will then inform the City of Ottawa budget process. The LRFP and the current Fiscal Framework are both targeted for review and update in late Q2, 2011. The updated LRFP will be tabled as a companion report to the proposed priorities and will include the strategic initiatives that will be considered by Standing Committees and Transit Commission, and approved by Council.
Institute Performance Management: Once priorities are established they will flow through the planning process, through to execution and back up through new reporting structures. New performance reporting mechanisms structured around the balanced scorecard will be used to monitor progress against objectives, and to serve as the agenda for regular strategy review meetings. New reports will align with the Council, Executive and Senior Management audiences and contain information that will facilitate the appropriate level of strategic discussion. Existing reporting processes (e.g., Quarterly Performance Report to Council) will remain until the new CPF performance management structures are in place.
Approve City Strategic Plan: Term of Council priorities as articulated in the City strategy map and its balanced scorecard will form the basis for the 2011 - 2014 City Strategic Plan document. The document will contain specific and measurable objectives for each of Council’s priorities that define what the City expects to accomplish over the four year term of Council. The 2011-2014 City Strategic Plan will be the key corporate planning document that integrates: Council priorities, strategic objectives and targets; risks and mitigation strategies; key strategic initiatives; and key performance information.
Cascade Planning to Department and Branches: Once in place at the Corporate and Council level, the CPF will extend to departments, aligning the City’s operations with the City strategy by cascading linked strategy maps and balanced scorecards to all departments. The strategy map will provide the architecture for integrating the operations of departments and branches throughout the City. Departmental balanced scorecards and branch summary reports will measure the performance of operations and feed corporate performance reporting mechanisms. The process will integrate information about operations and strategy into a carefully designed structure for strategy review meetings.
Review and Refresh: Formalized strategy review based on the new CPF approach will be introduced. Strategy review meetings will occur at three levels – Council, Executive Committee and Senior Management Committee, and at differing intervals for each. Council will conduct a review of its priorities at mid-term and recommend, if necessary, a refresh of the City Strategic Plan. Executive Committee will conduct regular strategy review meetings and deliver customized reports to Council and Standing Committee according to need. These strategy review meetings will include a discussion of progress on all large City-wide initiatives and a review of performance against the City Strategy. Executive Committee will leverage the City strategy map and scorecard to monitor progress against objectives, and to serve as the agenda for the meetings. Reports will be tabled at the Standing Committee and at Transit Commission that has oversight responsibility with respect to a particular objective as identified in the City Strategic Plan. At the departmental level, the Senior Management Committee will conduct strategy review meetings on a more frequent basis and incorporate a level of reporting that is more detailed and specific.
Public Consultation: Public participation is a valued component of the planning process and will help inform the creation and achievement of Council’s priorities. The Mayor and Council will establish the process to receive public delegations at Standing Committees and at Transit Commission to provide input on proposed priorities. The public will also get the opportunity to provide comments through the performance reporting cycle when results and outcomes are presented at Standing Committees, Transit Commission and City Council.
Council Motions and Directions Addressed by the CPF
The need to integrate the various processes of planning, reporting, risk management, and budgeting was triggered by a series of Council motions and directions to establish accountability at all levels of the City. This report will replace several outstanding motions and directions, and create the planning framework for this term of Council.
Strategic Branch Review Process (ACS2008-BTS-EXD-0001): In 2008, Council approved the associated tools and process, (i.e., the Strategic Branch Review Process), the intent of which was to confirm in broad terms what businesses the City is in and at what level of service. By the end of 2008, seven branches had completed a Strategic Branch Review. In 2009, the Audit, Budget and Finance Committee recommended: That the City Manager be directed to incorporate in the development of the departmental service excellence plans, a strategic branch review which identifies services, service standards, business process improvements, and efficiencies for consideration by the relevant Standing Committees and Council (ACS2009-COS-ODP-0015). While the Strategic Branch Review process itself will remain as a tool for departments to assess operational performance of targeted programs and services, the CPF addresses the main impetus for completing these reviews. The main elements of the Strategic Branch Review process will be incorporated into the CPF, and all branches will complete the components of the Strategic Branch Review through the new corporate process by the end of this term of Council.
Service Excellence (ACS2009-COS-ODP-0015): The Service Excellence initiative intends to fundamentally transform how residents receive services from the City. It is a plan to deliver consistent, predictable, high quality information and services to our residents and to generate significant savings to the City. In 2009 and early 2010, all departments developed Service Excellence plans to improve customer satisfaction with core services, through improved operational performance and increased employee engagement. Service Excellence plans contain specific objectives each department intends to achieve, key initiatives to achieve those objectives, and service standards that define the level of service they are committed to delivering to clients. Service Excellence plans will be presented to Committees for consideration as they establish the strategic initiatives that align to their term of Council priorities.
Enhanced Risk Management Framework (ACS2010-COS-ODP-0004): In March 2008, Council directed staff to develop a conceptual Enterprise Risk Management Framework (ACS2008-CMR-CSE-0026). In April 2010, Council approved the Enhanced Risk Management Framework (ACS2010-COS-ODP-0004) which establishes the foundation for enhanced risk management in the City. It delivers a proactive, systematic and consistent approach to understand, manage and communicate risks from an organization-wide perspective. It does not include the methodology and tools to examine the accuracy, significance and relevance of these risks on a regular basis. The CPF will contain the tools to assess, monitor and mitigate risks within the new integrated planning process, will link these risks to the Corporate and departmental strategic objectives, and will enable risk management to become entrenched in the fibre of the planning process as opposed to a separate activity.
RURAL IMPLICATIONS
N/A
CONSULTATION
The Corporate Planning Framework was built collaboratively with: 1) input from a working group who have expertise with the City’s operational planning and reporting processes; 2) advice from the Community Sustainability Department, who have expertise with the City’s long-term planning; 3) guidance from a Steering Committee, which comprises representatives of Finance Services, City Clerk, Infrastructure Services and Community Sustainability, City Operations and City Manager’s Office; 4) direction from the Executive Committee; and, 5) input from former Committee Chairs.
COMMENTS BY THE WARD COUNCILLOR(S)
N/A
LEGAL/RISK MANAGEMENT IMPLICATIONS
There are no legal/risk management impediments to implementing the recommendation in this report.
2007-2010 CITY STRATEGIC PLAN
The implementation of this Corporate Planning Framework supports the following 2007-2010 City Strategic Plan priorities:
1) Governance Priority which commits to “Enhance the ability of Council to set the strategic direction of the City, including working through Standing Committees to set Term of Council priorities for departmental initiatives and ongoing activities.”
2) Service Delivery Priority which commits to “Improve operational performance: improve the effectiveness and efficiency of service delivery processes to achieve service levels that are endorsed by Council and clearly communicated to citizens and staff.”
ENVIROMENTAL IMPLICATIONS
There are no environmental implications with respect to implementing the recommendations set out in this report.
TECHNICAL IMPLICATIONS
The technical support required to implement the CPF is available within existing resources.
FINANCIAL IMPLICATIONS
The funding necessary to implement the CPF will come from the budget of the Organizational Development and Performance department.
SUPPORTING DOCUMENTATION
DOCUMENT 1: Choosing our Future Goals
DISPOSITION
The Organizational Development and Performance Department will implement the decisions of Committee and Council and report back to Council. The CPF will replace the existing Performance Management and Reporting Framework (ACS2006-CMR-OCM-0003), the Integrated Planning Framework (ACS2006-CMR-OCM-0006), and the Strategic Branch Review Process (ACS2008-BTS-EXD-0001).
DOCUMENT 1
Choosing our Future Goals
