Human Resources

CIHR produced its HR Strategy HR in October 2006, identifying the following five priority areas: Recruitment and Staffing, Learning and Development, Workplace Wellbeing, Performance Management and Compensation, and Representative Workforce.

In March-April 2008, HR developed a Multi-Year Action Plan, which was designed to address the five priority areas. HR leads the implementation of the Plan, with management acting as Champions. HR updates the Action Plan periodically.

For each of the five priority areas, the Plan specifies the Key Result/Overall Objective (e.g., for Learning and Development: a Shared Commitment), Measures of Success (e.g., All process measures have been achieved), Specific Objective (Ownership of HR issues by all parties (HR, managers, and employees), Accountability (HR, Champion), Activity/Intervention (e.g., Provide opportunities for employees to participate in developing HR initiatives), Year (2007-08, 2008-09, 2009-10), Process Measures (e.g., HR initiatives have a staff volunteer where required), Additional People or Budget, and Status (e.g., Working Groups established when needed: Learning and Development Team, Public Service Employees Survey Team, Leaders' Retreat Team, and the Code of Conduct Team).

In addition, HR has published Service Standards for its key functions: Staffing, Job Evaluation, Labour Relations, Compensation and Benefits, and Organizational Development and Planning. Service standards are specific quantitative and qualitative targets an organization has committed to meet when delivering a service. For each of its key functions, HR has identified the various services provided, the time required, the HR contact, and, as needed, comments about the service and the time required.

Furthermore, HR collects and reports data on employment information for various occupational categories or functional communities. For example:

• Demographics and employment characteristics (e.g., employment equity (EE) designated groups, official languages (OL), age profile, average age of retirement, years of service, employment type, leave usage, reasons for leaving, absenteeism, grievances, use of Employee Assistance Program).
• Skills/competencies (e.g., training/learning data, performance management data, language competencies).
• Internal workforce trends (e.g., eligibility for retirement, vacancy rates, turnover rates, internal staff mobility such as deployments, promotions, secondments).

With these data, HR produces an HR Dashboard annually that reports on the status of targets set for Recruitment and Staffing, Learning and Development, Workplace Wellbeing, Performance Management and Compensation, and Representative Workforce. The Dashboard contains performance data on Service Standards and specific objectives from the HR Action Plans related to the HR Strategy. HR presents the Dashboard to EEMC and EMC.

For example, the Dashboard for 2008-09 contains performance data on Recruitment and Staffing, for which the strategic goal is: "Our staffing processes will be streamlined, fair and transparent. We will integrate succession and human resource planning with financial and business planning to ensure a ready source of qualified candidates." It then supplies targets and related performance metrics for the three years from 2006-2009 for such elements of Recruitment and Staffing as Overall vacancy rate, Percentage of workface that is term, Percentage of employees that obtained promotions, Percentage of selection processes where a complaint is founded, Percentage of student hires, and Average number of months to complete a staffing action.

In addition, the Dashboard supplies a number of bar graphs and tables that contain more details on the metrics, such as the Total Employees over the period 2005-09, Workforce distribution by employment status and portfolio, growth by category (Executive, Senior Professional, etc.), Workforce distribution by job category, Age distribution, Years of service, Retirement projections, Mobility, Secondments and interchanges, Representative workforce, and Distribution by gender and language.

The Dashboard's overall assessment for Recruitment and Staffing is "Some areas of the Action Plan are on track to achieving the specified targets; however specific areas require attention." Examples of the supporting data are:

• Overall vacancy rates were 14% in 2006-07, 12.58% in 2007-08, and 17.51% in 2008-09. The target was 10%.
• Percentage of employees that obtained promotions was 8% in 2006-07, 5% in 2007-08, and 4.6% in 2008-09. The target was 10%.
• Percentage of selection processes that are generic (inventories and anticipatory staffing) was 25.2% in 2007-08 and 43% in 2008-09. The target was 25%.
• The number of appointments without competition was 5 in 2008-09, against a target of less than 5.

As noted, there are a number of graphs and tables that give breakdowns of these results by age and category distribution, years of service, and representative workforce, and provide supplementary data such as retirement projections and mobility.

These data prompt many questions: What is the rationale for and, therefore, the significance of, the target rates? Is there cause for concern over missing the target? What is the cause of the lower than targeted promotion rate? Does the promotion rate contribute to a high departure rate? Is the there a link between the higher than targeted number of appointments and the lower promotion rate? What is the significance of the high percentage of generic selection processes in 2008-09? Is it related to the higher than targeted vacancy rate?

In its Integrated Planning Guide, TBS refers to the strategic role of HR in "integrated planning... an important building block in continuously improving and building the human capacity of the Public Service to deliver services to Canadians (Results for Canadians). Integrated, rigorous planning can mitigate risks associated with aging workforces, tight labour markets, technological change, and so on.

A key component of integrated planning is understanding your workforce and planning for projected shortages and surpluses in specific occupations and skills sets. In essence, Human Resources supports managers and employees through the provision of strategic advice, policies and services to help them deliver on workplace and workforce outcomes."

