Audit of the Management of Staff Rotation and Mobility

Department of Global Affairs Canada
Office of the Chief Audit Executive

February 2016

Table of Contents

Executive Summary

In accordance with the 2014-2015 Risk-Based Audit Plan for Global Affairs Canada (former Department of Foreign Affairs, Trade and Development’s, the Department), the Office of the Chief Audit Executive conducted an internal audit of the Management of Staff Rotation and Mobility.

Why is this Important?

As described in the 2014-15 Report on Plans and Priorities, the Department’s raison d’être states that “the Department is responsible for the conduct of Canada’s international relations, including foreign affairs, international trade and commerce, and international development. The Department advances Canada’s values and interests internationally, delivers international programs, and administers Canada’s international aid program to alleviate poverty in the developing world and provide humanitarian assistance. The department provides commercial and consular services to Canadians at home and abroad, and manages the Government of Canada’s global network of missions.”

In order to deliver on this complex domestic and international mandate, the Department relies on a workforce that is flexible, competent, diverse and mobile.   A rotation and mobility system was created to support the staffing of Canada’s extensive network of missions around the world, to contribute to the professional development of departmental human resources and to meet the operational needs of a foreign service.  Managing part of the Department’s workforce through this system allows management the flexibility to assign employees to a position for a specified period of time.  The system developed by the Department is intended to support the business needs while reducing management burden compared to traditional staffing methods.

The size of the rotational and mobile departmental workforce is materially significant for the Department.  As at March 31, 2015, rotational and mobile pools representedFootnote 1 42% (2,578) of the Canada-based staff (CBS) active workforce (6,139); and 40% ($223M) of CBS salary expendituresFootnote 2 ($556M).  

What did we examine?

The objective of this audit was to provide assurance that the management of staff rotation and mobility is effective, efficient and aligned with public sector values of fairness and transparencyFootnote 3.

The audit team examined the assignment and staffing systems that were in place in the former Canadian International Development Agency and Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade, and integration initiatives undertaken in the amalgamated Department (except for the Heads of Mission selection process).  Human resources and financial transactions, as well as documentation related to staff rotation and mobility were examined.

What did we find?

The audit concludes that the Department’s rotation and mobility system supports the delivery of itsmandate through a process that allows the assignment of rotational and mobile employees to positions in Canada and abroad in a flexible and timely manner. Some areas of improvement were identified by the audit. They include communication of departmental objectives and principles supporting assignment decision making, governance and oversight at the operational level, performance indicators and reporting, human resources planning, and documentation of the assignment processes. Recommendations have been included in the report to address the areas requiring improvement.

Conclusion

In its current form, the rotation and mobility system allows the Department to staff positions in Canada and abroad in a timely and flexible manner.  However, the audit has identified areas of improvement in order to increase the effectiveness and efficiency of the rotation and mobility assignment system.

Statement of Conformance

In my professional judgment as Chief Audit Executive, the audit was conducted in conformity with the Institute of Internal Auditors’ International Standards for the Professional Practice of Internal Auditing and the Internal Auditing Standards for the Government of Canada, as supported by the results of the quality assurance and improvement program.  Sufficient and appropriate audit procedures were conducted and evidence gathered to support the accuracy of the findings and conclusion contained in this report, and to provide an audit level of assurance.   The findings and conclusion are based on a comparison of the conditions, as they existed at the time of the audit, against pre-established audit criteria that were agreed upon with management.  The findings and conclusion are applicable only to the entity examined, for the scope and period covered by the audit.

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Chief Audit Executive                                                                                                                      

1. Background

The management of staff rotation and mobility was identified as a key area of risk in the 2014-2015 Risk-Based Audit Plan.  The objective of this audit was to provide assurance that the management of staff rotation and mobility is effective, efficient and aligned with public sector values. Appendix A provides full detail of the audit objective, scope, criteria and methodology.

Staff Rotation and Mobility System

The staff rotation and mobility system is an important tool for delivery of the Department’s mandate. The system allows the Department to assign its employees to various positions within Canada and around the world.  It was created to support the periodic movement of staff, to contribute to their professional development and to meet the operational needs of a foreign service. The system was designed to ensure employees have a good understanding of both Headquarters and mission operations and priorities as it allows staff to apply for and be assigned to departmental positions, for periods of two to four years in Canada and abroad.

The Department’s rotation and mobility system has two distinct components:

Materiality, Management and Administrative Considerations

The rotation and mobility system has significant impacts on individual members of the Department’s workforce as well as on the administrative processes and workload of the Department.  This process is managed by the Assignments and Executive Management Bureau (HFD) of the Human Resources Management Branch (HCM).  Executive assignments fall under the responsibility of the Executive Services Division (HFR) and non-executive assignments are managed by the Assignment and Pool Management Division (HFP). These divisions support a large and increasing mandate in the context of a newly amalgamated department and its expanding need for an integrated and flexible workforce.

