Audit of Staffing of Regular Members under the RCMP Act – Phase One (Non-commissioned officers)

October 2016
Final Report

Table of contents

1. Acronyms and abbreviations
2. Executive summary
3. Management's response to the audit
4. 1. Background
5. 2. Objective, scope and methodology
   • 2.1 Objectives
   • 2.2 Scope
   • 2.3 Methodology
   • 2.4 Statement of conformance
6. 3. Audit findings
   • 3.1 Staffing Framework
   • 3.2 Staffing Actions Compliance
   • 3.3 Opportunities for Efficiencies
7. 4. Recommendations
8. 5. Conclusion
9. Appendix A – Audit objective and criteria

Acronyms and abbreviations

CDRA

Career Development and Resourcing Advisor

CDRO

Career Development and Resourcing Officer

CDRS

Career Development and Resourcing Services

CMM

Career Management Manual

DTA

Duty to Accommodate

ETI

Email Transformation Initiative

HRMIS

Human Resources Management Information System

IP

Isolated Post

LDP

Limited Duration Post

LO

Line Officer

NCO

Non-Commissioned Officer

NPU

National Promotions Unit

NSP

National Staffing Program

PBE

Promotion By Exception

SAF

Staffing Action File

SSC

Shared Services Canada

Executive summary

The RCMP Act provides the Commissioner with the authority to staff all Regular Member (constable, non-commissioned officer [NCO] and commissioned officer) positions. At the time of this audit's initiation in October 2015 the RCMP had approximately 17,600 NCOs and 620 commissioned officers. The Commissioner-approved 2015-2018 Risk-Based Audit Plan (RBAP) includes an Audit of the Staffing of Regular Members. The inclusion of this audit in the RBAP follows the implementation of the action items associated with the Gender and Respect Action Plan, which was developed in response to the 2012 Gender-Based Assessment. As the staffing of NCO and commissioned officer positions involves different policies and processes, and is carried out by different organizations within the RCMP, a decision was made during the planning of this audit to focus on the staffing of NCO positions.

The objective of this audit was to assess whether the RCMP has an appropriate framework, systems and practices in place to manage NCO appointments under the RCMP Act; and to ensure that appointments comply with RCMP appointment policies and reflect RCMP values. The scope included NCO appointments made under the RCMP Act from October 2013 to October 2015, including lateral transfers, promotions, and promotions by exception (PBE).

The audit concludes that the RCMP has a comprehensive staffing framework in place, including clearly communicated roles and responsibilities. Staffing activities appeared consistent with established policies and procedures and some monitoring processes are in place. In addition, PBEs are being used to staff less desirable locations such as isolated posts and limited duration posts as was the intent when first introduced in 2008.

Opportunities for improvement exist in a few areas. The Force would benefit from a strategic discussion on Force-wide staffing challenges, the results of which could inform national direction and form the basis of standardized approaches, supported by policy where appropriate. Enhancing monitoring for promotional staffing action files would help ensure fairness and transparency in decision-making. Finally, introducing process enhancements and leveraging the use of enterprise-wide automated tools would help increase efficiencies in the NCO staffing process.

The management response included in this report demonstrates the commitment from senior management to address the audit findings and recommendations. A detailed management action plan is currently being developed. Once approved, RCMP Internal Audit will monitor its implementation and undertake a follow-up audit if warranted.

Management's response to the audit

I am pleased to offer my comments on the Audit of Staffing of Regular Members under the RCMP Act Phase One - Non-commissioned officers (NCO). I would first and foremost like to thank the Audit Team for the professionalism and conscientiousness demonstrated throughout this most important process. The National Staffing Program, the National Promotions Unit and Career Development and Resourcing Services (CDRSs) across the country have been working diligently to ensure that the NCO process is supported by a comprehensive staffing framework and that staffing activities are consistent with the established policies and procedures. These units have equally ensured the application of adapted governance and monitoring practices.

I am pleased that the Audit has highlighted RCMP's success in achieving consistency in process and policy application and RCMP's progress in achieving fairness and transparency in the overall NCO staffing process. As demonstrated in the Audit report, the number of grievance related to the staffing process indicates that 93% of the concluded grievances have been unfounded grievances. This successful outcome demonstrates that the staffing processes in place stand fair and transparent and yield expected results. Additionally, RCMP has been diligent in applying the necessary corrections for cases where redress were required further supporting fair and respectful staffing processes. Nonetheless, I acknowledge that opportunities exist to improve the perception of fairness and transparency of staffing processes and efforts will be made in this area.

