HomeMy WebLinkAboutCAO-06-004 - Comprehensive Review of the Corporate Communications & Marketing DivisionT� NE R
Chief Administrator's
Office
REPORT
Report To:
Audit Committee
Date of Meeting:
January 16, 2006
Submitted By:
Carla Ladd, Chief Administrator
Prepared By:
Corina Tasker, Performance Measurement and Internal
Auditor, ext. 2361
Kathryn Dever, Organizational Change Facilitator, ext. 2370
Ward(s) Involved:
n/a
Date of Report:
January 3, 2006
Report No.:
CAO -06 -004
Subject:
COMPREHENSIVE REVIEW OF THE CORPORATE
COMMUNICATIONS AND MARKETING DIVISION
RECOMMENDATION:
That the Chief Administrator's Office report CAO -06 -004, dated January 3, 2006 and the
attached summary report on the comprehensive review of the City's Corporate
Communications and Marketing Division, dated January 2006, be received for
information; and further,
That the key recommendations contained in the summary report as listed below, be
approved:
1. Maintain a centralized Corporate Communications and Marketing function.
2. Create and communicate the exact wording of the Division mandate which focuses on
informing the public, staff and Council of the Corporation's services, key decisions,
how public funds are being spent, and to manage communications issues as they
arise, providing correct and clear information in a timely manner. The mandate should
also include responsibility to maintain the corporate identity and help maintain
consistency across all external City communications and publications.
3. Remove from the Division mandate support to individual Councillors for individual
projects not tied to shared Council decisions and Corporate positions. Investigate
movement or creation of one position in the Office of Mayor and Council to provide
this strategic support and advice.
4. Reduce the scope of work performed by removing tasks which either do not add
value or do not fit within the mandate, and communicate services available to the
Corporation.
5. Maintain the current staff complement and organizational structure and monitor
appropriateness in the future given narrower Division mandate and scope.
6. Make no changes to the proposed 2006 budget and monitor in the future given the
narrower scope.
7. Educate customers as to services available, how to access the Division, processes,
and the overall value provided by the Division.
8. Continue to distribute media releases both externally and internally.
BACKGROUND:
In July 2005, the Audit Committee requested a comprehensive review of the City's Corporate
Communications and Marketing Division. The results of that review are included in the attached
report.
REPORT:
A comprehensive review of the City's Corporate Communications and Marketing Division was
undertaken at the request of Council to determine the value for money that the Division is
providing. The objectives of the review included review and analysis of the Division's mandate,
organizational structure, a comprehensive financial review, external cost comparisons, and
presentation of the services provided.
The review included various methods of collecting data including interviews, research, testing,
benchmarking and analysis.
Key recommendations are detailed in the report relating to the key review objectives of
mandate, scope of work, budget, and organizational structure /centralized function. In addition,
12 recommendations are made in the areas of role clarification, staff development, and with
respect to specific Communications and Marketing initiatives /projects.
FINANCIAL IMPLICATIONS:
None.
CONCLUSION:
The comprehensive review's findings confirm the value that the Corporate Communications and
Marketing Division provides to the Corporation, and validates the Division's existence. The
work of the Division performs is cost effective and valued by internal customers.
Recommendations included in the report focus on ways to improve customer service and
streamline processes. From the analyses contained in the detailed report, there is no indication
that staffing or funding should be reduced in this Division.
Corina Tasker Kathryn Dever
Performance Measurement and Internal Auditor Organizational Change Facilitator
Comprehensive Review of
the City of Kitchener
Corporate Communications and Marketing Division
Final Report
January 2006
Tmhln of (_nntnntc
Tableof Contents .................................................................................................................................................. ..............................1
3.0 Conclusion .................................................................................................................................................. .............................25
January 2006
Executive Summary
Objective
A comprehensive review of the Corporate Communications and Marketing Division was undertaken at the request of
Council to determine the value for money that the Division is providing. Specific objectives included:
Mandate
• Compare the mandate of the Division when it was first created with what the staff feel is the mandate today
• Review the strategic goals and determine if they are in alignment with the Corporate Plan
• Analyze whether the current services help achieve the strategic goals
Organizational structure
• Review the current staff complement compared to what it was when the Division was created
• Determine if this is the best structure and amount of staff to accomplish the mandate, i.e. validate whether a
centralized structure is the best structure
Financial Review
• Review current and past actual costs compared to budgets, i.e., how are they doing vs. their budget?
• Compare costs incurred today vs. when this Division was first set up - including comparing the costs of the original
decentralized structure (services provided from within the other Departments), the initial costs of providing centralized
services, and the current costs
External Comparison
• Compare the cost of similar external services to the internal costs
Services Provided
• Determine who the key customer groups are and whether they are getting the services and level of service they
require
• List all services currently provided and compare to the services originally offered
• List of all publications
• SWOT analysis (strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, threats)
• Determine whether press releases are valuable and whether there are too many of them
• Determine what "communications" type activities or services are being carried out by other Departments or outside
firms currently and whether it is more economical to perform the services within Communications and Marketing
A detailed list of the requirements set out by the Audit Committee is included in Appendix A.
Key Findings
The comprehensive review of the Corporate Communications and Marketing Division included various methods of
collecting data including interviews, research, testing, benchmarking and analysis. The findings confirm the value that the
Division provides to the Corporation and validates their existence. Not only is the work that the Division performs cost
effective, but it is also valued by their customers. Recommendations included in this report focus on ways to improve
customer service and streamline the entire process. There is no indication that staffing or funding should be cut from this
Division.
January 2006
Key Recommendations
1. Maintain a centralized Corporate Communications and Marketing function.
2. Create and communicate the exact wording of the Division mandate which focuses on informing the public, staff
and Council of the Corporation's services, key decisions, how public funds are being spent, and to manage
communications issues as they arise, providing correct and clear information in a timely manner. The mandate
should also include responsibility to maintain the corporate identity and help maintain consistency across all
external City communications and publications.
3. Remove from the Division mandate support to individual Councillors for individual projects not tied to shared
Council decisions and Corporate positions. Investigate movement or creation of one position in the Office of Mayor
and Council to provide this strategic support and advice.
