Keynote Presentation:
The Need for Evidence-Based Information
Presented by: DECIMAL

1 –Lessons Learned From a Five-Year Project
• Francis Loughheed, MBA, Senior Consultant/Facilitator, Delta Partners Inc.
• Bart Bilmer, Director of Planning and Renewal, Natural Resources Canada

In 2007, a unique project, a one-week workshop on program level performance measurement, turned into a five-year journey to promote a performance measurement and reporting culture. During the project, this organization's MAF assessment in the area of performance and results went from “needs attention” to “strong”. In this workshop you will hear from Bart Bilmer, currently the Director, Planning and Renewal, NRCan, who will discuss the lessons learned from the process. Joining in the presentation will be Francis Loughheed, a Performance Measurement specialist from Delta Partners, who provided consulting support to the project. Participants will hear about solutions to such challenges as:

• Executive leadership, sponsorship and organizational culture 
• Why the performance measurement executive may not be the best to lead the initiative
• How to deal with challenges such as 
  • staff turnover,
  • cynical participants,
  • developing project allies,
  • when success can be harmful, and
  • why a low budget is useful.
• How performance measurement is at the heart of promoting and enhancing organizational excellence and how to create an Excellence Agenda.

2 – Risk Management and Integrated Planning at Finance Canada
• Philippe Lajeunesse, Senior Director, Corporate Planning, Department of Finance Canada
• Hélène Shirreff, Senior Advisor, Corporate Planning, Department of Finance Canada

3 – Leveraging the Auditor – How You Can Use Information from Internal Audit to Help Manage and Report on Performance
• David Prime, Managing Principal, Interis
• Sandra Lalli, Management Consultant, Interis

Finding information to understand how your organization is performing is an ongoing challenge.  Available sources of information need to be leveraged wherever possible.  One important source you may not be using to full advantage is your internal audit organization.  This presentation will identify how the goals and requirements for a well-run internal audit function lead to the auditor gathering, analysing, assessing and reporting on a wealth of information regarding your organization’s risks and performance. The presentation provide an overview of the audit process, including the building of plans, execution of audits and the new CAE Annual Overview Report to identify and discuss how you can make use of this readily available information to enhance the effectiveness of business planning, performance reporting, and the provision of strategic advice.

4 – Organizational Challenges in the Transition to a Performance-Oriented Culture *French Session Only
• Ms. Marie-Claude Francoeur, Assistant Deputy Minister for Policy, Francophonie and Multilateral Affairs, Québec’s Ministry of International Relations

During its strategic planning renewal activities, the MRI (Quebec Department of International Relations) promoted an inclusive approach in dealing with its staff. Following various consultations and careful mobilization, the Department tabled an innovative strategic plan in June 2011. By combining results-based management with due consideration for employee support, this new plan makes it possible to rise to the challenges facing the Department, now and in the years to come.

This presentation is intended as a sequel to the one Ms. Francoeur gave almost two years ago, and highlights the importance of employee mobilization and participation in achieving results and transforming organizations.

5 – From Performance Measurement to Management to Alignment: A Method to Assess and Build a Performance Culture in Departments & Agencies
• Lee Gomes, Senior Analyst, Public Health Agency of Canada
• Scott Hodge, Principal Associate, Landmark Decisions Inc.

Departments and agencies struggle with aligning performance content across their organizations. This includes meeting internal or external reporting requirements, or improving departmental program management. This presentation will highlight the value in coordinating various perspectives of management (i.e. Risk, Project, Resource, and Planning) into a unified view of performance. It will describe a “Performance Alignment Maturity Model” by which departments can gauge their current performance environment, and present how the Centre for Chronic Disease Prevention and Control (CCDPC) within the Public Health Agency of Canada (PHAC) used the model to chart a means for improving their Performance Practices. Finally, it will touch upon the role of technology as a “performance enabler”.

6 – Risk Management
• Brian Philbin, CRO, CRA
• Janet Cosier, Adviser on Strategic Planning and Risk Management for the Bank of Canada and Brian Philbin, Chief Risk Officer for the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA)

Join Janet Cosier, Adviser on Strategic Planning and Risk Management for the Bank of Canada and Brian Philbin, Chief Risk Officer for the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA), for an interactive, 90-minute workshop to discuss risk tolerance and how it could work for your Department or Agency.

You will come away with a better understanding of what risk tolerance is, as well as some ideas and tips on how risk and risk tolerance could be incorporated into various planning activities. Using their extensive risk management experience, Janet Cosier and Brian Philbin will discuss the challenges and benefits of risk tolerance, lessons learned how risk tolerance can be used to improve an organization’s decision making, strategic planning and overall performance.

During and following the discussion, participants are encouraged to ask questions.

7 – Evaluation's Ongoing Challenges
• Tom Wileman, Principal, Office of the Auditor General of Canada (retired).
• Gerald Halpern, PhD CE, Principal, Fair Findings Inc.
• Anne Routhier, Senior Director – Centre of Excellence for Evaluation, Expenditure Management Sector at the Treasury Board Secretariat

The federal program evaluation function is currently meeting several challenges.  These range from new policy requirements to ensuring adequate capacity for quality evaluation work.  This session will speak to the place of evaluation in the Canadian government.  It will provide an overview of the efficacy of the evaluation function since its inception.  It will describe the uses being made, or not made, of the information developed by evaluation.  In particular, the session will explore the lack of use of evaluation for budgeting purposes.

