BPI Quick Wins - Examples

The following are templates that the practitioner can use to identify and communicate quick win opportunities and a quick win work package example.

Example: format for     documenting quick win improvement opportunities

   

   

Example: Quick Win/Strike documentation

Quick Win Work Package Example

Quick Win 1*:

Eliminate additional approvals once juries or committees and section heads/officers have made granting decisions for all research grants under $60,000. Program officers submit requests for payment directly to Finance. The list of successful applicants and awarded amounts will be circulated for information purposes only.

Anticipated Benefits

• Average reduction of several weeks in the elapsed time between competition deadline and announcement of successful grant recipients of great importance to Agency clients. In many cases, this time reduction would be at least two months.
• Significantly improved accountability of peers and Program Officers for their granting decisions. The Board and Agency management will also send a clear 'vote of confidence' in the work of peers and Agency staff.   
• Small     reduction in the time required to prepare documents and covering letters for signature ('information copies' will still be sent to the same managers, however, the process will no longer be held up awaiting reviews and approvals). Additional time of Admin. Assistants will be saved in following up on the progress of decisions awaiting signature.    

Work Package Manager:   

Major Steps

1. Develop policy on change to required approvals.
2. Developinfo note for staff on change to required approvals.
3. Refine     procedures for requesting cheques from Finance and for providing info copies to Management.
4. Develop protocol for "sample checks".
5. Communicate change to staff and Board.

Estimated Resources:

• Work Package Manager - 5 working days
• Rep from Finance - 1 working day
• Rep from Communications - 1 working day

Time frame:

Completed by February 26. Report on status to Core committee.

Notes:

References

Training

Results/Achievements

• The identification and implementation of Quick Wins in the client organization that build increasing momentum for the redesign efforts that are to follow

BPI 'As-Is' Human Resource Assessment – Examples

The following are examples of the results a human resource assessment might produce. Example: human resource factors in the current process

Example: human resource factors in the current process

Example: Human resource issues related to the current process

The following is an example of an As-Is Human Resource Assessment for a police agency.

CURRENT ASSESSMENT - HR

B.1    Introduction

This appendix presents the findings of the analysis of the Department of Police human resources management strategies and processes undertaken during phase one of Project PHRM.

The overall objective of this component of Project PHRM is to provide a framework for the reform of human resource management within the Department of Police to ensure that it contributes optimally to the achievement of the challenges outlined previously in this report and in the Business Direction.

This appendix provides an overview of the current status of Human Resource Management (HRM) in the Department and an analysis of the reasons why HRM, as a corporate responsibility, needs to be re-engineered in order to maximize its 'enabling' contribution to the achievement of the Business Direction.

B.2    Methodology

Information for this section of the report was collected in the following ways:

• Review of current documentation and reports in relation to HRM;

• Interviews with key personnel involved in, or who have a major stake in the provision of Human Management Resource Management strategies and processes; and
• Mapping of a range of current HR processes.

B.3    Findings

The major findings of the assessment of the current status of Human Resource Management are outlined below.

An integrated corporate HR function is required

At a corporate level, the HR function is distributed across a number of areas including:

• Recruitment and Training, located in Royce;

• Human Resources and the Staff Support Unit, located in Honeywell within the Management Support Unit; and
• Personnel Administration.

In addition there is a CHRIMS project team, an Industrial Relations function performed by the Director Administration and a Staff Allocation function performed by the Assistant Commissioner Logistics.

There is no mechanism currently existing that integrates these areas. In short, it is a function without a 'centre', i.e. an organizationally legitimate focal point for the integration of strategic and operational HR information, and the development of effective and efficient responses.

As a consequence, the Department of Police lacks a coherent Human Resource strategy, related initiatives are poorly coordinated and there is inevitably reactive decision making.

Professional HR expertise is required

Historically, recruitment to positions in Human Resources has been either:

• through the administrative stream (for State Servants); or
• as a short term rotation into HR roles, for police officers, as part of a process of career     development.

State Servants in HR roles tend to have had little career mobility either within the State Service or within the Department of Police and have little exposure to non-transactional human resource processes.

Police officers moving into HR roles are generally provided with little professional development. Given the fact that these officers deliver the more strategic and developmental HR functions, this is a serious matter. Functions these people manage include recruitment, training, performance appraisal and career development.

As a result the following areas require considerable attention:

• Establishment of recruitment needs;

• Identification of the competency requirements of new recruits;
• Development of robust learning strategies for developing competencies;
• Monitoring and supervision of recruits;
• Feedback on and appraisal of performance;
• Development of ongoing learning strategies; and
• Establishment of appropriate succession and career planning processes.

These areas represent the more challenging aspects of Human Resource Management in any organization. They are additionally challenging given the changes required within the Department of Police, particularly with respect to flexibility, customer service, and empowerment.

There is also an increasing need to work through partnership arrangements with other agencies and HR service providers (Universities; the TAFE, etc.) to optimize both the quality and efficiency of HR strategies and services. Given the lack of in-depth experience and expertise in the training and education sector, the Department is potentially exposed in the

negotiation of these arrangements. It is very difficult to represent or advocate for the needs of your organization (in the process of developing partnership arrangements and associated service agreements with alternate providers) if you are not fully versed in the fundamental professional issues at stake.

