The best of the best share their secrets 

The following background on our 2008 finalists illustrates just how transformational each submission was, and how difficult it was for the members of the advisory committee to rank them. Regardless of the outcome, it is clear from the following perspectives on each finalist that Canada’s public service – not to mention the Canadian public itself – is well served by these dedicated organizations and individuals.

We’ve also included some of our finalists’ comments on the innovations they brought to this very competitive process and why they believe their initiatives are important to the public sector – and the public at-large:

Bridgepoint Health Bridgepoint Health Organizational Transformation & Influencing Health System Change

Health care in Canada is undergoing a fundamental change as governments grapple with rising demands, increased complexity of care and constrained resources. Bridgepoint Health stands at the vanguard of this shift, and has successfully convinced the Ontario government that it is no longer sufficient for the hospital system to focus exclusively on saving lives. Instead, the medical community must also help those with chronic and complex diseases actually live their lives. Bridgepoint Health is also making the case for continued investments in primary care – beyond acute hospital care – because they hold the greatest potential for preventing and managing chronic disease. It has accomplished this seemingly Herculean achievement by transforming itself with a broad range of innovative knowledge creation and sharing initiatives. The net result for patients suffering from chronic disease? An adaptive treatment environment that extends well beyond tactical treatments and sets the stage for new ways of delivering health care into the future.

“Our health care campus represents a new way of thinking and working. In fact, we are redefining what a hospital can be to patients, the community and staff.” — Marian Walsh, President & CEO, Bridgepoint Health

BC Ministry of Labour and Citizens’ Services Alternate Service Delivery

Public sector organizations everywhere are under growing pressure to deliver timely, high quality services – without breaking the budget. Alternative Service Delivery is the British Columbia government’s effort to transform how services are delivered to citizens. In a major shift for the public sector, ASD transfers operational responsibility for service delivery to private sector providers. While the public sector organization continues to manage the work, it is now in a better position to take advantage of the service providers’ core competencies. The ASD program is already paying dividends. In addition to dramatically improving service delivery to citizens and allowing the province to transfer significant amounts of operational and financial risk to world-class service providers, it will save $550 million along the way. Beyond financials, it has allowed BC’s Public Service to build a new community of practice that continues to inspire innovation across the public sector.

“Alternative Service Delivery is not a slogan or a secretariat. It is not just a new procurement process, or a collection of contracts. It is a disciplined and fair way of doing business for a public service that cares about transformation and innovation.” — John Bethel, Assistant Deputy Minister, BC Ministry of Labour and Citizens’ Services

BC Ministry of Labour and Citizens' Services Citizen-Centered Service Delivery

Citizen-centred service delivery is nothing short of a revolution in how public sector services can be delivered. Since 2002, Service BC has invested heavily in building an organization that takes citizen requests, builds responses that are easy to understand, timely and simple to use, and puts citizens’ needs first from start to finish. More than a single program or initiative, it is a core shift in values that puts best of breed tools into the hands of public servants at all levels of the organization. These tools allow them to fulfill citizens’ needs by reaching across multiple programs and ministries to make things happen. Citizens can access their government any way they wish – in-person, online or by phone – and be confident they’ll get the answers and the support they need.

“This is hard work. It can sometimes be messy and frustrating, but when you keep the vision of the future out front and everyone plays a role, it is amazing how quickly the future arrives.” — Lois Fraser, Assistant Deputy Minister, BC Ministry of Labour and Citizens’ Services

BC Public Service Being the Best Public Service Initiative

The BC Public Service has reinvented itself over the past three years to accomplish one thing: become the best public service employer in Canada. It’s accomplishing this ambitious goal by making it easier for existing employees to move through the organization, by raising its profile within the marketplace as a desirable place to work and by using innovations in service excellence to raise the service delivery bar for citizens. By more actively recruiting and retaining top talent, the BC Public Service is already reaping the rewards, including rising employee engagement scores and stronger recruitment results. Employees believe in this initiative, too, as the BC Public Service has been named one of the province’s top employers for the past two years running.

“Our goal is to be an organization where being innovative is not just something we do but is something we are. Getting there is no easy task because it means a fundamental shift in our entire corporate culture. Innovation must be more than a program; it must become an essential part of our identity.” — Jessica McDonald, Deputy to the Premier and Head of the Public Service, BC Public Service

Canada Health Infoway Achieving an Integrated Pan-Canadian Electronic Health Record System

If you visit your doctor’s office or local hospital, you stand a better than even chance that most of your medical records will be captured on paper. Since being launched in 2001, Canada Health Infoway has spearheaded the drive to give clinicians and patients seamless, secure electronic access to electronic health records (EHR). By encouraging collaboration among provinces and territories, Infoway is ensuring successful projects in one jurisdiction are replicated across the country. Already, 272 EHR-related projects are either underway or complete, and Infoway is well on its way to delivering EHRs to 50% of Canadians by 2010. By giving health care providers the information they need, where and when they need it, Infoway has already set the stage for continued cost-effective delivery of world-class medical services to Canadians.

