Executive summary
This strategic plan outlines key administrative directions, goals, and priorities for the City of Winnipeg public service. It provides a roadmap for the public service to become more responsive to the needs of Council and residents, as well as more representative of the people it serves.
Focusing on the management of people and processes, the plan sets the administrative direction necessary for the public service to become more resilient and responsive in a post-pandemic environment.
It strives to better position the public service against a backdrop of growing socioeconomic inequality, a labour market that is globally competitive, greater need to respond to climate change, and limited resources.
It builds on and is consistent with the previous corporate strategic plan (2021-2023), the first plan of its kind developed specifically for the public service.
As such, its overall structure and content remains consistent with the previous plan. It maintains continuity across four strategic directions that focus on people & culture, continuous improvement & innovation, communication & engagement, and customer service & satisfaction.
The City of Winnipeg public service adopted and continues to be committed to achieving diversity and equity targets, measuring and increasing employee engagement, achieving workplace health, safety, and wellness outcomes, and making financial management, continuous improvement, innovation, and communication key administrative priorities.
The plan will continue to provide directors and senior managers with direction on corporate administrative priorities when strategic planning at departmental and operational levels. It defines the public service’s vision, mission, and values. Its four strategic directions are consistent with Council’s Strategic Priorities Action Plan (SPAP), as well as the leadership and good governance policies outlined in OurWinnipeg 2045.
The public service is entrusted by Council to be prudent and responsible stewards of the City’s financial, social, environmental, and human resource assets, and is expected to undertake its work in an apolitical, professional, and efficient manner. The public service is also responsible for managing, implementing, and operationalizing Council decisions and policies, and for delivering services at Council approved service levels.
A public service more resilient and responsive to the needs of Council and residents will better enable the City of Winnipeg to realize its vision of a vibrant, healthy, and inclusive city for all Winnipeg residents.
The City of Winnipeg
The City of Winnipeg is the sixth largest city in Canada by population.
It is located at the junction of the Red and Assiniboine Rivers, almost at the geographic centre of North America. With an ethnically diverse population and diversified economy, Winnipeg is characterized by the diversity of its people and the steady growth of its economy.
About 58% of Manitoba’s population lives within the City of Winnipeg. The city’s population was about 783,100 in 2022. The census metropolitan area of about 871,800 residents makes it, and the City of Winnipeg, a dominant economic, social, and cultural driver within the province.
Vision, mission, & values
This strategic plan sets the vision, mission, and values for the public service.
An organization’s vision represents its overarching goal; its mission represents its reason for being; and its values represent the organization’s core beliefs that guide its work and actions.
The vision, mission, and values for the City of Winnipeg’s public service are:
VISION
A vibrant, healthy, and inclusive city for all City of Winnipeg employees, its residents, and visitors.
MISSION
Achieve effective and efficient service delivery through a collaborative, engaged, and value-driven workforce & organizational culture.
VALUES
Diversity – in who we are & representative of our community
Respect – for each individual person
Accountability – as stewards of public assets and the work we do
Trust – with elected officials and the residents we serve
Transparency – in all we do
Land & water acknowledgement
Winnipeg is located in Treaty One Territory, the home and traditional lands of the Anishinaabe (Ojibwe), Ininew (Cree), and Dakota peoples, and in the National Homeland of the Red River Métis. Our drinking water comes from Shoal Lake 40 First Nation, in Treaty Three Territory.
The City of Winnipeg recognizes the importance of First Nations, Inuit, and Métis Peoples (also referenced in this Report as Indigenous Peoples and governments) connected to Winnipeg’s history, and the vibrant, diverse people who make up Indigenous communities today.
The City acknowledges the harms and mistakes of the past, and is dedicated to upholding Indigenous rights, and to moving forward in partnership with Indigenous communities in a spirit of truth, reconciliation and collaboration.
City Council & the Public Service
The relationship between Council and its professional public service is critical for the execution of good government. These two entities are integrated, but are legally distinct with differing roles, responsibilities, and perspectives.
City Council (Council) is the governing body of the City of Winnipeg and the custodian of its powers. Policymaking at the municipal level is defined and controlled by The City of Winnipeg Charter (The Charter), a provincial government statute which provides for the majority of the powers and authority to the City of Winnipeg.
The roles of Council members and the public service are separate.