4. Reduce the scope of work performed by removing tasks which either do not add value or do not fit within the
mandate, and communicate services available to the Corporation.
5. Maintain the current staff complement and organizational structure and monitor appropriateness in the future given
narrower Division mandate and scope.
6. Make no changes to the proposed 2006 budget and monitor in the future given the narrower scope.
7. Educate customers as to services available, how to access the Division, processes, and the overall value provided
by the Division.
8. Continue to distribute media releases both externally and internally.
Additional Recommendations
Role Clarification:
1. Clarify the role of the Division in internal communications:
a. Reduce involvement in design and production of materials directed at an internal audience - City of
Kitchener employees
b. Confirm the Division's role in improving staff communications internally, i.e., that the findings of the internal
communications survey have been adequately shared with other user Divisions and a process put in place
to deal with them
2. Develop clear parameters on how the Division's priorities are set and communicate these corporately.
3. Revisit the roles and responsibilities of the Director to make it a more overseeing, strategic and `hands -off position
less involved in the day -to -day operations and delivery of work.
Staff Development:
4. Empower staff to oversee and approve their own work.
5. Investigate opportunities forjob enrichment, rotation, shadowing or progression in order to improve employee
satisfaction and decrease turnover.
Specific Initiatives:
6. Implement the planned media training program for City staff who would benefit from better knowledge of how to
work with the media.
7. Refocus energies to close gaps in priorities between customers and staff, and to improve performance in these
areas.
8. Engage the City's Enterprise units such as Golf Courses and Kitchener Utilities to further examine the relationship
of their brands with the City of Kitchener brand — currently they are perceived as disconnected from the City brand.
9. Assess and resolve any overlap between the publications in terms of content, timing and target audience,
specifically between Your Kitchener and Neighbourhood Association newsletters.
10. Evaluate the cost - benefits of delivery of Your Kitchener to each household; this publication was praised by a
number of internal customers as an excellent quality means to communicate the City's message with the public.
However it currently only is delivered to households with a subscription to the Record newspaper.
11. Revisit a previous proposal to use a common page in the local newspaper to highlight any and all City
communications including statutory public advertising requirements, other public notices and upcoming events.
12. Develop a methodology to measure the effectiveness of communications and marketing products to ensure they
are meeting customer expectations and reaching the target audiences.
January 2006 3
Communications and Marketing Division Review Report
1.0 Background Information
1.1 Review Team
Name
Position
Role on Review Team
Kathryn Dever
Organizational Change Facilitator
Co- leader
Corina Tasker
Performance Measurement and Internal Audit
Co- leader
Carla Ladd
CAO
Executive sponsor
Christiane Sadeler
Interim Director, Community Programs and Services
Information collection and analysis
Janette MacDonald
Economic Development Technical Analyst
Information collection and analysis
Saleh Saleh
Financial Analyst for Division
Financial analysis
1.2 Methodology
The following research and analysis was undertaken for the review:
• Benchmarking with 5 other municipalities
• Employee interviews - 11 staff as well as the Director were interviewed to gain an understanding of the work
performed, the goals and priorities of the Division, the customer groups, the strengths of the section as well as areas
for improvement, and comments on the organizational structure, mandate and roles /responsibilities
• Customer interviews - 25 internal customers throughout the Corporation who interact with the Communications
Division were interviewed to get at their understanding of the structure and functions, the importance of
Communications to their work, the service received, and a general sense of the strengths of the section and areas for
improvement
• Council interviews
• Financial analysis of budgets and actuals from inception in 2000 until the current year
• Literature review of relevant historical reports and previous audit work
• Review of all services and activities performed in the Division, including an indication of the percentage of work
performed in -house and the percentage performed by others
• Review of the effectiveness of media releases through interviews with the media who receive them, and by counting
the number of releases which received coverage
1.3 Current Environment
The Corporate Communications and Marketing Division reports through the Chief Administrator's Office. The Division
provides communications and marketing services for all City Departments, as well as for designated affiliated community,
arts and sports groups. An overview listing of activities is shown in Section 2.2.1 of this report, and a detailed Activities and
Services summary is included in Appendix B.
The Division is staffed by 12 budgeted FTEs and 1 contract employee. 3 FTEs and 1 contract employee are dedicated to
the Public Affairs / Communications function, 5 FTEs are dedicated to the Marketing / Creative Services function, 2 FTEs
are dedicated to K -W Tourism, 1 FTE represents the Director position, and 1 FTE represents the Office and Financial
Coordinator role which is currently vacant.
January 2006
The organizational chart is included here:
Corporate Communications and Marketing Division
Gtreofor.
Corporate
Communications,.)
$Marketing
Manager, �. G#be rinanoal Senior P.ublio
tutrketing 1GI Coordinator LN6atrs officer
�Creaijve 5ernices: � �Jacam} `.
Marketing Maiketing Vsitor information Sport Tourism
Cpmmunlcatwns Gommunicat'mns Usnor. Information
Graphic Designer Senior Grephio Assrstarrt FssistaM Associate (FT} Marketing }sooiate Publfo Fffairs Gripy Wiitar
Gesigrmi �CSG 6rtarpnses GSG} ibunsm Associate {PT} Co -opj Gffieer
',... Tcunsm. {PT}
The proposed 2006 operating budget for the Communications Division is $1.03 M net expenditures which includes $257.5K
in revenues and $1.29 M in expenses. Expenses include $ 313 K costs related directly to Tourism and $103 K related to
the Leisure magazine. There is no capital budget forecast for the Division.
2006 Budget
Revenue
Co- operative advertising
(36,050)
Expenses
Salaries / Wages
718,452
Staff overhead
42,007
Supplies
5,908
Advertising
107,500
Other expense
6,669
Internal admin recovery
(7,500)
Subtotal
873,036
Net excluding Tourism / Leisure
836,986
Tourism
Revenue
(118,450)
Expense
313,540
Subtotal
195,090
Leisure
Revenue (103,000)
Expense 103,000
Subtotal -
Net including Tourism / Leisure 1,032,076
January 2006
1.4 Organizational Comparisons
Comparator information was collected from five Ontario municipalities to evaluate the scope, staffing, budget and current
issues faced by a variety of Cities: London, Markham, Windsor, Oakville and Kingston. These Cities were chosen based on
factors including population size and location. The customer base for the Cities surveyed varies somewhat - all have a
similar number of internal Divisions /units for which communications and marketing work is carried out, while there are
variations in population, Council sizes and numbers of employees. A full table of comparator data on these Cities is
included in Appendix C.
