Seminar on Strategic Management
Tirana
26-27 June 2003
Strategic Management in the Central Statistics Office, Ireland
This paper[1] is based on a presentation given by the CSO to the Management Group on Statistical Co-Operation, held by Eurostat in Luxembourg on March 20th to 21st 2003. The paper starts with a very brief overview of the CSO. It then gives some information on the Strategic Management Initiative (SMI) in Ireland's public service, before describing some details of the corporate planning cycle which is applied in the CSO. The paper also includes some annexes giving further information on the CSO’s corporate planning procedures and the Performance Management and Development System (PMDS).
About the CSO
The CSO is the Government agency which collects and publishes most official statistics in Ireland. Its legal mandate is set out in the Statistics Act, 1993. This Act underpins the basic principles for the statistical system in Ireland. It establishes the CSO as an independent office within Civil Service, under the authority of a Director General, who is appointed by the President on the nomination of the Taoiseach (Prime Minister). The Director General has full operational responsibility for the collection, compilation and publication of official statistics. The Act sets out the key principles in relation to independence, objectivity, statistical confidentiality, access to administrative records etc.
The CSO has offices in Dublin (200 staff) and Cork (400 staff). In addition, about 150 staff are employed throughout the country on data collection for household surveys. The Dublin office includes the divisions responsible for National Accounts, Trade, Balance of Payments and Demographic statistics. The majority of the CSO’s household and enterprise surveys are administered from the Cork office. The main corporate support services (human resources, finance, information technology, etc.) are also based in Cork. The annual budget of the CSO was €55m in 2002, when a Census of Population was conducted, and is approximately €34m in 2003.
Under the Statistics Act, the National Statistics Board (NSB) is responsible for setting the strategic direction for the development of official statistics. The NSB comprises eight persons, including the Director General of the CSO, who is an ex officio member. The NSB prepares long-term strategic plans which set the scene, in general terms, for the CSO’s strategic planning. It is currently preparing its plan for 2003-2008. The Board regularly conducts customer satisfaction surveys, to determine the level of satisfaction with the service provided by CSO and the demand for new statistical products, and convenes liaison groups, bringing together users and data providers in a number of statistical areas. These activities are important in determining new statistical needs.
Strategic Management Initiative (SMI) in Ireland's Public Service
Initiatives for public service reform, throughout the world, have been driven strongly by the need for more customer focus. This has reflected trends in the private sector, where attention to customer service at every stage in production, distribution and marketing is seen as a vital component of competitive advantage. While there are differences between public and private sector organisations, the underlying influences are similar and these ideas can be applied to good effect in the public sector.
In Ireland, the two major steps were the Strategic Management Initiative (SMI) in 1994 and the programme for Delivering Better Government (DBG) in 1996. The SMI created the framework for strategic planning in Ireland’s public service, with each Department preparing a Statement of Strategy setting out goals, targets and key performance indicators over a three-year horizon. The DBG programme took this a step further and emphasised the importance of the customer (both internal and external) in shaping strategies for the better delivery of public services.
Under the SMI/DBG programmes, the following elements of strategic planning are now well embedded across public departments:
-Statements of strategy (3-year time horizon)
-Environmental analysis (internal and external – i.e. SWOT analysis)
-Mission statement
-High level goals (long-term)
-Key Performance Indicators set and monitored
-Indicators must be challenging
-Annual reports
-Corporate strategies underpinned by plans at divisional and local levels.
New legislation has been introduced to support the SMI public service modernisation programmes. The Public Service Management Act, 1997 has created a framework in which more authority for the implementation of policy is delegated from Ministers to civil servants. This makes Departments’ responsibilities clearer than before. The Act allows the head of the Department (the Director General, in CSO’s case) to delegate functions to other officials. The latest assignment of responsibilities in the CSO is included as an appendix to the 2002 Progress Report on the Statement of Strategy.
The delegation of authority under the Public Service Management Act is accompanied by greater accountability for results. This is reflected in the formal requirement, under the Act, to publish a Statement of Strategy and annual Progress Report. The Public Service Management Act also includes some provisions for greater flexibility in relation to recruitment and employment. These are being further developed in draft legislation which is currently in preparation.
Another important legal step was the Freedom of Information Act, 1997, which has introduced a climate of more open government with greater transparency, and right of access to information, concerning the decision-making process. This has made public departments more accountable. It should be noted that the Freedom of Information Act has not reduced the confidentiality of statistical records. However, it does affect files relating to administrative decisions.