The Dashboard data would better support integrated planning if it were synthesized and mined for interrelationships and interdependencies, an analysis performed, and the results reported periodically during the year for timely use in the strategic management of human resources.

Responsibility: Director, HR

Action: The HR Dashboard which contains 65 performance indicators will continue to be published annually. An analysis will accompany the dashboard commencing with the next edition (Sept 2010).

Commencing in August 2010, the CFO will present a report to EMC three times annually which integrates key information from Human Resources, Finance, Procurement, Accommodations, IT and Corporate Planning. In addition, in September 2010 indicators for organizational health will be established and regular reporting at EMC will occur.

Timeline: September 2010

Per CIHR's Terms and Conditions of Employment an employee may carry forward up to 20 days (150 hours) of unused vacation leave credits each fiscal year. Any accumulated vacation leave in excess of these limits shall be reduced by:

• Use, either at the employee's request or management direction; and /or,
• Cash-out, which occurs automatically at the end of each fiscal year and is based on current salary at time of payment.

At the end of each January, HR sends an email to all employees stressing the importance of using their annual leave. Additionally, with the enhancement to HRIS this year it is now possible for managers to monitor the leave balances of all their employees at any time without having to contact HR as was done in the past.

As part of the audit a sample of these types of payments was reviewed to ensure they had been properly approved and accurately processed. No errors were identified. However, during the review the following were noted:

• On average over the last three fiscal years, 13.5% of employees have exceeded the 20-day carry forward limit each year.
• Of these employees, 31.5% received a payment for unused vacation leave in each of the three years, and 40.7% received a payment in at least two of the three years.

Although the financial impact of these payments is not material to the organization's financial statements at approximately $110K per year, there is an opportunity to improve the management of annual leave and promote work-life balance.

Responsibility: Manager, Labour Relations and Compensation

Action: In the 2008 Public Service Employee Survey 83% of CIHR respondents indicated that they are satisfied with their current work arrangements/hours of work. There are no reported incidents of employee's that have been refused the opportunity to schedule vacation leave. Manager's are responsible for approving leave and now have on-line access to the leave balance for all employees. The HR Branch will remind managers to review vacation leave balances regularly and to encourage scheduling of vacation leave. The HR Branch will determine whether HRIS can generate a report of all leave accounts in excess of 150 hours and, if so, will provide this report to managers.

Frequency: Annually in November

Timeline: November 2010

According to the PWGSC guidelines on user IDs for the Public Works Regional Pay System, the CIHR SACO (Security Access Control Officer) representative is responsible for verifying twice a year that each user ID belongs to the correct individual, reviewing the system access, and taking appropriate action. The PWGSC ESA (Enterprise Security Administrator) can provide the SACO with a list of current user IDs on file.

During the course of the audit it was found that the SACO relied on the HR Manager responsible for the payroll system to review a listing prepared by CIHR of employees with access to the system, and then confirmed that access levels were appropriate. In some cases CIHR would let a user's access expire after 30 days of inactivity rather than formally request that the ID be deactivated. If an employee does not use his PWRPS ID in a 30 day period, it becomes inactive and the SACO must send a request to the ESA to have the ID re-activated. Although the PWRPS has a number of mitigating controls in place to prevent unauthorized transactions from being processed, logical access to the system remains a fundamental preventive internal control that should be strictly enforced.

It is recommended that the Manager, Labour Relations and Compensation and CIHR's SACO representative implement the following procedures:

1. The SACO representative in conjunction with the Manager, Labour Relations and Compensation perform a review of all users of the PWRPS at least twice per year to ensure the listing of users and their access levels are accurate.
2. When performing the bi-annual review, CHIR ask PWGSC to supply the actual listing of employees with access to the Regional Pay System, so that an accurate assessment of all users with accounts on the system can be reviewed and vetted by the Manager, Labour Relations and Compensation.
3. The SACO representative ensure that when a CIHR employee no longer requires access to the Regional Pay System the account is deactivated promptly, and not just left to expire in 30 days after the person's last access.

Responsibility: Manager, Labour Relations and Compensation, and SACO Representative, Information Technology and Administration Management Services (ITAMS)

Action: The Manager, Labour Relations and Compensation will continue to update the User ID Grid in the Pay System as changes occur. A semi-annual review will be implemented to ensure User ID is up to date. Frequency: April and October The SACO officer has access to the PWGSC user list and will review this list twice per year. Frequency: April and October The SACO will remove access rights for any employee who has departed CIHR or changed roles as these changes occur.

Timeline: October 2010

CIHR has developed an appropriate process to follow when an individual leaves the organization that ensures CIHR equipment and documentation is returned to the organization and physical and logical access is terminated prior to the person receiving his final pay cheque.

