Internal Staffing Audit Audit Report

Corporate Audit and Evaluation Branch
March 2007

• Executive Summary
• Introduction
• Focus of the Audit
• Findings, Recommendations and Action Plans
• 1. Adequacy of Program Management
  • 1.1 A good infrastructure
  • 1.2 The end-state vision for internal staffing needs to be clarified
  • 1.3 Progress has been slow and there is no comprehensive plan to finalize implementation of PQP staffing
  • 1.4 Communication and training on staffing activities could be improved
• 2. Meeting Program Objectives and Business Needs
  • 2.1 Performance measures and reporting are lacking
• 3. Compliance With Agency Staffing Policies
  • 3.1 Processes conducted with a selection process are generally compliant
  • 3.2 Files for staffing actions conducted without a selection process were often not complete
  • 3.3 There is no formal compliance monitoring system in place
• Conclusion
• Glossary of the CRA Staffing Principles

Executive summary

Background: The Canada Customs and Revenue Agency Act established the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) as a separate employer with the authority to develop its own human resources management system. A key expectation for the Agency was to put in place a staffing program, including recourse mechanisms, tailored to support the business needs of the organization and based on values and staffing principles.

In October 1999, the Agency's Board of Management approved the CRA Staffing Program, which set out the proposed overall direction for staffing activities. Objectives were established for internal staffing to be efficient and effective, placing the right person, in the right place, at the right time, and with the right competencies.

The CRA introduced a competency-based human resources management (CBHRM) regime in November 1999 with the expectation of full implementation by the end of the 2004–2005. The CBHRM regime is designed to enable CRA to select, evaluate, develop and promote employees based on competencies that support organizational success. As a starting point, CRA chose to introduce CBHRM through internal staffing and initiated the pre-qualified processes (PQP) on April 1, 2002. Identification of the required competencies was undertaken in 2002 with the official version of the Competency Catalogue posted on InfoZone in May 2003. Employees' individual competencies were to be assessed in order to establish qualified pools for staffing purposes. Standardized assessment tools were developed to allow for portability of competency assessment results across PQPs.

Until PQP implementation reaches full maturity, internal staffing at the CRA has continued to be carried out by way of both PQP, using standardized assessment, and non-PQP (also referred to as transitional selection processes), which may or may not use standardized assessment. In addition to these selection processes, internal staffing actions occur without a selection process, in situations such as temporary acting promotions or same-level lateral assignments.

A significant amount of internal staffing activity is carried out by the Agency each year. For the fiscal years under review, 2003-2004 and 2004-2005, there were approximately 2,000 selection processes undertaken (including both PQP and non-PQP) with more than 60,000 applicants in total. For the same two-year period, there was a large volume of staffing actions without a selection process. The majority of these were for very brief timeframes.

Objectives: The audit objectives were to assess the adequacy of the management of the CRA internal staffing program, assess whether internal staffing activities were responsive to program objectives and business needs and determine whether internal staffing actions were in compliance with Agency staffing policies.

The examination phase was conducted from September 2005 to June 2006 and covered staffing actions taken in the 2003-2004 and 2004-2005 fiscal years.

The audit was conducted in accordance with the International Standards for the Professional Practice of Internal Auditing.

Findings and Conclusion: While certain elements required for the adequate management of the staffing program are in place and working, others are not yet fully functional, including program planning, performance measurement and reporting, and the monitoring of staffing activities.

The Human Resources Branch developed a good infrastructure to support the management of internal staffing activities. A basic foundation established through the CRA Staffing Program has been further supported through the development of the Competency Policy and Framework, Staffing Delegation Framework, a suite of program bulletins and guidelines and some standardized assessment tools.

Goals and objectives that support the business needs of the Agency have also been established by the Human Resources Branch (HRB) for internal staffing. Specific objectives are that values and staffing principles will guide staffing activities and that skilled employees will be identified through competencies. The PQP approach was designed to provide efficiencies not available with non-PQP processes.

The introduction of PQP staffing was founded on the understanding that all CRA jobs and employees would acquire competency profiles and that staffing would be an efficient process based on matching organizational needs with employee availability. For the period under review, 21% of staffing processes conducted were PQP. At the time of the audit, limited progress had been made to develop the necessary profiles but they were not completed to the point where efficiencies were apparent. Managers were not always able to choose the PQP approach in all cases due to the lack of a job profile or insufficient resources to complete a PQP in a timely manner.

The audit revealed that there was no overall Agency implementation plan developed to determine when job profiles would be completed and when PQP staffing would be fully implemented. Such a plan is necessary for effective program management and to outline clear deliverables, required resources and accountabilities, and to monitor progress on implementation.

Since its inception, there have been numerous changes to procedures for PQP staffing based on stakeholder consultations and program reviews. These changes have contributed to some confusion for employees and managers about how different elements of internal staffing work together and whether the anticipated benefits have been achieved. A clarified vision of the end-state is required. During the 2003-2004 fiscal year, the CBHRM Advisory Committee was mobilized to provide direction for CBHRM. In March 2006, two working groups from the CBHRM Advisory Committee were tasked to review the staffing program to confirm its direction and to identify opportunities for improvement.

A number of mechanisms are used by HRB to communicate ongoing internal staffing information throughout the Agency. The audit found that in some instances, the information was not targeted to the appropriate stakeholders and that some information on InfoZone, the Agency's internal web-site, was out-of-date or had no effective date, making it difficult to know what was current. Some improvements are required in training available for the HR community, hiring managers and employees to ensure their needs are met.