Centralized Communications function:
Four of the five Cities surveyed have a centralized Corporate Communications function which serves the needs of the entire
Corporation, and most report through the CAO. The exception to centralization is Windsor, which has an acting Lead and
secondments to the Corporate Communications function, and additional communications and marketing functions split
amongst Departments such as Parks and Recreation; the structure is still in flux.
Services /scope:
The Municipalities surveyed share similar core services with a focus on media relations, communication with the public,
issues management, communications planning, partial or complete administration of website content, and some degree of
marketing work. In all cases there is a clear focus on communication of Council decisions which are made collectively. The
Corporate Communications functions of all the Cities surveyed provide a similar range of products including media
releases, writing, recurring publications for the public, and leisure /recreation guide layout. Each City also has its own
specific communications activities tied to corporate goals or focus areas developed throughout the term of Council or for
specific years. They all produced a variety of regular publications — paper and electronic — as well as ad hoc projects as
issues or needs arise.
A number of services differ from Kitchener's approach. Graphic design is one area where Kitchener differs since the
municipalities surveyed do not have graphic designers on staff. For significant quality designs, work is contracted to outside
firms, while less vital design work is done by Communications staff. For internal Departmental design needs, technical or
administrative staff in user Departments undertake basic desktop publishing. Responsibility for internal corporate
communications is another area in which the Cities differ - some Cities have responsibility for internal communications
clearly defined as part of their scope and have responsibility for a staff newsletter and weekly electronic update to staff,
while others including Kitchener take on aspects of this function to varying degrees. The inclusion of Tourism under the
municipal umbrella is also unique to Kitchener.
One approach taken by several Cities is the use of a common page in the weekly local newspaper to highlight any and all
City communications including statutory public advertising requirements, other public notices and upcoming events. The
page has a consistent location in the paper, a common look and feel and becomes known to readers as the place to go in
the newspaper for information about the City. This is something Kitchener might like to investigate in the future.
Staffing:
Staffing levels can be compared with the 4 Cities which have a centralized Communications function, and in doing this
comparison Kitchener has a higher number of staff than the others at 11, as well as 1 vacant position which was created but
has never been filled, which is proposed to be eliminated in 2006. The other Cities surveyed have 5 -6 staff. There are
several explanations for the discrepancy: Kitchener has 2 staff dedicated to the Tourism function, 1 dedicated staff for each
of copywriting and public affairs, as well as 2 graphic designers whereas the other Cities do not (although Markham has 2
designers who report through a different functional area). Kitchener seems to provide a broader range of services.
Virtually all other Cities surveyed use a generalist model with several staff working on a variety of communications and
marketing functions, and with more generalist job titles which reflect this scope. In addition, the majority of Cities have
developed a model in which these generalists are "assigned" to user Departments to provide communications advice in all
realms, and also providing continuity of service and the development over time of a good understanding of their business,
issues and communications needs. Kitchener has adopted this model in the assignment of Marketing /Communications
Assistants to two of the key public interface /business units of Community Services, split into Enterprise and all other
Community Services Divisions. Kitchener has also created key contacts for each Department for their communications and
public relations needs.
January 2006
The Director function is common to all but one of the Cities surveyed, and the Director -2 Manager /Supervisor structure is
also common. Like Kitchener, several other Cities do not have administrative support staff and noted that this was an issue.
Two of the Cities surveyed noted that in order to be both more proactive and more strategic in their communications, and
provide more regular communications they would require several additional staff. When comparing themselves with
Kitchener they felt understaffed and that having additional staff would make them able to accomplish more proactive and
regular communications. Several of the Cities noted that they are in a state of flux, with potential changes in reporting to
come in the future.
Budget:
Of the Cities surveyed, Kitchener has the highest communications and marketing operating budget, which is mostly due to
Kitchener's higher staff complement. A more meaningful comparison might be to look at the operating budget for the
centralized corporate communications function as a percentage of the total operating budget for the municipality. In this
comparison Kitchener is in the middle of the range of 0.09% to 0.58 %, at 0.43 %. Most of the Cities expressed a vulnerability
to budget cuts and the need to constantly prove the value of the services provided and overcome perceptions of the
function not being required /important.
2.0 Key Findings
2.1 SWOT Analysis
A list of Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats (SWOT) was prepared from input received from Division staff,
internal customers and members of Council. The following list represents common themes reflected in responses from all
three groups.
Strengths:
• Expertise /diversity of talent
• Team work
• Accommodation of last- minute jobs
• Good staff relationships with Departments
• Low cost vs. external firms
• Award - winning quality product
• Staff are committed, professional, dedicated, valued
• Staff are perceived as friendly and helpful by customers
• Activities can translate into meaningful and measurable benefits in public relations
• Communications knowledge and expertise were rated high
• Crisis and issues management expertise e.g., Guelph Street Park
• Cost conscious
Weaknesses:
• Variability in performance — inconsistent level of service provided throughout the Corporation
• Timeliness of delivery — due to approval process
• Managing expectations
• Inflexible
• Reactive, not proactive
• Too broad of scope for current staffing — too much workload
• No administrative support
• Tourism staff are disconnected
• Marketing expertise including market research knowledge is questioned by internal customers and Council
• Seem to do everything in -house — could anything be done outside or by others in the Corporation where it is a good fit?
• Procedure for making a request is unknown /informal — customers contact the person they know — is this a weakness or
is this a good way to make requests?