The Audit Team has formulated recommendations to ensure continued success. I acknowledge and agree with the five recommendations put forth in the Internal Audit report. As part of its recommendation, the Audit team has identified an opportunity for the RCMP to champion strategic discussions on Force-wide staffing challenges. I agree that having strategic discussions on NCO staffing is key to its continuous success. To that effect, RCMP will continue to engage Commanding Officers across the country to identify and examine innovative proposals to assist in addressing existing and up-coming staffing challenges.

Recommendations pertaining to the review and improvement of certain processes such as the monitoring of promotion staffing file documentation, additional training to validation committee members and Line Officers (LO), clarification of the role of CDRA as part of the PBE process, and finally the implementation of an entreprise-wide automated solution for promotion applications will be given special considerations as these initiatives would strive to improve the overall NCO staffing process efficiency and would benefit both our organization and our membership. We have taken the contents of this report seriously and, in that spirit, I commit to drafting a management action plan by November 1st, 2016. This action plan will contain specific time lines and milestones to which the RCMP will adhere.

D.G.J (Daniel) Dubeau, D/Commr.
Chief Human Resources Officer

1. Background

The RCMP Act provides the Commissioner with the authority to staff all Regular Member (constable, non-commissioned officer [NCO] and commissioned officer) positions. At the time of this audit's initiation in October 2015, the RCMP had approximately 17,600 NCOs and 620 commissioned officers. The Commissioner-approved 2015-2018 Risk-Based Audit Plan (RBAP) includes an Audit of the Staffing of Regular Members. The inclusion of this audit in the RBAP follows the implementation of the action items associated with the Gender and Respect Action Plan. The RCMP developed this Action Plan to address the findings of the 2012 Gender-Based Assessment (GBA)^{Footnote 1}, carried out by RCMP National Program Evaluation Services, following the Commissioner's commitment before Parliament to determine why females were not significantly represented in the RCMP's senior management and executive cadre.

The Gender and Respect Action Plan included actions to help ensure transparency and objectivity in promotions and to help develop strategies that address anticipated demographic challenges. As of January 2014, the Gender and Respect Action Plan status update indicated that all of the action items were either complete, on track or ongoing^{Footnote 2}.

As the staffing of NCO and commissioned officer positions involves different policies and processes, and is carried out by different organizations within the RCMP, a decision was made during the planning of this audit to focus on the staffing of NCO positions^{Footnote 3}. NCOs play a central role in allowing the RCMP to deliver on its mandate and account for a large portion of all staffing actions. In the RCMP, an NCO is a Regular Member (RM) who holds the rank of Corporal, Sergeant, Staff Sergeant, Staff Sergeant Major, Sergeant Major or Corps Sergeant Major. An NCO is usually a supervisor, manager or detachment commander, who reports to a commissioned officer and assigns tasks to lower ranking personnel. NCOs usually obtain their position of authority by promotion through the ranks^{Footnote 4}.

Responsibilities related to NCO staffing involve the following stakeholders:

• The Chief Human Resources Officer (CHRO) has overall responsibility for NCO staffing.
• In the divisions, NCO staffing is the responsibility of Career Development and Resource Officers (CDROs) who lead their respective divisions' Career Development and Resourcing Services (CDRS). The CDRO generally reports to the Administration and Personnel Officer (APO). The APOs report administratively to their respective Commanding Officer (CO) and functionally to the CHRO for human resources (HR) matters. Divisional CDRS manage staffing action requests to fill NCO positions. They administer transfers including lateral, compassionate, duty to accommodate and priority candidate transfers. CDRS' carry out succession planning for RMs in isolated posts (IPs) and limited duration posts (LDPs). They also provide career counseling for RMs. CDRS are usually composed of Career Development and Resourcing Advisors (CDRAs) and Human Resources Management Information System (HRMIS) managers and administrative support. As it relates to NCO staffing, CDRAs perform core roles.
• CDRAs are responsible for RM career planning in their designated areas. They provide career planning advice to employees, they identify and develop employees to meet current and future human resource needs, and implement and coordinate staffing actions within their division.
• The National Staffing Program (NSP) is the policy centre for NCO staffing. In this capacity it is responsible for policy development, providing policy direction and interpretation to the National Promotions Unit (NPU) and divisional CDRS, and providing training to CDRAs. NSP is under the responsibility of the Director General (DG) Workforce Programs and Services.
• NPU is responsible for administering all NCO promotions across the RCMP, and its Officer in Charge (OIC) is the respondent on grievances related to the NCO promotion process. NPU receives promotional staffing action requests from divisional CDRAs and they are usually processed on a first come first serve basis. NPU posts Job Opportunity Bulletins (JOB) for promotions and PBEs, and upon request, posts lateral JOBs^{Footnote 5}. NPU's promotion specialists collect and screen applicant files, coordinate the competency validation, identify applicants on the short list, coordinate the Line Officer (LO) selection of the successful applicant, and enter corresponding results into HRMIS. NPU is under the responsibility of the DG Workforce Programs and Services.