The size of the Department’s rotational and mobile workforce is material.  As at March 31, 2015, presented in the graph below, rotational and mobile pools represented 42% (2,578) of the Canada-based staff (CBS) active workforce (6,139); and 40% ($223M) of CBS salary expenditures ($556M). Appendix B provides more detail on the rotational and mobile workforces in the Department.

Graph 1: Department’s Canada Based Staff categoriesFootnote 4and respective salary expendituresFootnote 5

Graph 1
Text Alternative
Graph 1: Department’s Canada Based Staff categories and respective salary expenditures as of March 31, 2015:
Canada Based Staff categoriesNumber of EmployeesSalary Expenditures
Rotational and Mobile2578$223 M
Non-Rotational or Mobile3561$332 M

Rotational and mobile positions are dispersed throughout the department, in Canada and abroad.  The salaries for rotational and mobile employees are funded by the branches and bureaus into which they are assigned.  The salary for any rotational or mobile employee without an assignment is funded from a Pool Roll-up fund centrally managed by the Assignment and Pool Management Division.

Assignment Processes

There are two separate assignment cycles each year, one for assignments abroad and one for assignments in Canada (at Headquarters and in regional offices). The advertisements for assignments abroad begin in the Fall for posting the following Summer/Fall.  The Headquarters assignments are advertised in the Spring, following the decisions concerning assignments for positions abroad.

The audit team developed a detailed mapping of the assignment processes in the Department.  The assignment process includes the following steps:

Once staff assignments are confirmed, the actual posting process commences.  Employees are required to make their arrangements for individual details such as security clearances, medical requirements for themselves and for their dependents, housing, registering dependants for school, etc. 

In general, rotational staff are required to move every two to four years.  A shorter posting of one year or less may happen in a conflict zone, in case of an evacuation or reassignment to another post.  Alternately, assignments can be extended by up to two years due to operational requirements.

Rotational and Mobile Assignments Are Not Appointments

It is important to note that a rotational or mobile assignment is not an appointment, as defined under the Public Service Employment Act (the Act).  While appointments are required to comply with the Act and its associated regulations, an assignment has no such obligation.  An assignment is the temporary move of an employee at their substantive group and level within the Department to perform the functions of a position that already exists or to take on a special project.

It is also possible to hold an acting position within an assignment. In accordance with Public Service Employment Regulations, acting appointments to rotational or mobile positions are exempt from the Act obligations of having to be based on merit and providing for recourse by the employee.

2. Observations and Recommendations

2.1 Delivery of department’s mandate

The audit team concluded that the staff rotation and mobility assignment system is designed and operating in a manner that allows for the flexible and timely assignment of employees to meet departmental operational priorities in Canada and abroad.

The current system contains certain characteristics that facilitate the placement of employees.  For example, rotation and mobility are conditions of employment; and acting appointments are excluded from merit and recourse requirements, all contributing to flexibility and timeliness of the process. 

The flexibility and timeliness of the rotation and mobility system allow a large number of employees to rotate during the Summer and Fall posting seasons.  For example, the 2014 posting season resulted in approximately 540 assignments abroad and 470 at Headquarters.  An additional 204 employees within Headquarters were assigned to the Special Assignment Pool, foreign language training or new recruit positions where new employees are trained.

The Department’s flexibility has been enhanced by recent decisions to expand rotation and mobility to more employees. In fact, all executive positions have become rotational except those where there is a justified need for specialisation (e.g. trade policy or human resources and finance with professional designations).  As well, the Department fully extended the option of mobility to employees from the Economics and Social Sciences Services (EC), Commerce (CO) and included the Programme Administration (PM) community, so as to reduce barriers among groups and to increase flexibility for managers in assigning staff.

2.2 Departmental strategic objectives

The audit team expected to find policies, procedures or other instrument specific for the management of rotational and mobile assignments that would provide the Department with an opportunity to articulate its objectives pursued through assignments, the key principles supporting assignment decisions and the expected outcomes from the assignment system. These elements would provide management with guidance towards the effective management of the rotational and mobile assignment system.

The auditors concluded that the Department needs to more strongly communicate its strategic objectives and key principles supporting assignment decisions. While, the auditors have found governance documents that describe strategic objectives, they have not found evidence that those objectives are regularly communicated in a transparent way to staff.