8 – Optimizing the Use of PAAs for Benchmarking and Whole-of-Government Analysis
• Rohit Samaroo, Director, Result-based Management Directorate, Expenditure Management Sector, Treasury Board of Canada Secretariat
• Lee Griffioen, Senior Analyst, Results Based Management Division, Expenditure Management Sector, Treasury Board of Canada, Secretariat
• Sandra Purcell, Section Head - Performance Management, Vice Chief of the Defence Staff, National Defence
• Bruce Kelly, Senior Analyst, NHQ - Strategic Policy and Planning, Citizenship and Immigration Canada

The presentation will look at the use of the federal government’s Program Activity Architectures to create new information that gives whole-of-government perspectives. This includes assigning a number of standardised attributes to programs to create an analytical capacity from a whole-of-government perspective.  Departments and central agencies could use such information for benchmarking, horizontal analyses and decision-making.  Benefits and challenges of this approach will be explored.   

Keynote Presentation: Barriers to Cultural Change in the Public Service
• Wendy Thomson, Director and Professor, School of Social Work, McGill University
• John Kamensky, Senior Fellow, IBM Center for the Business of Government
• Paul Thomas, Professor Emeritus in Political Studies, University of Manitoba

Government organizations spend a considerable amount of time collecting and disseminating performance information. A burning question however, is who actually uses this information and for what? Moreover, what level of cultural change is needed to encourage the effective use of performance information in driving program excellence?

In this session, you will hear from 3 prominent presenters addressing the critical issue of performance-oriented organizational cultures. You will learn about barriers that obstruct the development of such a culture. But, you will also hear about public sector agencies in the United States who have managed to overcome these barriers and are making extensive use of performance information to continuously improve program effectiveness. In addition, you will learn about the development of a culture of performance and continuous improvement in the United Kingdom and specific transformation efforts in local government organizations.  

The session benefits from the deep knowledge of Paul G. Thomas, Professor Emeritus in Political Studies and the former Duff Roblin Professor of Government at the University of Manitoba; John Kamensky, Senior Fellow and Associate Partner, IBM Centre for the Business of Government (Washington, DC),  and Wendy Thomson, currently Professor of Social Policy and Director of the School of Social Work at McGill University and formerly Tony Blair's Chief Advisor on Public Sector Reform in the United Kingdom.

9 – Integrating Planning, Performance Measurement and Risk Management – Making it Real, Making it Work: Fisheries and Oceans Canada Case Study
• Sue Milks, A/Director General, Corporate Planning, Performance, and Risk Management, DFO
• Ryan Ziegler, Team Leader, Integrated Planning and Reporting, Fisheries and Oceans Canada
• Lisa Woodward, Director, Risk and Results-Based Management, DFO

Fisheries and Oceans Canada (DFO) is successfully implementing a new Integrated Planning and Reporting Framework as part of a commitment to managing for results. The new approach is receiving positive feedback from senior management and program sectors and regions. The framework uses the Management, Resources and Results Structure to integrate all elements of planning and reporting from environmental scanning and risk prioritization, through “One-Pass Planning”, to mid-year and year end- reporting.  A novel approach to selling and implementing the framework has made it resonate with all departmental audiences.

The One-Pass Planning approach uses program activity and regional plans to gather information needed for high level corporate planning and program and region-specific business planning.  DFO continues to work towards integration of all planning and reporting instruments to streamline the process and maximize benefits.

The presentation will identify critical success factors that are transferable to other organizations, as well as highlighting lessons learned through implementation.

10 – Enterprise Risk Management Audit Report
• Malcolm Gaston, Assistant Auditor General, British Columbia

In June 2011 the Auditor General of British Columbia published his report The Status of Enterprise Risk Management in the Ministries of British Columbia. The audit found that the government of BC has made insufficient progress in integrating enterprise risk management into its practices despite the adoption of a risk-based approach in April 2002 – a decade ago. The compendium report reported against three key areas: central government, ministries, and at the program level. Malcolm Gaston, Assistant Auditor General, will talk about the work conducted, the findings, and the recommendations made to improve risk management practices.

11 – Lean Government
• Craig Szelestowski, President, Lean Agility Inc. Organizational Consulting and Training.
• Etienne Lalonde, SAS Canada, Consultantg

Some argue that the term "Lean Government" is an impossible dream.... that the process focused methodology, popularized by Toyota Motor Corporation as the Toyota Production System, does not fit government organizations.  Yet, with the understanding the Lean is a philosophy as much as a methodology, many government organizations have successfully adopted Lean principles to streamline program delivery.  In this session, Etienne Lalonde will discuss his experiences introducing Lean approaches at the Canadian Intellectual Property Organization. Craig Szelestowski will discuss the approaches used at the Royal Canadian Mint and other government organizations with whom he has worked with to implement Lean principles.

12 – Using MAF Results for Deputy Head and Departmental Performance Management
• Paule Labbé, Executive Director, MAF Directorate, TBS
• Stephen McClellan, Executive Director, Social and Cultural Sector, TBS
• Steven Misener, Director, Compensation and Leadership Development, Senior Personnel, PCO

The leadership of Deputy Heads is a key driver to the results achieved for Canadians by a federal government departments and agencies.  Recognizing the importance of management excellence, the MAF has been a key tool for assessing the management practices of Deputies and departments.  The MAF results are used by the Privy Council Office, as part of its framework to assess, recognize and reward Deputy Head performance.  The MAF results are also used by Deputies to improve the practices and accountabilities within their organizations.  This panel will discuss how MAF results are used in the annual Deputy Head Performance Management Programme and by Deputies in their own departments.

Lunch Keynote:
The Role of the Public Accounts Committee

Closing Keynote:
Be it resolved that RBM is still relevant in government
Presented by: Interis Consulting Inc.