2. Objective, scope and methodology

2.1 Objective

The objective of this audit was to assess whether the RCMP has an appropriate framework, systems and practices in place to manage NCO appointments under the RCMP Act; and to ensure that appointments comply with RCMP appointment policies and reflect RCMP values.

2.2 Scope

The scope included NCO appointments made under the RCMP Act from October 2013 to October 2015, including lateral transfers, promotions, and promotions by exception (PBE).

2.3 Methodology

Planning for the audit was completed in March 2016. In this phase, the audit team conducted interviews, process walkthroughs and examined relevant policies, directives, procedures and results of previous reviews. Sources used to develop audit criteria include RCMP policies and the Staffing Management Accountability Framework. Audit objective and criteria are available in Appendix A.

The examination phase, which concluded in June 2016, employed various auditing techniques including interviews, documentation reviews, data analysis, process mapping and other audit testing as deemed appropriate. Site visits were conducted at NPU and divisional staffing offices in D, E, H, L and National Divisions to review files and assess practices. Upon completion of each visit, the audit team held exit meetings to debrief management of the relevant findings.

2.4 Statement of conformance

The audit engagement conforms with the Internal Auditing Standards for the Government of Canada, as supported by the results of the quality assurance and improvement program.

3. Audit findings

The context in which NCO staffing is carried out has evolved as a result of changes brought about by the GBA and Gender and Respect Action Plan, and will continue to evolve as a result of changes to the RCMP's labour relations regime.

The objective of the 2012 GBA was to validate whether recruitment and promotion policies were gender neutral and if their applications provided equal opportunity for female RMs. The assessment found that while the policies themselves were gender neutral, both commissioned officers and NCOs identified a lack of faith in the competitive process. The two primary considerations that were raised by RMs as having the most profound impact on their decision not to seek a promotion were the lack of fairness and transparency in the promotional processes, and the desire to be promoted based on merit.

The RCMP developed a Gender and Respect Action Plan to address these findings. It included a commitment to ensure transparency and objectivity in promotions. As part of fulfilling this commitment, effective September 18, 2013, the RCMP consolidated all regional promotion units to create a centralized National Promotions Unit (NPU) to administer all NCO promotions across the RCMP. The intent of centralizing the promotion unit was to create a center of expertise benefitting RMs in the NCO promotion process by providing greater consistency in service standards, processes, policy application and decision making. Additionally, the Gender and Respect Action Plan included a commitment to ongoing audits of competency validation boards and LO selection rationales^{Footnote 6} for fairness and consistency.

Accordingly, we expected that this audit would find that improvements had been made to ensure that NCO appointments under the RCMP Act comply with RCMP appointment policies and reflect the RCMP's core values. Specifically, we expected that:

• the RCMP has established and maintains staffing policies that respect the RCMP Act and core appointment values of fairness, transparency, access and representativeness;
• staffing roles and responsibilities are clearly defined and communicated throughout the organization;
• monitoring of staffing actions is done on an ongoing basis;
• staffing activities follow the established policies and are efficient; and
• automated tools are in place to help ensure that staffing files are processed efficiently.

3.1 Staffing framework

The RCMP is unique in that it is a national, federal, provincial and municipal policing body. Considering the RCMP's broad mandate, the Force requires an effective staffing framework to meet diverse operational needs and ensure sufficient police resources across the country. Such a framework can enable the RCMP to meet its commitment to provide public safety, while enabling the development of members to meet future organizational needs and their individual development and career aspirations. A robust staffing framework provides the guidance necessary to ensure that HR staff and management respect the principles of transparency and fairness in staffing.

While a framework is in place for NCO staffing comprising mandatory policies, an information system, defined roles and responsibilities for those involved in the staffing process, training and support for CDRAs and a monitoring function, additional improvements could be made to address perceptions of fairness.

An assessment of recent staffing related grievances and the results from the 2014 Public Service Employees Survey (PSES) provide insight to the organizational context with respect to members' perception of staffing fairness.

Between November 28, 2014 and October 31, 2015, 495 grievances were filed^{Footnote 7}. Of these, 223 (45%) were staffing related. Of the 223 staffing related grievances, 150 were adjudicated at the time of our reporting. For the majority of these staffing related grievances, it was determined that established policies and procedures had been appropriately followed. Of the 150 grievances, only 11 (7%) were determined to be founded and the remaining 139 were determined to be unfounded (93%)^{Footnote 8}.

