Report to: General Committee                                                   Date of Meeting: June 19, 2006

 

 

SUBJECT:                          National Quality Institute (NQI) - Excellence Journey Update

PREPARED BY:               Anne Pozywiak, ext. 3785

 

 

 

RECOMMENDATION:

That the report “National Quality Institute (NQI) Excellence Journey Update” be received and pursuit of the Quality and Healthy Workplace integrated PEP (Progressive Excellence Program) leading to certification at level II be endorsed as a corporate and council priority.

 

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY:

In the late 1990s the Town of Markham, in collaboration with Xerox developed a quality management system known as the Markham Management Model. The Town realized many positive benefits from the implementation of this management system however; complete integration of the system was hampered by a few factors. At the time NQI’s PEP was emerging and the main advantage of this program was its progressive nature that provided implementation guidelines to achieve full success. The program was made up of four successive levels, each subsequent one increasing in detail and sophistication.  The Town partnered with NQI in 2001 and late in 2002 earned PEP Level II.

 

Over the past few years many other Canadian municipalities have joined the NQI organization and are participating in the pursuit of excellence. Some examples include the Region of Peel, York Region, Brampton, and Prince George B.C.

 

As the NQI quality program grew in acceptance and stature another area was also emerging on the management playing field as a topic of growing significance - that of the Healthy Workplace. This is a broad term that not only includes the traditional areas of occupational health and safety, wellness and healthier lifestyles but also the areas of workplace culture, supportive work environment and psycho-social factors. NQI soon developed a certification program for Healthy Workplace similar to the quality program. Member organizations now had two areas to subscribe to when improving their organizations - the quality path or the healthy workplace path.

 

It quickly became apparent to NQI and its member organizations that that the two program areas were not completely independent and that one area impacted the other. NQI acted quickly and developed a model that integrates both quality and healthy workplace into one PEP program. The Town of Markham has been actively collaborating with NQI in the development of this integrated model and is piloting the initial implementation. When successful the Town of Markham will be the only municipality in Canada to earn NQI’s Progressive Excellence Program Level II integrated award.

 

 

 

 

1. Purpose                2. Background         3. Discussion             4. Financial         5. Environmental

 

6. Accessibility       7. Engage 21st             8. Affected Units       9. Attachment(s)

 

 

PURPOSE:

To provide an update on Markham’s organizational excellence journey.

 

 

BACKGROUND:

The Town of Markham recognized very early the benefits of quality and made the commitment to organizational excellence. In September 1996, in order to examine how private sector strategies could be used to better serve both internal and external customers at the Town, Markham Council approved a partnership proposal from Xerox Quality Services to guide the Town through a quality management strategy.

 

Working together with Xerox Markham developed a program designed to re-shape and improve the Town’s management practices. The program which came to be known as the Markham Management Model (MMM) is based on the criteria of Canada’s National Quality Institute’s Awards for Excellence, the United States’ Malcolm Baldridge Awards and the European Foundation for Quality Management (see appendix). The slogan “Quality Services through Quality People” (QSQP) and related logo was created to support the program in reference to the application of quality principles and business practices in the day-to-day operations of the Town.

 

The benefits of adopting and utilizing a quality management strategy included streamlining processes, sharing information/best practices, increasing effectiveness, aligning activities to corporate direction, increasing staff satisfaction and productivity resulting in better service for both internal and external customers. In addition, focusing on quality and continuous improvement for the Town provided a degree of favorable results to the financial bottom line and contributed to an extent to avoiding the need for tax increases.

 

The National Quality Institute

During the development work of the MMM, the Town of Markham was introduced to the NQI and learned more about the work that it was doing to advance quality on a national scale. As beneficial and useful as the MMM was, one of its shortcoming was it did not provide implementation guidelines to assist in achievement. Meanwhile the NQI’s PEP (Progressive Excellence Program) addressed this gap by providing a focused step by step progression with independent assessments conducted along the way as well as certification and celebration. The Town recognized the advantages of leveraging its efforts and partnered with NQI in 2001.

 

NQI is an independent, not-for-profit-organization committed to enhancing Canada’s

national well-being through the adoption of management principles and practices

that reinforce and sustain excellence in all sectors of the Canadian economy. The Board of Governors of the National Quality Institute comprise a diverse group of leaders from

all sectors of the country.

 

Application of the NQI Organizational Quality and Wellness Criteria is driven by a focus on quality and the health and well-being of people and serves as a comprehensive assessment and review system. These two factors have a direct impact on the overall wellness and effectiveness of an organization.