The delegation of authority and accountability has created a need for better financial information systems. Managers are being given clear authority now for achieving specified outputs with given resources. A new Management Information Framework (MIF) is being implemented in all Departments, to generate better financial information – on budgets and outcomes – to support this delegation of authority. The MIF will lead to better measurement of the cost of outputs and the inclusion of financial information in annual reports. The CSO’s progress report for 2002 includes information on the cost of each statistical and support programme; and these financial reports are being further developed. The target date for full implementation of the MIF across all Departments is September 2004.
The Performance Management and Development System (PMDS) is a vital piece in the strategic management jigsaw. It is the link between the individual’s role and the corporate planning process. Despite its name, PMDS is not a system for performance related pay.[2] The principal feature of PMDS is that it identifies the skills and competencies each employee needs in order to fulfil their role in the organisation. The emphasis is on staff training and development. Each employee completes a role profile form at the start of the year, setting out their areas of responsibility, their objectives and deliverables for the year, and the main skills and competencies needed for the particular job. The role profile is discussed and agreed between the jobholder and manager. This includes a discussion of training and development needs.
Progress is reviewed at two stages during the course of the year, in mid-year and end-year reviews. Before each review, the jobholder and manager complete an assessment form, comparing performance to the plan set out in the role profile form. The self-assessment and the manager’s assessment are the starting point for the review meetings between the jobholder and the manager.
Plans are well advanced to include upward feedback as part of the PMDS review process – i.e. the jobholder will give feedback to the manager about his/her role and performance. In some cases, this already happens informally.[3]
The template PMDS Role Profile Form used in the CSO is set out in Annex 1 while the competency framework for PMDS is shown in Annex 2. Because of the importance of Customer Service, this competency is included in the role profile for all jobs in the CSO.
Overall, the SMI and related initiatives provide a planning framework from corporate to individual level, which comprises:
– Statement of Strategy
– Divisional Action Plans
– Local Business Plans
– Individual Role Profile Forms (PMDS).
Corporate Planning in the CSO since 1994
The CSO’s first Corporate Plan was prepared in 1994. Nine years on, it is interesting to compare it with today’s strategy. We now have a more detailed strategy document with more precise key performance indicators[4], publication timeliness targets and (in the 2002 progress report) information on expenditure. Corporate planning processes are well-embedded in the CSO, with regular meetings at local and divisional level to prepare, implement and review the local business plans and divisional action plans. These activities were quite new in 1994.
The first plan was prepared by the senior management of the CSO. This involved a number of off-site meetings of the CSO Senior Management Group (i.e. Heads of Division, Directors and the Director General). While there was a good degree of consensus among this management group on the challenges facing the Office, it was the first time that they had formally analysed them. For this reason, a management consultant with experience of public service management issues was hired to facilitate the relevant meetings. The consultant helped to structure aspects of the process, such as SWOT analysis, prioritisation of the challenges identified, and the overall structure of the document.
The plan identified a vision for the CSO, the core values of the Office, the key issues which it was facing at the time, and a total of 37 corporate goals. These goals were mainly at a corporate strategic level – they did not reflect specific surveys or statistical programmes. Crucially however, the plan recognised the role of all staff in fulfilling strategic objectives and it laid the foundation for internal consultations to implement formal planning procedures at local and divisional level. The CSO has subsequently built its corporate planning processes on that foundation.
Key differences between first and subsequent plans
The table on the next page compares the mission statement, values and goals in the 1994 Corporate Plan with the two subsequent Statements of Strategy. The principal difference is in the mission statement. The 1994 mission statement emphasised the role of all staff in the CSO, beginning with the words “We are a team…”. While this was very important to ensure subsequent participation and buy-in by staff, the rest of the mission statement was harder to remember, mainly because it said so much! In general, mission statements need to be simple and concise.
The 1994 mission statement was admirable for saying what was important to the CSO. In fact, the words of the mission statement recognised key points about customer service and the users of statistics. However, by trying to say everything, it lost impact. Ideally, a mission statement should contain a clear statement of purpose for the organisation, which can elicit personal commitment from staff and generate enthusiasm for improvement.