There have been a number of detailed performance measurement frameworks developed for the CRA Staffing Program over the past six years, but data for the indicators was not collected primarily due to system challenges, program changes and lack of available data. The audit found that the lack of adequate performance measures limits the ability of senior management to monitor and report on the program's efficiency and effectiveness.

Audit examination of a sample of staffing files indicated that the majority of staffing actions resulting from a formal selection process (PQP and non-PQP) were adequately documented, had evidence of sound staffing practices and generally complied with the staffing policies. Alternatively, Internal Audit could not determine the extent of compliance for staffing actions that did not have a formal selection process due to a lack of documentation on file. Internal Audit was told that some documentation might be retained by the hiring managers, be in employee files, or be associated and maintained on files where there had been a selection process. The files reviewed however, made no reference to the source of other documentation. Formal risk-based monitoring of staffing actions to ensure compliance was also found to be occurring only on a limited basis.

A common weakness identified by the auditors in most staffing files was a lack of supporting information at the placement stage. While general placement criteria were usually stated, more information on file about why specific qualified candidates were chosen would provide better documentation of the placement decision. Documentation of placement criteria will be even more important when PQP staffing is fully implemented and large pools of pre-qualified candidates have been created for many Agency jobs.

Management's Response: The Agency remains committed to the implementation of a Human Resource (HR) system based on competencies. Competency based human resources management (CBHRM) marks a significant change from the rules based approach to selection processes that has been in use by the general public service. The findings of this audit describe implementation issues arising from these changes, with CBHRM remaining the corner stone of HR management at CRA.

To that end, HRB accepts the audit recommendations and continues with the development of an action plan that will include the recommendations emanating from ongoing working groups that are focussed on identifying opportunities for enhancements to the CBHRM regime. It is anticipated that the working groups will be ready to report to the CBHRM Advisory Committee in March 2007.

To refocus attention on the end-state vision, a document is being finalized by HRB to be used as the foundation for communication with managers and employees throughout the Agency. HRB has committed to sharing this vision with the Agency Management Committee (AMC) along with an action plan and implementation strategy by end of April 2007. Progress will be monitored and reported to AMC on a regular basis

To ensure that progress continues with the use of Pre-Qualification Processes, expected results for the 2007-2008 performance agreements for Assistant Commissioners will include the finalization of JCPs, as well as the increased use of PQPs.

Further, the plan will establish an end-date for transitional processes with each region/branch having plans to implement within a specified and reasonable time frame such as 18 months. A communication strategy is expected to be in place by June 2007.

It is important to note that the overall performance of the Agency has improved year over year as reported in the Annual Report and in order to improve performance, the Agency needs the right employees to do the work. Clearly, the staffing regime is responsive to the Agency's business needs as evidenced by the excellent performance as an organization as well as continuing to respect the eight principles of the staffing regime. Efficiency and effectiveness of a staffing regime can be measured by indicators such as time to staff, cost, having the right employee in place to perform the business of the Agency, etc. Such performance measures will be confirmed as part of the new Service Delivery Model (SDM) for HR activities that was announced in November 2006. This major change initiative is expected to be fully implemented in the next two to three years.

HRB is presently developing a Monitoring Framework that will provide for an ongoing assessment of the extent to which HR programs are meeting program objectives and are being managed in accordance with HR policies, standards and procedures.

Introduction

The Canada Customs and Revenue Agency (CCRA) Act established the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) as a separate employer with the authority to develop its own human resources management system. A key expectation for the Agency was to put in place an efficient and effective staffing program, including recourse mechanisms, tailored to the business needs of the organization and based on values and staffing principles.

In October 1999, the Board of Management approved the CRA Staffing Program, which set out the overall proposed direction for staffing activities. It is comprised of several policy components such as: Delegation and Accountability, Staffing Plans, Staffing Processes, Recourse for Staffing, Review and Reporting Requirements, and Monitoring and Evaluation.

Competency-Based Human Resource Management: The overall objective for internal staffing is to have the right person, in the right place, at the right time and with the right competencies.

The CRA introduced a competency-based human resources management (CBHRM) regime in November 1999 with the expectation of full implementation by the end of the 2004-2005. The CBHRM regime is designed to enable CRA to select, evaluate, develop and promote employees based on competencies that support organizational success. Resourcing and recruitment, human resource planning, performance management, career management and training and learning will all be linked through the use of the CRA competencies.

The CBHRM system uses job-related competencies to drive all human resources activities. The Agency has defined a competency as any measurable or observable skill, ability, knowledge, or behavioural characteristic that contributes to successful job performance.

The CRA chose to initially introduce CBHRM through internal staffing in order to achieve immediate results. Employees' individual competencies are assessed in order to establish qualified pools of candidates available for staffing purposes. The standardized assessment allows for portability of competency assessment results, a procedure referred to as a pre-qualified process (PQP). The implementation of PQPs was initiated on April 1, 2002. Identification of the required competencies for specific jobs was undertaken in 2002 with the official version of the Competency Catalogue posted on InfoZone in May 2003.

The CRA Staffing Program: The CRA Staffing Program sets the overall direction for staffing activities and is guided by the Agency's staffing principles: non-partisanship, representativeness, competency, fairness, transparency, efficiency, adaptability and productiveness (see Annex 1). These staffing principles have been determined by the Public Service Commission to be compatible with the principles governing staffing under the Public Service Employment Act in accordance with Section 56 of the CCRA Act.