• Lack of understanding of Communications and Marketing Division mandate
• May be too focused on winning marketing awards at the expense of other endeavours
• Other Departments are not aware of all services that are offered and therefore go externally (as noted by Division staff)
January 2006
• Deadlines not taken seriously by other Departments (as noted by Division staff)
• Departments are creating their own work which is not good quality (as noted by Division staff)
• No opportunities for individual growth or advancement within the Division (as noted by Division staff)
• Do not do enough follow up on the effectiveness and outcome of marketing efforts (as noted by Division staff)
Opportunities:
• Establish mandate to clarify roles and decrease workload
• Empower employees to make more decisions
• Remove non - value -add tasks
• Move away from being `all things to all people'— determine core functions and be able to say `no' to non -core functions
• Education of customers as to services available, how to access, processes, and the value provided by the Division
• Refocusing of energies to close gaps in priorities between customers and staff, and to improve ratings /performance in
these areas
Threats:
• Variability in terms of understanding /communication of services throughout the Corporation
• Departments not utilizing the Division due to weaknesses identified could lead to inconsistent messaging across City,
as well as inferior quality communications and marketing
• Vulnerable to Division's value being questioned and having to justify its existence
• Lack of professional development and advancement opportunities may lead to staff turnover
2.2 Mandate and Strategic Direction
2.2.1 Original and Current Mandate
The Audit Committee requested that the original mandate of the Division be examined and compared to what staff perceive
the mandate to be today.
Original Mandate
The following objectives were identified in the March 18, 1998 report to Council which recommended the creation of a
centralized Communications and Marketing Division.
Objectives:
• Provide corporate public relations and communications
• Provide marketing resource services
• Promote corporate image and identity
• Provide service, not control
• Minimize duplication between Departments
• Provide improved co- ordination between Departments
• Be cost effective
• Provide effective use of resources
• Provide customized service
• Foster a greater understanding of City services
The scope of the services provided in this recommendations included:
• Develop a corporate communications plan including public relations such as:
• Issue news releases
• Assist with special events planning and promotion
• Advise Council and staff on how to deal with the media
• Distribute municipal information to the media community
• Advise on protocol
• Website management
• Graphic design
January 2006
• Logo development and corporate identity
• Sponsorship co- ordination
• Photography
• Assistance to Departments for displays and publications
• Liaison with Visitors' Convention Bureau
• Marketing resource as required
• Co- ordinate marketing activities
Current Mandate
When asked what they felt the mandate was today, staff of Corporate Communications and Marketing indicated that they
were unaware of an official mandate or strategic direction. Currently they have a very wide range of activities that they
perform and feel that they are unable to say no to any request that comes in, regardless of whether they feel it is their
responsibility or not. This lack of clear direction has led to increasing amounts of workload, slower response times, and the
inability to spend as much time on individual jobs as they would like. They expressed a definite need for a clear mandate to
guide the scope of their work and establish some parameters within which to work.
Given this lack of formal mandate, the list of Activities and Services currently provided (Appendix B) was compared to the
original scope of tasks instead. All activities listed in the original objectives and scope from 1998 are still being performed
today, and in addition, staff have taken on various other tasks falling into these broad categories:
• Issues and crisis management
• Community engagement
• Publication, report, letter and speech writing /editing
• Intergovernmental relations
• Business planning
• Market research
• Advertising buying and placement
• Bid proposal development and presentation
• National media coverage strategy
• Marketing and communications plan development
• Survey creation, execution, and analysis
• All Tourism activities
• Administrative tasks such as delivering print orders and flyers, putting up posters, data entry, clipping articles etc.
2.2.2 Mandate and Strategic Direction - Future
As mentioned above, the Division is in need of a formal mandate to limit and guide the scope of their work which has grown
unmanageable and lacks clarity. Based on input from the staff, Council, and customer interviews the main theme of the
mandate should be:
To inform public, staff and Council of the Corporation's services, key decisions, how public funds are being
spent, and to manage communications issues as they arise, providing correct and clear information in a timely
manner.
A secondary theme that emerged was
To maintain the corporate identity and help maintain consistency across all external City communications and
publications.
Furthermore, the mandate should focus on communicating overall Council or Committee decisions and information. It
should exclude providing support to individual Councillors for their platforms which puts staff in a difficult and conflicting
position, especially if the request is in opposition to Council decisions. Individual assistance, where required, should be
provided by staff of the Office of Mayor and Council. Consideration should be given to having a person dedicated to
strategic support for Council separate from the larger administrative communications function provided to the Corporation.
January 2006
Concerns from both staff and customers arose regarding the priority that Council requests get. Several customers
commented that their requests, although important, were put on hold in order for Council requests to be addressed
regardless of their relative importance. In future, priority should be driven by importance of the issue /job rather than the
source of the request. Staff should not feel they have to drop everything to serve Council unless the importance of the
issue warrants it.
The above proposed mandate relates to several key areas of the Corporate Plan and Council Focus items. First, it
addresses the need to build community confidence and trust in the City by facilitating two -way flow of information between
the public, administration and Council. The mandate also directly reflects several of the Strategic Areas of Focus including
Predictability and Results, Community and Business Relations and Pride in the Workplace - by making information sharing
the main goal of the Division, and also striving to maintain a corporate identity by linking all Departments and services under
one recognizable and professional brand.
Throughout the customer interviews, there was confusion over the role that the Division should play in internal
communications. While several customers felt that the Division should lead an initiative to improve inter - departmental
communications, others felt that this role should rest with each individual Department. Given the above suggested
mandate, the focus of the Division should really be on external communications. Their expertise lies in communicating
messages effectively through public relations and marketing efforts. Although they could offer advice and guidance on how
to share information throughout the Corporation, their focus should not be on attempting to facilitate cooperation and
communication between Departments. This should therefore not be part of their mandate or scope.
In terms of the scope of work performed within the above general mandate guidelines, it is recommended that the Division
take on the role of overseeing and coordinating communications, rather than one of communications creation and
implementation. Currently staff are involved in doing the actual writing of several items such as reports, `AII Departments'
emails, and business cases as well as administration tasks such as putting up posters and distributing flyers. User
Departments should take on the responsibility of doing most of this work themselves, while the Corporate Communications
and Marketing Division should act as the corporate thread that binds everything together, adding advice and support to
ensure a consistent look, feel, and message across all external communications and publications. Creative and graphic
design services should continue to be provided by the Communications and Marketing staff and not pushed back on the
user Departments, however, as they have the expertise required to perform such work. Internal communications do not
necessarily need their advice or attention but this support could be provided if time permits.