It is the role of Council to govern and lead the City from the perspective of democratically elected politicians. The role of the public service is to provide Council with policy advice and recommendations, manage resources, operationalize Council decisions, and deliver services to the public in the most efficient and effective way possible at service levels approved by Council.
Council also relies on the public service to provide them with data and insight into City operations as well as information about residents - data that is valid, reliable, and consistent so decision-making can be evidence-informed and best balance any trade-offs in levels of service, taxation, risk, and budget priorities.
The composition of Council is legislated under Part 3 of The Charter. Council is comprised of 15 elected Councillors and the Mayor. Each Councillor is elected by an individual municipal ward, while the Mayor is elected by a vote of the city-at-large. The Charter identifies the Mayor as head of council and chief officer of the City, as well as an ex officio member of every committee of Council. Members of Council are democratically accountable to Winnipeg residents, and hold office for four-year terms.
Council exercises its powers either by bylaw or resolution passed at regular or special meetings. Pursuant to The Charter, Council has the authority to establish committees of Council, and Council may delegate a power, duty, or function to a committee of Council or City employee. Currently, there are six Standing Policy Committees of Council whose chairpersons are appointed by the Mayor.
These Standing Policy Committees engage with respective departments within the public service to scrutinize budgets, service levels, and performance. They provide policy advice to Council, and report to Council through the Executive Policy Committee (EPC) on matters respecting their areas of jurisdiction.
The EPC makes recommendations to Council for the appointment, suspension, or dismissal of statutory officers. This includes the appointment and supervision of the Chief Administrative Officer, who is responsible for managing the public service.
Message from the Chief Administrative Officer
In early 2024, the City of Winnipeg marked the 150th anniversary of its very first Council meeting. It is remarkable to think how far we’ve come over that time. The public service started as a small group, consisting of relatively few departments responsible for looking after some of a city’s most basic services such as policing, garbage collection, and sidewalk construction.
A century-and-a-half later, the public service has grown to become one of the largest employers in Manitoba with a workforce of over 10,000 employees, now providing a myriad of important services to Winnipeg residents. In that time, we have helped successive Councils and generations of Winnipeg residents meet challenges posed by natural disasters like fires, floods, and pandemics, and global traumas like war and economic depression.
Today, of course, so many aspects of our work have changed. There are greater needs to be more transparent and accountable, to engage more fully with residents, and adopt new technology, data, and analytic techniques to continuously improve services, eliminate waste, and drive value for residents and businesses. And now, in a post-pandemic environment, like many organizations, recruitment and retention challenges are compounded by a globally competitive job market.
It’s in this environment that Council expects the public service to manage its people and processes in a manner that best positions us to be careful stewards of the City’s financial, social, environmental, and human resource assets. And increasingly, Council is expecting the public service to provide a more integrated, holistic approach to addressing complex socioeconomic challenges such as a shortage of affordable housing, homelessness, poverty, and climate change, challenges that do not fit neatly into any single service area.
This updated plan builds on and is consistent with the previous corporate strategic plan (2021-2023), the first plan of its kind developed specifically for the public service and focusing on the management of the organization’s people and process.
The plan has been updated to better position the public service against a backdrop of an evolving labour market where recruitment and retention is globally competitive, sustainability in response to climate change has never been greater, socioeconomic inequality continues to grow, and financial resources continue to be spread thin.
What hasn’t changed in this updated plan, however, is the pride I have in the work we do across the public service. We do very special jobs, and we do them with an unparalleled level of commitment, character, and caring. Despite many challenges at our doorsteps, I believe we’re living and working in a uniquely hopeful time, and that the work we do today across the public service is going to contribute to a much better city over the next 150 years.
Sincerely,
Michael A. Jack
Alignment with OurWinnipeg 2045 & Council’s Strategic Priorities Action Plan
This strategic plan aligns with OurWinnipeg 2045 as well as Council’s first Strategic Priorities Action Plan (SPAP).
OurWinnipeg 2045 is the City of Winnipeg’s long-term development plan. It is adopted by Council as a bylaw, and sets a 25-year vision for the City. It establishes high-level goals and aspirations for the City, and informs City-wide decision making with respect to physical, social, environmental, and economic policy.
Council’s four-year SPAP is adopted by Council as a policy document. It sets a vision, direction, and priorities for the City for the duration of Council’s four-year term of office. It reflects a new way of planning and prioritizing for the City of Winnipeg. This new approach gave equal opportunity for all Council members to define key priorities and actions separately from and prior to the four-year multi-year budget process.