It is important to stress at this point that the comparatively low level of Human Resource expertise is not the fault of any individuals. Indeed, there was a ready acceptance of the need for a higher level of HR competency to help shape and drive the achievement of a robust and resilient Human Resource infrastructure in support of the Business Direction.

Integrated HR strategy and planning is critical

Current HR decision making is characterized by a short-term focus. This is not to say that individuals do not take a long-term perspective. Indeed, there is a high degree of considered strategic thinking related to Human Resources issues, and a large number of senior people who are genuinely interested in improving the contribution of Human Resources to the organization.

The problem arises with the solutions that are generated as a result of strategic thinking. Given the lack of high level HR expertise and a lack of integration across the 'corporate' HR functions, the solutions tend to be short-term and often in conflict with each other. A number of examples of the various component elements of  Police HR separately seeking endorsement for specific HR initiatives were brought to the attention of the Project Team. (Career management and its related support processes is one example of this phenomenon.)

Most of these initiatives had little or no support from other HR areas, and the status of their progress through the organization's approval processes was uncertain.

This is further evidence of an absence of a ÒcentreÓ for HR decision making at a policy or strategic level.

Current administrative processes are complicated

A range of HR processes were mapped by the  Police project team. Those processes have, characteristically:

• unnecessary approval steps;
• unnecessary centralization of decision making; and
• an unnecessary number of forms.

More importantly, some processes that require the effective use of interpersonal competency and managerial discernment are currently engineered in such a way that the outcome is interpersonal avoidance and adversarial supervisory/subordinate interaction. The current performance appraisal process is the prime example of this. The overwhelming view of those people consulted during the HR assessment was that performance appraisal actually depleted value from the organization, rather than adding value. Performance appraisal is a particularly challenging aspect of HR. However, the process that has been used in the Department of Police is designed, as it were, against all the principles of effective performance feedback and development. Assessments are completed behind closed doors, there is no requirement fordirect supervisor/employee discussions and the only mandatory one-on-one discussions occur between employees and their manager or supervisor once removed.

The Department must address Issues of role confusion, conflict and overlap

There is considerable role confusion, conflict and overlap. This was one of the most frequently discussed issues during interviews. These role issues related both to interaction between the component elements of the corporate HR function, and between corporate and district HR.

Roles confusion/conflict/overlap is manifest in a number of ways including:

• Debate about the respective roles of the Academy and HR (in Management Support) regarding Career Management; and    
• The double handling of promotions related paperwork.
• hese role confusions result, typically, in two phenomena:
• Competition for attention through, often, the submission of ‘duelling’ reports and     recommendations; and
• Inaction because a clear decision or direction regarding how best to manage an issue is not forthcoming.

With respect to role issues between corporate HR and district HR, the key issue is inadequate devolution of essentially administrative roles, and the consequent utilization of senior police personnel to undertake routine clerical/administrative responsibilities.

B.4    Assessment of particular functions

Recruitment

The recruitment function is managed by Recruitment and Training (the Academy) for police officers and by Personnel Administration for state servants.

Recruitment decisions are based on job descriptions. For police officers, these are based on the Enterprise Agreement.

Recruitment decision-making for police is highly centralised with little 'field' involvement. The techniques used are currently the subject of considerable discussion with a view to streamlining them, increasing their effectiveness and ensuring that EEO guidelines and considerations are met.

The major weakness in the recruitment process is the lack of a competency framework based on a sound analysis of job requirements.  Police are awaiting the finalization of a national competency standards review conducted by the National Police Standards Council Inc.

There is, however, an opportunity to develop a tailored competency framework for recruitment decision making. This could then be used as the basis for an annual needs analysis process that identifies the critical learning needs of new recruits on the basis, for example, of expected job experience during their first two years of service.

With respect to the selection process, a key innovation currently being considered is the use of an assessment centre approach. This requires skilled assessment centre professionals with a grounding in psychometric and other assessment methodologies. It is, however, an excellent idea, and, with the recent appointment of an highly experienced psychologist,  Police has some of the necessary skill base to develop this concept successfully.

Training

Most training within the Department of Police is developed and conducted by Recruitment and Training and focuses primarily upon police officers.

Recruitment and Training is staffed by police officers. Little professional development is provided to assist them perform their jobs. Two Education Officers work closely with the Police staff to assist in professional issues such as curriculum design, competency assessment and learning methodologies.

The current programs are closely tied to the promotion system within  Police. The major programs are:

• Constable training;   
• Sergeant training; and   
• Inspector training.

A series of examinations linked to the programs are also conducted.

There are a range of questions and concerns about the suitability of both the individual programs and the overall training framework. They include the need to:

• develop a formal training needs analysis process using draft national competency standards, corporate resource need information and local job analysis information;
• improve contracting between Recruitment and Training and corporate and district management on priorities and performance expectations for training services;   
• develop a strategy for     alliances with other education and training providers; and   
• improve curriculum design and learning strategies that support the demonstrable achievement of competency standards.

