Audit of appointments from collective staffing processes

Public Service Commission Of Canada

Description

Audit of appointments from collective staffing processesA report by the Public Service Commission of CanadaOctober 2010Public Service Commission of Canada300 Laurier Avenue WestOttawa, Ontario K1A 0M7CanadaInformation: 613-992-9562Facsimile: 613-992-9352This report is also available on our Web site at www.psc-cfp.gc.ca.Cat. No. SC3-151/2010E-PDF ISBN 978-1-100-16884-5© H er Majesty the Queen in Right of Canada, represented by the Public Service Commission of Canada, 2010Audit of appointments from collective staffing processesA report by the Public Service Commission of CanadaOctober 2010All of the audit work in this report was conducted in accordance with the legislative mandate and audit policies of the Public Service Commission of Canada. Table of ContentsSummary ................................................................................................................................ 3Introduction ........................................................................................................................... 5Background ................................................................................................................................................ 5Focus of the audit ...................................................................................... 6Approach ................................................................................................................................................. ...

Informations

• Publié par: Orde
• Nombre de lectures: 11
• Langue: English

Extrait

Audit of appointments from collective staffing processes

A report by the Public Service Commission of Canada

October 2010

Public Service Commission of Canada 300 Laurier Avenue West Ottawa, Ontario K1A 0M Canada

nformation 13 acsimile 133

is reort is also available on our Web site atwww.psc-cfp.gc.ca

Cat o SC311010E-PDF  S 1100168845

© er Maest te ueen in it of Canada, reresented b te Public Service Commission of Canada, 010

Audit of appointments from collective staffing processes

A report by the Public Service Commission of Canada

October 2010

All of the audit work in this report was conducted in accordance with the legislative mandate and audit policies of the Public Service Commission of Canada.

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Summary ................................................................................................................................ 3 ntroduction ...........................................................................................................................  Background ................................................ ................................................................................................ 5 Focus of the audit................................................ ......................................................................................  Approach ................................................................................................ ....................................................  Observations .................................................................................. ......................................  Characteristics of collective staffing ...................................................................................................  Defining collective staffing ......................................................................................................... ........................ 8 Profile of collective staffing .................................................... ............................................................................ 8 ey success factors for collective staffing ........................................................................................  Rate of success ......................................................................................................... .......................................... 11 Planning is essential ..........................................................................................................................................11 Approaches should be adapted to the needs of the organization ............................................................. 11 Other success factors ........................................................................................................................................12 Challenges for collective staffing ................................................................................................ ........  Meeting erit .................................................... ................................................................................................. 1 ie to staff .........................................................................................................................................................1 Appointent decision ..................................................... ................................................................................... 1 Riss to the guiding values .................................................... ........................................................................... 1 ploent euit .................................................... ......................................................................................... 1 Challenges for subseuent appointments made from a distinct process ................................................ ................................................................................  Conclusion ...........................................................................................................................20 About te audit.................................................................................................................... 21 lossary .................................................................................. ............................................. 2