This corporate strategic plan reflects the public service’s responsibility, as an apolitical organization, in fulfilling key OurWinnipeg 2045 goals, objectives, and policies relating to leadership and good governance. It also reflects several outcomes identified in SPAP including:
- Building an innovation focused, responsive employee culture;
- Improving communication, information flow, relationships, & collaboration between the Public Service & Council;
- Improving recruitment & retention of staff; and
- Increasing coordination across city departments.
The public service, administratively, fulfills a critical role in meeting many of the leadership and good governance objectives outlined in OurWinnipeg 2045. As a large public sector employer of over 10,000 employees, it is incumbent on the public service to strengthen interdepartmental coordination, improve communication, build trust with residents and Councillors, and foster an organizational culture that is results-oriented, aligned, and collaborative.
The public service has responsibility for fulfilling specific OurWinnipeg 2045 policies including:
1.4 Integrated Knowledge and Resources – coordinate inter-departmental systems, projects, and resources, making the best use of internal and external expertise to better understand service needs, find the most appropriate solutions, optimize resources, and maximize community outcomes.
1.5 Evidence-Informed Decisions – invest in data and technology in order to support objective, evidence-informed decision-making; support open government and open data principles for collection and sharing; help coordinate records and information management; and improve process efficiency and results-based service delivery. Residents are entitled to know, understand and consent to the data collected about them.
1.9 Responsive Change Management – monitor and evaluate municipal investment and divestment, activities, risk of action or inaction, and outcomes for effectiveness, through a relevant set of sustainability goal indicators, benchmarks and targets, and analysis of local and global community trends.
1.18 Responsive, Representative and Resilient Workforce – provide responsive municipal service delivery, through an accountable, informed, qualified, competent, creative, healthy, and productive workforce that is representative of the community it serves.
1.19 Equitable Service Access – achieve best practice standards in equitable customer service and communications, enabling all community members to understand and navigate municipal service-delivery systems and decision-making processes, in the official language of their choice.
1.20 Succession Planning – provide ongoing employment, professional, and leadership development opportunities within the City, including for systemically disadvantaged groups.
City of Winnipeg strategic planning
In September 2022, Council adopted a Corporate and Council Planning Cycle & Framework.
Within this framework, Council adopted a new strategic planning process. This process was used to develop Council’s first Strategic Priorities Action Plan (SPAP), a key requirement of OurWinnipeg 2045.
Historically, a strategic planning process separate from the budget process did not exist at the City of Winnipeg. In its absence, strategic planning, budgeting, and resource allocation were undertaken in parallel within the budget planning process.
However, this new strategic planning process was distinct from the budget process. As such, it gave equal opportunity for incoming Council members following a civic election to define key priorities and actions separately from, and prior to, the four-year multi-year budget process.
This allowed all individual members of Council equal opportunity to set priorities and identify actions before development of the City’s second, four-year multiyear balanced budget got underway in 2023.
A key element of the Corporate and Council Planning Cycle & Framework is alignment with Council’s four-year election term. The Framework recognizes the basis on which individual Councillors and the Mayor seek election, and the mandates on which they are ultimately elected, need to become a shared priority with the public service through the development of Council’s SPAP. It also recognizes and allows for these priorities to change from one Council to the next following an election.
This corporate strategic plan focuses primarily on managing the organization’s people and processes, and reflects the public service’s ongoing administrative responsibility as an apolitical organization in fulfilling OurWinnipeg 2045’s Leadership and Good Governance goal. While administratively focused, it too aligns with Council’s four-year election term allowing opportunity to adjust in response to an incoming Council’s strategic priorities.
Alignment of City of Winnipeg strategic planning, budget cycles, & Council terms
| 2023 | 2024 | 2025 | 2026 | 2027 | 2028 | 2029 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Term of Council | Year 1 | Year 2 | Year 3 | Year 4 | Year 1 | Year 2 | Year 3 |
| Strategic Priorities Action Plan | Year 1 | Year 2 | Year 3 | Year 4 | Year 1 | Year 2 | Year 3 |
| Corporate Strategic Plan | Year 3 | Year 1 | Year 2 | Year 3 | Year 4 | Year 1 | Year 2 |
| Four-Year Multiyear Budget | Year 4 | Year 1 | Year 2 | Year 3 | Year 4 | Year 1 | Year 2 |
A comprehensive list of existing City of Winnipeg’s strategic plans and policies is available on the City’s website.
