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4.0 Strategic Initiatives

DCC’s 2008–13 strategic plan is designed to meet both the opportunities and challenges inherent in the trends that affected the Corporation last year and are expected to remain relevant in the coming year:

  • The tight and competitive labour market, which will lead to continuing challenges in recruiting and retaining qualified staff;
  • Increased competition for industry capacity, particularly in certain sectors and geographic regions, which will require the Corporation to be innovative in its approach to industry;
  • Sustained corporate growth in both the number of employees and the diversity of services, which will require strong internal management;
  • Resource requirements of the Department of National Defence (DND) and the Canadian Forces (CF) that are extraneous to the client’s operational focus, may lead the client to turn more frequently to DCC for services previously performed in house;
  • Technological change, which will require the re-evaluation of technology’s role in DCC operations; and
  • Maintenance of strong governance, spurred by evolving government policies related to corporate governance and by the need to prepare for the impending retirement of DCC’s President and Chief Executive Officer (CEO).

All initiatives in the corporate strategic plan and individual business plans are shaped by the five strategic themes in DCC’s Corporate Strategic Plan for 2007–08 to 2010–11: corporate governance and leadership, people, stakeholder relationships, service delivery, and support to service delivery.

4.1 Governance and Leadership

Under the theme of governance and leadership, DCC identified four strategic outcomes for the 2007–12 planning period in order to provide strong and ethical leadership for the Corporation:

  1. The Corporation supports government policies, including those related to employment equity, official languages, environmental stewardship, safety and security.
  2. The Corporation is accountable to the Government of Canada through transparent, ethical corporate governance and management.
  3. Business and decision-making practices balance the best of the public and private sectors.
  4. Employees relate to the Corporation’s mission and objectives and participate in achieving the desired outcomes.

The 2007–08 Corporate Plan identified two initiatives related to this theme:

  1. Review the management of corporate safety risks associated with construction management activities. The Corporation worked with DND to clarify the safety management regime on construction sites and to ensure that the appropriate policies, procedures and contract documentation are in place to manage the total Crown responsibility on DND property. In conjunction with the Corporation, DND is developing A Guide on the Safety Responsibilities of DND and the CF in Relation to Contractors, which documents DND’s expectations for safety on three types of DND work sites. It also clarifies the liabilities of DND, the CF, DCC, contractors and subcontractors. DCC used the guide as the basis for a suite of new products developed to help staff write specifications and manage contracts, including a new handbook, Creating a Safe Work Site. These tasks have been completed and the launch of these products, as well as awareness training for all relevant stakeholders, is complete.


  2. Implement the corporate internal communications strategy. DCC launched the implementation of this strategy in 2007–08 by focusing on the development of its management cadre as the key information source for employees. Content for an on-line training course on DCC’s vision for internal communications and the Corporation’s expectations for its managers was developed along with a manager tool kit. This training is expected to help managers enhance employee engagement and retain staff, which in turn contributes to the Corporation’s client service capability. The implementation of the internal communication strategy, as described in the plan for 2007–08, is expected to unfold over several years.

4.2 People

As a knowledge-based company, DCC acknowledges that its chief asset is people, and that its ability to serve its client and its overall corporate success depend on employees’ ability and commitment. The strategic objective for this theme is to maintain a skilled, professional workforce. DCC’s approach to people management can be broken down into two components.

First, the Corporation aims to establish policies, systems and practices that will make it a model employer. This approach includes focusing on basics such as general working conditions, internal job opportunities, diversity in the employee population, benefits and employee communications. These systems, structures, values and culture all contribute to a healthy work environment and demonstrate that DCC places a priority on its employees.

Second, DCC focuses on managing and deploying its employees appropriately. The Corporation must be able to put the right people in the right place at the right time. To do this, it must recruit and retain the types of employees that it needs and to provide those employees with development opportunities.

There are two strategic outcomes for this strategic theme:

  1. Human resources policies and practices provide for:
    1. A healthy and productive work environment that supports innovation and collaboration; and,
    2. Fair compensation and benefits as well as employee growth and development.
  2. The Corporation’s human resources are managed to meet business and operational requirements.

The 2007–08 Corporate Plan identified the following two initiatives that relate to the People theme.

  1. Continue to implement the Corporation’s training and development framework. As part of this ongoing initiative, DCC is placing particular emphasis on in-house course development. The past year focused on in-house course development with six on-line courses and two in-class courses developed. These courses will meet the need to train a large number of new employees quickly. In addition, a succession planning and management framework was developed that will enable DCC to plan for staffing transitions without an interruption in service delivery capability.

  2. Develop a strategy for recruitment and retention that satisfies current and future requirements. The Corporation must ensure that it meets its staffing requirements. In 2007–08 it developed a corporate-wide recruitment and retention strategy that remains consistent with objectives of the public sector and management of Crown interests.

The strategic approach to recruitment and retention is based on developing and managing more in-depth relationships with qualified potential candidates, a policy for employee referrals, and undertaking an internal employee branding campaign. To ensure that senior management has full awareness of any gaps in DCC’s recruitment and retention capabilities, an internal employee survey will be developed and administered in 2008–09. These steps will enable the Corporation to maintain its flexibility in providing qualified staff for client projects.