In summary, the training framework has been in place for many years. Its origins are in the seniority based system which is based on a set of assumptions about how long it takes for someone to become effective in a role. Such an approach is fundamentally at odds with the directions of industry training and accreditation processes which are increasingly based on competency acquisition and demonstration.

This is as much an issue of promotional policy and career management as it is an issue of training.

With respect to State Servants, there is very little training and development or, indeed, career management assistance provided.

Career management

The two major career management processes undertaken within the Department of Police are the promotional examination and training programs and the actual promotions process.

The promotional examination and training programs have been the subject of some internal debate over the nature of the examination processes, the numbers of applicants and the selection of participants. Essentially police self-select to be involved in the programs. There is no structured succession process involving the identification of high potential employees, and their development to meet projected shortfalls and opportunities.

The consequence of the current system is a high degree of dissatisfaction with the time it takes to gain a promotion. This has been exacerbated (for some people) by the recent delayering of the career structure through broader banded classification levels. To counterbalance this change, and to reinforce its objective of focussing police upon the business of providing and rewarding excellent service rather than becoming distracted by issues of hierarchy, programs need to be developed that support the development of a culture of service to the community through increased competency in core policing processes.

In summary, career management needs to focus on identifying and developing both:

• high potentials, with a view to promotional positions; and
• a commitment to a career in operational core policing.

With respect to the promotions process, there is considerable and unnecessary double handling of paperwork between Management Support and Personnel administration.

Performance appraisal

The performance appraisal system has recently been amended. The amendments have addressed a couple of problem areas (for example, lack of direct supervisor/employee discussions -as noted earlier in this appendix - and the separation of the process from the salary review process).

There was more consensus on the appraisal process than any other, and the conclusion was that it detracted (rather than added) value to the organization.

There are two major challenges ahead with respect to the Performance Appraisal process. They are:

• The need to redesign the process in such a way that it supports the achievement of the Business Direction through the recognition and reward of appropriate behaviours and the development of critical competencies; and
• To develop a strategy for overcoming the inevitable disrepute that any performance appraisal process will be greeted with as a result of past experiences.

As a result, the performance appraisal needs to be redesigned in a collaborative fashion and the implementation of the new design needs to be supported by focussed training and follow-up coaching to ensure it is successfully implemented.

Induction

The induction process is currently under review. Recruitment and Training are investigating the introduction of a mentoring process to assist recently trained recruits.

Currently, newly trained recruits are frequently placed in high stress roles and receive poor supervision. This situation needs to be addressed both in the short term (re current trainees) and in the medium to long term as a critical element of an integrated recruitment and training process.

There is no induction process for state servants.

Employment framework

Police has recently introduced a new Enterprise Agreement which included significant changes to the career structure and remuneration practices.

The agreement is still in its early stages of implementation. A number of the processes supporting the agreement are currently being reviewed, particularly with respect to pay administration, the calculation of overtime and the recording of leave. These matters all relate back to the need to clarify what constitutes a work day.

The other specific implementation issue relates to the recognition of competencies for salary purposes. The supporting process entails unnecessary approval steps which, with the implementation of an on-line data entry process, can be administered locally.

State Servants are currently employed under a range of related awards linked to a State Service Award. These are characterized by a large number of salary levels and narrow classification bands.

Currently, there are some preliminary discussions on the reform of the State Service award. Given the move to a more flexible employment framework that will enable an increasingly effective partnership between State Servants and Police Officers in the provision of service to the community, the development of an integrated employment framework that recognizes the links between operational policing and enabling support processes would be valuable. This could usefully be incorporated in the terms of reference of the review of the State Service Award.

Occupational health and safety and staff support

A structured occupational health and safety program is currently in the process of being developed. n Police has recently appointed an experienced OH&S practitioner with best practice credentials. The objective currently being pursued is to enable supervisors to act as Safety Officers, responsive to the needs of employees in their respective areas. The OH&S manager will then act as a consultant, supporting supervisors. This approach is consistent with an empowered organizational model.

The staff support unit also provides a range of counselling/psychological services to managers and employees across  Police. Again, the processes being established such as the trauma counselling process are consistent with the empowered model. As with OH&S, the existence of a highly qualified, centrally located professional, to develop policy and implement cross-organization strategies, maximizes the effectiveness of this function.

Personnel administration

All payroll, leave, workers compensation and State Servant recruitment is undertaken by Personnel Administration. A new information system is currently in the early stages of implementation and should lead to improved performance of these functions. This project is being managed by the CHRIMS project team.

The implementation of the new system provides an obvious opportunity to review the service objectives of Personnel Administration and to develop a core team of experienced internal advisors offering support to line managers in the exercise of the human resource responsibilities.

Workers compensation is one area that requires immediate attention to ensure that the process protects the organizations right to contest claims in a manner that does not create unnecessary tensions with employees. The Occupational Health and Safety Manager is well positioned both organizationally and professionally to address this issue.

B.5    Summary

Human Resource is an area that requires significant attention and improvement within the organization. This is generally well acknowledged by most people working in the component organizational elements of Human Resources and by managers and employees throughout the organization.

In the past the response to perceived shortcomings has been to fix up the discrete pieces. It is unlikely that continuing with this kind of approach will result in the achievement of the level of service improvement that is required of the function. By undertaking a holistic review of its operations, including Human Resources, as part of Project PHRM, the Department has taken an important step addressing the critical HR issues before it.