Key strategic directions & goals
The public service is committed to focusing on four strategic directions that will better position the organization to serve Council and residents.
- PEOPLE & CULTURE – foster a collaborative, engaged, and value-driven organizational culture embodying reconciliation, diversity, and inclusion.
- CONTINUOUS IMPROVEMENT & INNOVATION – drive continuous improvement and performance measurement in processes and procedures across the organization.
- COMMUNICATION & ENGAGEMENT – collaborate to improve internal and external communication with elected officials, residents, employees, and businesses.
- CUSTOMER SERVICE & SATISFACTION – improve the efficiency, effectiveness, and responsiveness of city services.
Strategic direction 1: People & culture
Foster a collaborative, engaged, and value-driven organizational culture embodying reconciliation, diversity, and inclusion.
As a public sector employer, the public service strives to foster employee engagement, keep its employees safe and healthy, better reflect the diversity of residents it serves, manage risk in an open and transparent manner, and embody its commitment to reconciliation, diversity, and inclusion daily.
Goal 1.1 – Measure & increase employee engagement
Organizations with a highly engaged workforce perform better, are more productive, and can reduce costs through lower turnover rates.
Employee engagement represents the extent to which an organization’s employees feel passionate about their jobs, are committed to the organization, and are willing to put discretionary effort into the work they do.
An employee engagement survey was completed in early 2023. This was the first survey of its kind since 2004. Moving forward, employee engagement surveys will be undertaken approximately every two years to enable the organization to better assess the effectiveness of any action plans undertaken to increase engagement following the previous survey.
Goal 1.2 – Embody reconciliation
The public service recognizes the importance of Canada’s original peoples – First Nations, Metis and Inuit – to the founding of the country and city. Each has contributed culture, values, and vision that continue to be important to Winnipeg’s shared future.
Winnipeg’s census metropolitan area is also home to the largest Indigenous population of all major cities in Canada.
In 2021, more than 102,000 people identified as Indigenous, representing about 12.5% of Winnipeg’s overall population. Winnipeg’s Indigenous population is increasing significantly faster than its non-Indigenous population, growing 16.5% between 2011 and 2016 compared to 4.9% for the city’s non-Indigenous population. The public service is actively striving to have its workforce reflect Winnipeg’s Indigenous population.
Reconciliation must remain a foundational commitment within the culture of the organization. It is also a commitment that must be shared by each employee.
This means learning about the community’s shared history with Indigenous people, seeking out and listening to Indigenous voices, and actively reflecting these perspectives in how services and programs are designed and delivered.
The public service will continue to build awareness of Winnipeg’s Indigenous Accord and increase its signatories. It is committed to increasing the number of employees who self-identify as Indigenous. And it is also committed to implementing Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada Calls to Action relating to municipalities.
Goal 1.3 – Increase employment equity, diversity, & inclusion (EDI)
Locally and globally, the City of Winnipeg finds itself at a pivotal moment as local residents and people across the world commit to eliminate racism, build greater inclusion, and achieve social and economic equity.
Within Winnipeg, all residents deserve to be treated with dignity and respect, and without fear of discrimination. So too for employees within the public service.
Through important initiatives like the Newcomer Welcome & Inclusion Policy, the Poverty Reduction Strategy, the EDI Strategy, the Housing Accelerator Program, and new initiatives to address homelessness, work and educational support will continue for employees in an effort to build a culture of inclusion and eliminate racism and discrimination from within the public service.
As a large public sector employer, the public service strives to have its workforce reflect the community it serves, at all levels of the organization, with full consideration of intersectionality among equity groups.
Steps have been taken over the past number of years to improve the diversity of the City’s workforce. Progress is being made, more needs to be done, and work will continue in collaboration with HR services, talent acquisition, the Equity Office, Indigenous Relations Division, unions, through universal design, and across departments.
Moving forward, it is essential to recruit from a diverse, well-qualified pool of applicants, and to actively identify and remove barriers to employment faced by equity groups. Work will continue to focus on workforce education, and creating department specific EDI employment programs. Targeted recruitment activities to support departments initiatives, such as the successful Diversity Equity Fire Training (DEFT) program within the Winnipeg Fire Paramedic Service will continue along with focused mass recruitments.
