Guidelines for Statistics Finland s process management

Transcription

1 1(6) Guidelines for Statistics Finland s process management A process is a chain of activities that helps an organisation generate value for its stakeholder groups. It defines how activities and resources are combined in order to achieve the desired result. Statistics Finland's management system is based on performance management and the organisational structure on specialised departments but the main processes cross department boundaries. Process management is therefore a separate function. Objectives and implementation of process management Concepts and definitions Statistics Finland's processes are at the crudest level either core or support processes. They form the structure of activities like the departments form the basic structure of the organisation. Core and support processes are described in the process chart appended to these guidelines. Core and support processes consist of work processes. The work process materialises concretely as work flows, for example in statistics production. It has an instigator, inputs, stages through which the action passes, and allocated resources, responsibilities and a schedule, as well as some type of steering mechanism that defines, e.g. quality goals. At Statistics Finland, process management is applied to core processes that include statistics production and production of standard products and commissioned assignments. The statistics production process and processes for production of standard products and commissioned assignments refer to the entity created by the work processes that produce individual statistics, products and services. Core processes are steered at agency level but work processes are managed within the departments. The objectives and requirements set for the core processes are implemented in the work processes by following the norms and guidelines pertaining to shared processes. Objectives The objective of process management is that all processes work efficiently and that they generate results that meet the needs of stakeholder groups. Efficiency requires a consistent and controlled procedure and well-functioning cooperation within the organisation and with stakeholder groups. The needs of stakeholder groups are taken into consideration when allocating resources, identifying development objects and in prioritisation. The objective is that the efficiency, quality and risks of processes are systematically assessed and managed.

2 2(6) Tasks Process owner Tasks related to process management include setting objectives related to the process, monitoring and assessment of the process, preparation of operational guidelines and development of the process and tools. The objectives related to the process are recorded in performance agreements and their realisation is reported in connection with monitoring. The realisation of the objectives are monitored at agency and department level. The operational guidelines for the process are prepared under the leadership of the steering groups of processes. The Standards and Methods Department maintains the general frame for process management and the common operational guidelines for all processes, and is responsible for the process management on Statistics Finland's intranet. Development policies and strategic goals are defined in Statistics Finland's operational strategy. Development is carried out in projects. Process management affects projects' preliminary assessment, preparation, prioritisation, steering, result assessment and implementation of the results. As part of process management, the statistics, data collection and product selection is defined for each year. Processes have owners whose task it is to define the general norms and principles for implementing the process, as well as the direction of development. The process owner reports on the realisation of the strategic objectives of the process to the Director General. He or she is also responsible for that Statistics Finland's management has a realistic view of the strengths, problems and development possibilities of the process. The activities of the process owner are primarily directed at the process and only indirectly at its implementation. The departments defined in the Rules of Procedure are responsible for the production and support functions. Process steering groups appointed by the Director General support the process owners. The process owner and the steering group ensure that the process is constantly improved and that the needs of the users are considered when developing the process. Statistical production process The outputs of the statistical production process are the statistics published by Statistics Finland for public use, the finished observed data on which they are based, and related metadata. The process owner is the Deputy Director General of Statistics Production and the steering group is the Statistics Production Group. The operative responsibility for statistical production is divided between the departments. The frame for assessing the statistical production process is the Code of Practice of the European Statistical System and the Quality Criteria for Official Statistics of Finland and corresponding indicators.

3 3(6) Standard products process and commissioned assignments process Material and expertise generated in the statistical production process are utilised in the production of commissioned assignments and standard products. The processes complement the data supply generated by the statistical production process. The outputs of the standard products process are pre-defined, fixed-format and repetitive information products that are based on the needs of identified data user groups. The commissioned assignments process results in data resources and information service tailored to customer needs. The service is primarily directed at professional users and major customers. The outputs of the standard products process and the commissioned assignments process are chargeable or free for the data user, depending on what has been prescribed and decided on the charge criteria of Statistics Finland's products and services at each time. The owner of the standard products and commissioned assignments processes is the Director of Information Services and the steering group is the Products and Services Group. The operational responsibility for standard products and commissioned assignments lies with the departments. Process management at different organisational levels Statistics Finland's Director General The Director General confirms the strategic objectives of processes and makes major resource decisions. The Director General confirms Statistics Finland's Operational Strategy and the departments' annual performance targets, as well as appoints the main process development projects based on proposals from process owners. Process owner and process steering group The process steering group assesses and analyses process functionality and prepares related development activities under the leadership of the process owner. The process owner confirms the process indicators, presents the related annual objectives to the Director General, monitors the realisation of the objectives, and reports on process quality and risks to the management group. He or she prioritises the development projects and tasks, and presents the most important projects and other central decisions related to the process to the Director General. The process owner is responsible for the description of the core process, and confirms the general procedural instructions of the processes and monitors their realisation. If necessary, the process owner oversees the cooperation between the departments participating in the process. He or she orders the training required by the process for the personnel and arranges necessary auditing for the process or its parts.

4 4(6) Director of department The owner of the statistical production process decides on the establishment and discontinuation of new statistics and data collections and on the adoption of common tools. If necessary, he or she can make decisions on issues related to cooperation of departments, such as the allocation of support resources. In addition, he or she can, if necessary, solve questions related to statistics production in a broader sense on the application of classifications, concepts or methods. The owner of the standard products and commissioned assignments processes decides, in cooperation with the departments, on the establishment and discontinuation of products and services included in the process and on the pricing of standard products. He or she presents other questions related to the pricing of charged activities to the Director General. The division of responsibilities is defined in the Rules of Procedure. The Director of the department controls the use of the resources appointed to process implementation. In addition to what is determined in the Rules of Procedure, he or she is responsible for the attainment of the set targets related to the processes and following agreed procedures, as well as the balance between process objectives and resources. He or she agrees on cooperation with other departments participating in the process. The Director of the department controls the preparation of the department's development projects and manages the preparation of EU and other international issues and domestic stakeholder cooperation that are the responsibility of his or her department. In addition, the Directors of the departments decide, for example, on changes to production methods and data content of statistics under their responsibility, data collection schedules, revisions to data collection forms, publication series of statistics, acquisition of administrative data, and correcting of publication errors. Documentation Crucial documents for process management include Rules of Procedure of Statistics Finland Management policy of Statistics Finland Guidelines for process management (this document) Performance agreement documents and related process and quality indicators Process monitoring reports for the Director General and the Management Group OSF quality criteria European Statistics Code of Practice Procedural instructions related to processes Process descriptions

5 5(6) Substitute for Director General Deputy Director General Jarmo Hyrkkö Director of Administration Pasi Henriksson

6 6(6) Statistics Finland s process chart