Appendix 5

The PSC provided the report of the Independent Review Committee to the Clerk's Deputy Minister Committee on Public Service Renewal and has presented updates to the Committee on its contributions to recruitment and on its work on non-partisanship and political activities.

The PSC has developed a Communications and Outreach Strategy which includes sharing its annual audit plan with the Office of the Comptroller General (OCG) and organizations and posting it online each year.

A new Executive Resourcing information session has been developed and will be delivered in early 2010-2011. It focuses on providing orientation and training to senior managers and human resources advisors regarding expectations in executive appointment processes.

• Planned staffing audits, while still respecting their individual responsibilities;
• Capacity building of audit committees — training and education on the requirements of the PSEA and PSC oversight responsibilities; and
• Capacity building of the internal audit community — development of a methodology for the conduct of staffing audits and training and education on the application of the methodology.

In November 2009, the PSC met with the OCG to discuss mandates and work, as well as outreach with the internal audit community. At the OCG's invitation, the PSC participated in and made a presentation on its activities at the meeting of the Departmental Audit and Agency Committees in December 2009.

The PSC has committed to share its audit methodology online with the internal audit community through the Government of Canada's internal website GCPEDIA. The content has been developed in draft format and meetings with Communications have taken place. It is expected that the material will be shared with the internal audit community in June 2010.

The PSC continues to meet with departments, including departmental audit committees, on an ad hoc basis, to outline work and expectations.

• Complete its planned policy review of appointment and appointment-related authorities;
• Continue to refine its Staffing Management and Accountability Framework (SMAF); and
• Ensure appropriate stakeholder consultation and communication while making these changes to its policies and SMAF.

Five new or revised policy support tools were released in August 2009 as part of the Policy Review initiative.

Following consultations, the Advertising Policy and the Selection and Appointment Policy were updated.

An in-depth review of all appointment policies is underway based on feedback from stakeholders and findings from the review of existing documents and Public Service Staffing Tribunal decisions.

The PSC is maintaining ongoing stakeholder consultation as it continues to refine its SMAF. Refinements were implemented during the 2009-2010 reporting cycle to clarify the PSC's expectations. As a result, indicators are clearer and more aligned with central sources of information. Overlap was removed and the number of indicators reduced from 37 to 29. Organizations have indicated that the changes demonstrate that their views have been heard and have confirmed that the reporting burden has been reduced. Consultations are underway to make additional refinements to the indicators during 2010-2011.

Following the consultations, the PSC implemented a new approach for micro organizations of less than 100 employees to minimize the reporting burden. The PSC applied a tailored template and assessment tool to these organizations.

To support its ongoing communications with stakeholders, the PSC has updated the PSC Corporate Information Kit and will be launching an Internet site for its assessment of the Public Service Employment Act. In addition, the PSC has developed an internal Corporate Outreach / Consultation Calendar tool to support internal coordination of speaking engagements and outreach activities.

• Ensure appropriate stakeholder consultation and communication of the Departmental Staffing Accountability Report (DSAR) assessment process; and
• Refine the DSAR assessment process.

The 2009-2010 DSAR assessment process included a streamlined SMAF and DSAR reporting templates, and refined assessment guidelines and analysts' tools. A new approach and template were implemented for micro organizations to reduce the reporting burden.

• Implement a formal data strategy and upgrade its information technology (IT) infrastructure; and
• Continue working with departments and central agencies to contribute to a streamlined government-wide approach to data collection and IT system support.

• Increase its level of resources for its monitoring activities; and
• Invest in succession planning and capacity building in this area.

The PSC also restructured its monitoring activities entity to address long-term sustainability.

• Invest in the team building and leadership of its auditors; and
• Establish and implement a learning strategy to ensure the adherence to methodology and the efficiency of audits (e.g. training and coaching).

As well, implementation of a Professional Development Program in 2009 strengthens succession planning and ensures that the PSC has the right skills to complete the work.

• Tailor its audit methodology to better reflect the specific context of staffing audits with clear linkages to the SMAF and PSC appointment framework, and to better focus audit efforts on matters of risk and significance; and
• Provide appropriate supporting audit tools and technology (e.g. sampling tools and electronic working papers).

In addition, to strengthen audit methodology, tools, sampling software and templates have been developed to support the implementation of the revised methodology.

• Continue to update and revise its resourcing planning model, taking into account recent experience and best practices in the profession;
• Implement its recently revised target budget hours; and
• Implement more rigorous project management techniques to ensure early detection of potential cost overruns and timely corrective action.

• Formally obtain feedback from organizations through a structured survey process; and
• Undergo a periodic external quality assurance review every one to two years.

The PSC is developing methodology and tools to support the quality management and improvement program and contribute to a successful external quality review in 2011.

The PSC has established a performance measurement strategy to measure progress under the Oversight Action Plan.

A logic model is currently with the project office for consideration in moving to the next step, which will be developing a formal performance measurement framework to track implementation of recommendations.

The PSC will make changes, as required, to related reports (e.g. Report on Plans and Priorities [RPP], Departmental Performance Report). Changes will be reflected in the 2011-2012 RPP.