 

The four levels of the NQI Organizational Quality and Wellness Criteria are

progressive in scope, building on each other to ensure that public sector organizations can implement and sustain the framework in a manageable and practical manner, with a focus on organizational wellness excellence. The quality framework is set out in a four step accreditation process known as the Progressive Excellence Program or PEP.

 

Overview of Progressive Excellence Program

Level 1 – Foundation

Completion of Level 1 demonstrates a clear management commitment to continuous

improvement and the nurturing of a culture for a healthy workplace. The key outcome at

this level is broad team support of the vision, mission, values and quality/wellness

policies in all areas, and the ingraining of well-being and quality in decision making at all

levels. Baseline indicators are established to review current state and review progress,

and clear measures of citizen/client and employee satisfaction are introduced and

sustained.

 

Discussion among management on the reinforcement of quality and wellness

principles lead to positive team feedback on work-culture matters, and employee

teams across the municipality start to gain a strong sense of the benefits of the

organizational focus on quality and wellness issues.

 

Level 2 – Transformation

Moving into Level 2 thinking builds on the commitment and foundation established at

Level 1, with a proactive focus on applying common methods for goal setting,

identification of citizen/client needs and building a strategic approach to quality

assurance. The key outcome of Level 2 is a wider understanding of the municipality’s

strategic approach to excellence. There are positive results in all key areas, notably in

regard to meeting citizen/client needs, setting improvement goals, clarifying work

procedures and key processes, and making the delivery of key processes across the

municipality more consistent. There is also a better appreciation of the interdependency

between employee teams, more consistency in recruitment, selection and appraisal, and

improved working relationships with key partners and suppliers.

 

Level 3 – Role Model

Moving into Level 3 thinking and transition reinforces and builds on the solid

implementation work on planning, work stability and consistency reinforced throughout

the municipality at Level 2. The key outcome of Level 3 is widespread improvement

through preventative approaches and practices, leading to differentiation for the

municipality and positive outcomes over the long term. Other Level 3 outcomes include a

sustained leadership focus on quality and wellness issues, positive achievements in

meeting and exceeding goals and sustaining a focus on quality and wellness issues.

 

 All of these outcomes lead to optimization of excellence, resulting in a culture of quality and wellness that becomes a way of life. Widespread positive recognition and training is in place, health and well-being programs and services are promoted, and employee teams

find it easier to seek assistance. Management and employee teams schedule reviews of

the effectiveness of their focus on citizens/clients, employee team engagement and the

consistency and success of work processes, and help to sustain continuous

improvement.

 

Level 4 – World Class

Building on the fine work and outcomes from the previous three levels, the municipality

has achieved positive overall results and trends from its efforts on quality and team

wellness. The municipality has sustained positive improvements in all areas over a

number of years, notably in citizen/client and employee team satisfaction and wellness,

process management and financial performance. The municipality is making a key

positive impact on its target population, and is viewed as a world-class public sector

organization, and a leader in innovation, employee team effectiveness and

performance.

 

 

OPTIONS/ DISCUSSION:

Program Successes

The Town was the first municipality in Canada to pursue quality accreditation and received PEP Level II in September 2002. Many Canadian municipalities are now using NQI’s excellence program as a guide to managing their organizations. Peel Region received PEP III and NQI’s Canada Award for Excellence at the Silver level in 2004; Parry Sound attained PEP Level II in 2004. Many more municipalities are at the beginning of their excellence journeys i.e. Prince George, Kelowna, Kamloops, Dawson Creek, Burlington, Brampton, Richmond Hill, York Region, Durham Region Social Services, Peterborough and St. John’s.

 

The quality framework has provided direction for the implementation and management of many key initiatives since it was adopted and continues to guide Markham today in its efforts to achieve organizational excellence. Some business practices from the MMM/NQI quality model that have been implemented since 1997 include:

 

 

Greater Focus on the Healthy Workplace

As the quality framework began to gain greater and greater acceptance and adoption by Canadian businesses another important factor related to quality was revealed – the growing emergence of the healthy workplace. The management of a healthy workplace is an integral part of the management of people, and the universal principles that drive successful quality practices. The rationale is built on evidence from leading organizations that there is a relationship between employee health and well-being and the extent to which an organization successfully reaches its goals. NQI developed a progressive certification program for Healthy Workplace modeled closely after the Quality program.

 

Research has demonstrated two types of benefits for organizations that become healthy workplaces. The first type affects the organization’s profile and generates benefits such as being more attractive to current and potential employees as an employer of choice, and being a place that engages and motivates its employees. The second type of benefit can be shown to generate a positive return through such things as improved employee health and productivity.