The Human Resource Assessment reveals a function unempowered and under-skilled to respond to the challenge of major change. This is an issue of fundamental importance to  Police particularly given the realities that 80% of the  Police Budget is Human Resources, and all the changes that will be generated by the outcomes of Project PHRM will require employees, both sworn and unsworn, to think, act and feel differently about their work and their careers.

Re-engineering opportunity 6 provides the basis for lifting the performance of Human Resources to a new plane, commensurate with the needs of the organization and its internal and external communities.

BPI “As-Is” Technology Assessment - Examples

The following are examples of diagrams, flows, and assessment worksheets that can be used in an “As-Is” Technology Assessment.

As-Is Application Diagram

As-Is Application Diagram (cont)

Example of high level application and Technology Inventory

Application Inventory Worksheet

Application & Version	Hardware	Package/Custom	Major Functions	Primary Users	Comments
General Ledger	IBM AS/400	Package	Chart of Accounts Flexible Budgeting Report Writer	Controller Sales Manager Asst. Controller	Heavy technical support because of reliability problems. Minimal user support.
Accounts Payable	IBM AS/400	Package		A/R Clerk Credit Manager Credit Clerk Sales Manager Asst. Controller	Heavy technical support because of reliability problems. Minimal user support.

As-Is Application Diagram

Area	Hardware	Software	Notes	Cost
Accounting	3 Microcomputers 2Terminals 4 local printers Communications     and networking	General Ledger Accounts Receivable Accounts Payable Word Processing (3) Spreadsheet (3) E-Mail (5) Terminal     emulation (3)	Specific hardware and software will be determined during the general ledger system selection project	$21,000 $32,000
Human Resources	2 Microcomputers 1 local printer Communications and networking	Payroll Personnel Benefits         Administration Word Processing (2) Spreadsheet (2) E-Mail (2) Terminal emulation (2	Specifichardware and software will be determined during the general ledger system selection project     Additional printer may be needed	$9,000 $16,000
MIS	2 Microcomputers 1 Terminal 1 File Server 1 Company CPU 1 Console Terminal 1 High speed printer 2 local printers 2 Modems 1 Concentrator 1 Microcomputer Gateway 1 Gateway Communications     and networking	Network operating system Network management software Company CPU operating system Programming language Word Processing (2) Spreadsheet (2) E-Mail (3) Terminal     emulation (2)	File server, Company CPU and high speed printer will be shared by entire company File server primarily used for E-Mail and Microcomputer file sharing CompanyCPU and file server may be combined, depending on software selected	$70,000 $12,000
Advertising	4 Microcomputers 3 local printers Communications and networking	Customer Tracking Product/Job Cost Word Processing (4) Spreadsheet (4) Data base (2) Graphics     (1) E-Mail (4) Terminal     emulation (4)	Depending on volume and quality of graphics output, a color printer may be needed. Data base will be used for customer and product analysis	$19,000 $20,000

Hardware Inventory Worksheet

Processor, Supplier Range, Model and Memory Size*	No.	Location(s)	% Usage by Dept.	Operating System and Version	No. of Terminals and Printers	Purchase Cost	Original Age (years)	Lease or Depreciation Costs Outstanding	Expansion Limits
IBM     AS/400 -F50	1	Atlanta	100% Acctg	IBM OS/400 V3	20	$45,000	4	$0.00	Two upgrades

Communication Inventory Worksheet

Type of Equipment or Service	Location(s)	Supplier	Standards and/or Protocols Used	Age	Annual Costs (incl. line charges)	Expansion Limitations
Telephone System	Atlanta	AT&T		20yrs		No available ports
Voice Mail System
Bulletin Board System
Fax
Leased Lines
Dial Up Lines
Radio Frequency Lines
Cellular Lines
Data Communications Equipment
Data Communications Equipment

IS Headcount Profile Worksheet

Job Category

Actual Headcount (FTE) at Fiscal Year-End

Projected Headcount

Qtr 1

Qtr 2

Qtr 3

Qtr 4

Last Year

This Year

System Development Functions

Management

Project Manager

Systems Analyst

Programmer/Analyst

Programmer

Other

Total Development

Operations Functions

Management

Project Manager

Supervisory Staff

Data Handling

Computer Operations

Network Operations

Technical Support

Others

Total Operations Functions

Technical Functions

Database Administration

Operating Systems

Hardware

Telecommunications

Voice

Data

Total Technical Functions

Resignations/Terminations/ Transfers out of I/T during year-staff

Resignations/Terminations/ Transfers out of I/T during year-managers

Comments:   

   

Provided by:         Phone:         Date:    

IS Skills Profile Worksheet (Short Demo Only)

Current Position:    

Completed by:         Date:    

Please evaluate the above named staff member in each of the I/S skill areas according to the 5-point scale given below.

