What the Early Days of Radar Can Teach us About Detecting Staffing Risks in the Federal Public Service
This session will explore the importance of an organization’s approach to gathering intelligence that is able to accurately detect real threats versus imagined threats. In a time of disruption – whether technological, environmental, or political – an organization that is able to master its ability to detect real threats, and rally audit resources to address these risks, will be in a better position to deliver on its strategic objectives.
Consider the early days of radar technology during World War II: Britain was able to overcome the powerful German air force by improving its ability to detect real danger in the skies and marshalling its scarce resources in the face of real danger. What historical lessons can be drawn from this by federal public service organizations? First, it is important that we improve our ability to confirm our risk intelligence; to continue with the radar analogy, i.e., to detect real “pings” or true positives on the radar screen. Second, it is important that we are able to validate threats with actual observation.
This session will contribute to the conference theme by exploring how disruption can have an impact on an organization’s ability to detect real risk. When systems are undergoing change, when the rules of the game are changing, when new players are emerging and roles are shifting, how does past experience potentially become a biased view of the world that negatively impacts an organization’s ability to clearly see what are true threats?
Through a survey of its own policy, program and oversight experts, the Public Service Commission of Canada (PSC) gauged opinion and perception about compliance to various elements of legislative and policy requirements related to public service staffing. The results will be calibrated against actual compliance results from a system-wide staffing audit. If successful, we will have identified a methodology to efficiently allow us to focus energy and resources on true versus false positives.