The rotational and mobile assignment system and processes are mostly communicated to managers and employees through two policy guidelines:

The audit team found that the Assignment Guidelines provide important information to managers and employees regarding the assignment process. They also communicate some conditions supporting assignment decisions. For example, the Guidelines for assignment in Canada states that: “Mobility and rotation are conditions of employment; while employee preferences are a key consideration, an assignment may be made which is not among an applicant’s preferences.”  However, the Guidelines do not communicate important elements that would guide assignment management, such as departmental objectives that are pursued through the assignment system, the key principles supporting assignment decisions and expected outcomes from the assignment system. For example, the auditors are of the opinion that the assignment process would benefit from clear statements regarding the objective of placing the right person in the right position at the right time and the principle that departmental business needs should be primarily considered in the assignment decision making process. The Department needs to reinforce the importance of these strategic objectives and key principles to all managers as key considerations when making assignment decisions. A formal communication of these objective and principles through a policy instrument for example, would help to ensure their mandatory consideration in assignments decision making.

Recommendation 1:

The Assistant Deputy Minister, Human Resources Branch should ensure that strategic objectives and  key principles driving rotational and mobile assignment are clearly and consistently communicated to managers and employees to ensure assignment decisions are aligned with expected outcomes of the Department.

2.3 Governance and oversight

Since rotational and mobile workforce has unique characteristics, the audit team expected to find a departmental governance structure playing an active oversight role to ensure departmental priorities are well served by the assignment process.  It was also expected that the Department would have performance indicators and a data collection strategy to measure the effectiveness and efficiency of the rotation and mobility system that includes regular reporting to senior management.

Based on the examination of terms of reference, meeting minutes and interviews, the audit team determined that different senior management committees (Corporate Management Committee, Executive Board and DM4) provide strategic direction and are involved in numerous key decisions with regard to staff rotation and mobility.  

The audit team was informed that the operational level oversight role is provided by the Assignment Advisory Committee (AAC).  However, auditors did not find any documentary evidence of the AAC’s oversight mandate and responsibilities.  Through interviews with its members, the audit team was informed that the AAC’s role is to provide advice on, and to recommend assignments to rotational and mobile positions in Canada and abroad to the Director General, Assignment and Pool Management, who has the delegated authority for assignments. The audit team was also advised that the committee’s mandate was informally expanded to that of providing advice with regard to rotation and mobile staff issues that might arise prior to presentation of options for Deputy Minister’s or Executive Board’s decisions. While the AAC is involved in the operational decision making process related to assignments, it does not have a formal oversight mandate.

From a performance indicators perspective, the audit concluded that there is work to be done to develop and implement consistent performance measures that would inform the degree to which the staff rotation and mobility system is meeting the operational needs of the Department. In particular, performance measures aligned with the objective of “placing the right person in the right position at the right time” would allow for reporting to senior management about the effectiveness of the system.

At the time of the audit examination, performance measures and related data collection were challenging because there was no means to support and track assignment decisions and results over time.

Recommendation 2:

The Assistant Deputy Minister, Human Resources Branch should clarify the Assignment Advisory Committee’s oversight role, including its reporting requirements to senior management, and ensure the committee plays that role effectively.

Recommendation 3:

The Assistant Deputy Minister, Human Resources Branch should establish and implement a reporting system for the management of the rotation and mobility assignment process so that senior management is apprised of the ability and effectiveness of the rotation and mobility assignment system to meet the operational and strategic needs of the Department.

2.4 Human resources planning

The audit team expected to find a department-wide human resources plan for the rotational and mobile workforce aligned with the Department’s mandate and strategic and operational needs.

Human Resources projections

Starting in November 2014, the Assignment and Pool Management Division began to complete rotational and mobile human resources projections, with the goal of maintaining the existing size and make-up of the various pools by occupational group and level.  These projections were planned to be updated quarterly and used when seeking approval of hiring and promotion exercises.  This is a first step to establishing a forecasting tool.

It should be noted, however, that there are some limitations to these projections.  First, they only identify the occupational groups and levels that are forecast as being required to fill existing positions; they do not detail other current and future departmental competency requirements (within Canada and abroad) such as foreign language and mission specific knowledge, skills and abilities.  Second, the forecasts do not explicitly consider the changing business needs of the Department (e.g. new trade agreements and increased emphasis in certain geographic regions or specific countries) and their impact on the make-up of the rotational and mobile pools.

Documentation of employees’ knowledge, skills, abilities and competencies

In order to effectively match employees with positions for which they are best suited, the audit team expected to find that the Department has a means of collecting and applying the knowledge, skills, abilities and competencies of employees against the corresponding attributes and requirements of the available positions. The audit found that there was no history of an organized system of documentation to effectively match employees and positions.

