Summary
- The Canadian Passport Office is a special operating agency. It has 26 offices across the country, 550 employees, and an annual budget of about $50 million. A study conducted by Capelle Associates looked at the organization's structure to improve the passport production process.
What Industrial sector does the organization belong in?
Government administration & services
What levels-based interventions were used in the project?
- Organizational Study: Conducted by Capelle Associates to review documents, conduct interviews, and perform a time span analysis.
- Redefinition of Roles: Clarifying and strengthening the roles of managers and directors.
- Elimination of Management Layers: Removing unnecessary layers of management between managers and workers.
- Transformation of Supervisor Roles: Changing supervisors into lead hand roles, rather than management.
- Process Improvement: Focusing on improving the passport production process.
- Communication and Engagement: Sharing study results organization-wide and holding a manager's conference to discuss roles and responsibilities.
- Accountability Framework: Implementing a framework for clear deliverables and responsibilities.
- Strategic Planning and Management Committee: Establishing a committee for strategic issues and developing a multi-year strategic plan.
What benefits resulted from the levels-based interventions
- Enhanced Managerial Roles: Managers had a clearer, more significant role with direct impact.
- Unambiguous Worker Direction: Workers received clearer instructions and direction.
- Strategic Focus for Directors: Directors were able to engage more in strategic initiatives.
- Improved Customer Service: The restructuring led to improved worker attitudes and service to customers.
- Balanced Service and Control: Achieved a better balance between providing service and maintaining control in passport issuance.
- Adaptable and Functional Roles: The supervisor's transition to a lead worker role facilitated more efficient office operations.
- Positive Organizational Change: Overall, the changes led to a more efficient, accountable, and adaptable organizational structure.
What was the issue(s) that motivated the levels-based project?
- Need for Business-like Operations: The government's directive to special operating agencies, including the Passport Office, to operate in a more business-like manner.
- Outdated Procedures and Practices: Many procedures and practices were longstanding and unevolved, leading to inefficiencies.
- Isolation of Employees: Regional employees, especially those in remote locations, were isolated and not exposed to different working styles or methods.
- Variability in Management Styles: There was a wide range in management styles and engagement levels across different offices.
- Structural and Organizational Concerns: The organizational structure, particularly the roles of managers and supervisors, and the production process for passports needed review and improvement.
Geographic area of the project
Estimated RO Stratum of the organization
What is the character of employee relationships?
Unionized
Strata in which RO interventions were used
Check boxes indicating what types of levels-based interventions were used.
Levels of work complexity
Functional Alignment
Alignment of positions
Estimated number of employees affected by the interventions.
550
Check boxes to indicate the functions where levels-based interventions were used
CEO & general management
Operations or production
Within its industrial sector, specifically what type of organization is it?
It issues passports for Canada
What type of governance (legal status) does the organization have?
Member for
17 years
Robert (Bob)
User Type
Citizen Affiliate
President
Business Innovations Corporation
Member for
17 years
Ronald G.
User Type
Citizen Affiliate
GO Society Roles
- Founding member of the Global Organization Design Society and a member of the Toronto Legacy Group
President
Capelle Associates Inc.