Goal 1.4 – Improve workplace safety, health, & wellness
The City of Winnipeg committed in April 2018 to becoming SAFE Work Certified. In 2023, it achieved full certification and the City was presented with an award by Safe Work Manitoba for being the largest public service organization in Manitoba to become fully SAFE Work Certified.
Certification through the SAFE Work program helps organizations reduce workplace injuries and illnesses as well as promote a culture of safety. The standard is built on three essential principles: leadership, hazard control, and worker participation. These principles are essential to reducing accidents, injuries, and occupational illness.
Moving forward, maintaining this achievement and level of certification is important to sustaining a healthy, safe workplace for all employees. So too is ensuring employees have access to resources necessary to support their mental health, wellness, and well-being through improving workers compensation usage and implementing and promoting a formal employee psychological health model.
Goal 1.5 – Strengthen financial management & accountability
The public service does not have authority to generate new revenue nor allocate financial resources without Council approval.
Annually, it is Council who approves both operating and capital budgets for the City of Winnipeg. Through the strategic planning and budget processes, Council prioritizes City services, service levels, and city programming for investment or disinvestment. These decisions are reflected in the adopted budget which becomes the framework for the financial operations of the City.
The City of Winnipeg’s second multiyear balanced budget will be considered by Council in 2024. When adopted, it will provide a financial framework for the four-year period 2024-2027.
The public service is entrusted by Council to manage the operations and financial resources of the City of Winnipeg in accordance with adopted budgets, Council policy, administrative standards, and provincial legislation as it relates to finance, accounting, sinking funds, and other financial management requirements.
It is incumbent on the public service to manage these resources in accordance with adopted budgets, and for ensuring that funded, Council approved service levels are being met.
Goal 1.6 – Establish a comprehensive enterprise risk management (ERM) program
The public service is committed to establishing a comprehensive ERM program to better identify, understand, and evaluate risk across the organization.
This will better position the organization to respond with appropriate actions to measure, prioritize, and manage risk through loss prevention and reduction strategies, insurance programs, and contractual transfer. It will also help with communicating and understanding risk at the managerial and governance levels when strategic planning and budget planning.
Managing risk in the public service can often become synonymous with avoiding or eliminating risk. This can overly limit the organization’s ability to continuously improve, grow, and change. There can also be a reluctance among employees to take risks out of fear of political exposure or embarrassment.
Establishing an ERM program will help manage organizational risk in a way that reduces financial exposure, but allows for continuous improvement, growth, change, and innovation.
Goal 1.7 – Enhance employee development through regular performance reviews
Managing employee development and performance is a critical role for managers across the public service.
Providing constructive feedback to employees on work requirements, goals, and priorities helps increase engagement levels. It contributes to improved communication, understanding, productivity, and trust between supervisors and employees. It can also strengthen employee knowledge, skills, and competencies, and enhance their ability to contribute to departmental and organizational goals.
The existing performance management system at the City needs to be redesigned and modernized to better enable thousands of employees working in the field with limited access to the necessary technology to participate and complete the performance management process. Preliminary work on the new system is underway and will be completed over the next few years.
Updating the performance management system to meet the varied needs of a diverse workforce with thousands of different jobs will be challenging, but it will better enable both leaders and employees to participate more fully in regular performance reviews.
Goal 1.8 – Improve employee recruitment and retention
The City of Winnipeg, like many organizations throughout the country, continues to experience recruitment and retention challenges in an increasingly competitive post-pandemic job market.
This causes challenges in sourcing and attracting talent. The focus for recruitment will continue to be on providing a positive hiring experience and process for candidates, with emphasis on filling both internal and external vacant positions in a timely manner.
Offering competitive salaries and benefits for all employees will continue to be a focus, as will providing a healthy and respectful workplace for the existing workforce.
Moving forward, it is important to ensure recruitment and retention practices, processes, and efforts are clearly understood across the organization. Work will continue to improve timelines for filling vacant positions as quickly and efficiently as possible, and that employees find value in the important work of the public service.
Strategic direction 2: Continuous improvement & innovation
Drive continuous improvement and performance measurement in key processes and procedures across the organization.
Continuous improvement, innovation, and performance measurement help to not only improve the efficiency and effectiveness of existing frontline services, but also help drive efforts to deliver greater value and reduce waste across the organization’s supply chains and procurement processes.