Area	Skill	Assessment
		N/A   Low             High
Business Knowledge	1)  Understanding general (cross industry) business concepts)	0       1    2    3    4    5
	2)  Understanding of practices	0       1    2    3    4    5
	3) Understanding of administrative services	0       1    2    3    4    5
	4) Understanding of immediate business unit supported (i.e., accounts payable)	0       1    2    3    4    5
Technical Currency	5) Awareness of general technology trends	0       1    2    3    4    5
	6) Awareness and understanding of hardware development	0       1    2    3    4    5
	7) Awareness and understanding of software development (i.e., system software, data management software, application development software)	0       1    2    3    4    5
	8) Awareness and understanding of telecommunications developments	0       1    2    3    4    5
Analysis	9) Problem definition	0       1    2    3    4    5
	10) Logical analysis (what are the pieces)	0       1    2    3    4    5
	11) Solution suggestion and formulation	0       1    2    3    4    5
	12) Test plan development	0       1    2    3    4    5
Programming	13) Program logic - batch/on-line	0       1    2    3    4    5
	14) Program coding - batch/on-line	0       1    2    3    4    5
	15) Language     expertise:
	COBOL	0       1    2    3    4    5
	C+/C++	0       1    2    3    4    5
	RPG II	0       1    2    3    4    5
	Other     (specify)	0       1    2    3    4    5
	Other     (specify)	0       1    2    3    4    5
	Other     (specify)	0       1    2    3    4    5
Documentation	16) Program documentation (system)	0       1    2    3    4    5
	17) Operations documentation	0       1    2    3    4    5
	18) User documentation	0       1    2    3    4    5

Application Systems Experience (SHORT DEMO ONLY)

System/Vendor	Planning & Evaluating	Develop. & Implement	Maint. & Tech. Support	Operations & User	Technical Platform	Where (Company)
Financial
General Ledger
Accounts Payable
Accounts Receivable
Budgeting
Fixed Assets
Other
Subtotal
Human Resource
Payroll
Personnel
Benefits Administration
Other
Subtotal
Sales & Marketing
Order Entry
Sales Manage-ment
Job/ Product Costing
Customer Service
Other

USER SKILLS ASSESSMENT WORKSHEET (SHORT DEMO ONLY)

SECTION I: BACKGROUND

1.    Name:    

2.    Title:    

3.    Division/Department:    

4.    Briefly describe your responsibilities:     _______________________________________

__________________________________________________________________________                                                                                                                                             

5.    Number of years at company: _____ years _____ months

6.    Number of years in current job: _____ years _____ months

7.    Have you ever taken a course in computer programming or computer operations? [ ] yes [ ]  no. If yes, please specify    

8.    Have you ever worked in a computer department? [ ] yes [ ] no. If yes, please indicate the number of years of experience _____.

9.    Who do you contact for assistance with computing?

    Name/Department    

    Name/Department    

    Name/Department    

10.    There is a terminal in my:    Work area:    [ ] yes    [ ] no

        Office:    [ ] yes    [ ] no

11.    There is a personal computer in my:    Work area:    [ ] yes    [ ] no

        Office:    [ ] yes    [ ] no

        Home:    [ ] yes    [ ] no

12.      Do you currently use now, want (if you do not use now) or want more (if you currently use) of the following software applications:

   

Software		Use Now		Want		Want More
Database Manager
b. Graphics
c.  Communications
d. Programming Language(s)
e. Electronic Spreadsheet
f. Statistical Package
g.  Report Writer
h.    Other:

Please write any comments regarding the items in question 12 below: ______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

   

13.    I consider myself to be:

1    2    3    4    5    N/A		User of Mini/Mainframe Computing
1    2    3    4    5    N/A		User of Personal Computing
1    2    3    4    5    N/A		User of Office Automation
1    2    3    4    5    N/A		User of Other Computing

Section II: involvement with information systems

Directions: Questions 14-33 relate to your current and desired involvement in a variety of computer-related activities. For each activity circle the number, from 1 (low involvement) to 5 (high involvement), that best represents the extent of your current involvement (part-a) and desired involvement (part-b). If you are not involved or do not wish to be in a particular activity, circle 0 (N/A, not applicable).

		Involvement
		N/A Low               High
14.  I use mini/mainframe computer systems to perform my job.
a.    current		0    1    2    3    4     5
b.    desired		0    1    2    3    4    5
15. I train and/or assist staff in my area in the use of mini/mainframe systems.
a.    current		0     1    2    3     4    5
b.    desired		0     1    2    3     4    5
16.  I have alternative backup procedures for use when mini/mainframe systems are unavailable.
a.    current		0     1    2    3     4    5

The following is an example of the text from an As-Is technology Assessment that External Consultant performed for a customer in the law enforcement business.

CURRENT ASSESSMENT INFORMATION & TECHNOLOGY

C.1    Introduction

This appendix presents a high level qualitative assessment of the current information and technology infrastructure within the Department of Police.

Technology will be a key enabler in achieving the business direction set for the Department. During the subsequent Design phase of Project , detailed design of the required technology environment to support the re-designed processes will be prepared.

The purpose of this 'snap shot' of the current environment is to outline the strengths and limitations of existing information and technology usage and support within the Department.

C.2    Methodology

The assessment was conducted via interviews with Project team members, internal information and technology support personnel, and a number of operational staff. Relevant documentation was also reviewed.