There are a number of types of internal staffing actions undertaken at the CRA:

• PQP, as described earlier, involve the use of standardized assessment tools to assess employee competencies and results are portable to other PQP processes. At the time of the audit, only a limited group of trained competency consultants could conduct the assessment.
• Non-PQP or transitional processes involve the use of locally developed assessment tools. Assessment is conducted by a selection board or hiring manager and results are valid only for the selection process for which the assessment was done.
• Processes without formal selection include permanent and temporary lateral moves, permanent promotions and temporary acting positions. As with the other types of staffing processes, rationale for the selection decision is required.

A significant amount of internal staffing activity is carried out by the Agency each year. For the fiscal years under review, 2003-2004 and 2004-2005, there were approximately 2,000 selection processes undertaken (including both PQP and non-PQP processes) with more than 60,000 applicants in total. For the same two year period there were 22,000 staffing actions completed without a selection process as a result of lateral moves and acting appointments (including extensions): 12,000 as a result of lateral moves and 10,000 as a result of employees being appointed on an acting basis for more than six months. As well, an additional 48,000 staffing actions were undertaken to place employees in acting appointments (including extensions) for a period of less than six months. Many of these acting appointments were for very brief timeframes to replace staff away on business, holidays, etc. Of these appointments, 24% were for durations of 5 days or less while a significant number, 63%, were for 30 days or less[Footnote 1].

The complexities and challenges of implementing competency-based staffing have been considerable and modifications and adjustments to the program have had to be made over the past five years. Program reviews carried out during that time identified a number of issues with the implementation of the CBHRM system relating to internal staffing and specifically to PQP processes. As such, this audit was identified and approved by the Internal Audit Management Committee in the Corporate Audit and Evaluation 2005-2008 Business Plan.

Focus of the audit

The objectives of the audit were:

1. To assess whether the internal staffing program is being adequately managed;
2. To assess whether internal staffing activities are responsive to program objectives and business needs, and;
3. To determine whether internal staffing actions are compliant with Agency staffing policies.

The examination phase took place from September 2005 to June 2006 and covered staffing actions taken in the 2003-2004 and 2004-2005 fiscal years.

The audit was conducted in accordance with the International Standards for the Professional Practice of Internal Auditing.

Scope: The audit encompassed a review of the internal staffing component of the CRA Staffing Program, staffing directives, supporting information and HRB reporting systems. It included a review of 336 internal staffing actions comprised of 48 PQP and 54 non-PQP (transitional) selection processes and 234 staffing actions without a selection process. The sample of staffing actions without a selection process represented employees who were placed either permanently or in a temporary position for more than one year.

The audit involved the Human Resources, Information Technology and Assessment and Benefit Services Branches, as well as the Pacific, Prairie, Quebec and Atlantic regions. Twenty offices were visited – covering Tax Centres, Tax Services Offices, and Headquarters' (HQ) branches. A total of 426 participants including managers, employees, human resources (HR) staff, and union representatives met in an interview or focus group setting. At HQ, interviews were conducted with corporate stakeholders in the Human Resources Branch (HRB), primarily in the Resourcing and Career Management Division (RCMD). As well, discussions were held in Ottawa with national union officials.

The audit did not include executive cadre staffing, promotion by reclassification, the rehire of seasonal term employees for recurring work at the Tax Centres, or placement from management training programs, apprenticeship programs or student bridging since these are subject to different staffing criteria.  

Findings, recommendations and action plans

1.0 Adequacy of program management

1.1 A Good Infrastructure Exists

The Human Resources Branch developed a good infrastructure to provide direction and support for staffing activities. The Competency Policy, Competency Framework and Staffing Delegation Framework support the strategic direction set out in the CRA Staffing Program for managing staffing activities and clearly define a governance model and roles and responsibilities. Standardized assessment tools and job competency profiles support program delivery; while HR guidelines and bulletins clarify the process. Most HR staffing activities are recorded in the Agency's Corporate Administrative System (CAS), although the audit identified a number of technical challenges with the system. Employees access information about staffing from the Careers website and InfoZone, the Agency's intranet site.

Goals and objectives have been established for the Agency's staffing program. For internal staffing activities, they are based on the premise that excellent organizational performance will result from placing the right person, in the right job, at the right time. Specific objectives are that values and staffing principles will guide staffing activities, skilled employees will be identified through competencies, and that facilitated HR planning and strategic decision-making will provide direction. The pre-qualified process (PQP) approach was designed to provide efficiencies that were not available with non-PQP processes.

1.2 The end-state vision for internal staffing needs to be clarified

When the CRA became an Agency, the vision established for competency-based internal staffing was founded on the understanding that all CRA jobs and employees would acquire competency profiles and that staffing would be an efficient process based on matching organizational needs with employee availability. Most employees and managers interviewed during the audit understood these elements of the vision.

Since the initial launch of PQP staffing, there have been numerous changes made to the processes. Some changes have been seen as positive, such as the introduction of a distinct base competency profile for jobs that signalled the reduction of the number of competencies that needed to be assessed in a PQP selection process. Recent changes to retest periods have made the retest rules for standardized assessment tools more consistent and fair.

However, discussions with managers, employees and union representatives indicated that for many stakeholders the changes to PQP staffing activities have resulted in a lack of clarity in the direction that the program has taken. For example, questions were raised about when PQP staffing was to be used, and whether PQP staffing will be used to staff all Agency positions or only the most common jobs. Managers were unclear on what staffing processes were best conducted by a PQP and what was to be the future of transitional (non-PQP) staffing. A low take-up rate in the use of PQPs in the regions and branches has also added some confusion as to the direction the program is going. While some locations have undertaken special initiatives to advance the use of PQPs, on average 21% of selection processes were recorded as PQP in the Agency for the period under review, as shown in Table 1.