Based on the list of activities and services provided in Appendix B, the following is a list of potential tasks that could be
shifted to other Divisions or external firms. This would be consistent with the recommended mandate. It would also free up
staff time to work on more value -added tasks. One of the main tasks not being done today that should be is media training.
Several customers have mentioned that they would benefit from such training.
Potential Items to Outsource:
Communications
Activity
Outsource To:
Advise individual Councillors on individual positions
divergent from Corporate positions /decisions
Office of the Mayor and Council
Develop / implement national media coverage strategy
External PR firm
Write Council reports
Office of the Mayor and Council; continue to
oversee and edit
Special Events media releases
Special Events; continue to oversee and distribute
Media monitoring
External firm
Speech writing for Mayor and Council
Office of the Mayor and Council; continue to
oversee and edit
Articles and newsletters
User Departments; continue to oversee and edit
`AII Departments' emails
User Departments; continue to oversee and edit
Writing business cases
User Departments; continue to oversee and edit
Taking notes at public meetings
User Departments
Researching / maintaining media list
External firm
(continued on following page)
January 2006
Potential Items to Outsource (continued):
Marketin
Activity Outsource To:
Writing surveys User Departments; continue to oversee and edit
Conducting surveys User Departments or external firms
Survey analysis User Departments or external firms
Tracking Corporate -wide advertising / promotions costs Finance
Licensed merchandise management and procurement Purchasing
Administration
Delivering print orders
Deliverina fivers
Distribute Your Kitchener to Tourism members
Leisure data entry
Leisure invoicing
Advertiser database
Track Leisure insertions
Compile quarterly / annual sales report
Monitor budget
Answer main phone line
Outsource To:
Customer pick -up or delivery through mailroom
User Department or administrative support person
User Department or administrative support person
Mail or get them to pick up at Tourism office
Administrative support
Administrative support
Administrative support
Administrative support
Administrative support
Administrative support, with Finance
Administrative support
Note: the tasks transferred to "Administrative support" assume the proposed transfer of an FTE from Communications and
Marketing (the Office and Financial Coordinator position) to the CAO's Office takes place in 2006. The transferred position
would provide administrative support to all Divisions within the CAO's office, including Corporate Communications and
Marketing.
Having a written, formal mandate along with a reduced scope of work will allow the Division to concentrate on their core
areas of expertise and improve timeliness and quality of work. It will also serve to inform customers, including other
Departments and Council, of what can and can not be done within the Division, giving the Division support to decline
requests which fall outside of the mandate and scope.
Recommendations:
1. Create the exact wording of the Division mandate based on the two main themes above
2. Review the potential outsourced items and implement if feasible
3. Communicate this mandate and scope to all staff and customers
4. Implement a media training program for appropriate staff
2.3 Organizational Structure and Staff Complement
Part of the project scope was a review of the current Communications and Marketing staff complement compared to what it
was when the Division was created, including how many staff were in the decentralized structure and how many were
originally transferred over to the new Communications Division. Two determinations were required:
• Relate the staffing to the list of services provided then and now
• Determine if this is the best structure and amount of staff to accomplish the mandate - validate whether a centralized
structure is the best model
January 2006
In order to make those determinations, a brief history of the evolution of the Division and its associated FTEs (Full -Time
Equivalents) is required. The following table outlines the FTEs by year with a brief explanatory note:
Year
FTEs
Explanatory Notes
Utilities
1999
9
Decentralized model
1
2000
9
In transition toward centralized model (6 Communications, 3 other
1
Depts)
2001
11.5
6 Communications + 5.5 CSD
1
2002
14.5
Following transfer of internal staff from other Divisions
1
Additional staffing resulting from Frontline audit recommendations
Only 11 positions were filled this year
2003
12
10 Communications and Marketing plus 2 Tourism added
1
Elimination of 2.5 positions
2004
12
10 Communications and Marketing plus 2 Tourism
1
2005
12
10 Communications and Marketing plus 2 Tourism
1
2006
10.5
9 Communications and Marketing plus 1.5 Tourism
1
1 Communications FTE proposed to be transferred to CAOs office
and 0.5 FTE Tourism FTE proposed to be transferred to CSD
The 1999 staffing figures represent the former decentralized model where staff with responsibilities for communications and
marketing were housed in various City Divisions. The City at that time had a Communications Director reporting to the CAO
and there were 9 additional staff considered to be working directly or indirectly in a marketing role throughout the
Corporation. Because each of these staff likely had other responsibilities in addition to communications and marketing the
FTE estimate for these functions might be slightly overstated. While a number of marketing activities were undertaken
effectively at that time on a program - specific and departmental basis there was no corporate -wide approach to marketing,
nor was there capacity to take on marketing for new initiatives in other Departments without marketing functions, or for
corporate -wide initiatives. In addition, the functions of public affairs and media relations were just being introduced to the
City.
A number of key communications functions which were not provided at that time formed the basis of the roles for a
centralized function. The services outlined in Section 2.2.1 can be considered the list of services provided originally within
the Division in the period of 1999 -2000. A variety of models were reviewed and a combination of FTE transfers and new
hires were used to staff the new Division. Transfers and growth took place throughout 1999 -2000 toward staffing the roles
and functions to meet the new centralized mandate and scope of services. The goals at the time were to eliminate
duplication between areas, create capacity to meet demands from additional client areas of the Corporation, and to develop
a coordinated approach to marketing and communications to present the City in the best possible light.
In 2001 Frontline Communications was retained to undertake an audit of the City's corporate and departmental
communication materials, systems and processes, to assess and make recommendations for enhancing the City's overall
corporate identity. The main objectives of the review were to assess alignment of corporate graphic standards and
corporate image /messaging, assess consistency and clarity of key messaging, and identify obstacles in the communication
processes. Frontline further recommended strategies to enhance the communication products distributed by the City, and
strategies to enhance the efficiency of the communication functions within and between various Departments.