The high level assessment included a review of the current hardware, software and communications infrastructure, and the identification of other information and technology resources utilized by the Department. The assessment also included a cursory look at the practices, procedures, and controls used to manage the existing information and technology resources.

The findings of the assessment have been placed in the context of three viewpoints important to the effective deployment and use of the information and technology infrastructure, namely, Information Requirements, Communications and Technology Infrastructure and Management Practices. These are explored further in the next sections.

C.3    Information Requirements

Users report that many of the older application systems are still providing adequate but limited support for core operational policing. Access to the application systems are limited due to the number of available terminals and workstations, but they are used heavily throughout the State, and application functions are also used by the two remaining control rooms. Expansion of this access through growth of the Local Area Network environment (LAN) is constrained by performance issues.

Investigative capabilities are enhanced by the support provided by specialized applications, such as the Automated Fingerprint Identification System (AFIS), which has provided a high degree of offender identification, and a significant reduction in the time taken to carry out fingerprint matching. However, other key areas have not yet been addressed, such as application and technology support at major crime scenes.

A list of the current applications used by Police, and an indication of the functional coverage provided by these systems, is provided at the end of the appendix.

The acceptance and use of the existing application base is tempered by a number of significant concerns:

Quality of Information    

• Regardless of the capabilities of the application suite, the quality of information being provided to some application systems is poor. This includes the CACS, Stolen Motor Vehicle (SMV) and Crime Analysis systems.    
• Much of the information gathered for Police applications is entered onto forms at the     station level, and submitted for centralized data entry. As a result there is no opportunity for ‘local’ validation of data. In addition, the manual process for maintaining a level of quality within the current environment is either breaking down, or is at best inefficient.    
• Based on the percentage of forms being returned to source for ‘re-entry’ (returns of up to     40% have been quoted by Information Bureau staff), both the initial quality of entry, and that of the supervisory function, would appear to be called into question. Although it would appear that this situation is created out of inattentiveness, it is actually a function of time pressures on operational staff, coupled with the nature of the complex and unwieldy structure of manual forms processing required to support the current operational Police model.
• Many of the forms required to be completed by Police staff are part of process and     document flows which include many instances of repeated information and a large number of code references prime candidates for errors.

Ease of Use    

• One aspect of system inefficiency identified during the technology assessment was to do     with poor 'ease of use'. This reflects the relatively cumbersome way in which core operational queries are carried out using the available application suite. This is as a result of both the overall system design, and the level of training afforded to operational staff.    
• The nature of most queries in an investigative process, or as the result of an incident, require several strands of information to be accessed (i.e. persons of interest, vehicles of interest, property of interest, etc.). The non-integrated nature of the current application environment necessitates that users access one application area and complete their query, then exit that application and enter another area to initiate a query of a different kind. As well as being cumbersome and time consuming for users well acquainted with the system capabilities, new or infrequent users find the systems difficult to use and may miss a key part of relevant information as a result.    
• There is little context-sensitive help available to users, and no linkages between  systems to provide rudimentary advice on which follow-up queries may be necessary in other applications, based on the information displayed.

Support for Best Practice

• During the assessment instances were identified which highlighted the fact that current     system design did not include the sophisticated use of these systems to provide users with best practice support for effective law enforcement.
• Certain applications have been designed to highlight areas of additional interest to the user. In the instance identified during the assessment, the Persons of Interest application highlighted that the person being queried was also being sought by other officers with an active interest in the individual. Although a contact with this other officer could have resulted in additional charges being brought against the individual in question, there are clear indications in the database that this had not happened Ñ even though the individual has been the subject of several charges and/or court appearances since the other officer added his entry into the database.

Information Stored Off-Line

• The current forms-based information gathering process includes a wide range of data     collected about individuals, vehicles, property, and incidents or investigations.    
• Much of this information is captured and stored within the application systems but the design of some of these applications does not allow the storage of all details (e.g., information about Persons of Interest). In this case, limitations in field sizes preclude the full description of individuals being captured, and the range of data entry for these applications does not cover all of the items captured on the forms filled out at the station level.    
• A measure to minimize the impact of this potential information loss has been to store the     forms on micro-fiche after the initial data entry has been completed. In terms of real-time queries, however, this ‘off-line’ information is not immediately available to operational staff, and at certain times of the day it could remain untapped for several hours.

End-User Applications

• As a probable result of user perceptions about the Information Technology Branch’s responsiveness to enhanced application requirements, the world of end-user applications is starting to impact the Police environment.    
• In a suitably controlled environment, the development of small applications targeted at the end-user can be an important enabler for their use of ‘local’ information. Where these controls are not in place, the use of a variety of application and database development tools can result in an inefficient use of local resources operating outside their areas of core competencies, and can sometimes threaten the enterprise information base itself.   
• The level of technology deployment within Police Department has so far minimized this potential problem area, and it is therefore an area worthy of exploitation in the future.    
• The application support for the administrative functions of Police (e.g. the potential     support provided by Electronic Mail or other productivity tools), also suffers as result of this limited deployment level.