Table 1

*Excludes processes not finalized or cancelled as well as “without” selection processes
Source: CAS data provided by Resourcing and Career Management Division, HRB

Employees also commented that the rules on portability of assessment results were both confusing and not efficient. They understand that non-standardized assessment results are not portable and therefore cannot be used in a PQP staffing process but they question why PQP results cannot be used for non-PQP staffing.

Another important change that was introduced in 2005-2006 was the Observe and Attest (O&A) initiative following advice of the CBHRM Advisory Committee members established to examine CBHRM issues. This approach allows managers to become involved in the assessment of their employees' competencies instead of relying only on competency consultants. Results from the manager's assessment will help populate the employee's base competency profile that is used for pre-qualification purposes.

While employees and managers appreciate the involvement of managers in the assessment of competencies, they noted that the assessments were based on different criteria than assessments by a competency consultant (i.e. behaviour over a six month period, versus a single event; behaviour at work versus an event at or outside of work). Concerns were expressed that this might lead to different results and therefore, that strong quality controls would be required to ensure O&A will be a standardized assessment tool.

Recommendation:

• HRB should clarify, articulate and communicate all aspects of the end-state vision for competency-based internal staffing.

Action Plans

• HRB is effecting an action plan and implementation strategy that will encompass all aspects of CBHRM in addition to staffing. The vision for CBHRM has been confirmed and will be used as the foundation for communicating with managers and employees. HRB has committed to sharing this vision with the Agency Management Committee (AMC) along with an action plan and implementation strategy by end of April 2007. Progress will be monitored and reported to AMC on a regular basis. As well, funding will be pursued through Business Cases as applicable.
• To ensure that progress continues with the use of Pre-Qualification Processes (PQPs), expected results for the 2007-2008 performance agreements for Assistant Commissioners will include the finalization of JCPs, as well as increased use of PQPs.
• Further, the plan will establish an end-date for hybrid processes with each region/branch having plans to implement within a specified and reasonable time frame such as 18 months. A communication strategy is to be in place by June 2007.
• Implementation of Observe and Attest (O&A) continues to be a priority for the Agency and, as such, will be proposed for mandatory inclusion in the performance agreements for the Executive Cadre (EC) and Management Group (MG) for 2007-2008.
• To ensure a consistent application of O&A, a National Pre-Attestation Quality Assurance Guideline was established in May 2006. In turn, each branch and region has implemented a quality assurance process.
• Two end-state selection process pilots are in the planning stage; the first will take place at the Winnipeg Tax Centre and the second is planned for HRB. It is anticipated that these pilots will commence in the Spring 2007. The pilots will confirm the end-state vision for selection processes under CBHRM. Lessons learned will be used to continue to enhance the vision as the Agency moves forward.

1.3 Progress has been slow and there is no comprehensive plan to finalize implementation of PQP staffing

Staffing Directive E1, Guidelines for Staffing During the Implementation of the Pre-Qualified Process, was developed as part of the CRA Staffing Program in 1999. At the time it was expected that full implementation would be complete by the end of the 2004-2005 and though the target has not been met, it was never adjusted. At the time of the audit, the Agency did not have a revised implementation plan for PQP staffing that clearly outlined deliverables, new timeframes, changing responsibilities and required resources. Without such a plan, there is no means by which to objectively measure progress or hold those accountable for any delays.

For PQP staffing to be considered fully implemented, competency profiles have to be in place for CRA jobs[Footnote 2]. The audit reviewed the progress made in these two areas and found that while some progress has been made as described below, more effort is required to fully implement this critical element of PQP.

1. Job competency profiles (JCP): At the time of the audit, job profiles were developed for the most common CRA jobs, which represented 76% of employees. However, there were a significant number of jobs for which profiles had not been developed. As of April 2006, only 32% of jobs had a completed profile while another 23% of job profiles were only in draft form and needed review.

Responsibility for developing job profiles rests with the business process owners for the jobs and not with HRB. At the time of the audit, there were no formal plans to complete the remaining profiles or to review existing profiles. Most interviewees noted that priority had not been given to this task, largely due to time and resource constraints.

2. Employee competency profiles: Employee profiles contain portable competency assessment results for organizational, behavioural and technical competencies. These profiles are used in PQP staffing. Progress in the development of employee competency profiles has not been significant which limits the benefits of portability. At the end of March 2005, 10,000 employees had at least one competency assessed, but 7,000 of those employees had fewer than six competencies assessed. Given that CBHRM applies to nearly 40,000 employees, this represents modest advancement.

A number of factors were found to have contributed to this situation including:

• Employees not able to be assessed for competencies if their job does not have a job competency profile.
• As CBHRM was introduced through internal staffing, primarily only employees involved in a PQP selection process were assessed for their competencies.
• Except for changes implemented with the O&A initiative, only competency consultants have been authorized to assess competencies using standardized competency assessment tools. Hiring managers and HR advisors pointed out that there were insufficient numbers of competency consultants to meet the demand for PQP staffing. At the time of the audit, there were only 25 competency consultants in the Agency. It is estimated a competency consultant can assess an average of 400 to 600 individual competencies per year. Most job profiles contain 15 to 18 competencies while the smaller base profile requires 4 to 6 competencies to be assessed. The challenge to assess the eligible Agency employees in a timely manner under these conditions is enormous.
• Some employees indicated that they did not understand the requirements for PQP assessment and therefore chose not to apply to a PQP staffing action. The two prime assessment methods used in a PQP are referred to as the portfolio of competencies (POC) and the target behavioural interview (TBI). Primarily, these assessment methods are used to illustrate an event, which allows for the assessment of organizational, behavioural and technical competencies. Fewer than half the employees interviewed felt adequately prepared to submit the information required for assessment in a POC or participate in a TBI, because they were not clear on what was expected from them.
• Some staff noted they had not applied or had withdrawn from processes due to the time needed to prepare for the standardized assessments. Employees and union representatives stated concerns with the time it took to prepare for standardized assessment methods. For example, many employees noted that the preparation time was significant for the POC (reported to take from 25 up to 100 hours).
• Only a few standardized tools for technical competencies have been developed. For most of the technical competencies, hiring managers continue to have to develop and administer their own local assessment tools. Results from these technical assessments are not included in employee profiles.

