Annual Report 2019/2020

From the President

Having worked with the ICCS for many years, it’s my honour and privilege take on the role of President to help organization in delivering excellent services to its clients and citizens. The ICCS has been devoted to excellence in public service delivery for many years and I will endeavour to continue to advance this organization in this pursuit.

This past year was the second of the 3-year Strategic Business Plan which focused on continuing our investment in modernizing key services. As public service delivery organizations, we must always strive to listen to our clients and citizens on how they consume our services. The ICCS is all about service excellence and this year, we successfully set a foundation for improving key services to be delivered online. The groundwork was done so you can be on the lookout for modernized and dynamic services online for the ICCS learning and certification as well as an online analytics service. I also want to note the excellent thought leadership and work of the Joint Councils throughout the year. Raising awareness and marketing the ICCS with its new brand was also an important activity for this year.

I want to thank the Board of Directors and Executive Director who have accomplished great progress on key initiatives. It’s through their leadership and innovative spirits that the Institute is delivering on the ambitious three-year Strategic Business Plan with, of course, with the devotion of the ICCS team who support the accomplishments. Although this year’s financial results are not as expected, I’m certain that the Institute with the leadership of the Board of Directors will guide us through challenging times.

As for our international focus this year, the Institute partnered again with the Civil Service College of Singapore, which licences the use of Citizens First methodology including collaboration on developing the online learning modules. The ICCS also licensed the common measurements tool in partnership with New Zealand and South Australia. We will continue to explore international opportunities in 2020-21 that align with our Strategic Business Plan.

Ending this fiscal year at the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic raises a multitude of questions which will influence the role of the ICCS for years to come. I have the utmost confidence in the Board of Directors, the Public Sector Service Delivery Council, the Public Service Chief Information Council, working with the Executive Director and his team to guide us through the challenges ahead.

—Natasha Clarke, President, ICCS

From the Executive Director

I’m pleased to present the 2019/2020 Institute for Citizen-Centred Service (ICCS) Annual Report. Once again, our dedicated and passionate team provided valuable services, programs and knowledge aimed at supporting public sector organizations across Canada and the world in the pursuit of citizen-focused service excellence.

Our team continued to pursue service innovation projects to modernize key services while meeting our clients’ demands for existing services and programs. As a small organization, I am always amazed at just how much we accomplish – this year is no exception. In 2019/20 the ICCS stayed on course and met its commitments under the strategic business plan, guided by the Board of Directors, which provided strong leadership and invaluable advice throughout the year.

I invite you to read the annual report to learn about our successes this past year, such as the exemplary work of the Joint Councils who are the thought leaders for moving key service improvement initiatives affecting federal, provincial, territorial, and municipal governments across Canada. You can also get details about our ongoing delivery of Learning and Certification programs while also forging ahead on future developments for digital learning programs, which will come online in 2020/21. This year’s annual report also updates our efforts to position our Research programs, Citizens First and Business First, for the future with more timely, succinct and impactful insights to empower our clients to design and deliver better government services. You will also learn about our continued efforts to modernize the Common Measurements Tool, which will result in a new suite of digital client satisfaction measurement and benchmarking services that will be available in 2020/21 under the name, ‘Citizen First Analytics’.

Based on last year’s launch of a re-branded Citizen First powered by the Institute for Citizen-Centred Service, we implemented a marketing and awareness campaign. This included consistent messaging on our own social media channels as well as effectively partnering with key organizations to help amplify the awareness of programs and services of the ICCS. We’ve seen an increase in social media followers and engagement with this community.

Financially, the ICCS faced some challenges stemming from substantial innovation investments, unexpected non-renewals of service agreements and the decision to shift the undertaking of the Citizen First 2020 study to 2020/21. However, we are confident that the investment in modernizing key service offerings will boost our financial health for years to come.

I want to congratulate Richard Steele as the 2019 Heintzman Leadership Award winner in recognition of his substantial contribution to the promotion of, and commitment to citizen-centred service delivery in Canada.

Finally, this year we said a big thank you to Karla Hale for her strong leadership during her tenure as President. I am happy to announce that Natasha Clarke became the new President of ICCS. We are very excited to work with her in shaping the new vision and direction of the ICCS.

—Dan Batista, Executive Director, ICCS

Learning

Deliveries and Certifications

Throughout 2019/20, ICCS facilitated over 10 training sessions for organizations from across the Canadian Public Sector as follows:
- 6 Certified Service Professional (CSP) workshops
- 3 Certified Service Manager (CSM) workshops
- 2 ICCS 1-Day Workshop

Licensed jurisdictions continue to facilitate ICCS training on our behalf within their respective organizations, with over 400 public sector employees participating in over 20 deliveries across Canada this year.

ICCS continues to see a steady increase in the number of certified professionals, with over 900 CSPs and CSMs nationwide.

Developments

This year, the ICCS began work on a number of improvements for the Learning and Certification program.

In 2019, the ICCS undertook a project to refresh the online learning modules for the Certified Service Manager (CSM) and Certified Service Professional (CSP) programs. This will include a complete redesign of the Body of Knowledge to increase compatibility with online learning and improving accessibility. The refresh will include increased use of visual learning and interactive elements designed to engage participants. There will be a renewed focus on practical knowledge that learners can apply to their own work.