Table of Contents

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Summary

1

e Public Service Commission PSC broadl defines collective staffin as an aroac “ tat allows for one aointment rocess to fill several similar ositions witin or between deartments and aencies” Collective staffin is now more widel used in te federal ublic service As stated in te PSC’s 00010 Annual eort, it is estimated tat “31 of all internal advertised staffin rocesses are considered collective rocesses” Collective staffin can be beneficial in a variet of circumstances, includin te staffin of ositions for wic te turnover is sinificant and tose tat ave similar reuirements and cometencies Collective staffin rocesses allow manaers to enerate, from a sinle advertised rocess, a ool of candidates from wic te ma aoint e obective of te audit was to determine weter collective staffin rocesses and teir resultin aointments comlied wit tePublic Service Employment Act, te PSC Aointment ramewor, related oraniational olicies and oter overnin autorities n addition, te audit team was to identif te caracteristics of te various tes of collective staffin, establis ow oraniations manae collective staffin rocesses and reconie notewort ractices e audit focused on four oraniations Canadian eritae, Canadian nternational eveloment Aenc, Citiensi and mmiration Canada and Statistics Canada or te maorit of aointment rocesses reviewed, wic ad advertised more tan one osition, te oraniation was successful in aointin candidates to all ositions available ose interviewed for te audit considered tat lannin, clear roles and resonsibilities and manaement commitment were critical success factors for collective staffin e also indicated tat clear arameters for te manaement of collective staffin, weter formal or informal, could rovide man advantaes, includin te allocation of adeuate resources and realistic timelines, as well as a clear understandin of te manaement of ools for manaers and uman resources advisors involved in te rocess ools, trainin and communications are also critical success factors for collective staffin e review of aointment files indicated tat merit was enerall met in collective staffin rocesses, as well as for advertised and nonadvertised subseuent aointments made as a result of anoter aointment rocess e oraniations indicated tat time to staff was a sinificant callene for collective staffin for a number of reasons, includin volume manaement and te availabilit of board members As er information found in te PSC’s 00010 Annual eort, time to staff for a collective rocess, wen comared wit time to staff for a distinct rocess, is more time consumin b 1 ime to staff for collective staffin can be seen from two different ersectives e time reuired for a irin manaer from initiatin and comletin

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 3

  

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a collective staffin rocess can be sinificant wen comared to te fairl uic turnaround involved for anoter irin manaer to subseuentl select and aoint from a ool tat as alread been created t can be si times faster for a manaer to draw from a ool tan to conduct a distinct rocess Asset ualifications were identified on te statement of merit criteria for most collective staffin rocesses reviewed Less tan alf of te aointment decisions referred to tese assets owever, te audit found tat te ustification for te aointment decision was a callene for some manaers n some instances, te ustification was not lined to te statement of merit criteria ssues were also identified wit reard to resectin te uidin values e audit found tat, in some aointments from a collective rocess, te advertisement did not contain sufficient information for alicants or eamle, tere was no indication of te duration of te osition to be staffed or man subseuent aointments made from a distinct aointment rocess, te oriinal advertisement did not clearl indicate ow te results of te ool would be used e review of aointment files found tat, in a few cases of subseuent aointments from anoter rocess, te osition was not similar to te oriinal one advertised e review of aointment files found tat one of te collective staffin rocesses limited teir area of selection to desinated rous oneteless, in man aointment rocesses, emloment euit was identified as an oraniational need e audit found tat few aointments from collective rocesses used tis criterion for te aointment decision

 Audit of appointments from collective staffing processes

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 As the most recent versions of the SAs ere not available at the time of analysis the previous year’s results ere revieed.

1 A review of eartmental Staffin Accountabilit eorts SA 1 sows tat collective staffin ractices var reatl amon oraniations Wile some oraniations are in te rocess of develoin collective staffin units to manae lare collective rocesses, oters, wo ma not ave tat same caacit, ma use te results of rocesses from oter oraniations to mae aointments from ools 1 ere are man similarities between distinct and collective staffin rocesses or eamle, collective staffin rocesses follow te same eneral stes and decision oints as oter



ntroduction

Table 1easons for using collective staffing Collective staffing processes can be Collective staffing processes offer advantageous en • he possibility to staff several positions in  • here is a high turnover ithin large numbers a single process alloing for savings in time  of similar positions and effort for managers and human resources  • esource pools for these positions have been specialists ehausted  before they epire • A proect management approach linked to  Cha es organiational planning  •   sign n ifi g ca   n i t n     i b n u cr si e n a e s s e s  i   n a   c t t h i e v   it s i u e p s  p r l e y   o u f i   r s e i   m a i   lar skills  • pportunities to develop common tools and  and competencies and processes and  • ther regions andor organiations have similar • elief from some of the pressures imposed  staffing reuirements. by repetitive independent processes. Source   he Manager’s ollective taffing andboo Canada School of Public Service April 