Other Issues

• With the amount of change that is likely within the Police application portfolio over the next few years, the thrust of ‘information oriented’ strategies will become increasingly important.    
• These strategies are likely to deal with the formalizing of policies and protocols for     information access, and the two-way sharing of information between Police, other agencies and community groups.
• The operational relevance to Police of the corporate ‘community oriented policing’ program is becoming clear, but the privacy issues, and other policy matters relating to the information being made available to these groups is still in the formative stage.    
• Similarly, policies and business protocols need to be discussed and agreed with a range of external agencies (such as Justice, Transport, etc.), well before any communication and application interfaces are designed and implemented.

• The importance of timing in this context is crucial. New or continuing dialogue can be used to reveal issues arising from the long term planning efforts that these     other agencies are undoubtedly engaged in.

C.4    Communications and Technology Infrastructure

Communications and other information related technology development, implementation and support, are controlled by two primary technology support groups within Police Information Technology Branch and Communications Services.

Police usage of these technologies has historically been targeted at providing:

• Optimized technical support for operational Police activities;   
• Optimizing the integrated and effective use of communications throughout the organization; and
• Research and evaluation of new technology, based on an assessment of costs and benefits.

Increasingly, there is mounting pressure to optimize the use of communications resources with other emergency services and community groups.

Information Technology Branch

The Information Technology Branch are responsible for the implementation and support of the primary application host platforms and the local computing infrastructure.

They are the group through which the level of deployment has been controlled for terminal connections to the hosts, and the more recent implementation of local area networks (LANs), LAN servers, and workstations.

The following observations about these areas were noted.

The Prime Host Platform

While still of concern, and well documented in the past, the longer term availability of the Prime host platform is not necessarily the most important issue at this time. Nevertheless, a consistent view of the risk associated with its ongoing support capability has not yet been reached, and this should be established as a matter of urgency.

A diagram indicating the pivotal placement of the Prime platform in the current Police topology is provided at the end of the appendix.

Level of Deployment

Perhaps the biggest constraint to effective Police use of their computer-oriented technology components is the current level of deployment.

• Screen Ratio

• Current operational support is limited because of the low screen to user ratio (combined     population of terminals and workstations), which in some cases has been as low as 1:14 (based on a CIB shift at one of the locations). The situation is just as bad at the smaller stations, and in many instances the lesser stations have no on-line access at all.
• This leads to information access difficulties during normal shifts, a situation which is exacerbated during periods of high activity, or when dealing with significant incidents.
• Without reasonable and consistent access to these devices, previous training investment is lost, and the impact widens beyond the actual user group involved. In some instances, they have been known to 'fan out' through the station in question to try and make use of devices in other areas, and have often used administration staff resources to help them access the information they require.
• Any desire to enable staff further through the use of productivity and work group     facilities such as Electronic Mail, is also affected by this situation.

Workstation Configuration

• One of the strengths in the current local computing infrastructure has been the largely     consistent LAN and workstation environment (currently based on the Microsoft LAN operating system, and the predominantly Intel-based range of workstations).
• However, upgrades are necessary in many of the existing sites, where devices are     increasingly inadequate for the tasks expected of them.
• Less than adequate configurations are already an issue, with at least one instance of     external agencies (the country based provider of the ACID database) withdrawing access to their information, because the Police workstation used as the gateway did not have the power required to host the necessary software.
• It is understood that the configuration issue also extends to other devices, such as     printers, where the demand of modern applications is stretching them to the limit.

Performance

There are concerns emerging from the user base that the existing capabilities of the total system environment is in doubt, based on their perception of system performance.

Instances of certain enquiry types taking minutes to complete have been reported, and examples of transactions taking up to 30 seconds to respond are not uncommon.

Whether this is all attributed to poor system performance, or is perhaps highlighting a requirement for an enhanced user awareness exercise (e.g. the impact of particular transaction types on the application/database environment), is not yet clear. What is clear is that any desire to expand system use (e.g. through the wider deployment of the network environment), can only be achieved once an improvement in this aspect of the infrastructure has been established.

Strategic Support

The relatively standard local computing infrastructure has been achieved despite there being no overall technology strategy document.

There has been several attempts to create an Information Systems Strategic Plan (ISSP) but in lieu of this, solution appear to have been predominantly technology focused (driven by ITB), and not part of an overall strategic framework which would provide the necessary business linkages.

There appears to be a dearth of documented strategies, policies, procedures and standards, and as is pointed out later in this section, the future demands that this more formalized approach be put in place.

Technology Drivers

Technology industry drivers (such as open systems, client server, object orientation, imaging, etc.) must be taken into account to enable solutions of the future. However, an appropriate strategic framework is required to put them into perspective, and clearly indicates their support for corporate strategies.

Communications Services

The Communications Services group are responsible for the planning, implementation and support of the Wide Area Network (WAN) for state-wide data communications, the similarly comprehensive radio network(s), and the telephony and PABX environments supporting PoliceÕs other voice based systems.

By maintaining an awareness of new technologies and their potential merits to Police, they have been able to promote various technologies (a recent example of which is the potential use of mobile data terminals).

The breadth of the services currently provided indicates the extent to which these technologies have been applied to particular Police situations in order to improve effectiveness or efficiency, but also raises the possibility that the range of new and emerging technologies is so great that they cannot maintain an awareness of it all.