However, in 2014, the Department took steps to systematically document rotational assignment position profiles, which constitutes a useful tool for employees to be informed of position requirements as well as the desired experience and background. The audit team reviewed all posted assignments for the EX and FS categories for the 2014 and 2015 Headquarters assignment cycles to determine whether associated position profiles were available and published. None of the EX positions in 2014 or 2015 had an associated position profile.  Of the FS positions reviewed for 2014, the majority had a position profile.  In 2015, all FS positions reviewed had an associated, improved position profile.  This improvement is attributed to the mandatory requirement that the Assignment and Pool Management division placed on all managers to provide a position profile for the 2015 assignment cycle.

Building on this improvement, next steps will consist of documenting employees’ knowledge, experience, skills and competencies, and matching them with position profile.For the current selection process, employees’ experience and competencies are provided as part of their individual curriculum vitae but they are not collected and maintained by the Assignment and Pool Management Division beyond the current assignment process.  Since information is not held in a standardized, searchable database, the assignment divisions do not have a means of obtaining and maintaining information regarding available resources, in terms of skills, abilities and competencies.

The Assignment and Pool Management Division informed the audit team that the Department will soon move towards a competency-based system, which, in their opinion, will more clearly identify the requirements of each position and support a better matching of skills and job requirements.

Recommendation 4:

The Assistant Deputy Minister, Human Resources Branch should:

2.5 Documentation of assignment process and decisions

In order to demonstrate that assignment decisions are appropriate, it was expected that a staff rotation and mobility assignment record keeping system exists and that it is structured, with complete information.  The audit team expected to find assignment files that documented important aspects of the assignment process, from the advertising of positions, to receipt of applications, to determination of assignment recommendations and the ultimate assignment decisions.

The audit team examined a variety of documents from three information repositories and concluded that there is a lack of a formal structure and consistent recording of information. While too much structure can impede the effectiveness of assignments operations (i.e. increased workload), sufficient structured documentation is needed to allow those responsible to provide senior management with the assurance that departmental operational requirements are consistently and appropriately considered in assignment decisions. Any solution should take into consideration cost and time requirements.

Recommendation 5:

The Assistant Deputy Minister, Human Resources Branch should ensure that all rotational and mobile assignments are well documented including a rationale to tie employee knowledge, skills, abilities and competencies with position requirements.

2.6 The assignment process’ fairness and transparency

One of the audit criteria was that the rotational and mobile assignments process respects the public sector values of fairness and transparency. The auditors determined that the process has elements that contribute to the demonstration of its fairness and transparency.  First, the criteria for employee eligibility and the order of consideration are documented and well communicated in the Guidelines for Rotational and Mobile Assignments. Second, the communication of assignment opportunities, recruitment and promotional exercises are done in a manner that is open and timely. Third, the Department offers information sessions, provides documents to address frequently asked questions and answers (FAQs), and webinars to provide all employees with equal opportunities to raise questions and to be considered for assignments.

Notwithstanding, the audit team was informed by senior management within the Human Resources Branch, former Heads of Mission, and by hiring managers of concerns that some staff may not perceive the assignment process as fair and transparent. In this regard, considering the process is unique and it involves a significant number of staff, the audit team is of the opinion that, the Department should improve its documentation practices to enhance the transparency of the process (please see section 2.5 above). Furthermore, the auditors also consider that continuing the implementation of the competency-based approach in the assignment process as well as implementing the recommendations made in this report, would move towards addressing concerns with regard to fairness and transparency.

3. Conclusion

The management of staff rotation and mobility is designed and operating in a manner that allows the flexible and timely assignment of employees to meet departmental operational priorities in Canada and abroad.

However, the audit has identified areas for improvements in order to increase the effectiveness and efficiency of the rotation and mobility system. They include:

Appendix A: About the Audit

Audit Objective

The objective of this audit was to provide assurance that the management of staff rotation and mobility is effective, efficient and aligned with public sector values.

Audit Scope

This audit included:

The audit scope did not include the Heads of Mission selection process.

Audit Criteria

The following criteria were developed for this audit based on the risks identified in the planning phase and a review of the Core Management Controls developed by the Office of the Comptroller General of Canada:

  1. The Department has a rotation and mobility system that supports the alignment of skills sets and operational requirements.
  2. There is an adequate governance structure in place to provide oversight and monitoring for the management of rotation and mobility.
  3. The assignment process is designed to optimize the use of resources and is supported by adequate capacity and tools.
  4. Integrated financial and human resources planning is in place and sound stewardship is exercised over rotational and mobile budgets.
  5. Rotational and mobile assignments respect the Public Sector values of fairness and transparency.