Background 13 e 0000 Annual eort of te Public Service Commission PSC states tat “b worin toeter, manaers can sare costs, staffin nowlede and assessment tools Collective staffin can be articularl effective wen staffin a variet of similar entr level ositions, … or wen tere is a need to attract a i number of candidates … ” Collective staffin rocesses allow manaers to enerate, from an advertised rocess, a ool of candidates from wic te ma aoint 1 n tat contet, articiatin in collective rocesses and creatin ools of artiall or full assessed candidates can el manaers find ualified ersons uicl As sown inTable 1, it can be advantaeous to roceed wit collective staffin

1 1

1 0 1

aointment rocesses urter, collective staffin rocesses and resultin aointments must adere to tePublic Service Employment ActPSA and oter leislative reuirements, wile ensurin resect of te core values of merit and nonartisansi and te uidin values of fairness, access, transarenc and reresentativeness owever, collective staffin does create uniue oortunities, callenes and riss

Focus of the audit is audit was initiated for te urose of identifin notewort ractices and determinin ris areas in collective staffin iven its broad oals, it was determined tat a overnment wide audit would be te aroriate wa to elore tese issues e obective of te audit was to determine weter collective staffin rocesses and resultin aointments comlied wit te PSA, te PSC Aointment ramewor, related oraniational olicies and oter overnin autorities n addition, te audit team was to identif te caracteristics of te various tes of collective staffin, establis ow oraniations manae collective staffin rocesses and reconie notewort ractices

Approach e audit focused on collective staffin rocesses in four oraniations based on te followin selection criteria te ad a critical mass of multiaointment rocesses te were oraniations wit various ractices in lace as outlined in teir SA and te were a mi of mediumsied and lare oraniations On tat basis, te oraniations selected were Canadian eritae, Canadian nternational eveloment Aenc, Citiensi and mmiration Canada and Statistics Canada e audit included interviews wit PSC staeolders to identif te e issues surroundin collective staffin rocesses urter, te PSC comleted interviews and a review of aointments and oter related documentation from te four oraniations selected to obtain an understandin of ow tese oraniations define collective staffin and ow te manae suc rocesses e audit also included a review of 3 randoml selected collective staffin rocesses wic resulted in a total of 1 aointments reviewed, 3 randoml selected advertised subseuent aointments from a distinct aointment rocess and 1 nonadvertised subseuent aointments from anoter rocess  for te eriod of Aril 1, 00, to Marc 31, 00 istinct aointment rocesses tat, as a result of one or

 rganiations ere reuested to provide a list of nonadvertised appointments from other processes three of the four organiations selected did not have nine or more nonadvertised processes from hich to randomly select to ensure a representative sample and therefore a revie as conducted of all of their nonadvertised appointments from other processes for the remaining organiation ten nonadvertised appointments from other processes ere randomly selected.

 Audit of appointments from collective staffing processes

more subseuent aointments, became a collective rocess were included in te audit owever, iven tat collective staffin rocesses are initiated to staff several ositions and tat subseuent aointments from a distinct aointment rocess are initiated to staff a sinle osition, te aroac taen to manae suc rocesses and te resultin riss ma differ As a result, te findins are resented searatel SeeTable 2   for furter samlin information

Table 2Appointments audited sample Advertised subseuent onadvertised Appointments appointments subseuent from a collective from a distinct appointments from Total Type of process staffing process   appointments processprocess anoter nternal  pro  c   e   sses  ternal 5 pro  c  e    sses  Total 3 pr 1 o  c  e    sses 3121 SourceAudit and ata Services Branch Public Service Commission evie of audited appointment processes  For collective staffing processes five appointments ere randomly selected and revieed to enable an analysis of the process. For appointments from pools one subseuent appointment as randomly selected and revieed to enable an analysis not of the process but rather of the appointment itself.

 or more information reardin te obectives and metodolo, refer to te section entitled About the auditat te end of tis reort

Audit of appointments from collective staffing processes 