Further, technology development is seeing a convergence of computing and communications technologies (as witnessed once again by mobile data terminals, and computer-aided dispatch).

To address these issues, the two technology support groups should encourage operational Police to identify opportunities for improvement and quantify business benefits and project priorities; suppliers to directly identify the potential benefits of their technology to Police; and for both groups to cooperatively evaluate these new technologies.

In addition to this, the Department should attempt to benefit from technology developments conducted by other law enforcement and emergency service organizations. There remains a need to develop a strategy to optimize the use of communications resources with other emergency services.

Given the current cost of providing the optimum coverage of radio service in the terrain which typifies Tomania (see the recent Tomanian Mobile Radio Service proposal), it is perhaps timely to review this dialogue.

Similarly, the impact of community-orientated policing on Police communications and technology usage requires further evaluation and policy definition.

The communications networks (radio, telephone and computer) are based on sound and reliable technologies, while the technology services (for example, tape recording and listening devices) are effective due largely to the expertise of personnel within Communications Services.

To ensure that Police are in a position to respond to covert, emergency or disaster situations, communications networks generally incorporate a high level of redundancy and functionality. This can result in relatively high network costs.

A summarized view of the topologies associated with the data communications network environment is provided at the end of the appendix. A more detailed view of the wider telecommunications environment can be seen in the Request for Proposal document referred to previously (Tomanian Mobile Radio Service).

C.5    Management Practices

The management of information and technology within Tomania Police is likely to concentrate on the following aspects:

• Continuously improve management of the information and technology groups and resources (including technology expenditure, prioritization and accountability);
• Development of consistent technology policies, procedures and standards;
• Review the ongoing business     change and policies, matched with technology opportunities; and Development of individual and collective excellence in the delivery of all aspects of client service.

Even allowing for the high level nature of this technology assessment, and the limited amount of time to fully appreciate all aspects of the current environment, The police appear to be lacking many of the basic management procedures which are necessary to optimize the level of investment they have in information and technology.

Many aspects are missing, lacking, or inconsistent between service groups, such as project management, project estimation, management of vendor accountability, and a general philosophy of standard approaches in these areas.

Prioritization and initialization of information and technology activities is particularly poor, and could result in the wasteful use of resources during a period of substantial change.

Organizations such as Police go through several stages of information and technology deployment, and their management needs change accordingly.

A symptom of the lack of a coordinated and standardized approach can be seen in the differences in overall approach to the current Human Resources and Financial Management projects.

On one hand, the soon to be implemented Human Resources project (HRIMS) has resulted in a return to a facilities management environment (shared with other government agencies). On the other hand, the FMIS replacement project is leaning towards in-house implementation and siting of the host environment.

This position would be understandable if a strategic framework outlining these options existed, and where the business cases pointed clearly towards their respective solution directions. However, a strategy document outlining the preferred application and technology architectures does not exist, and neither is there a policy document which clearly outlines the implications to Police of sharing externally managed information repositories with other agencies (the very situation which caused Police to replace the previous environment).

The lack of this direction is reflected in statements from within the HR project itself, which suggest that the FM decision for the Human Resources project may not be final, and could change if the FMIS solution components happen to align with their requirements.

With the likelihood that significant application infrastructure developments will result from the BPI exercise, the Department is about to enter a completely new era of the information and technology age. These developments could reasonably include technologies and concepts such as open systems, client server, the object oriented paradigm, etc. These skills are not currently embodied within Police.

The application development and support resources currently employed by Police will continue to be highly utilized for ongoing support and enhancement activities connected with the current application and technology portfolio. This is a potential constraint to dramatically re-skilling these resources in the short term. As a result these skills may have to be sought from outside the Department, either through enhanced levels of staffing during the period of re-development, or by outsourcing major software development exercises to external firms.

The information and technology budget for Tomania Police for the last 2 years represents 2% to 4% of the budget overall. Even allowing for this as the end phase of the Prime expenditure period, when compared to similar organizations with high technology requirements this is a low figure.

Recent international studies have recognized that Police services need to increase their information and technology expenditure dramatically in the short term to accommodate the combined business change and technology expenditure that accompanies the new paradigms referred to previously.

Some of these costs are likely to be incurred as a result of the significant training required for operational and technical support staff. Doubts have been expressed about the current training capability (with some staff not being trained at all in the use of current applications), and this is clearly a candidate for future improvement.

Other areas of attention and possible expenditure include improvements to the current Help Desk (operated by ITB), which has been criticized in respect of itÕs poor tool set (e.g., lack of facilities for analysis and trending, and appropriate escalation procedures).

While it is likely that the Department may need to increase their information and technology expenditure over the next few years, we would emphasize that this should be done in a controlled and justified way. As a result, more effective management practices need to be introduced to initiate and control information and technology expenditure.

C.6    Summary

Information Technology is an important enabler for the Department to achieve the strategic objectives outlined in the Business Direction. Significant improvements to the present environment can be achieved through:

• improved capture and usage of information;
• better defined management practices and standards;
• a greater focus on strategic planning for information and technology.

Re-engineering opportunity 5, supported by a strategic IT planning framework, provides the basis for addressing the information needs of the Department and its community partners.