Internal Audit recognizes that HRB has undertaken a number of consultations with various stakeholders to gather their input to advance CBHRM and address some of the issues identified in the audit. A March 2006 announcement from HRB noted that priority would be placed on assessment outside of staffing actions, including the provision of additional competency consultants, to support employees in building their own profiles. This announcement also pointed out that preference would be given to the TBI method of assessment over the POC to alleviate some of the difficulties that had been encountered with the POC.

The Observe and Attest (O&A) initiative is intended to expedite the population of employee competency profiles by involving managers in the standardized assessment of three employee competencies. More involvement from the managers will address some of the concerns raised by employees and union officials that competency consultants are perceived to lack consistency in their assessment approach and results and have an apparent lack of understanding of the candidates' work area.

Benefits of PQP to date, as stated by HRB, include the creation of pre-qualified pools and the placement of employees in positions without a new selection process. As well, information gathered in PQP selection processes is available for future work force analysis thereby increasing CRA's knowledge of its workforce. With transitional processes, this information is not leveraged at the conclusion of a selection process. While Internal Audit acknowledges that the recent actions taken by HRB have advanced the assessment of competencies, a comprehensive plan is still required to determine the extent of the benefit from full implementation of PQP.

Recommendations:

• HRB, in consultation with senior management should prepare a comprehensive implementation plan for PQP staffing, including plans to complete job profiles and enhance employee profiles. These plans should clearly outline deliverables, timeframes, responsibilities and required resources. Progress on this plan needs to be monitored by senior management to assess risks and set priorities.
• HRB should continue to gather, analyse and address employees' and hiring managers' concerns on internal staffing.

Action Plans

• To ensure that progress continues with the use of PQPs, expected results for the 2007-2008 performance agreements for Assistant Commissioners will include the finalization of JCPs, as well as increased use of PQPs. HRB will continue to monitor progress and report findings to AMC.
• All jobs submitted for classification must include a completed JCP as of May 1, 2007.
• Further, the plan will establish an end-date for transitional processes with each region/branch having plans to implement within a specified and reasonable time frame such as 18 months. Communication strategy to be in place by June 2007.
• Implementation of O&A continues to be a priority for the Agency and, as such, will be proposed for mandatory inclusion in the performance agreements for ECs and MGs for 2007-2008.
• The Agency continues to move towards the full implementation of the CBHRM regime as evidenced by the memo on “Enhancements to Improve the Staffing Process” provided to AMC and Regional HR Directors by email on March 28, 2006.
• Recommendations emanating from the JCP and CC working groups will be submitted for consideration by the CBHRM Advisory Committee and for approval by AMC. These recommendations are intended to address the on going concerns of hiring managers, employees and unions regarding internal staffing. It is anticipated that the working groups will be ready to report to the CBHRM Advisory Committee in March 2007 and then presented to AMC in May 2007.
• A review of the Competency Catalogue is currently underway to ensure that the stated competencies meet CRA's business needs. Completion of this review is anticipated by end of June 2007 with on going reviews as required. In addition, the profiles are being reviewed by the working group in order to ensure they meet the needs of CBHRM.
• It should be noted that the Agency Classification Standards/Services and Programs (ACS/SP) initiative has significantly reduced the number of jobs, which has also resulted in harmonization of the associated JCPs. Further, as a priority prior to implementation, JCPs for all common jobs have been developed.
• Education is on the forefront ensuring that all individuals understand their respective roles and responsibilities. “Just in Time” training (JIT) sessions are given to candidates in selection processes to focus on understanding competencies including the selection of appropriate events for consideration. The JIT training package is being revised in order to produce a consistent national training package. Anticipate completion of revised version by Spring 2007. Information is also available to employees on the Competency Website, which will be revised on an ongoing basis as CBHRM evolves.
• Further enhancements will be made to standardized tools to simplify their use and reduce the amount of preparation time by candidates.

1.4 Communication and training on staffing activities could be improved

Communication: Informally, communication of internal staffing information occurs through ongoing working relationships, meetings and discussions with colleagues, supervisors and managers. Formal communication occurs primarily through Agency-wide e-mails and InfoZone.

Employees and hiring managers reported that they rely extensively on InfoZone for all types of corporate information. Internal staffing-related information was found to be extensive, but some elements were difficult to locate, while some of the information was clearly out-of-date or had no effective date making it difficult to know what was current, so that the application would be correct and consistent.

For the HR community, information primarily cascades down from HRB senior management or regional HR management to HR advisors. Some HR advisors noted that information is communicated to them at the same time as operational areas, which often does not allow sufficient time for them to become familiar with the new information before having to respond to enquiries.

Training: All participants in the interviews conducted during the audit identified additional training needs. A few HR advisors, primarily those new to their job, noted that they would benefit from formal training to increase their professionalism and assist them in providing strategic advice to hiring managers. They indicated that support from colleagues, while necessary, was not sufficient. CAS users indicated that the CAS training they received was not adequate for their needs to understand the system requirements.

