1. Ontario East Municipal Conference
September 12, 2012, Kingston
Steve Fournier, Principal,
Fournier Consulting Services
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2.  Objective- provide an overview on the
fundamentals of service delivery review with
practical strategies for success based on the
following experiences:
 CAO, United Counties of Leeds & Grenville SDR Program
2005-2007
 Interim CAO/management roles in the long term care,
conservation authority, and smaller urban-rural municipal
sectors 2008- 2012
 Focus on how it is done, what can be accomplished and
who benefits
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3.  The Leeds & Grenville SDR program is based
on a six (6) stage model that addresses 10
questions developed by the Ministry of
Municipal Affairs and Housing currently found
in the following publication:
 Making Choices- A Guide to Service Delivery Review for
Municipal Councillors and Senior Staff, March 2010
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4. Stage 1: Get Organized.
Stage 2: Establish Performance Outcomes and
Service Standards.
Stage 3: Understand and evaluate current
performance. How does current performance
compare to your performance targets?
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5. Stage 4: Evaluate Options: Option 1- consider internal
improvements; or Option 2- investigate other feasible
service delivery methods.
Stage 5: Where determined select alternate service
provider.
Stage 6: Implement, evaluate and report.
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6.  Stage1:Getting Organized:
 Engage and secure the “buy in” of council and senior staff;
 Find a champion in your organization who is willing to lead
and manage the project;
 Assign the human (e.g., staff project team), time and
financial resources necessary to complete the review,
whether you go “in-house” and/or use external expertise;
 Establish the principles that will guide the approach and
reflect the values of your organization;
 Develop a standard inter-departmental template to
incorporate descriptive information and financial data
required in Stages 2-6- refer to Technical Appendix;
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7.  Stage 1: Getting Organized continued:
 Clearly state the purpose(s) and scale of the review (what
you are doing, why and anticipated outcomes);
 Determine who is involved and how (roles and
responsibilities of the stakeholders);
 Prioritize the review of your services;
 Adopt a work plan with realistic and manageable key
milestones dates; and
 Engage and keep staff and public informed.
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8.  Stage 2: Establish Performance Outcomes and
Service Standards:
 Determine discretionary and mandatory services, what’s
nice, what’s essential and what’s mandated- see Technical
Appendix;
 Determine discretionary, locally driven versus mandated
(legislated) service standards- see Technical Appendix;
 Survey and engage partners, clients and the public to
assess ‘customer satisfaction’, (re)set targets and/or
identify areas for improvement, e.g., conservation
authority;
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9.  Stage 3: Understand and Evaluate the Current
Performance in Comparison to Targets:
 Break services down into functional areas, e.g., winter
maintenance, and further refine program elements, e.g.,
labour costs, material costs, etc as defined in your financial
chart of accounts- see Technical Appendix;
 The use of comparators is helpful as a relative gauge of
how well, or not so well, a service is performed but must
ensure you’re measuring ‘apples to apples’;
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10.  Stage 3- continued:
 Here decisions on when and where the use of external
consultants were made and recommendations forwarded to
council for approval, e.g., long term care resident record
keeping training needs and CMI funding levels; and
 Departmental staff input programs developed using senior
staff from other departments as facilitators. Input focused
on 3 questions: (1) What do we do well?; (2) In terms of
outcomes what can we do better?; and (3) Are there things
we can do better without increasing costs?
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11.  Stages 4 & 5: Internal Improvements or
Alternative Service Delivery Methods:
 At Leeds & Grenville each divisional director responsible for
preparing a SDR Program report with recommendations for
internal improvements and/or alternate service delivery
methods;
 50 lines of business reviewed between 2005 and 2007 with
recommendations ranging from:
 internal process efficiency improvements, e.g.,
centralized purchasing, streamlining job ads and
building conservation measures;
 major departmental reorganizations, e.g., Community
and Social Services-integrated one window approach;
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12.  Stages 4 & 5: Continued:
 the re-investment of cost savings to improve other
elements of a service, e.g., land ambulance re-
deployment of stand by vehicles and new deployment of
ERV to improve response times;
 the investment of funds in staff training to improve
revenue streams, e.g., increased CMI scores for long term
care funding envelopes;
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13.  Stages 4 & 5: Continued:
 Streamlining and consolidation of committee and
governance structures, e.g., reduction in meeting per
diems and administrative staff time; and
 and alternate service delivery methods in two program
areas: (1) transfer of after hours emergency program in
Social and community services to the Red Cross; and (2)
fleet cost reduction and reorganization plan in Public
Works.
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14.  Stages 4 & 5: Continued:
 By the fall of 2007 the Leeds & Grenville SDR program
results produced an estimated annualized increase of
$175,000 in revenues and a $600,000 reduction in
expenditures.
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15.  Stages 4 & 5: Continued:
 Reviews in recent assignments focused primarily on
recommendations designed to position municipal clients
for involvement in SDR by:
 clarifying roles between staff and council/boards;
 re-establishing positive working relationships and
engagement processes with partners and clients in areas of
policies and procedures;
 conducting extensive stakeholder/client surveys to address
issues and needs;
 undertaking internal process mapping of tasks and activities.
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16.  Stage 6: Implement, Evaluate and Report:
 Changes communicated to staff and the public prior to
implementation- staff meetings followed by press releases;
 SDR requires a serious commitment of resources and time
for both council and staff where you must be prepared to
implement the full range of improvements and changes
from the simple tweaking of processes to the elimination of
a departmental function.
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17.  The Experience with Service Delivery Review
and Improvements:
 SDR initiatives link employee engagement to operational
performance and client/partner satisfaction to foster trust
and confidence in the delivery of services;
 Staff engagement throughout the process improves the
work place environment and produces a ‘cultural shift’-
SDR is a continuous and on – going operational activity at
Leeds and Grenville;
 Senior staff focus on their roles-the management of
services with a commitment to improve performance
outcomes.
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18.  The Experience with Service Delivery Review
and Improvements- Continued:
 The engagement of partners and clients in the process
improves working relationships and removes barriers for
partners and clients;
 Changes to services are made in an objective and informed
manner;
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19. Thank You
Questions
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