It is important that organizational culture supports and encourages employees and senior managers to be open to change. Too often, existing processes and the status quo are viewed as places of sanctuary and security which employees can be more inclined to protect than to change or improve.
As stewards of public resources, it is critical all employees continuously look for ways to improve existing processes and systems to make service delivery more effective or efficient, or improve satisfaction with services.
It is also important for senior leadership to promote, encourage, and enable continuous improvement efforts at the middle management and supervisory levels. However, the recent Employee Engagement Survey identified only 43% of employees believe their senior leaders promote and foster a culture of innovation or improvement, underscoring a need for more focused work to be undertaken in this area.
Goal 2.1 – Establish an interdepartmental continuous improvement & innovation network
This internal network will bring a new level of focus and rigor in how continuous improvement and innovation work is undertaken, reported, and documented across the organization.
Building on existing continuous improvement and innovation work and reporting across the organization, as well as work to identify and measure service levels, this network will strive to:
- Standardize continuous improvement practices across the organization;
- Clearly define services as well as service levels;
- Increase the maturity of process improvement capabilities; and
- Focus service design on the customer.
Strategic direction 3: Communication & engagement
Collaborate to improve internal and external communication and engagement with elected officials, residents, employees, and businesses.
The public service has four primary audiences: democratically elected Council members, city of Winnipeg residents, businesses, and its own employees.
All elements of the organization benefit when elected officials, the public service and its employees, residents, and businesses collaborate and communicate effectively.
The 2023 Employee Engagement Survey identified only 19% of employees feel there is good communication between departments and across the City, underscoring a need to improve communication with employees.
Meaningful and consistent public engagement is also important. It improves decision-making. It supports Council by providing perspectives, opinions, and input from residents and community stakeholders. It also helps strengthen relationships and build trust between Council, the public service, and residents.
The City’s Open Government Policy provides the framework through which the public service strives to become more open and transparent.
This framework has contributed to significant increases in the amount of information available to the public. The City’s open data portal currently hosts hundreds of datasets in machine readable format and is updated regularly.
The City has designed a host of online dashboards tracking progress on large capital projects as well as open budget tools to explore capital expenditures, including the Diversity Dashboard which shares a host of workforce diversity data.
The public service also publishes on its website records issued in response to requests submitted under The Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act (FIPPA), allowing this information to be openly and transparently available to the public.
Goal 3.1 – Improve communication with elected officials across departments
The primary tools and channels through which the public service communicates with Council are administrative reports, Council committees, Council seminars, Council 311, and the CAO inquiry line. It is through these tools and channels the public service can improve communication with elected officials.
Goal 3.2 – Improve communication with residents across departments
The primary channels through which the public service communicates with residents is 311, the City’s website, responses to Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act requests, as well as through social and mainstream media. It is through these tools and channels the public service can improve its communication with residents.
Goal 3.3 – Improve communication with businesses across departments
The primary channels through which the public service communicates with business is through its permits, land development, and inspection offices, its external economic development agency (Economic Development Winnipeg), as well as its external downtown development agency (CentreVenture). It is through these tools and channels the public service can improve its communication with businesses.
Goal 3.4 – Improve communication with employees across departments
Interdepartmental as well as intradepartmental communication with employees is critical to fostering a collaborative organizational culture.
Effective communication between employees and their managers helps build trust and morale. Equally important is ensuring strong communication across senior management and their departments. Open and regular communication can also contribute to increased employee engagement. Examining ways to use technology or other methods to better connect employees across the work they do together will be an area of focus moving forward.
Goal 4.1 – Identify and define customer levels of service for existing City services
The City of Winnipeg provides 34 different services to residents, businesses, and visitors of the city. The level at which these services are provided is referred to as levels of service (LOS). LOS can be either technical in nature (service life of bridges) or customer in nature (garbage pick-up once per week). Customer LOS focus on customer outcomes and front-line service delivery, and by policy are required to be approved by Council.
Goal 4.2 – Increase understanding and transparency of service costs relative to LOS
The public service is responsible for providing Council with data and insight into existing LOS including its cost, efficiency, and effectiveness. Providing data that is valid, reliable, and consistent, lends itself to evidence-based and informed decision-making that best enables Council to balance any trade-offs in LOS with taxation, risk, and other budget priorities.
Goal 4.3 – Maintain customer service satisfaction levels
Interacting with residents, businesses, and visitors about the services and programs provided by the City is centrally managed through the public service’s 311 call centre. The 311 service is available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year. It also works with customer service areas in the departments of Water & Waste, Transit, Assessment & Taxation, as well as Property, Planning & Development.