Despite a relatively lower rate of founded grievances related to staffing, the 2014 PSES suggests that opinions remain mixed with respect to the fairness of the staffing process. The survey found that 15% of the 5,700 RMs who responded strongly agreed that the process of selecting a person for a position is done fairly; while another 30% somewhat agreed. However, 33% of RM respondents tended to disagree (19% somewhat disagreed, and 14% strongly disagreed)^{Footnote 9}.

While the outcomes from recent staffing related grievances indicate that established policies and procedures are being followed in the vast majority of cases, the results of the PSES suggest that the Force would benefit from continuing to take steps to address perceptions of fairness in staffing activities. Additionally, three areas in particular were noted during the audit which could be strengthened to enhance the staffing framework: policy; roles and responsibilities; and monitoring.

Policy

The RCMP Career Management Manual (CMM) is the policy basis from which NCO staffing action processes are carried out. The CMM provides direction on: Career Streaming, Planning and Development; Performance Evaluation; Transfers and Deployments; Promotion; Job Descriptors and Job Requirements; Priority Administration; and Competency Based Management. The CMM is readily available on the RCMP's intranet and its provisions apply Force-wide.

The CMM provides general direction on key staffing principles and it provides detailed direction on the different types of staffing actions. For example, the CMM states that "mobility is a condition of service and an integral element of individual development for RMs".^{Footnote 10} However, gaps in the policy were identified in terms of national approaches to addressing staffing challenges being experienced in divisions.

These gaps became evident as divisions identified challenges in staffing NCO positions. Some of these challenges included:

• longevity: members are remaining in the same position or in the same division / detachment for an extended period of time.^{Footnote 11} This limits the breadth of experience for the member and limits transfer options for members hoping to transfer in;
• mobility: despite being a condition of service, all divisions have been experiencing issues with members not wishing to leave or transfer to particular geographic areas;
• duty to accommodate: an increasing number of members must remain in or transfer to a specific area due to their family obligations, including custody orders;
• staffing IPs and LDPs: this can be particularly problematic, especially in divisions that have high vacancy rates.

Some divisions have developed strategies to address these challenges. In one division, the CDRS manages the staffing of IPs and LDPs by having regular communication with LOs and District Commanders in raising member awareness of the need to remain mobile, by communicating the likelihood of working in an LDP at some point and not remaining in the same position for more than 5 years. This division is also pilot testing a fly-in program where members are flown in to an IP for a block of shifts to provide policing services to remote communities.

Another division issues a "letter of expectation" for members transferred to specific positions indicating that the posting will be for 3 to 5 years and those in specialized positions can expect a posting duration of 5 years. Similarly, another division has put in place a rotational strategy for positions in a large urban area and limits on the duration of postings in specialized areas. Another division strives to post incoming members to the outlying areas of the division to ensure they are exposed to rural policing prior to seeking positions in more urban areas. A final division has adopted a rotational strategy for members posted to protective operations. These divisional strategies are helping bridge gaps at the divisional level, but there is an opportunity for national focus in these areas.

While national policy centre initiatives intended to address mobility and other staffing challenges, have previously been proposed^{Footnote 12}, these challenges continue to manifest themselves across divisions. Accordingly there would be a benefit to having a Force-wide strategic discussion on approaches to addressing them. The results of the discussion could inform national direction and form the basis of standardized approaches, supported by policy where appropriate. Policy development in these areas may serve to increase the perception of fairness and transparency in the staffing process, and lead to more informed staffing decisions overall.

Roles and Responsibilities

Divisional CDRS and the NPU play key roles in the NCO staffing process, and as such a clear understanding of their roles and responsibilities is fundamental to having a sound staffing framework. Accordingly, the audit focused on roles and responsibilities in divisional CDRS' and at NPU.

All CDRAs interviewed were fully aware of their roles and responsibilities in relation to the staffing action process. The reporting structure and the accountabilities were well understood. All confirmed having completed NSP's Career Development and Resourcing (CDR) course. Yet, many CDRAs felt that most of their knowledge of the staffing action procedures and processes has been gained through mentorship and on the job training.

NPU's promotions specialists had a clear understanding of their roles and responsibilities in relation to processing promotional staffing actions. NPU has developed several guidance documents to assist the promotions specialists in carrying out their duties. NPU's Grievance Unit responds to promotion-related grievances on behalf of the official respondent, the OIC NPU. The unit is also responsible for ensuring that the rationales submitted by both the Validation Committee and the LOs are defendable against potential grievances.