 

Research by Dr. Martin Shain indicates that unhealthy workplaces are likely to have the following issues and associated increased costs:

 

(*Brock University – Workplace Health Research Unit 2001)

 

The existence of a vibrant and complete Healthy Workplace program also has an impact on reducing presenteeism. Presenteeism refers to those employees who are at work but, because of a medical condition, such as stress, depression, injury, or illness are not as productive as usual.

 

The key elements of NQI’s Healthy Workplace include three aspects:

 

The Town’s Health and Safety program is well established and deals primarily with the issues surrounding the physical environment for employees. The Town’s Wellness Program has provided many specific health practices for employees such as flu shots, blood pressure screening, and “Healthy You” newsletter and continues to expand its offerings. The social environment, or workplace culture, is the main focus area for improvement.

 

 

An Integrated Model – Quality and Healthy Workplace

For some time NQI has supported the two parallel frameworks – quality and healthy workplace offering separate accreditation in each. It became obvious that the two areas are interdependent and woven together - neither one absent in a truly excellent organization. NQI recognized the importance of a healthy workplace and developed a model to incorporate both aspects.

 

The health care sector was the first to adopt the premise of healthy workplace integration with quality. Rates of illness or disability are 1.5 times greater in the health care sector compared to other areas of business. The hospital environment is fraught with stress, disease and the emotional consequences of patient care.  NQI was assisted by health care professionals at Trillium Health Center in Mississauga, Toronto East General Hospital and Annapolis Valley Health Center in Nova Scotia in testing and developing a progressive integrated Quality and Healthy workplace management system. The integrated Health Care model was launched at the Alberta Symposium on Health on May 4, 2005.

 

NQI decided to expand the health care integrated model into other sectors. The Town has been working closely with NQI to develop an integrated model for the public sector and is participating in a pilot program to pursue the integrated PEP Level II accreditation. When successful, the Town will again demonstrate its leading edge spirit by becoming the first municipality in Canada to achieve this distinction.

 

 

Going Forward with Next Steps

Each year an organizational assessment is conducted to determine which business practices from the Quality and Healthy Workplace Model may require further work and improvement. In 2005, John Perry from NQI led an external team through the assessment process, involving many staff from all levels of the organization. Their observations highlighted a number of strength areas that have been achieved including:

·        Leadership commitment to excellence

·        Well established Business planning process

·        Staff/client satisfaction measurement programs continue to provide important feedback for improvement decisions

·        Contact Centre and request system has improved customer service

·        Public meetings and focus groups are regularly utilized to receive input from stakeholders

·        Staff recognition program continues to be utilized

·        Training and development opportunities are provided to all staff

·        Process management awareness has reached all levels of staff, with a growing list of examples of process maps and improvements across the organization

 

Some areas that require attention in order to reach the next level of the NQI’s PEP include an emphasis on the elements necessary for a healthy workplace. Identified areas include:

·        a communications cascade from top to bottom and from bottom to the top so that all staff understand their role with the key focus areas for the organization

·        increased awareness of the Markham Management Model, NQI’s PEP and the connection to excellence in the workplace

·        increased sharing of effective internal practices across the organization

·        increased use of process mapping for key processes, with involvement from all levels of staff

·        unplanned priorities and actions related to increased workload

·        development of a healthy workplace plan with emphasis on a positive social environment/workplace culture.

 

The Strategic Initiatives Department in the CAO’s Office will lead the activities of the work plan, with assistance from staff in Human Resources, Corporate Communications and cross commission employee teams. In the fall of 2006, timelines for application for our next level of recognition with the National Quality Institute will be determined. Our goal is the NQI’s Progressive Excellence Program Level II Integrated Award, which no other municipality in Canada has attained at this point.

 

 

Success of this initiative can not only be demonstrated by award of the four certification levels but also by the positive collateral benefits that will accrue. The Markham Management Model is the Town’s management framework that is systematic, proven and best practices based. The NQI’s PEP program is a complementary extension of the Markham Management Model.

 

 

 

FINANCIAL TEMPLATE (Separate Attachment):

Not applicable

 

 

ENVIRONMENTAL CONSIDERATIONS:

Not applicable

 

 

ACCESSIBILITY CONSIDERATIONS:

Not applicable

 

 

ENGAGE 21ST CONSIDERATIONS:

This initiative is directly related to the Town's corporate goal of Organizational Excellence.

 

 

BUSINESS UNITS CONSULTED AND AFFECTED:

CCC, Human Resources, Corporate Communications

 

 

RECOMMENDED

                            BY:    ________________________          ________________________

                                      Anne Pozywiak                                  John Livey                   

                                      Director Strategic Initiatives                CAO

 

 

 

 

ATTACHMENTS:

Markham Management Model