“An initiative of this nature, where we see the use of information technology modernizing the Canadian health care system from coast to coast to coast, has never been attempted before. Our efforts will result in a safer, more productive and accessible health care system for all Canadians.” — Richard Alvarez, President & CEO, Canada Health Infoway

City of Edmonton From Defining Needs to Developing Solutions: Edmonton’s Innovative Approach to Infrastructure Management

Most cities today are dealing with aging infrastructure, population growth, stricter environmental regulations and inadequate municipal revenues. Edmonton stands apart thanks to its strategic approach to addressing these challenges. It has developed groundbreaking new tools to manage its $33 billion worth of assets, including objective and quantitative decision-support applications that allow more precise allocation of scarce capital dollars. Through the city’s Infrastructure Technical Advisory Committee (ITAC), expert stakeholders have volunteered their time to help the city build an infrastructure strategy now viewed as an example to other cities. Canada’s InfraGuide has recognized ITAC as a best practice, and international groups are also recommending it as a strategic practice worth emulating.

“Because leadership and innovation aren’t always synonymous with the public sector, one key role of leading in the public sector is to continuously challenge this perception both within our own organizations and with external stakeholders and constituents. Leadership and innovation are really about being a change agent – it’s the willingness to lead by example, to take risks and to buck the status quo.” — Konrad Siu, Director, Office of Infrastructure and Funding Strategy, City of Edmonton

City of Mississauga Moving Forward – The City of Mississauga’s Strategic Framework and Priorities

Mississauga faced a crossroads in 2004: this “mature” city was almost completely built out, and could no longer rely on greenfield growth to drive its future prospects. Moving Forward was the resulting strategic roadmap that outlined how this city in transition would meet these challenges head-on. It was built on four key priorities - building a city for the 21st century, building a sustainable business plan, continuing to be an employer of choice and focusing on leadership – that ultimately became part of the city’s culture. How? By assigning change agent accountability to senior leaders, communicating with all stakeholders, involving employees and reinforcing the core values of trust, quality and excellence. Spinoff benefits are found everywhere, from processes to develop future leaders to building a vibrant downtown. It’s already clear to citizens that things have changed – for the better – in Mississauga.

“Leadership and innovation within the public sector mean having the courage to take bold and visionary steps when required. It’s not trying to eliminate every risk out there, but mitigating the significant risks in our very public realm while moving forward to deliver best value for our taxpayers.” — Gary Kent, Director, City Manager’s Office, Strategic Initiatives Division, City of Mississauga

Government of Newfoundland and Labrador The Poverty Reduction Strategy

In 2006, Newfoundland put a stake in the ground as it launched an initiative to transform itself from the province with the most poverty to the one with the least. The Poverty Reduction Strategy is based on an integrated solutions-focused approach that extends beyond the mandate of any specific department. As a result, public policy implications are more effectively considered at all stages of engagement, and new levels of inter-departmental cooperation overcome traditional barriers to progress. Ongoing dialogue with a wide range of stakeholders, including community-based organizations, business, labour, and most importantly, individuals and families living in or vulnerable to poverty, is another key component of the initiative’s success. It allows input to be actively incorporated into future policy decisions, ensuring a close match between needs and services.

“What our public service is attempting to do with the Poverty Reduction Strategy requires long-term commitment and effort. While there is inherent value in working horizontally, government bureaucracies sometimes present challenges in working across systems. The committed people who guide this province’s multi-layered implementation process truly demonstrate the leadership it takes to address a long-term and complex social policy issue, and as well demonstrate that an innovative approach can lead to effective policy development that positively affects the lives of so many people.” — Gary Norris, Clerk of the Executive Council, Government of Newfoundland and Labrador

Natural Resources Canada Resource Wiki

The NRCan Wiki, a collaborative Web site that provides a consistent online resource for broad-based information sharing, community-building and leadership, is the first of its kind anywhere in the government of Canada. Since being rolled out across NRCan on October 30, 2007, close to 2,000 employees have routinely used this resource to change the way they learn, research, share and work. Fully 40% of NRCan employees regularly contribute content, ensuring cross-organizational knowledge sharing simply not possible using more conventional tools. By using pathfinders – small pilot projects led by business users with a particular business need – and open source software, the initiative has accelerated the rate with which projects are born, resourced and led. The NRCan Wiki is an example to all government agencies of how unconventional approaches to employee engagement can supercharge community-based knowledge management regardless of region, sector, discipline or position within the hierarchy.

“If we are serious about renewing the public service, we need to be bold and take risks to create ways of working that attract and retain talent. The Wiki is important to delivering on our renewal of NRCan. We are leading in the use of collaborative tools within this department and leading the way for the government of Canada.” — Cassie Doyle, Deputy Minister, Natural Resources Canada

Ontario Ministry of Transportation – Provincial Highways Management Division Rapid Bridge Replacement

As Canada’s infrastructure ages, components such as highway bridges require replacement. Up until now, it’s typically taken two to three years to replace the average span. It’s expensive, inconvenient and often risk-prone. Traffic is backed up, accident rates increase, emissions rise and productivity is affected. Traffic management costs alone can quickly escalate beyond $2 million per project. The Ministry of Transporation of Ontario has begun using “rapid replacement” technology to reduce the impact. It is the first ministry in Canada to use Self Propelled Modular Transporters (SPMT) to reduce replacement time to under 17 hours. This stunning achievement doesn’t just lower costs and improve safety. It also sets a new national standard for bridge replacements and paves the way for other non-traditional design and construction approaches to be used not just in Ontario, but nationally.

