Strategic Plan

The 2011-2012 to 2015-2016 Strategic Plan

• Introduction
• Our mandate
• Our mission
• Our vision
• Our strategic outcome
• Our values
• Our strategic objectives
• Achieving the plan
• Measuring our success

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Introduction

Since its creation in 1990, the Transportation Safety Board of Canada (TSB) has responded to the expectations of Canadians and addressed thousands of transportation occurrences, always with the same goal of advancing transportation safety. We achieve this by uncovering safety lessons and then communicating these lessons to the public and those who can effect change.

As we enter our third decade, we look back upon 20 years of successes - many of which have helped change operating practices, equipment or the laws and regulations governing the transportation industry, both in Canada and around the world. We now have an opportunity to build on our rich and successful legacy and harness it into an even brighter future.

Looking forward with the bigger picture in mind, our recent environmental scan has led to the identification of three major corporate challenges that could impact our ability to deliver our mandate. First, the effective management and safeguarding of information will continue to be a challenge as we operate in a constantly evolving environment. Secondly, the preservation of our operational readiness represents an ongoing concern due to the high number of expected staff retirements over the next few years and the need to keep pace with changes in the industry. Finally, we will need to operate within limited resources and effectively manage workload demands and external pressures. The TSB Corporate Risk Profile provides more details on these major corporate challenges.

The TSB Strategic Plan for 2011-2012 to 2015-2016 is the path we have collectively developed to create the outcome and the results we want to achieve. It will allow us to concentrate our attention and energies in a common direction by identifying the priorities that will be the focus of our efforts. It also highlights the values that will guide us in the accomplishment of our work and the management of the organization, in addition to providing the benchmark against which we will measure our success. This Strategic Plan is also a valuable communications tool to let Canadians know where we are going and how we plan to get there.

Our mandate

The TSB performs a key role within the Canadian transportation system. Our mandate provides Canadians with an organization entrusted to advance transportation safety by:

• conducting independent investigations, including, when necessary, public inquiries, into selected transportation occurrences in order to make findings as to their causes and contributing factors;
• identifying safety deficiencies as evidenced by transportation occurrences;
• making recommendations designed to reduce or eliminate any such safety deficiencies; and
• reporting publicly on our investigations and related findings.

Our mission

Our mission is a formal public statement of the TSB's purpose. It sets our organization apart from all other organizations.

Our vision

Our vision is a statement of what we strive to be. It defines what we believe is an achievable aspiration for the TSB over the next five years.

Our strategic outcome

Our strategic outcome is the long-term and enduring benefits to Canadians that stem from the TSB's mandate and vision. It represents the difference the TSB intends to make for Canadians within its own sphere of influence.

Our values

As federal public service employees, we are guided by the enduring public service values - respect for democracy, respect for people, integrity, stewardship and excellence. We, at the TSB, also place a particular emphasis on our own core values, which are of the utmost importance to the successful achievement of our mandate.

Excellence

We maintain a highly skilled and knowledgeable team of professionals through leadership, innovation and commitment to continuous improvement in the delivery of our products and services.

Openness

We actively promote the exchange of information to advance transportation safety.

Integrity

We are guided by honesty, impartiality, propriety and accountability for our actions and decisions.

Respect

We are committed to treating all individuals and organizations with consideration, courtesy, discretion and fairness.

Safety

We maintain and promote a positive and proactive safety culture.

Our strategic objectives

Over the next five years, the TSB aims to be a world leader in influencing changes that advance transportation safety. This vision statement will be achieved by focusing on four strategic objectives: responding, managing, communicating and advocating. This four-pronged approach provides a clear framework to guide our investments and activities for the next five years.

1 - Responding

We will strengthen our organizational readiness by focusing on hiring people with the right skills at the right time, effectively capturing and transferring knowledge, motivating and rewarding employees, as well as improving our operational response capacity for major transportation accidents, including occurrences in the Arctic.

This will be accomplished through the implementation of three strategies:

1. Managing our human resources in a strategic manner
   We will strengthen our human resources plans and ensure their on-going monitoring. We will continue to focus our attention on the development and implementation of tools and proactive strategies to recruit and maintain a skilled, knowledgeable, diverse and representative workforce. We will promote critical positions within targeted labour pools. We will engage managers and employees in proactive dialogue on performance, learning and succession planning. Finally, we will strengthen our awards and recognition mechanisms.
2. Investing in the development of our employees
   We will ensure that all employees have an individual learning plan. We will invest time and resources in learning activities. We will endeavour to provide employees with developmental opportunities.
3. Strengthening our operational response capacity
   We will update our major occurrence response plans and test our deployment capacity in the Arctic. We will update our work tools and external assistance arrangements in support of our investigations. We will ensure that our policies and procedures optimize operational effectiveness.

