Agility in government: Responding to citizens changing needs September 2015
Agenda 1. Background 2. Results from 2014 PwC and Canadian Public Policy Forum 3. Questions 2
Agile government: Responding to citizens changing needs Find out more and read the report at www.pwc.com/ca/agility 3
Agility in government: Responding to citizens changing needs In 2014 PwC and Canada s Public Policy Forum began a collaboration to investigate the potential for a more agile, proactive public service. Our report provides a view of what public service leaders think of agility, how they re applying it in their organizations, and what critical actions governments should consider undertaking. To determine the content of the report we formed two advisory committees that were involved throughout the process. After consulting with the committees the material was developed through a series of round table discussions and oneon-one interviews. Advisory committees: To ensure that the topics we wanted to discuss would result in relevant and useful information we formed two advisory councils based in Toronto and Ottawa. Round table discussions: As part of our research we held roundtables in Halifax, Toronto and Victoria. One-on-one interviews: We held over 45 one-on one interviews with leaders from education, health care, government and private companies. 4
What are the public sector leaders views? 50% 62% Believe that technology will have an overwhelmingly positive impact on agility and that governments need to invest in technology. See leadership as a key to agility. 62% 75% Stressed the importance of mobility to improve conditions to encourage deployments into government from the private and not-for-profit sectors between levels of government. Emphasized that the public sector needs to become less risk adverse to be agile. 91% believe agility is achievable 82% Believe that partnerships are critical and that through partnerships we can create the conditions for agility. 5
Themes of the report Partnerships Leadership Agility won t be fully realized until governments are more open and engage meaningfully with potential partners Agility can t be expected without investing in the required leadership skills Risks Human Capital Canadian leaders agreed that government agility overwhelmingly hinges on the capabilities of public servants. Information technology Investment in IT is unavoidable if the public service is going to be agile and keep pace with the digital revolution. Barriers 6
BC perspective? Lori Wanamaker, Deputy Minister for Justice, BC Owen Taylor, PwC Partner Click on the link to hear from Lori Wanamaker and Owen Taylor http://www.pwc.com/ca/en/public-sector-government/agility-videos.jhtml 7
Partnerships Increasing service capacity: Citizens expectations are increasing, while budgets remain constrained. Many private and not-for-profit organizations can be more agile in delivery than governments. Bridging the elected official-public service divide: Information sharing has broken down, policy advice is being diluted by a lack of trust and innovation and creativity are often stifled by a belief that failure is unacceptable Agility won t be fully realized until governments are more open and engage meaningfully with potential partners. Bringing new skills and expertise to government: Encouraging secondments between private and public sector gives the opportunity to use already tested innovations and leap-frog to the most up-to-date thinking when starting new initiatives 8
Leadership What is a leader? Project contributors identified that good leadership in the public service is about doing the right thing, providing direction and building an agile culture. Focus on vision: Agile leaders are not spending their time sending emails and putting out fires. Agile leaders understand the importance of partnerships within and outside of government. They re leveraging their networks to achieve outcomes. Strong leadership is a key enabler of agility. Agility can t be expected without investing in the required leadership skills. Invest in education: For governments to really change how their leaders operate they will need to invest in education and professional development. 9
Human capital Change in recruitment: With a generation that s accustomed to immediacy and response and feeling connected online to potential employers, governments approaches are likely costing them valuable staff among a new generation of emerging leaders Opportunity to grow: Governments need to create the conditions to encourage public servants, to pursue opportunities outside of government, and for private employees to want to work in government. Canadian leaders agreed that government agility overwhelmingly hinges on the capabilities of public servants The biggest enabler of agility is people. Processes will follow. Provincial Cabinet Secretary 10
Technology Technology is a critical enabler for the future of agility the desire is there, but the required budgets, not to mention the technical skills, to implement new technologies presents an enormous challenge for government. New methods of service delivery and linkages with the public all rest on adopting new technologies. Investment in IT is unavoidable if the public service is going to be agile and keep pace with the digital revolution Technology has changed expectations of the way governments do business. Real-time monitoring of and commentary about government activities means that the public has developed an expectation that responses should be almost immediate. 11
Now is the time Our discussions with Canadian leaders demonstrate that more change is likely, and there is a growing sense that now is the time to act. We believe Canadian public sector leaders are prepared to become more agile in the following ways: 1. partnering with private sector and civil society stakeholders to leverage innovation and respond to citizen expectations and delivering services in new ways 2. rethinking the civil service career model and required competencies to achieve agility through strong leadership 3. providing staff with more capacity to take risks and support them when ideas don t succeed 4. recognizing that younger professionals may have different expectations about their career paths 5. redesigning business rules and in some cases, a complete reconsideration of governments regulatory role Find out more and read the report at www.pwc.com/ca/agility 12
Questions? 13
Thank you for your participation Kartik Kannan, Partner (604) 806 7082 Kartik.kannan@ca.pwc.com Arti Patel, Director (604) 806 7193 arti.patel@ca.pwc.com This publication has been prepared for general guidance on matters of interest only, and does not constitute professional advice. You should not act upon the information contained in this publication without obtaining specific professional advice. No representation or warranty (express or implied) is given as to the accuracy or completeness of the information contained in this publication, and, to the extent permitted by law, PricewaterhouseCoopers does not accept or assume any liability, responsibility or duty of care for any consequences of you or anyone else acting, or refraining to act, in reliance on the information contained in this publication or for any decision based on it. 2015. All rights reserved. PwC refers to the United States member firm, and may sometimes refer to the PwC network. Each member firm is a separate legal entity. Please see www.pwc.com/structure for further details. 14