Recommendations were made in a variety of areas including the level of staffing required to carry out the other
recommendations in visual identity, corporate vision, communications policies and procedures, and internal and external
communications. Three additional FTEs were recommended and a phased implementation plan was developed and
approved by Council in August 2001 to attain the recommended staffing levels. Phase 1 to be carried out in the balance of
2001 would add an additional 4 FTEs, and Phase 2, 1 FTE in 2002.
From 2002 through to 2004 the organizational structure of the Division underwent a series of changes to reflect the new
roles incorporated from the Frontline audit recommendations. In addition, a contract position responsible for generating
sponsorship revenues was created in 2003 and then eliminated when revenues fell well short of expectations.
Figures for 2005 indicate no change over 2004. There is one vacant position - the Office and Financial Coordinator - which
has been reflected in the staffing model for several years but has never been filled. This position is proposed to be
eliminated and the FTE transferred to the CAOs office in 2006 to create a new administrative function for the various
sections of the CAOs Department. In addition, the Sport Tourism co -op position (0.5 FTE) will be transferred to Community
Services Division in 2006.
January 2006
In 2005 the list of services provided in a general sense is similar to those originally set out in 1999. While the FTE count has
changed over time, it is currently at 9 (for 2006), which is equal to the original staffing model, but with a much broader scope
of work. Both staff and internal customers commented that the workload exceeds the current capacity.
At this time no recommendations are made to change the staffing levels. It is felt that narrowing the mandate for the Division
to create a greater focus on external communications and less involvement in internal work will reduce the workload. In
addition, offloading of tasks not seen as core functions for Communications and Marketing - such as administrative tasks
and reducing work which would be better led and carried out by user Departments - should mean the FTE count is
appropriate for the services provided. The staffing levels will allow for proactive and strategic communications for the
Corporation, beyond reactive communications.
Input gathered from staff and customer interviews identified a few areas for improvement with respect to more specific roles
and responsibilities. Currently the 2 K -W Tourism staff report to different Managers and this should be changed to provide
consistency and a greater sense of team to these staff. In addition, while the Director -2 Managers model is effective given
the scope of functions provided and Division of work, the Director role should be more of an oversight and strategic role with
less involvement in the day -to -day operations and delivery of work. Currently it is perceived by internal customers that this
role is too involved in the specifics of the work and that staff do not have adequate autonomy and authority to make
decisions or to authorize work. Anecdotally, when time estimates by job title for sample projects were provided to outside
firms for costing purposes, two firms provided the unprompted observation that their highest project managerNP type of
role would never be as involved in the specifics of the projects as the City's Communications lead role is.
When examining whether a centralized or decentralized model meets the needs of the Corporation it was determined that
the centralized function is the best fit. The centralized model fulfills the original 1998 mandate and scope of the Division,
with the exception of media training, as well as fulfilling the recommendations of the Frontline audit of 2001. A centralized
structure creates consistency in approach, message and image, allows growth in expertise, and is cost - effective through
creating economies of scale and reduced duplication throughout the organization. A centralized approach is also shared by
most of the Cities contacted for benchmarking purposes. There are no benefits to be gained in dissolving the unit and
reverting to a decentralized model.
Recommendations:
1. Maintain a centralized Corporate Communications and Marketing function
2. Maintain the current staffing levels and monitor appropriateness in the future given narrower Division mandate
3. Revisit the roles and responsibilities of the Director to make it a more overseeing, strategic and `hands -off position
less involved in the day -to -day operations and delivery of work
4. Ensure both Tourism staff report to the same manager.
2.4 Financial Analysis
2.4.1 Budgeted and Actual Expenses
The following financial analysis looks at the details behind the budgeted and actual expenses for Corporate
Communications and Marketing since inception to indicate what the money is being spent on and how this has changed
overtime. It also looks at which line items have been traditionally over or under spent and whether these could be
eliminated, reduced or reallocated in up coming budgets.
What is the Budget Being Spent On?
Although there are several expense categories listed in the budget, the bulk of the proposed 2006 budget can be broken
into three main items:
• Salaries 82% (including salaries, wages, overtime, benefits, premiums, and standby)
• Advertising 12% (including brochures, photography, advertising, promotions, and public relations)
• Staff overhead 5% (including parking, memberships, phones, computers, training, conferences, equipment, auto)
January 2006
What Has Changed Over Time?
The most significant changes to the expenses overtime include the following:
• Salaries have increased due to more FTEs and wage increases (refer to Organizational Structure, Section 2.3)
• Staff overhead, supplies and advertising have increased in relation to the FTEs however have decreased in 2004
and 2005 due to strict budget control
• Addition of software expenses in 2001 ($3K per year) for Macintosh upgrades not supported by computer reserve
fund
• Trial sponsorship /fundraiser position added in 2003 (did not raise enough funds through sponsorship so was
discontinued in 2004)
• Addition of Tourism in 2003 (staff and associated costs)
• Addition of licensed merchandise in 2003
Budget Accuracy: How are they doing on their budget?
When comparing the overall Communications and Marketing actuals vs. budget, they are traditionally over budget, as
shown in the chart below (including Leisure and Tourism) with the exception of 2004 and 2005 YTD. The Leisure magazine
is a stand -alone publication with its own index code for revenues and expenses, and does not include salaries or other staff
costs. It has therefore been separated in this analysis along with Tourism to give a clear picture of the base
Communications and Marketing costs. When Leisure and Tourism are excluded, the Division ends up being under budget
in 4 out of 6 years.
Year
Accuracy — excluding Leisure / Tourism
Accuracy — including Leisure / Tourism
2000
94%
101 %
2001
117%
119%
2002
106%
104%
2003
97%
103%
2004
97%
92%
2005
88% YTD Dec.7
81 % YTD Dec.7
* Note: percentages greater than 100% indicate actual expenses were greater than budget
The table below shows the net figures for budget and actuals each year for Corporate Communications and Marketing
Division, including salaries. The numbers are shown again in two ways, both excluding and including the Leisure publication
and KW Tourism budget.