2 – Managing

We will improve the management of our information and data with the aim of making it more accessible to users and ensuring it is complete and reliable, in addition to safeguarding protected, classified and sensitive material.

This will be accomplished through the implementation of three strategies:

1. Defining a vision for the management of TSB information
   We will define a vision for the management of TSB information and data based upon the organization's business needs and those of its stakeholders. We will enhance and develop our information management strategies and processes to align with the new vision. We will ensure compliance with security and privacy requirements.
2. Providing efficient tools and training
   We will modernize our modal databases and continue to invest in improvements to the intranet and investigation tools. We will implement an electronic records management system. We will assess the feasibility of implementing new tools to facilitate the sharing of information. We will ensure that staff receives proper training on these improved and new tools.
3. Establishing clear ownership and accountability
   We will adopt a life cycle management approach for information and data. We will establish a governance framework for all data and information holdings. We will define clear roles and responsibilities for information management. We will review and update our policies and procedures, and ensure their consistency with government-wide requirements.

3 - Communicating

We will increase awareness of the TSB's raison d'être, responsibilities, processes and products to provide our stakeholders and Canadians with a clearer understanding of our contribution to transportation safety and our expected results.

This will be accomplished through the implementation of two strategies:

1. Improving accessibility to our products and services
   We will improve the search capabilities on our website. We will increase the amount and timeliness of safety information we publish on the web. We will explore the use of various media to communicate key safety messages to our audiences.
2. Expanding communication activities to broader audiences
   We will extend our reach to broader audiences by leveraging technology and expanding our outreach activities. We will develop tools and strengthen training to assist staff in their communications activities.

4 - Advocating

We will increase the effectiveness of our products and services and, thereby, enhance the value we provide to Canadians by ensuring the quality and timeliness of our safety communications and by advocating for a greater uptake of our recommendations.

This will be accomplished through the implementation of two strategies:

1. Ensuring the timeliness and quality of safety communications
   We will streamline our safety communication processes and ensure the quality of all safety communications. We will increase the number of factual updates during investigations. We will improve the timeliness of investigation reports and their posting on our website.
2. Increase the uptake of recommendations and other safety communications
   We will proactively discuss our recommendations and key safety issues with change agents. We will make presentations to stakeholders and industry groups to increase their understanding of the safety issues. We will also expand our outreach program to grass roots community members. Through various advocacy activities, we will push with a stronger voice for timely action in response to our safety recommendations. We will set clear targets, track the responses of change agents and report publicly on their actions.

Achieving the plan

This Strategic Plan sets out the objectives we will pursue during the 2011 to 2016 period and details the high level strategies we will implement to achieve the stated objectives. We will use this plan to define our annual priorities and work plans. Specific action items will be identified by the senior management team and described in detail in the annual Business Plan. Resources will also be allocated to specific projects or initiatives on an annual basis. We will achieve our shared vision by harnessing the passion, dedication and team work of all employees, managers and Board members.

Measuring our success

The success of the Strategic Plan will be measured by the level of transformation that we observe. In essence, we should be able to see positive change both internally and externally. Our organization should be a vibrant, modern and stimulating place to work. Our products and services should be effective tools to compel change agents to implement timely measures to reduce risks to the safety of the transportation system.

On an annual basis, we will define key, short-term projects and activities in both the Report on Plans and Priorities and the Business Plan. We will then assess results against the specific project deliverables and milestones. Results will be reported in the TSB Annual Report to Parliament and the Departmental Performance Report.

A comprehensive Performance Management Framework will be implemented. This framework will define specific performance indicators that will enable us to measure the organization's success in fulfilling its strategic outcome and vision. Performance information will be collected through various internal sources, as well as through formal and informal mechanisms to obtain external stakeholder feedback. This will include both quantitative and qualitative information. Short and long term results will be measured and reported upon annually in the TSB Annual Report to Parliament and the Departmental Performance Report.

© Minister of Public Works and Government Services 2011
Cat. No. TU4-16/2011
ISBN 978-1-100-53054-3