Many of the hiring managers interviewed commented that they need additional training on the staffing directives for the placement stage of a selection process and on staffing recourse, in particular, to provide Decision Review (DR) and prepare for Independent Third Party Review (ITPR).

Most employees in a PQP selection process receive a half-day, just in time (JIT), training session on how to participate. The provision of JIT training was inconsistent throughout the Agency. Some offices have extended the training to two or three days; a few do not offer it at all. Most employees emphasized that these sessions were necessary to understand PQP requirements as they find the process very complex. Although information has recently been added to InfoZone, employees expressed a need for interactive sessions with experts in order to understand how to succeed in a PQP.

Recommendations:

• HRB should ensure that staffing information for employees and hiring managers on InfoZone is comprehensive, easy to find and current.
• HRB should ensure that critical staffing information, which is provided to HR staff, managers and employees, is targeted to ensure that the communication is timely.
• HRB, in consultation with the intended recipients, should develop the required specific training for the HR community, hiring managers and employees.

Action Plans

• The HRB web site was updated in 2005. Review and updates continue. As well, the HR Community Strategic Renewal team is undertaking a review and redesign of the Employee's Corner site. The Training and Learning Directorate is also undertaking a review and redesign of the Manager's Corner site.
• A Staffing Policy Simplification initiative is underway with the majority of the work activities planned for 2007/08. This initiative includes the review of the staffing program policies, directives and guidelines and will be completed in consultation with the HR community. This will also address the need for more effective maintenance of revisions and dates.
• Many Agency resourcing directives, policies and processes have been adapted and revised on an ongoing basis as part of program delivery and applicable information sessions are provided to the HR community to ensure full understanding of the changes.
• The HR Community Strategic Renewal team is facilitating the development of several training products that will provide step-by-step technical training for HR Advisors. In addition, a new on-line course, Staffing for New Resourcing Advisors, was developed and piloted in October 2006 with the final on-line version implemented in January 2007.
• A learning strategy for the HR/RH community is under development, which will cover all resourcing activities. A number of training products and tools to assist managers are currently under review, such as the Staffing Delegation course and educational products for Individual Feedback, both of which are now being developed as e-learning tools with anticipated release dates of June and October 2007, respectively. The Manager's Guide to Understanding Recourse was updated and published in June 2006. A revised bulletin on Placement was issued in September 2005. As part of program delivery, the bulletin is once again under revision with anticipated release date of Spring 2007.
• Courses, information sessions and tools have been developed for HR managers to support learning on key HR issues including effective management of term employees, preferred status and ITPR; all of which are to be rolled out in 2007/08.

2.0 Meeting program objectives and business needs

2.1 Performance measures and reporting are lacking

In order to assess whether internal staffing was meeting its program objectives and business needs, the audit expected to review management's mechanisms to track performance such as performance measures and reports on results. At the time of the audit, adequate formal mechanisms were limited.

One of the key objectives, stated when the CRA became an Agency, was that staffing would be more timely than pre-Agency in order to meet business needs. At the time of the audit examination, more than four years into the implementation of the program, improvements in timeliness of staffing could not be determined. Some information is available from CAS on the time it takes to complete the various phases of a staffing action but the data is incomplete and therefore unreliable.

In fact, employees and hiring managers mentioned the lack of timeliness for both PQP and non-PQP staffing as a serious issue. In the audit examination of 102 staffing processes, the number of days that lapsed between a job poster closing and a qualified pool being established varied from 20 days to 268 days for non-PQP processes and from 44 days to more than one year for PQP processes. The audit was not able to conclude why some processes took a long time to finalize. At the time of the audit, there were no national service standards for internal staffing, with the exception of timeframes to provide recourse. Site visits identified a number of locally developed service standards and service-level agreements between hiring managers and the local HR staff to suit local requirements.

The Agency needs adequate performance information to provide program results in support of program improvements. Presently, the main performance information collected is the volume of internal staffing activities, for example the total numbers of applicants, assessments, qualified candidates and recourse activity. This information is collected each quarter from the regions and branches and rolled up into a national summary by HRB. All regions and branches run parallel systems because of the difficulties of inputting data in CAS and the requirement to report information that is not collected in CAS. Considerable manual effort is taken by the HR staff to collect the required information. This results in duplication of effort and a risk that data is not reported consistently.

HRB had not finalized performance indicators to track program results. There have been a number of detailed performance frameworks developed for the CRA Staffing Program over the past six years, but data for the indicators was not collected primarily due to system challenges, program changes and lack of available data. The focus of the most recent draft framework is an indicator on time to staff for the various types of selection processes.

Cost information on staffing processes was also not being collected at the time of the audit. HRB indicated that they were developing a framework for collecting costs that may be integrated with performance information. Without adequate cost information, HRB is not able to assure senior management that the Agency's competency-based staffing is an efficient use of resources.

The lack of performance measures has limited HRB's ability to report on internal staffing. The most recent Resourcing Report prepared for HRB management covered three fiscal years (2002-2005) and outlined the CRA's general progress with implementing competency-based initiatives in general but had no specific information on staffing activities.

Other corporate reports prepared for senior management, such as the Agency's Corporate Business Plan, did not outline any specific targets for internal staffing activities or show how results supported the business needs of the Agency. Without adequate reports on performance information, Agency management is not able to determine the extent to which the goals and objectives have been achieved or if business needs have been met.

