NLUMCC Summary – June 22, 2017
Government of Canada Information Technology Infrastructure Plan (GCITIP) - Business Plan 2017-18 Update
A presentation was given on GCITIP. SSC will be making plans in 3 year blocks of time going forward, this will make it easier to manage transformation projects. All transformation activities will be driven by the GoC IT Strategic Plan. Roles and responsibilities between SSC and partner departments still require alignment and understanding between all parties, the CIO of GoC is setting new directions which will likely result in better clarification of roles and responsibilities between SSC and the partner departments. SSC’s goal is to stabilize the organization as we continue to follow the strategic plan. A plan of how SSC and the GoC will move forward through investment and transformation will be delivered in the fall. An update in the spring is expected from TBS on investment in GoC IT Infrastructure. SSC is expecting that the Borden DC expansion will be completed by January 2018. A RFP will be coming out for a data centre in Montreal. SSC is prioritizing moving partners on to ETI who are currently running a hybrid of legacy email and ETI. No commitment was given around plans once the Bell agreement expires. SSC will be accelerating movement of partner services into end state data centres.
The BAs voiced concerns around ensuring that SSC employees do not get left behind, there is an expectation that proper training and development needs to be at the core of SSC. We were happy to hear that a proper investment plan is being worked on and that there is activity around clarifying roles and responsibilities through a GoC lens. We once more stressed that proper IT Training needs to be available for SSC employees as this training will be a smart investment in SSC.
Employee Pulse Check Survey Results – Public Service Employee Annual Survey 2017 Results
Employee Pulse Check Survey results were shared at the meeting. Participation in the survey was 53% which is slightly less than the Public Service survey. Overall, personal engagement was high but departmental engagement was low. Results are expected to be shared by branch which will further help in understanding the overall picture of SSC and relations with employees. A co-creation day was held and 12 activities were mapped from the results as important activities to be taken to improve the overall moral at SSC.
The BAs have voiced their concern frequently about the low morale at SSC and are happy to see an action plan is being worked on with a mix of employees and managers. We asked for a list of the priority areas that are going to be addressed at SSC. We also mentioned the fact that many employees are likely feeling survey fatigue as there were a number of surveys that were all released at the same time causing confusion. We feel that this survey is an important first step but we need to see actions being taken now that we have the survey results in hand, we are hoping we will have an opportunity to contribute in the development of a plan to address the concerns that were brought up through the Pulse Survey.
Results of the Values and Ethics Sessions
An interim report on the Ethics and Values session was provided. SSC believe that the Ethics and Values sessions are valuable in promoting a good understanding of values and ethics. Sessions are being planned for the regional employees. There is concern around the $0 policy. Employees have a concern where vendors provide a lunch and learn and now we are being told we cannot accept the hospitality as is would go against the $0 policy. Another area of concern was around the interchange program mentioned in the presentation, we are bringing in people from the private sector to the government to gain experience but our members do not have the same opportunity to go out to the private sector on an interchange. Additionally, there is the perceived difference in language requirements where our members are not being given opportunities because they don’t meet the language profile of a position while people coming in on the interchange are not being held to the same standard. SSC said that the responsibilities are still there with respect to official languages. We were also told that our members have not been given the opportunity to take part in an interchange as we are short staffed. The BAs have asked that we have a further discussion around the interchange program.
National Public Service Week Results
SSC feels that the NPSW activities went well this year. In total 37 SSC Executives travelled to 27 events across the country. SSC employees who were not near one of the event locations due to remote office location were given a gift card. Participation rates were estimated to be 60%.
The BAs agreed that this year’s event was well received. In our opinion when the SSC Executives visited different sites this gave SSC employees the chance to network with other employees and have an opportunity to speak with a SSC Executive. Many of the Executives that visited the regions stayed around a little longer giving SSC employees another opportunity to engage with them. We feel that it is important that SSC Executives continue to engage and not only during NPSW, this would help with improved communications and potentially improved morale.