The Employee Departure Document form, which the individual is responsible for completing and having approved by management in various areas of the organization, considers the following types of property and access employees may have:

• Acquisition cards
• Cellular telephones
• Calling cards
• Parking permits
• ID cards and building access cards
• CIHR files
• Access to IT networks and files

When reviewing a sample of Employee Departure Documents, it was noted that in a number of cases no verification was completed for the return of the corporate files. As has been noted in previous audits, corporate records are an important asset of CIHR and require safeguarding. In the past files have been misplaced and have been sometimes difficult to locate as a result of staff movement.

Responsibility: Manager, Labour Relations and Compensation, and Manager, Records Management

Action: The employee Departure Form will be reviewed and updated to ensure that Records Management processes are enforced and identified as a mandatory check point for all departing employees. Each area of responsibility across the organisation will be consulted in this process.

Timeline: October 2010

Learning and Development is the second priority of the CIHR HR Strategic Plan: "We will build a skilled workforce, strengthen organizational leadership and invest in both personal and professional development." In order to achieve this priority, HR is responsible for ensuring that staff receive the training they require in order to meet the goals of the organization. Training needs are identified by the HR Learning Advisor through, inter alia, discussion with management and review of annual performance plans and reports.

Once training is completed, the Learning Advisor reviews the course assessments submitted by the students to verify whether their needs were met by the training. The Learning Advisor also makes changes to course curricula based on the comments received and adds additional courses if necessary.

In addition, the Learning Advisor's mandate is to "Monitor and conduct follow up to learning activities in order to provide quarterly reports to EMC on learning costs, return on investment (ROI) and to make future adjustments and recommendations regarding learning activities and services provided." HR has considered implementing a more rigorous evaluation method that includes an evaluation of ROI, for a sample of training courses it offers, but it is currently concerned that it does not have the resources to do so.

CIHR's total expenditures for training during fiscal years 2008 and 2009 were $694,022 and $723,079 respectively, with HR being directly accountable for 64% and 57% of the total expenses in each of those years, and the Responsibility Centre managers being accountable for the rest.

In 2009, HR developed an Evaluation Framework based on Kirkpatrick's Learning Evaluation Model. HR hopes to implement it in the near future. The four levels of Kirkpatrick's Model measure:

1. Reaction - what trainees' thought and felt about the training;
2. Learning - the resulting increase in their knowledge or capability;
3. Behaviour - extent of their behaviour and capability improvement; and
4. Results - the effects on the business or environment resulting from the trainees' performance.

HR currently assesses levels 1 and 2 through its analysis of course assessments by the trainees.

It is recommended that the Manager, Organizational Development and Planning expand on the follow-up to the learning activities she currently performs, in order to determine the value or benefit the organization is receiving from its investment in the training offered. The follow-up should consider:

1. Behaviour - extent of trainees' behaviour and capability improvement; and
2. Results - the effects on the workplace or environment resulting from the trainees' performance.

Both items can be assessed through a survey of the trainees' supervisor.

Responsibility: Manager, Organizational Development and Planning

Action: Course participants will continue to complete course assessments. In addition, Managers will be required to evaluate the benefit of the training taken. This evaluation will be integrated with the current performance review process, which is conducted annually. The Learning Advisor will summarize the results and modify or recommend modifications to learning programs as necessary.

Timeline: April 2011-performance management cycle and annually thereafter.

Succession planning was identified as one of the key priorities in the 2006 HR Strategic Plan. To-date HR has taken the following steps towards achieving this priority:

• In 2008, HR took the initial step of identifying and reviewing key positions in the organization that were identified as requiring a succession plan.
• In 2009, HR created a template for identifying any training and development requirements of potential employees identified in the succession planning process.
• In January 2009, the President was provided with succession plans for each of the VPs.

HR is planning to roll out succession planning tools and processes in Q1 of the current fiscal year 2010-11. Future plans include maintaining and updating succession planning information on an annual basis, and sharing this information with the HR Advisors in HR Operations so that they are well positioned to partner with Directors on implementing any actions in support of these plans. Furthermore, the HR Learning Advisor will be provided with information from the Talent Management Development Plans in order to address corporate learning needs in support of the succession plans. This step appears to be one of the most important phases that must be implemented if the succession planning program is to be successful.

The need to complete the implementation of the succession plan has been highlighted by both the HR Dashboard, which provides a snapshot of the demographics of senior staff at CIHR, and the Public Service Renewal Action Plan. The Public Service Renewal Action Plan recognizes an aging work force as one of the key challenges driving the renewal effort.

Responsibility: Manager, Organizational Development and Planning

Action: A succession planning process has been developed as indicated in the observation and is now in the second year of implementation. The HR Branch will develop a set of indicators to assess the performance of CIHR's succession planning.

Timeline: December 2010

1.1.4 PWRPS and HRIS User Access:

• 1.1.4.1 The nature and extent of user access privileges are authorized by the system owner.
• 1.1.4.2 Privileges are reviewed periodically by the system owner for appropriateness.
• 1.1.4.3 User access is controlled through passwords or other mechanisms.
• 1.1.4.4 Passwords are changed periodically.

Well controlled, with minor issue

Observations 3