For each promotion, the grievance unit resource responsible for reviewing the Validation Committee and LO rationales is usually the same individual responsible for responding to any subsequent grievance related to the promotion. While it is important to provide sound and meaningful rationales to candidates, delineating the grievance unit functions is also important to help increase the objectivity of the promotion process.

Monitoring

Effective monitoring and oversight can help provide timely insight into risks and issues related to NCO staffing processes. Anomalies in processes may be detected sooner and addressed in a timely manner, and mechanisms to improve processes may be observed and implemented.

At NPU's inception, the NSP instituted "NCO Promotion Process Audits". These audits involved teams reviewing a sample of promotion files from NPU for accuracy, consistency and adherence to policy. The teams were comprised of NSP and NPU personnel, members of the former Staff Relations Representative program, and staff from National Headquarters Division CDRS. The audits were conducted quarterly until December 2014, and have since been conducted on a biannual basis. The "NCO Promotion Process Audits" have identified issues with workflow and process management, the level of supervisory review, and file documentation. While the extent of follow up by the NSP has been limited to ensuring the OIC NPU is made aware of the findings, NPU has implemented measures such as the use of checklists, and decision logs to make the process more streamlined, efficient and transparent. The audit team noted improvements in file documentation and consistency in training.

Overall, while some monitoring processes are in place, further improvements to the monitoring process such as having periodic supervisory review and periodic review of decision-making to ensure consistency and fairness would be beneficial. Periodic reviews of files at key intervals in the promotion process would provide another level of assurance that staffing actions are conducted in a fair and transparent manner and in accordance with policy.

3.2 Staffing actions compliance

Compliance to policies related to NCO staffing is important as a means of providing confidence that processes are being administered correctly and that resulting staffing decisions are fair and transparent.

The NCO staffing actions on which the audit focused were lateral appointments^{Footnote 13}, promotional appointments^{Footnote 14}, and PBEs^{Footnote 15}. The CMM outlines requirements for completing lateral transfers and promotions. It also specifies how priority administration and compassionate transfers affect the promotional process, and outlines the process for staffing a position through PBE.

The audit team reviewed a random sample of 132 staffing actions that took place between October 2013 and October 2015, including 61 lateral transfer files, 50 promotional files, and 21 PBEs. The intent of the file review was to determine the level of adherence to applicable staffing policies and RCMP core values of accountability, respect, professionalism, honesty and compassion. To provide assurance that staffing actions were conducted in a fair and transparent manner, it was expected that file documentation would demonstrate that the process was conducted as per policy.

Although the intent was to draw an equal sample from each division, this was not possible as the degree to which PBE is used by the various divisions varies significantly as does the number of promotions. The files reviewed at NPU corresponded with the promotional and PBE staffing action files reviewed in the divisions visited.

The table below identifies the number and type of files reviewed by division.

Review of NPU Files

NPU has created a process map documenting step by step instructions for managing the NCO promotions process. These steps include: development of the applicant qualifying list based on the members' Job Simulation Exercise score; candidates obtaining their supervisor and their LO's support to participate in the promotion process; advertising a promotional JOB; validation of candidates' competencies related to the specific job opportunity; LO selection and final review.

In addition, NPU has developed a number of checklists to help ensure the promotion process steps are consistently completed. These include checklists for: lateral files; promotional files; screening; PBE; subject matter experts; validation committee; recommended candidate; and selection of the successful candidate. The checklists are embedded within each staffing action's electronic file and are maintained on NPU's database and populated by the promotions specialist. Documentation from all stages of the promotion process was reviewed for accuracy, consistency and adherence to policy. While the NPU files demonstrated consistency with established policies and procedures overall, three instances were found where requested exceptions to the CMM were not handled consistently^{Footnote 16}. Based on our review, it appeared that all three cases had valid reasons for seeking exceptions. While rationales were provided for each decision, it is unclear why leniency occurred in one of the situations and not the others.

Generally, staffing files were well organized and each stage was well documented; however, it was difficult to determine the date the files were opened. This impacts determining the length of time taken to process a staffing action request for performance measurement and resourcing purposes. Files that were processed more recently appeared to have been standardized resulting in little variation from one promotions specialist to another. In most cases, information to support decisions was included in the files, such that the evolution of the promotional process was clear from the time that the CDRA submitted their request to post a promotional job opportunity until the entry identifying the successful candidate was made in HRMIS. However, evidence of supervisory review was not always apparent. Supervisory review is an important step in helping ensure completeness, consistency and fairness in a staffing action.