4.3 Service Delivery

Given DCC’s mission to deliver high-quality, timely and efficient services to DND, achieving excellence in service delivery remains at the forefront of DCC’s corporate strategy. The strategic objective is aimed at ensuring client requirements are met. Ultimately, DCC’s goal is to provide the infrastructure solution that DND and CF require. To do this, DCC tailors its services and deliverables so that it can effectively meet the scope, quality and schedule requirements of projects and programs.

Ultimately, DCC’s goal is to provide DND and the CF with infrastructure solutions to a wide range of requirements from completing the construction of a building to remediating environmental contamination.

To do so, DCC tailors its services and deliverables so that it can effectively meet the scope, quality and schedule requirements of projects and programs. For example:

  1. The management framework optimizes service delivery;
  2. DCC and client planning and information systems are integrated to respond to client needs;
  3. DCC’s knowledge of and relationship with industry enable DCC to leverage industry capacity to the client’s benefit.

The 2007–08 Corporate Plan identified the following initiative related to this theme.

  1. Review the service line accountability framework. The matrix and regional management model launched in 2005–06 is now well established within the Corporation. During 2007–08, the Corporation assessed the impact of this service delivery structure on internal management accountabilities.

As a result of this review, some minor adjustments were made to the framework. These adjustments clarify the accountabilities between service lines and corporate management. The details attributed to each of the roles cover all aspects of business development, financial and business management, HR management, service delivery, quality management, risk management and communications. By the end of 2007–08, the review of and refinements to the structure were complete.

4.4 Stakeholder Relationships

DCC’s success is based, in part, on the Corporation’s efforts to build solid rapport with client, industry and government organizations. This conscious strategy goes beyond the basics of doing good work and getting results to creating goodwill and relationships that have long-term benefits in the communities where DCC operates. There is some duplication between this planning theme and the service delivery planning theme in that strong stakeholder relationships help DCC deliver excellent service. DCC believes strongly in supporting and participating in industry associations, an approach that creates an opportunity for both industry groups to share business practices and procedures. DCC can better understand trends in the marketplace and the needs of contractors and consultants, while industry can see that working with DCC is a doorway to opportunity.

In working with DND and the CF, the Corporation wants to be considered a full member of the defence team. DND and DCC share the common goal of leveraging the industry’s capacity in order to meet requirements quickly, effectively and efficiently. Rather than simply delivering successful results on a job-by-job basis, DCC has committed significant time and resources to integrating its planning and decision-making with those of DND, as DND seeks state-of-the-art solutions to its infrastructure requirements.

Equally important is the Corporation’s relationship with the government and its departments. Employees throughout DCC maintain regular contact with government organizations that have an interest in DCC’s policy development, service delivery or information-sharing activities. As an agent of the Crown, DCC is accountable to the Minister of Public Works and Government Services, to Parliament and to the people of Canada. Simply, the Corporation attempts to deliver the best, most cost-effective work, and interact with its stakeholders equitably and reasonably.

The strategic objective for this theme is to be recognized for DCC’s competence and value as it strives to maintain a solid working relationship with industry, and to form a strong partnership with the CF and DND in order to meet their corporate infrastructure and environmental needs.

The 2007–08 Corporate Plan identified the following initiative related to this theme.

  1. Update administrative arrangements with DND. While the Defence Production Act and the Corporation’s Letters Patent outline DCC’s mandate, a formal memorandum of understanding (MOU) outlines the business relationship with the client. The latest version of the MOU was signed in 2001. Since that time, a number of financial and other administrative accountability issues have been addressed. In 2007–08, DND and the Corporation worked to update administrative arrangements, such as the form and content of service level agreements, payment terms, etc. A clause on roles and responsibilities related to security management was added. The revised MOU was actually signed in 2008.

4.5 Support to Service Delivery

The administrative structure of DCC is geared entirely to helping employees meet the client’s requirements every day. To that end, the strategic objective for this theme is to support service delivery capability.

Without high-quality corporate support systems, DCC business units would not be able to perform their functions effectively. These systems include finance, accounting and information services; human resources; administration; corporate security; and communications. They also include corporate operational support systems, policies and procedures that support the service delivery level.

To support service delivery capability:

  1. Corporate resources are safeguarded by effective internal control systems;
  2. Effective business practices, policies and tools support DCC’s people and service delivery.

The 2007–08 Corporate Plan identified the following initiative related to this theme.

  1. Continue to implement the Information Services (IS) Roadmap. The IS Roadmap is a multi-year plan to enhance corporate information systems and technology, to renew IS support capacities and to transform the service delivery model of the IS Department through closer working relationships with other DCC business units. So far, DCC has implemented approximately two-thirds of the recommendations under this five-year initiative, including a high-level audit of DCC’s major business processes. At the end of 2007–08, with the completion of some major enhancements to the Corporation’s enterprise resources planning system (ERP), in particular the human resource management component, the Corporation no longer considers the work remaining on this initiative to be strategic. Implementation of the remaining recommendations will continue through the Corporation’s ongoing business planning processes.