The ICCS and Civil Service College of Singapore entered into a collaborative agreement to assist with the re-design of the e-learning platform. The information provided by the College helped us in changing our platform for our users.

In 2020, we are looking forward to offer you the following programs:

Service Professional Essentials: Becoming Citizen-Centric
Service Delivery Fundamentals Skills: Listening and Understanding Citizens
Service Management Essentials: Building a Successful Culture through Leadership, Success
Service Management: Necessary Skills and Tools for Managing Service Delivery
Service Quality Management: A Guide to Continuous Service Delivery Improvement
Service Design Essentials: Service Design Thinking and Methods

Partnerships

ICCS is pleased to have worked with the following organizations:

Provincial Government of British Columbia
Provincial Government of Manitoba
Provincial Government of Newfoundland & Labrador
Provincial Government of Saskatchewan
Government of Northwest Territories
Health Canada
Region of Peel
Civil Service College Singapore

Research

Business First 2019

In June 2019, the ICCS completed Business First 2019, the latest study in the research series formerly known as Taking Care of Business. This iteration preserved many of the key components that, over the previous 15 years, have informed service improvement initiatives undertaken by numerous public sector organizations. Particular emphasis has been maintained on the issue of moving services online, one of the key areas of interest for government service providers across Canada. The Business First 2019 study is available on the Citizen First website.

The ICCS offered various webinars for its sponsors and the public presenting the findings of the study. Overviews of the findings were given at the PSSDC and PSCIOC Meetings and Municipal Service Delivery Officials (MSDO) Conference in September 2019.

Citizens First 2020

In the Fall of 2019, the ICCS began work on Citizens First 2020. In this iteration, the ICCS introduced several new features, including:

An online portal
A bigger sample size for participating jurisdictions
Four waves of data collection (quarterly basis)
Additional options for subscribers including access to customizable Omnibus surveys
More cost-effective subscription options for jurisdictions

The study will be launched with subscribers in late April 2020. Data collection for the first wave is scheduled to begin in May/June. The study will include items in connection with the COVID-19 situation.

The results from Citizens First 2020 are scheduled to become available to the public in the Spring of 2021.

Councils

In 2019-2020, the Secretariat continued to provide support services to the Public Sector Service Delivery Council (PSSDC) and the Public Sector Chief Information Officer Council (PSCIOC). The Secretariat organized monthly teleconferences as well as two in-person meetings in Winnipeg, Manitoba, September 24 – 26, 2019 and in Toronto, February 25 – 27, 2020. The Councils worked towards solutions to issues of common interest and shared best practices from across the country.

Digital Identity remained a key priority of the Joint Councils. Significant progress was made to advance this work. In September, the Joint Councils discussed the need for a strong governance framework for digital identity. In February 2020, the Digital Co-Leads received Joint Councils’ approval for the recruitment of a Program Director to develop a Digital ID roadmap with key deliverables and milestones.

Identity management, cyber security, procurement, and emerging technologies to enhance services to Canadians remained the focus of PSCIOC and its commitment for these important elements affecting service delivery. This was done through collaboration across governments and leadership in the management of information technology.

Throughout the year, the Joint Councils publish Executive Reports on a wide range of topics, recent events and issues affecting public sector service delivery. This year, the topics included: artificial intelligence, facial recognition technology, identity management, the pros and cons of sidewalk labs, data privacy, global case for customer service in government, and bridging the digital divide. These reports provide intelligence for public sector delivery organizations in their decision making process for improving service delivery while addressing emerging issues.

Common Measurements Tool (CMT)

The CMT continues to be used by a range of organizations in Canada and internationally. In Canada, the instrument is employed at all three levels of government, with a number of users also accessing the ICCS benchmarking service.

In 2019, the ICCS, working in partnership with PigeonLine, began developing a new solution for CMT users which would enable self-service, automate benchmarking CMT data, and provide machine learning abilities to improve the CMT user experience. In addition, the ICCS undertook to digitize the CMT question bank to provide easier access to the instrument for licensed users.

In the Spring of 2020, the ICCS began testing the new platform with current users of the Common Measurements Tool. The new service is expected to be available to all jurisdictions in the Summer of 2020.

In 2019-2020, the following jurisdictions continued to license the CMT:

Canada:

Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada

Alberta Labour
Alberta Workers’ Compensation Board
BC Stats
Peel Region
Service Canada

Service New Brunswick

International:

New Zealand
South Australia

At a Glance

In 2019/20, we saw a decline in the revenue trend compared to previous years.

Year-to-date shortfall of revenues over expenses of $297,398 …. $239,968 more than what we had budgeted.
Revenues totaled - $784,374. This is less than budget by $475,122.
Expenditures totaled - $1,081.773. This is less than budget by $235,154.
Support to Councils revenues are $9,909 more than budget and expenditures are $8,686 more than budget.
Research revenues are $355,282 less than budget while expenditures were less than budget by $259,300.
CMT Revenues were $52,750 less than budget and expenditures were $10,819 more than budget.
Certification revenues were $76,999 less than budget while expenditures were $48,244 more than budget.
General and Administration costs were $27,463 more than budget.

Revenues by Lines of Business

Annual Report

2019-2020

From the President

From the Executive Director

Certifications Across Canada

Line of Business Updates

Financial Summary

At a Glance

Revenues by Lines of Business

Winner of the Heintzman Leadership Award - 2019

Richard Steele