“The lesson to other organizations is that embracing innovation can lead to dividends to both the organization and society at large. You need to carefully identify and manage risks inherent in new approaches, but we learned our organization has the skills to effectively deal with these technical challenges.” — Bruce McCuaig, Deputy Minister, Ministry of Transportation of Ontario

Quebec Ministry of Employment and Social Solidarity Initiative to Combat Poverty and Social Exclusion

By building a comprehensive strategy to address poverty and social exclusion, Quebec has become a leader in Canada in helping some of its most vulnerable citizens move away from society’s margins. The Act to Combat Poverty and Social Exclusion, enacted by Quebec’s National Assembly in 2002, is now being actively studied by other provinces interested in dealing a blow to poverty’s crippling effects on both individuals and society. The ministry’s initiative crosses multiple government departments and agencies to implement across-the-board best practices, as well as measurement criteria to monitor progress and adapt the strategies. It is already returning tangible and impressive results. Between April 2003 and July 2008, Social Assistance recipients saw their disposable income rise approximately 23%. Similarly, last-resort financial assistance programs report a 10.3% drop in demand over the same period. As this model is studied and adopted beyond Quebec’s borders, the benefits will continue to multiply.

“We see this as a source of inspiration for other organizations, particularly because it adds greater coherence to the actions of so many, including the government, its socioeconomic, regional and local authorities, community organizations and other members of society, to combat poverty and promote social inclusion. By also mobilizing the population, the ministry has shown its sensitivity to the needs of those who live in poverty. These choices have virtually ensured the initiative’s success.” — Bernard Matte, Assistant Deputy Minister of Policy and Strategic Analysis, Quebec Ministry of Employment and Social Solidarity

Regional Municipality of Peel Peel’s Common Purpose

Peel’s Common Purpose is a common vision aimed at driving service delivery to the next level. It incorporates four key milestones to completely reorient service delivery to the customer’s perspective. While most initiatives of this type require a certain degree of structural reorganization to facilitate more efficient access and coordination, Peel’s efforts extend well beyond this step. Staff groups were formed and challenged to come up with ways to improve employee engagement, client satisfaction, and trust and confidence. Monitoring tools and processes were implemented to measure progress. Finally, an extensive change management plan was implemented to maximize buy-in. This rethink of the organization has driven a cultural evolution that’s already resulting in increased levels of customer satisfaction.

“Public service is really about getting the leaders throughout the organization to move the entire organization to areas where it hasn’t been before. It’s not the notion of the heroic leader. Rather, it’s getting leaders to buy into the vision so that together we can all pull the organization forward.” — David Szwarc, Chief Administrative Officer, Region of Peel

St. Michael’s Hospital Health Care Organization A Focus on Research and Knowledge Transfer in Health Care Delivery

Faced with crippling debt that threatened to compromise its ability to serve the Toronto area’s most vulnerable citizens, St. Michael’s Hospital Health Care Organization 10 years ago embarked on what was then a revolutionary path. Instead of only focusing on what it did best, the institution was also challenged to understand what it would need to do best in the future. An interdisciplinary team studied health care best practices in far-flung regions, and implemented innovative knowledge sharing methods. The complex issues of inner-city health challenged clinicians and administrators, and led to research that began providing some answers – and ultimately resulted in a range of initiatives, including the Rotary Transition Centre and the Seaton House Infirmary, that are now internationally recognized models of achievement.

“Our success has been driven by an admittedly unconventional approach that brought together the right convergence of skills under the same roof. Although our strategy raised a few eyebrows when we first proposed it, it’s been hugely successful. Now, the best minds in clinical, research and education work together to deliver world-class health care. No one else on the planet is doing this – and everyone now looks to us to set the example.” — Jeff Lozon, President & CEO, St. Michael's Hospital Health Care Organization

  

Service Canada Service Canada College and the Service Excellence Certification Program

By leveraging a unique learning structure that centralizes all training functions and embeds fundamental concepts of service excellence throughout its activities, Service Canada is changing attitudes and behaviours, building a more empowered workforce and altering the way service is delivered across all federal government agencies. Service Canada College, a coordinated network of physical and virtual learning centers, has become Service Canada's national corporate learning institution. Both the College and the Service Excellence Certification Program have become key drivers of cultural change. They are central to the government of Canada’s public sector renewal efforts, and have been recognized across the country as well as internationally as models for improving public sector service delivery.

“Service delivery is now a profession that needs to be recognized and supported throughout the public sector. Positioning it as such opens up new opportunities for partnership with other like-minded organizations in Canada and around the world.” — Nicole Barbeau, Senior Assistant Deputy Minister, Service Management Service Canada