Approach and Methodology

The auditors completed the audit using the following audit methodologies:

The conduct phase of the audit was completed from January to April 2015.

Appendix B: Rotation and Mobility Distribution Tables

Table 1: Departmental Workforce by Occupational Group (as of March 31, 2015)
Employment CategoryRotationalMobileNon-Rotational/mobileTotal
# of staff%# of staff%# of staff%# of staff
*Other: (CR, FI, PE, PG, etc.)
AS43428 1132721566
FS102099  1111031
CS20745 25455461
EX40083  8217482
CO 1766210638282
EC  3385231648654
PM    622100622
Other*    10411001041
Departmental Total206534 51383561586139
Table 2: Departmental Salary Distribution by top 5 Branches for Fiscal Year 2014-15
BranchRotational/MobileNon-rotational/mobileTotal Salaries
$%$%$
Americas31,805,329874,708,8941336,514,223
Europe and Middle East35,307,257951,718,650537,025,907
Int’l Platform Branch29,758,4855622,917,9424452,676,427
Asia28,141,253932,241,947730,383,200
Human Resources15,510,9004915,994,6015131,505,500
Total top 5 Branches140,523,2247547,582,03325188,105,256
DFATD total 223,350,90540332,335,48960555,686,394

Appendix C: Management Action Plan

Audit Recommendation

1. The Assistant Deputy Minister, Human Resources Branch should ensure that strategic objectives and key principles driving rotational and mobile assignment are clearly and consistently communicated to managers and employees to ensure assignment decisions are aligned with expected outcomes of the Department.

Management Action

The ADM/HR (HCM) has commenced implementation of a Competency-based HR-Framework (CBF) - adopted by DMs in July 2015. The CBF enables the amalgamated department’s objectives and strategic direction using rotation/mobility as a tool. When fully implemented over the next several years, it will promote development of a talented workforce with competencies aligned with the public service leadership competencies and Global Affairs Canada’s critical mission needs. The CBF is used for recruitment, training, assignment, talent management, and promotion. Its implementation has already been included as a PMA commitment for Global Affairs Canada EXs.

Implementation is in close collaboration with governance structures and steps communicated regularly. Ongoing reports will be submitted to DMs.

Area Responsible

HCM through HFD

Expected Completion Date

Completed

Audit Recommendation

2. The Assistant Deputy Minister, Human Resources Branch should clarify the Assignment Advisory Committee’s oversight role, including its reporting requirements to senior management, and ensure the committee plays that role effectively.

Management Action

Formal terms of reference for the Assignment Advisory Committee (AAC) have been adopted. The AAC represents all branches and direct reports. Records of decision are kept for each AAC meeting. The AAC reports to HFD who has the accountability for assignments up to EX02.

Key assignment principles have now been imbedded in the terms of reference in support of recommendation 1.

Area Responsible

HCM

Expected Completion Date

Completed

Audit Recommendation

3. The Assistant Deputy Minister, Human Resources Branch should establish and implement a reporting system for the management of the rotation and mobility assignment process so that senior management is apprised of the ability and effectiveness of the rotation and mobility assignment system to meet the operational and strategic needs of the Department.

Management Action

Full profiles, including competencies, for staff and positions will be developed. This information, enabling regular, comprehensive reporting to management on the rotational/mobile assignment process, will be enabled through a low-cost data capture system, managed in HFP. HFP will explore whether the data system could be integrated with Strategia or HRMS/GCHR or other planning tools which could help in measuring the “effectiveness” of the system.

Area Responsible

HFP

Expected Completion Date

October 2016

Audit Recommendation

4. The Assistant Deputy Minister, Human Resources Branch should:

Management Action

As described in Management Action 1, HCM will implement a CBF which will use:

Area Responsible

HFP

Expected Completion Date

November 2016

Audit Recommendation

5. The Assistant Deputy Minister, Human Resources Branch should ensure that all rotational and mobile assignments are well documented including a rationale to tie employee knowledge, skills, abilities and competencies with position requirements.

Management Action

HCM has migrated filing on mobile and rotational assignments to Infobank. In the HFP folder structure, an electronic employee assignment file now documents all processes and decisions. Once developed, employee competency profiles will be stored in Infobank as well, ready for the eventual migration to the centralized GC Docs repository. This framework will provide clearer rationales for the business process for how decisions are made on rotational/mobile assignments. Rationales for individual assignment decisions will not be recorded in detail as assignments are not a staffing process nor should they be mistaken for one.

Area Responsible

HFP

Expected Completion Date

October 2016

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