311 offers a single point of entry for information requests about City services and programs or to make service requests. Information requests to 311 can include requests for transit schedules, enrolment in programming, or library hours. Service requests to 311 can include requests to fix water main breaks, a bulky garbage pickup, building inspections, or to fill a pothole.
While centrally managed, service requests are routed to and become the responsibility of individual City departments within the public service who respond based on established response times. In 2022, 311 managed over 848,000 resident interactions across it various digital and self-service access options.
Goal 4.4 – Maintain internal satisfaction levels for organizational support services
Organizational support services provide leadership and internal professional services to support the delivery of services to Winnipeg residents. These services include human resource services, legal, communication, and information technology support, and finance. Ensuring these internal services meet the needs of departments is important to providing high quality services to residents, and ensuring organizational service needs are being met and improvements are identified.
Reporting & accountability
As an administrative plan focusing on the public service’s people and processes, accountability for the corporate strategic plan’s implementation and outcomes remain with the Chief Administrative Officer.
Together with the Senior Management Team support and input, internal reporting on the plan’s progress and actions will be undertaken annually in the fourth quarter of each year. Reporting will incorporate both qualitative as well as quantitative elements that reflect the key performance indicators outlined in Appendix A.
Appendix A – Key Performance Indicators & Trend
Strategic direction: People & culture
Goal 1.1 - Measure & increase employee engagement
| KPI | KPI goal | 2022 trend | 2021 trend | 2020 trend | 2019 trend | 2018 trend |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Employee engagement survey participation rate | 50% | 38% | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A |
Employee engagement rate | 75% | 71% | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A |
Permanent voluntary employee turnover rate | <10% | 7.10% | 6.00% | 5.70% | 4.64% | 4.59% |
Goal 1.2 - Embody reconciliation
| KPI | KPI goal | 2022 trend | 2021 trend | 2020 trend | 2019 trend | 2018 trend |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Signatories to Winnipeg's Indigenous Accord | Annual increase | 222 | 196 | 161 | 140 | 120 |
| Truth & Reconciliation Commission Calls to Action for municipalities | Ongoing implementation | – | – | – | – | – |
| Employees self identifying as Indigenous | 12% | 11.29% | 11.10% | 10.71% | 10.24% | 9.71% |
| Senior managers self identifying as Indigenous | 12% | 6.83% | 6.93% | 5.58% | 5.12% | N/A |
Goal 1.3 - Increase employment equity, diversity, & inclusion
| KPI | KPI goal | 2022 trend | 2021 trend | 2020 trend | 2019 trend | 2018 trend |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Women self identifying | 48% | 26.91% | 28.23% | 29.35% | 30.00% | 29.90% |
Indigenous self identifying | 12% | 11.29% | 11.10% | 10.71% | 10.24% | 9.71% |
Persons with disabilities self identifying | 36% | 4.99% | 4.49% | 2.98% | 2.87% | 2.76% |
Racializes people self identifying | 24% | 16.29% | 16.37% | 16.21% | 15.86% | 14.98% |
Newcomers self identifying | 6% | 0.62% | - | - | - | - |
2SLGBTQQIA+ self identifying | 5% | 2.80% | - | - | - | - |
Goal 1.4 - Improve workplace safety, health, & wellness
| KPI | KPI goal | 2022 trend | 2021 trend | 2020 trend | 2019 trend | 2018 trend |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Departments SAFE Work Certified | Maintain certification | Full certification | 6 | 5 | - | - |
| Organizational lost time injury rate | Annual decrease | 10.20% | 8.30% | 8.20% | 7.90% | 7.40% |
| Organizational lost time injury severity rate | Annual decrease | 1,978 | 1,450 | 1,348 | 1,060 | 1,182 |
| WCB related costs | Annual decrease | $16,369,957 | $13,829,996 | $11,837,001 | $9,649,348 | $10,586,711 |
| WCB psychological health claims | Annual decrease | - | - | - | - | - |
Goal 1.5 - Strengthen financial management & accountability
| KPI | KPI goal | 2022 trend | 2021 trend | 2020 trend | 2019 trend | 2018 trend |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Departmental operating expenditures | Not to exceed adopted budgets | Ongoing | Ongoing | Ongoing | Ongoing | Ongoing |