Excluding Leisure / Tourism Including Leisure / Tourism
Budget Actual Variance Budget Actual Variance
Please see Appendix D to see the details that make up each line.
In 2000, the main driver of the over - expenditure was the Leisure magazine ($40K +)
In 2001, the main drivers of the over - expenditure were salaries ($15K +), staff overhead ($6K +), supplies ($6K +), Leisure
($18K +), and advertising ($75K +).
In 2002, the main drivers of the over - expenditure were lower than expected sponsorships ($24K -) and co- operative
advertising ($22K -).
In 2003, the main drivers of the over - expenditure were salaries ($30K +), Tourism which was not budgeted for ($98K +),
and sponsorship shortfall ($68K -), offset by under - expenditure in advertising ($138K -) and Leisure ($26K -). The lack of
spending in advertising was due to a request from the CAO to curtail spending corporately to balance an over - expenditure
in the Community Services Department of $1 M.
January 2006
In 2004, the main drivers of the under - expenditure were lower than expected expenses in salaries ($22K -), staff overhead
($8K -), supplies ($8K -), advertising ($15K -), other expenses ($3K -), Tourism ($17K -) and Leisure ($41 K -), offset by
lower than expected co- operative advertising revenue ($8K -) and no internal administrative recoveries ($20K -).
In 2005, the main drivers of the under - expenditure were lower than expected expenses in salaries ($67K -), staff overhead
($11 K -), advertising ($35K -), Leisure ($43K -) in addition to higher than expected revenues in Tourism ($69K +) and
Leisure ($10K +). Note that the 2005 numbers are as of December 7, 2005 only and are likely to change before year -end.
It appears that there has been improved financial responsibility and reduced spending in 2004 and 2005
Under/ Over Spending: Which lines have traditionally been over and under spent?
The purpose of this analysis is to compare actual expenses to budgets over time to determine if there are line items that are
consistently under or over spent which could and should be modified in upcoming budgets. Appendix E shows the
variances for each year for the major expense categories, where a positive number indicates that actual expenses were
lower than the budget.
Typically Under Spent Items:
• Staff overhead (including expenses such as parking, memberships, cell phone, phone, long distance, equipment
reserve, computer, training, conferences, office equipment and auto expenses) — under -spent all years except
2001; average amount is $9K under budget. The proposed budget for 2006 has already been set $10K lower than
the 2005 budget, therefore, there are no additional recommendations for this line item.
• Advertising (including brochures, photography, advertising, promotions and public relations expenses) — under -
spent all years except 2001 and 2002; average amount is $58K under budget (range is $15K to $137K). The
proposed 2006 budget has already been set $8K lower than the 2005 budget. It is not recommended to decrease
this line item any further given its importance to the overall operation of the Division and to the Corporation as a
whole.
• Meeting expenses — under -spent all years except 2003; average amount is $1 K under budget. Immaterial
therefore no recommended changes.
• Software — under -spent since addition in 2001; average amount is $1 K under budget. Immaterial therefore no
recommended changes.
• Delivery charges — under -spent all years except 2000 / 2001; average amount is $200 under budget. Immaterial
therefore no recommended changes.
• Tourism — under -spent in 2004 / 2005 and over spent in 2003 only because it was not budgeted for at all; average
amount is $48K under budget however note that 2005 numbers are only YTD. The proposed 2006 budget is set
$15K lower than the 2005 budget which seems reasonable.
• Leisure — under -spent in all years except 2000 / 2001; average amount is $27K under budget. 2006 proposed
budget is set at break -even which is $18K Iowerthan the 2005 budget and looks reasonable.
Typically Under Recovered Items:
• Revenues (including sponsorships, internal administration recovery, co- operative advertising and unclassified
revenues) — under recovered in all years except 2000; average amount is $37K under budget. The 2006 budget is
proposed to be only slightly higher than the 2005 and looks to be in line with recent revenues therefore there are no
recommended changes.
Fluctuating Items:
• Salaries (including salaries, wages, fringe benefits, overtime, premiums, standby) — overspent in 2000, 2002,
2003 and under spent in 2001, 2004, 2005. The variances are mainly due to over or under expenditure in part time
wages. This line item is used for temporary staffing when the work volume requires it. In 2002 part of the over
expenditure was due to salary changes resulting from job evaluation. In 2001, part of the under expenditure was
due to a lack of gapping for the vacant positions. The proposed 2006 budget has been set $49K lower than the
2005 budget to account for the one proposed FTE being transferred to the CAO's office. No other changes are
recommended.
• Supplies (including office supplies, copy paper, printing) — overspent in 2001, 2002, 2003 and under spent in
2000, 2004, 2005.
• Licensed merchandise — over spent in 2003, 2005 and under spent in 2004.
• Miscellaneous expenses — over spent in 2000, 2003, 2004 and under spent in 2001, 2002, 2005.
January 2006
This budget analysis indicates that although there are some items which did have trends of over and under spending, the
amounts were either immaterial and not enough to warrant any changes to the budget or already addressed in the
proposed 2006 budget. There were also several line items that fluctuated between being over and under spent, which are
therefore difficult to predict what will happen in the future. Based on this analysis is it recommended to keep the 2006
budget as prepared and proposed for Administrative review.
2.4.2 Corporate -Wide Communications and Marketing Spending:
The creation of the Communications and Marketing Division was driven in part by the premise that by centralizing all
communications and marketing activities there would be cost savings and efficiencies gained across the Corporation. On
review of the total Corporation's expenses related to these activities, there is no evidence of cost savings as the scope of
activities has grown with the creation of the centralized Division. In addition, there is more demand from internal Divisions
than previously — in the decentralized model not all Divisions had access to communications and marketing support and
thus would forgo this type of activity if they did not have budget to purchase the services externally.
Other Divisions also continue to hire external firms for some of their communications and marketing needs. Through the
customer interviews it was found that this is due to four main reasons.