Review of Divisional Files

NCO staffing activities in the divisional CDRS generally appeared to follow established policies. However these activities were inconsistently documented within staffing files, both across the divisions and even within a single division. At the time of the audit, staffing documentation requirements had not been formally defined nor was there a requirement for documented supervisory review. Accordingly, staffing files did not always contain sufficient documentation to indicate that key steps had all been consistently completed. For example, evidence of priority searches and lateral interest searches was not always retained in the file. Some files did not capture the rationale for applicants being screened out and did not clearly document decisions made, making it difficult to determine whether fairness and transparency was exercised in the staffing process.

Additionally, similar to our review of NPU files, divisional files often did not contain sufficient information to determine the date a file was opened and the date it was concluded. This impacts determining the length of time it takes to process a staffing action request for performance measurement and resourcing purposes. Additionally, supervisory review to ensure completeness, consistency and fairness carried out in processing the staffing action was often not documented.

Lateral Transfers

The intent of the lateral transfer process is to retain flexibility to help meet operational needs and organizational requirements. As a general practice, lateral transfers are considered prior to proceeding with a promotion process. In allowing for flexibility, the CMM does not stipulate specific documentation requirements for lateral transfers^{Footnote 17}. As such, the lateral transfer files requested for sampling purposes often contained only basic information. For some files, LOs have the authority to carry out intra-functional transfers^{Footnote 18} of members below the rank of officer without the involvement of the CDRA until it comes time to process the transfer in HRMIS. Given the large volume of lateral transfers, the HRMIS transaction at times is the only documentation related to the staffing action. Nonetheless, lateral transfers are the subject of review by the divisional CDRO to ensure organization needs have been met.

Promotion by Exception (PBE)

PBE provisions were introduced in 2008 in an effort to staff positions in areas considered by members as less desirable postings. PBEs are prevalent in LDPs and IPs to staff detachment commander and supervisory roles. As per the table below, analysis of PBEs by division from October 2013 to October 2015 indicates that promotions to corporal make up almost half (48.2%) of PBEs. This can be viewed as the riskiest rank for which to use PBE as it is the entry point to the NCOs and corporals usually provide front-line supervision, especially in general duty.

When a promotional process yields no interested and/or qualified candidates, the option to fill the position by PBE becomes available. Once a candidate has been selected, the LO submits a business case to the Delegated Manager for HR (DMHR). The DMHR is an officer level/ equivalent or senior NCO who is responsible for HR duties and responsibilities as delegated by the divisional CO or CHRO^{Footnote 19}. A developmental plan must be included in the business case to help bridge potential gaps in competencies if the selected candidate does not currently meet all job requirements. The LO is responsible for implementing the developmental plan, which allows the candidate up to one year to meet all of the requirements. If, upon completion of the developmental period, the selected candidate does not meet all requirements, the PBE will be cancelled and the member will be reassigned at the lower rank.

The audit found that staffing policies were being followed with respect to the option to proceed with a PBE. File reviews found that PBEs were initiated after a promotional process failed to identify a suitable candidate. The decisions were well documented and included in the files. Time frames were not always clear, although some files included an explanation for any delays in progressing to the PBE.

NSP serves as a repository for all approved PBE business cases. The CMM does not explicitly set out a format for the business case or the required content of the developmental plan. Consequently, a review of the business cases and developmental plans found that there was considerable variance in their content. Additionally, evidence of follow up on developmental plans was not apparent. Of concern is that without systematic follow up to ensure that members have met all the required competencies, the safety of both the member and the community where they are posted could be at risk. Since the CDRA is the member's career advisor, the CDRA would be uniquely positioned to play a useful role in the reviewing business cases and developmental plans and following up on their implementation.

Since the LO is responsible for drafting the business case and developmental plan, it would be appropriate for the CMM to address the engagement of CDRAs in this process to provide assurance that the developmental plan is indeed being implemented appropriately. Greater CMM guidance on the content and approval authority for developmental plans and the engagement of CDRAs would help ensure members on PBE bridge potential gaps in competencies.

Overall, file reviews and data analysis showed that PBEs are being used to staff less desirable location such as LDPs and IPs, as was the intent when first introduced in 2008.

3.3 Opportunities for efficiencies

Efficiency in NCO staffing is important to help ensure that positions are filled in a timely, cost-effective manner and do not remain vacant for an excessive amount of time. Opportunities exist to increase the efficiency of the NCO staffing process through better use of enterprise-wide automated tools and through process enhancements.

Use of Automated Tools

While HRMIS is the system of record and is actively used for staffing activities, both NPU and divisional CDRS' use other automated tools to supplement HRMIS information to manage workflow, and to assist in decision-making.