| Support services expenditure ratio | 5% | 2.58% | 1.90% | 1.90% | 1.70% | 1.60% |
| Value added audit recommendations implementation rate | 70% | 55% | 60% | 70% | 62% | 66% |
Goal 1.6 - Enhance employee development
| KPI | KPI goal | 2022 trend | 2021 trend | 2020 trend | 2019 trend | 2018 trend |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Performance review participation rate | Annual increase to 90% | - | - | - | - | - |
Goal 1.7 - Improve employee recruitment and retention
| KPI | KPI goal | 2022 trend | 2021 trend | 2020 trend | 2019 trend | 2018 trend |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Average days to hire internal | < or = 65 | 67 | 68 | 79 | 67 | 63 |
| Average days to hire external | < or = 52 | 58 | 84 | 94 | 71 | 67 |
| Permanent voluntary employee turnover rate | <10% | 7.10% | 6.00% | 5.70% | 4.64% | 4.59% |
Strategic direction: Continuous improvement & innovation
Goal 2.1 - Establish an interdepartmental continuous improvement & innovation network
| KPI goal | 2022 trend | 2021 trend | 2020 trend | 2019 trend | 2018 trend | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| N/A | - | - | - | - | - |
Strategic direction: Communication & engagement
Goal 3.1 - Improve communication with elected officials across departments
| KPI | KPI goal | 2022 trend | 2021 trend | 2020 trend | 2019 trend | 2018 trend |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Deadline extension request rate | <1%=2+ extensions | - | - | - | - | - |
| CAO inquiry line responses | 90% <72 hours |
Goal 3.2 - Improve communication with residents across departments
| KPI | KPI goal | 2022 trend | 2021 trend | 2020 trend | 2019 trend | 2018 trend |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 311 wait time | 3 minutes | 11:22 mins | 11:42 mins | 5:27 mins | 2:56 mins | 7:36 mins |
| Utility Billing Centre wait time | 3 minutes | 27 mins | 19 mins | 4 mins | 58 mins | 25 mins |
| Open data portal | Annual increase | 228 | 212 | 164 | 141 | 126 |
| FIPPA response rate within 45 days | 80% | 74% | 77.5% | 93% | 74% | 64% |
Goal 3.3 - Improve communication with businesses across departments
| KPI | KPI goal | 2022 trend | 2021 trend | 2020 trend | 2019 trend | 2018 trend |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Satisfaction with promoting economic development | 80% | 67% | 72% | 77% | 80% | 82% |
Goal 3.4 - Improve communication with employees across departments
| KPI | KPI goal | 2022 trend | 2021 trend | 2020 trend | 2019 trend | 2018 trend |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Engagement survey response rate | 50% | 38% | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A |
| Percentage of employees actively engaged | 75% | 71% | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A |
Strategic direction: Customer service & satisfaction
Goal 4.1 - Identify and define customer LOS for existing city services
| KPI | KPI goal | 2022 trend | 2021 trend | 2020 trend | 2019 trend | 2018 trend |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Number of service areas with defined levels of service | Annual increase | - | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A |
Goal 4.2 - Increase understanding and transparency of service costs relative to LOS
| KPI | KPI goal | 2022 trend | 2021 trend | 2020 trend | 2019 trend | 2018 trend |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Number of service areas with completed levels of service costing | Annual increase | - | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A |
Goal 4.3 - Maintain customer service satisfaction levels
| KPI | KPI goal | 2022 trend | 2021 trend | 2020 trend | 2019 trend | 2018 trend |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Customer service satisfaction rate | 80% | 73% | 78% | 82% | 81% | 79% |
Goal 4.4 - Maintain internal satisfaction levels for organizational support services
| KPI | KPI goal | 2022 trend | 2021 trend | 2020 trend | 2019 trend | 2018 trend |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Internal services satisfaction rate | 80% | - | - | - | - | - |
Appendix B – Plan Summary
Corporate Strategic Plan: Plan on a Page
VISION
A vibrant, healthy, and inclusive city for all City of Winnipeg employees, its residents, and visitors.
MISSION
Achieve effective and efficient service delivery through a collaborative, engaged, and value-driven workforce & organizational culture.
VALUES
Diversity – in who we are, & representative of our community
Respect – for each individual person
Accountability – as stewards of public assets & the work we do
Trust – with elected officials & residents we serve
Transparency – in all that we do