Recommendations:

• HRB, in consultation with senior management, should finalize performance measure indicators, which reflect the goals and objectives of internal staffing.
• Corporate reporting to senior management should demonstrate progress against specific targets for staffing activities and confirm that results are supporting the business needs of the Agency.

Action Plans

• In conjunction with the new Service Delivery Model (SDM) initiative, performance measures will be confirmed and where necessary established to ensure that measures reflect corporate reporting requirements as well as reflecting the strategic business objectives of Resourcing. These measures will reflect the need to keep the integrity of the staffing program at the forefront while respecting business needs of managers. Given that SDM started to be implemented in December 2006 and is undergoing significant change, work on performance measurement development will only commence towards fiscal 2007/08.
• Time to Staff information has been reported in the In-Year reports to AMC for Q3 2006/2007 and is now a standing item on the agenda for all future reports. Time to Staff data is maintained within CAS. Timely data entry is reinforced with the regions through regular communications and will be closely monitored to ensure quality.
• A significant amount of groundwork has been completed including the establishment of an initial framework for the development of an activity based costing model for staffing. This costing model will provide the Agency with meaningful data with respect to one of the key performance indicators, Cost per Hire. The model will also take into account cost and level of effort breakdowns of various staffing components such as pre-screening, assessment, etc. Benefits anticipated will include a level of assurance that staffing is delivered in an effective and efficient manner and assist in measuring the return on investment of technical enhancements and/or process improvements. It is anticipated that the implementation of this model will occur in fiscal year 2008/09 to align with the budget cycle.
• The Board of Management Oversight Framework for CRA, proposed by the Corporate Strategies and Business Development Branch (CSBDB) has been approved by the Board of Management. The proposal includes elements of oversight of HR similar to those in the Treasury Board / Public Service Human Resources Management Agency's Management Accountability Framework (MAF). It is expected that the HRB Planning and Performance Measurement Working Group will provide input on key questions and potential indicators for the “People”, “CRA Values”, and “Learning, Innovation, and Change Management” elements of the framework in the Winter of 2007.

3.0 Compliance with agency staffing policies

According to the CCRA Act, the Agency is authorized to appoint individuals whom it considers necessary for the proper conduct of business. Staffing activities are guided by eight staffing principles: non-partisanship, representativeness, competency, fairness, transparency, efficiency, adaptability and productiveness (see Annex 1).

There are a number of controls in place to communicate and encourage compliance with staffing policies. Examples include the CRA Staffing Program, the Staffing Delegation Framework, training for HR staff, managers, selection board members and employees, staffing file checklists and, finally, staffing recourse mechanisms. CRA staffing remains a balance of adherence to rules while still benefiting from the flexibility provided by the staffing principles.

To assess compliance to staffing policies, a judgmental[Footnote 3], as opposed to a random sample of 102 files with a selection process (48 PQP and 54 non-PQP) and 234 files for staffing actions without a selection process were reviewed. The judgmental sample was designed to include a broad cross-section of types and levels of jobs including processes at headquarters, in large Tax Centres and in smaller Tax Services Offices. Some processes were chosen because they were unproductive or had been cancelled.

Generally, compliance with policies and procedures was evident for staffing conducted with a selection process. However, this was not the case when no selection process was used. Additional information on compliance in both situations is noted below. Detailed results of the file examination have been provided to program management.

3.1 Processes conducted with a selection process are generally compliant

Notices of job opportunities, which are posted internally on the CRA Careers website, were generally well prepared. They offered extensive information on the positions to be staffed and the requirements for the staffing process including the assessment and placement criteria and tools to be applied.

Overall, the majority of staffing transactions reviewed were adequately documented, had evidence of sound staffing practices and complied with staffing policies. Certain requirements were sometimes missing from files, such as completed staffing file checklists, planning documents and offers of special accommodation to applicants. Some offices maintained specific documentation in separate or electronic files, but
cross-referencing to the location of these files was usually not included.

The audit examination of staffing files highlighted some concerns with placement information. Previously, with pre-Agency staffing, placement was determined by a rank ordered list of qualified candidates. With the present staffing approach, all candidates who have successfully qualified and have placed in a qualified pool may be considered for placement.

Most job posters listed a variety, usually six to ten, of possible placement criteria for each selection process such as availability, employment equity, geographic location, budget considerations, depth, breadth and type of experience or results of additional qualifications or competencies linked to work-specific requirements. In most cases, basic placement information could be determined and placement was usually based on one or more of the placement criteria from the job poster, but few files contained any detail on why specific candidates were chosen based on the “right fit”, as explained in the Staffing Bulletin[Footnote 4]. Union representatives and many employees noted that rationale for the specific placement criteria chosen or individuals selected was not always transparent or appeared to be fair. It should be noted that the existing policy does not require hiring managers to document to this level of detail but documentation of placement decisions will be even more important when PQP staffing is fully implemented and large pools of pre-qualified candidates have been created for many Agency jobs. Additional documentation about placement decisions would support the foundation of “right fit” that is applied within staffing actions.

3.2 Files for staffing actions conducted without a selection process were often not complete

The 234 staffing files reviewed for staffing actions without a selection process included acting promotions and temporary lateral moves for more than one year, permanent lateral moves, permanent promotions and change in tenure from term to permanent which could include with or without a selection process. The review of these files for staffing transactions without a selection process revealed documentation was often incomplete. In most files, in particular for acting positions, justification for the staffing action was not well documented. The CRA Staffing Program states that acting appointments are not generally to exceed 12 months and exceptions are to be approved by senior managers according to delegated responsibilities. In almost all cases, the signature was from a manager with the appropriate level of delegation but sufficient explanation was not evident or the appointment well supported.