NPU Automated Tools

NPU uses an in-house database to manage the workflow for promotions and PBEs. Each step of the promotional process is captured electronically in the database. Access to this database is restricted to NPU employees only. Although NPU advised that the database is adequate and allows the promotions specialists to process staffing actions as required, the database has some limitations. There is redundancy as some information is entered in both HRMIS and the database. Furthermore, the database is not centrally supported and as a result NPU performs its own maintenance and backups. These shortcomings impact the promotional process efficiency.

Consistent with the intent of HRMIS as the RCMP's HR system of record, NPU uses HRMIS regularly to process SAFs. NPU promotions specialists consult HRMIS to verify whether applicants have met screening requirements and competencies. Results of competency validation committees are entered in the system along with an entry indicating the successful candidate in order to initiate the promotion.

The GroupWise email system is used by the NPU as well to collect and distribute the documents required in the promotion process. There is a risk that some key documents submitted with a candidate's application will be lost because they are not in a centrally managed system. Additionally, GroupWise lacks the sophistication to include input controls that would ensure the completeness of applications. Common errors that can render a candidate's application incomplete include missing supervisor's signatures, documents not scanned properly and providing examples for the wrong competency^{Footnote 20}. As per CMM 4.10.9.11, "[a]n incomplete application package will not be considered." This has resulted in 8% of applicants being screened out^{Footnote 21}. This may result in a limited number or even no qualified candidates for a particular promotional process. If potential candidates have been screened out, it could ultimately lead to filling the position by PBE or reposting the bulletin, both of which increase the time required to fill a position.

In March 2015, NPU proposed the development of an online promotions system, including an online application process to administer all aspects of the promotions process on a central network. An online enterprise-wide application process would help decrease the length of time it takes for a promotional process to be completed. Entries would no longer have to be made on different systems that are not connected. An online enterprise-wide application process would also help eliminate barriers to candidates participating in promotion processes. An online enterprise-wide promotion system with input controls would help reduce application errors, potentially increasing the candidate pool.

An additional challenge that NPU is facing in relation to automated tools, is the upcoming implementation of the Government of Canada (GoC) Email Transformation Initiative (ETI). The intent of ETI, led by Shared Services Canada (SSC), is to move SSC's 43 partner organizations, including the RCMP, from 63 email services to a common system. The new email system will have storage limits that are lower than under the existing GroupWise email system.

As all staffing applications are currently submitted to NPU through the GroupWise email system, the NPU mailbox folders are very large. While NPU has been granted exceptions to the 2GB storage limit on email accounts, the exceptions are for storage sizes that are less than the current size of its email accounts. Consequently, NPU's business process of receiving staffing applications by email may not be sustainable in the long-term. While the implementation of the ETI solution has been delayed somewhat within the RCMP, allowing NPU additional time to assess its options, there is some urgency to finding a more effective approach.

Divisional CDRS Automated Tools

In the divisional CDRS, HRMIS is actively used by CDRAs to search and identify priorities, potential lateral candidates, and to determine whether candidates have met all the requirements of positions being staffed. HRMIS is also used to record the results of staffing actions. Greater awareness and training of searching and reporting functionality could assist CDRAs in better leveraging the information within HRMIS and would assist in ensuring that all relevant HRMIS information is considered in decision-making.

Notwithstanding, CDRS staff indicated that HRMIS is difficult to search based on specific criteria such as skill set, training received or mobility. This information can only be obtained by viewing each member's individual profile. Additionally, it is difficult to generate HRMIS reports by district as opposed to location code. While location codes are used within HRMIS to identify a work site's location, in practice, divisions are more commonly organized by district. There are also challenges related to the accuracy of position codes and position profiles in HRMIS. Inaccurate information related to a position code can result in eligible members being excluded from consideration for lateral transfers. In one of the reviewed staffing files, information regarding the length of time a member had held a specific position was incorrectly recorded in HRMIS, resulting in the member being excluded for a lateral transfer.

All members are expected to identify their lateral career preferences using HRMIS and keep their career plan preferences data current. However, CDRAs advised this is not always occurring, which will result in interested members not being identified through a lateral search.

Due to limitations with HRMIS, divisional CDRS use other automated tools to track staffing information and to assist in decision-making. Some divisions use a staffing dashboard to identify when members are due out of LDPs and IPs. Other tools identify members' training, tenure in positions and inter/intra divisional transfers by District.

Process Enhancements within the NPU

NPU was designed to handle between 600 and 700 promotions per year based on data collected prior to the unit's creation. From May 2014 to April 2015, NPU processed 888 promotions and an additional 402 promotions were processed from May 2015 to October 2015^{Footnote 22}. As such, NPU is not always able to process the staffing action files it receives in a timely fashion, and has had to advise divisional CDRS that promotional job advertisements cannot be posted and will remain in the queue until the next posting date, resulting in a two week delay. Delays have been linked to a shortage of NPU staff, inexperienced staff and a higher than expected number of promotions. The impact is delays in the staffing process, with positions remaining vacant or being filled by temporary means.