Comparison of first and subsequent CSO Statements of Strategy1994 / 1998 and 2001
Mission Statement
We are a team committed to producing and promoting the use of independent, timely and high quality statistical information to support analysis, good planning and decision-making by government and society generally. / Statistics for a modern Ireland:
The efficient and timely provision of high-quality information needed by a changing society.
Values
-Statistical integrity
-Service to users
-Data providers’ interests
-Importance of our staff
-Optimum efficiency
-High statistical standards / -Statistical professionalism and integrity
-Excellent service to customers
-Respect for our data suppliers
-Development of all staff and good management practice
-Providing value for money
High-level Goals
-Better and more timely client service
-Improved public image
-Staff development
-Exploitation of technology
-Responsiveness to data providers’ interests
-Increased efficiency and effectiveness
-Performance in the EU statistical system / -Continued improvement in the quality and timeliness of our statistics
-Public awareness and effective use of our statistics
-Responsiveness to the concerns of our data providers
-Further development of the capability of our office
The current CSO mission statement was adopted in 1998. It recognised the extent of social and economic change in Ireland in the 1990s and the consequent new demands being placed on the statistical system. It also recognised that change is a continuous process. This short statement has a clearer external focus, reflecting the growing emphasis on quality customer service and on the use of official statistics. It challenges the CSO to provide an efficient high-quality statistical service. This is a durable mission statement and is as pertinent today as when it was drafted.
The core values of the CSO are, as would be expected, broadly similar in the original and subsequent plans. There were some changes in the high-level goals, simplifying the statement of the Office’s priorities and reflecting some developments in the intervening years.
The public image of the CSO and the use of its products were considerably improved by a number of initiatives – most notably the introduction of a new more user-friendly layout for releases and publications in 1997. This was also a period in which many new series were introduced and there were general improvements in timeliness. The Office was also pro-active in relation to feedback from user satisfaction surveys and from statistical liaison groups. In the 1998-2000 Statement of Strategy, it was therefore possible to set a goal of continued improvement in these areas.
Two major concerns were reflected more clearly in the values and goals of the 1998-2000 Statement of Strategy: customer service and developing the organisational capability of the Office. A consultancy report, in 1997, had identified these two points as being of particular strategic importance.
Process for preparing Statements of Strategy
The process for drafting the first corporate plan, in 1994, was perceived as very “top-down”. While the plan was written by senior managers, it set out a framework for discussing and implementing strategic plans at local and divisional levels and this started the corporate planning processes which we have today.
The 1998-2000 and 2001-2003 corporate strategies were prepared using a more participative approach which involved all staff. The additional steps taken in preparing the 1998-2000 plan were as follows:
-An open invitation to all staff to put forward suggestions
-The convening of workshops at divisional level, to identify divisional priorities and to identify more general and cross-cutting issues
-The establishment of three multi-grade focus groups to consider the cross-cutting issues of human resources, information technology and customer service.
In addition, the 2001-2003 strategy involved significant input by the Partnership Committee, which has become actively involved in considering a wide range of cross-cutting corporate issues.
We are in the early stages of preparing the next CSO Statement of Strategy, for 2004-2006. The target is to have the strategy published by the end of this year. Information about the preparation of the strategy will be placed on the CSO’s internal Corporate Documents databases, which are available to all staff, and this will also provide a new channel for staff input and suggestions. In addition, there will be extensive consultation at divisional level, with the Senior Management Group, and with the Partnership Committee whose work on a number of strategic topics will feed directly into many parts of the strategy.
Implementing and monitoring strategy: CSO’s Corporate Planning Cycle
As stated earlier, strategic planning in the CSO involves an integrated framework, from corporate to individual level. The details of the framework are illustrated in Annex 3. It comprises the Statement of Strategy, Divisional Action Plans, Local (or section) Business Plans, and – at individual level – PMDS role profile forms. The Statement of Strategy has a horizon of about three years. Local Business Plans (LBPs) are prepared each December and are reviewed monthly, during the course of the following year. Review meetings are attended by all staff in the relevant business area.
Local plans contain a considerable amount of operational detail. The main points are summarised in Divisional Action Plans (DAPs), which are prepared by each Head of Division in January. These DAPs are reviewed in meetings between the Directorate (i.e. the Director General and four Directors of the CSO) and each Head of Division, twice per year, in January and June. The mid-year DAP reviews for 2003 are scheduled for June 16th to 19th. Clearly, this is a time-consuming – but nevertheless valuable – process.