Fewer than half the files reviewed contained evidence that rights to recourse had been offered. Minimum staffing requirements such as proof of education, language and security clearance were frequently missing. Internal Audit was told that some documentation might be retained by the hiring managers, be in employee files, or be associated and maintained on files where there had been a selection process. The files reviewed however, made no reference to the source of other documentation. Without adequate documentation to examine, it was not possible to conclude that the staffing actions were compliant with policies or adhered to Agency staffing principles.

3.3 There is no formal compliance monitoring system in place

The CRA Staffing Program, as documented in 1999, indicated that a monitoring and evaluation system would be developed to allow for review and analysis of its effectiveness. At the time of the audit, there was no evidence that a formal system had been developed and implemented.

There is some informal monitoring of staffing activities. The audit found that HR staff monitors staffing actions through ongoing discussions and challenges with hiring managers and selection boards. Hiring managers stated that staffing issues are frequently a standing item at management meetings. Staffing recourse also acts as a control for compliance with policies. However, this informal structure does not provide regular, structured feedback to program management.

Recommendations:

• HRB should develop a risk-based monitoring system for staffing activities.
• HRB should encourage hiring managers to document in more detail the placement rationale used to support their selection decisions.
• HRB should clarify the records required for documenting processes without a selection process, including where such documentation is to be retained.

Action Plans

• HRB has developed an HR Monitoring Framework as a mechanism for integrated project and activity tracking in fiscal year 2006-2007. Once fully implemented, it will provide senior managers with an on going assessment of the extent to which the program objectives and management expectations are being met. The objective of the framework is to ensure that HR programs are being managed in accordance with CRA human resources policies, standards and procedures and are producing the intended results. The monitoring process proposed in the framework is being tested through a pilot project in the Pacific region in Winter 2007. Resourcing intends to participate in fall 2007, which will include file management of resourcing activities. Initial monitoring areas have been identified and include the post appointment review of staffing files.
• As part of program delivery, the bulletin on Placement is under revision with anticipated release date of Spring 2007.
• An initiative is underway to improve the requirements for staffing without a selection process. Guidelines are currently under development, which will include details with respect to maintenance of files; final draft anticipated for April 2007. Once presented to AMC, the guidelines will be posted on the HR site of InfoZone. In addition, the new HR SDM will reinforce the requirements through the standardization of resourcing processes.

Conclusion

In many respects, the CRA has a good infrastructure in place to support the management of internal staffing activities. There is the CRA Staffing Program including directives, as well as a Competency Policy and Framework, a Staffing Delegation Framework, a suite of program bulletins and guidelines and some standardized assessment tools. Goals and objectives have been developed that support the business needs of the Agency.

However, since 2003, there have been numerous changes to procedures for internal staffing and particularly for PQPs. While hiring managers and employees view many of these changes as necessary, they have contributed to some confusion about how different elements of internal staffing activities will work. To improve on the effectiveness of the management of internal staffing, the Agency needs to clearly articulate the program direction and end-state vision and prepare a comprehensive implementation plan that includes clear deliverables, required resources and responsibilities.

Reporting on internal staffing activities is weak. Performance measures have either not been developed or lack reliability, limiting the ability to both assess and report on the program's efficiency and effectiveness. Without adequate performance information, the Agency is not able to accurately determine whether staffing activities are responsive to program objectives and are meeting business needs.

From the review of staffing files, the audit was able to conclude that the majority of staffing actions that were based on a selection process (PQP and non-PQP) were adequately documented, had evidence of sound staffing practices and generally complied with staffing policies. In contrast, due to a lack of documentation on files for staffing actions that did not have a selection process, the same level of compliance cannot be assured.

A common weakness in most staffing files was a lack of information at the placement stage. Documentation of placement criteria will be even more important to enhance transparency and the perception of fairness when PQP staffing is fully implemented and large pools of pre-qualified candidates exist for many Agency jobs.

Annex 1

Glossary of the CRA Staffing Principles

• Non-partisanship: The workforce must conduct itself in a manner that is free from political and bureaucratic influence. Staffing decisions must be free from political and bureaucratic influence.
  
• Representativeness: The composition of our workforce reflects the available labour market.
  
• Competency: The workforce possesses the attributes required for effective job performance.
  
• Fairness: Staffing decisions are equitable, just and objective.
  
• Transparency: Communications about staffing are open, honest, respectful, timely and clearly understood.
  
• Efficiency: Staffing processes are planned and conducted having regard to time and cost, and linked to business requirements.
  
• Adaptability: Staffing processes are flexible and responsive to the changing circumstances and to the unique or special needs of the organization.
  
• Productiveness: Results in appointment of the necessary number of competent people for the proper conduct of business.

Footnotes

[Footnote 1]

Information provided by Resourcing and Career Management Division, Human Resources Branch. Data does not include internal staffing actions for reclassification, term rehire or student/apprenticeship placements.

[Footnote 2]

Source: Staffing Program Directive E1

[Footnote 3]

Judgmental sampling: samples chosen according to researcher-selected criterion of population representativeness. Judgmental sampling does not provide for each and every item of the population an equal chance of being selected. In this audit, the team targeted the regions included in the scope, and selected the samples to ensure coverage of different groups and levels of classification and different staffing actions.

[Footnote 4]

The CRA Staffing Bulletin on Placement 2005-05 explains the “right fit” and states that each candidate is compared against one or more criteria to determine which qualified candidate most closely meets the requirements of the position and the business needs at the time it is being filled.