For each promotion processed, NPU captures the length of time for key steps in the process. However clearly recording the file opening and closing dates (starting from when the SAF promotional request is received from the CDRA and ending when the promotional transaction is initiated in HRMIS) would provide documented evidence of NPU's workload, which could support resource adjustments where appropriate.

While NPU's promotion specialists administer most of the steps and are the only NPU resources used to complete them, NPU's grievance unit resources are also heavily engaged in the competency validation committee and LO selection stages. This is because in addition to responding to grievances that relate to promotional processes, NPU's grievance unit resources also review competency validation committee and LO rationales, and make editorial changes as needed to ensure that sound and meaningful feedback is provided to candidates.

NPU advised that grievance unit resources spend 50% of their time on grievance matters, 40% on ensuring competency validation committee and LO rationales are sound and defendable, and 10% on administrative functions. The grievance unit resources contact the members of the competency validation committee a few days before they meet. The committee members may also contact the grievance unit directly if they need any additional assistance. Once a rationale is complete, the competency validation committee members will sign off on it. A similar process takes place with respect to LO rationales. For these, grievance unit resources review the rationales for meaningfulness and soundness and may also support the LOs in articulating their decisions. The final versions become part of the staffing action file.

The competency validation and the LO selection processes, including the LO's rationale accounted for a large portion of the time taken to complete the promotion process – between 23% (April 2015) and 47% (October 2014). NPU's promotions specialists cannot move forward in these steps until NPU's grievance unit has completed their review of rationales. There may be an opportunity to realize some efficiencies in the promotion process by limiting the involvement of NPU's grievance unit in drafting validation committee and LO rationales.

Additional training for validation committee members and LOs on the drafting of sound and meaningful rationales may be more efficient than having the NPU's grievance unit review every rationale, edit as needed and/or return to the validation committee and LOs for changes. Shortening the amount of time to conduct these two steps could result in promotions processes being conducted more quickly and the position being staffed sooner.

Reallocating resources from NPU's grievance unit to its promotions area may also alleviate some pressures by increasing NPU's capacity to process staffing actions.

Process Enhancements relating to PBE

It is often the case that no applications are received for positions in LDPs and IPs, and this has led to the frequent use of PBEs. If a SAF collapses, LOs must decide whether to re-advertise or proceed by a PBE. In cases where applicants for a specific LDP or IP are known to be few or rare, following the regular promotion process prior to proceeding by way of PBE has the potential of delaying the process. In cases where an NCO position is vacant, even a short delay may result in additional pressures to the affected detachment and community.

In such cases it may be advantageous, as is the practice in some divisions, to have the requesting LO pre-approve proceeding to PBE at the onset of a promotion process. This would allow the process to proceed by way of PBE immediately if none of the candidates for the initial process were found qualified. Proceeding in this manner could reduce the time the position is vacant and alleviate pressure in an LDP or IP.

4. Recommendations

1. The Chief Human Resources Officer should champion a strategic discussion on Force-wide staffing challenges, the results of which could support the development of best practices and standardized approaches, supported by policy where appropriate.
2. The Chief Human Resources Officer should consider refocusing NPU's grievance unit resources on providing training to competency validation committee members and LO on the development of rationales.
3. The Chief Human Resources Officer should enhance monitoring to ensure documentation requirements for promotional staffing action files are met and to help ensure fairness and transparency in decision-making.
4. The Chief Human Resources Officer should clarify the engagement of CDRAs in reviewing PBE business cases and developmental plans.
5. The Chief Human Resources Officer should assess the merits and the feasibility of the potential staffing process efficiencies identified in section 3.3 of this report.

5. Conclusion

The RCMP has a comprehensive staffing framework in place, including clearly communicated roles and responsibilities. Staffing activities appeared consistent with established policies and procedures and some monitoring processes are in place. In addition, PBEs are being used to staff less desirable locations such as IPs and LDPs as was the intent when first introduced in 2008.

Opportunities for improvement exist in a few areas. The Force would benefit from a strategic discussion on Force-wide staffing challenges, the results of which could inform national direction and form the basis of standardized approaches, supported by policy where appropriate. Enhancing monitoring for promotional staffing action files would help ensure fairness and transparency in decision-making. Finally, introducing process enhancements and leveraging the use of enterprise-wide automated tools would help increase efficiencies in the NCO staffing process.

Appendix A – Audit objective and criteria

Date modified:

2017-06-20