1. Workload: there is the perception from customers that the Division has too much workload and will not have time
to take on new projects
2. Timeliness: most projects must receive final approval from the management team which often impacts the
timeliness of the completion of the project due to their busy schedules. Other Divisions feel they could get faster
turnaround from an outside firm
3. Quality: there is sometimes a perception from customers that they will get better quality by going to an external
firm
4. Specific Disciplines: work is outsourced for functions not within the scope of expertise available internally e.g.,
photography, videography, market research
In addition to the customer feedback that was gathered, an analysis was also done on the total communications and
marketing dollars being spent across the corporation over time. The charts below show the overall trend in spending over
time as well as the breakdown of those costs into these main users: Communications and Marketing Division, Utilities
Division, Leisure Magazine, Tourism, and all other internal Divisions.
One would expect that with the creation of the Division the expenses in the other Divisions would decrease while
Communications and Marketing expenses increased, but with an overall net savings for the Corporation. As shown in the
bar graph below, although the expenses in other Divisions did decrease while Communications and Marketing expenses
increased, there was no net savings to the corporation.
Utilities spending has remained relatively constant overtime, with the majority of the spending going toward a contract with
Quarry Communications for many of their communications and marketing needs. Utilities does also access the services of
the internal Communications and Marketing Division when it makes sense in terms of project scope, type of work, and
deadline requirements. The grant provided for Tourism prior to 2003 was similar to the net expenses of the Tourism section
today.
The overall spending increase for the corporation can be explained by an increase in scope and demand for services which
would drive more supply, advertising and promotions costs, as well as increasing wage and supply costs over time. In 2003
there was a direction from the CAO to curtail spending corporately due to an over - expenditure in the Community Services
Department which explains the decrease in overall spending that year. Similarly, in 2004 $100 K was cut from the total
corporation communications and marketing budget which further explains the decrease in spending that year.
January 2006
Total Communications & Marketing Spending
2,500,000
a. 2,400,000
N 2,300,000
N
L
2,200,000
p° 2,100,000
2,000,000
1,900,000
1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005
YTD
Year
Total Communications & Marketing Spending
Includes spending across the entire corporation.
Communications
& Marketing Spending
3,000,000
2 ,500,000
77777777T7
Communications & Marketing
® Other divisions
2,000,000
f
843,194
❑ Utilities
a�
N 1,500,000
Ln
887,562
Leisure Magazine
❑Tourism
1,000,000
61,771
35,411
23,900
o
- 15,498
Tourism
Leisure Magazine
500,000
168,500
146,260
98,437
228,411
140,360
Utilities
® Communications &
303,992
395,611
. >.
Marketing
- 500,000ti"
�O
Year
Total Communications & Marketing Spending
Includes spending across the entire corporation.
Notes:
1. These expenses include salaries, benefits, staff overhead, supplies, and advertising costs.
2. The 1999 Communications & Marketing figures include the salaries and benefits for the 5 Parks and Recreation
FTEs.
3. The Tourism line includes the grant up to 2002, and the net section expenses from 2003 onwards.
January 2006 17
1999
2000
2001
2002
2003
2004 2005 YTD
Communications & Marketing
440,492
535,629
691,434
843,194
1,065,606
770,175
887,562
Leisure Magazine
-
39,815
61,771
35,411
23,900
9,445
- 15,498
Tourism
180,500
180,500
168,500
146,260
98,437
228,411
140,360
Utilities
274,841
303,992
395,611
336,278
410,883
399,040
394,416
Other divisions
1,185,859
1,081,939
808,488
1,053,246
643,712
756,724
897,302
Total spending
2,081,693
2,141,875
2,125,803
2,414,388
2,242,538
2,163,795
2,304,142
Notes:
1. These expenses include salaries, benefits, staff overhead, supplies, and advertising costs.
2. The 1999 Communications & Marketing figures include the salaries and benefits for the 5 Parks and Recreation
FTEs.
3. The Tourism line includes the grant up to 2002, and the net section expenses from 2003 onwards.
January 2006 17
Recommendations
1. Make no changes to the proposed 2006 budget.
2. Empower staff to oversee and approve their own work. Since it is still a good idea to have a second set of eyes
review completed projects for errors or omissions, this task could be done easily through peer reviews rather than
needing management approval on all projects. There will still be some high profile projects which may require
management approval but this new process will help to improve the turnaround time and customer service
provided.
3. Include facts about the cost effectiveness of using the Division rather than external firms in the communications
plan regarding the mandate and scope. A clear guideline as to when staff should and should not use the Division
will help customers. The ultimate choice should still rest with the customer, based on project scope and available
budget— it should not be dictated that they have to use the Division's services.
2.4.3 External Cost Comparison
In an effort to determine the value for money that the Corporate Communications and Marketing Division provides, an
external cost comparison was done using two different approaches.
The first approach was an examination of hourly rates for the various staff positions within the Division compared to four
external firms. The external hourly rates were taken from proposals submitted to the City in 2002 in response to a Request
for Proposal (RFP) for Kitchener Utilities marketing and communications work. The internal rates were calculated to include
salary, benefits, variable Division overhead such as computer and phone charges, and corporate overhead allocations for
such things as heat, electricity and water, and corporate services. Complete calculations can be found in Appendix F.
The following chart shows a summary of the findings. Note that the "other roles" listed under the external firms are
performed by the existing roles at the City in addition to their specified roles. Also note that the external rates were as of
2002 and have likely increased since then.
January 2006
General Comparison of Hourly Rates ($)
Firms: 2002 Rates 2005 Rates
Position Title A I B I C D J
Management
High
Low
Average
External Firms
President
75
125
80-100
90-200
Director
75
65�
140
"
Marketing Manager
65
90
Communications
High
Low
Average
External Firms
Media Planner / Public Affairs
75
100
80-100
90-200
Senior Public Affairs Officer�
75
65�
140
"
Marketing Associate
65
90
Marketing & Comm Assistant
125
90
Marketing
High
Low
Average
External Firms
Copy Writer
75
100
80-100
110',
Graphic Designer
75
65�
140
"
Senior Graphic Designer
65
Other Roles
High
Low
Average
External Firms
Strategy Analyst
45
100
City of Kitchener
80
Project Mgmt / Strategy
48
Average Savings per hour
140
150
Account Co- ordinator
65
Art Director
125
90
Web Developer
125
Computer Graphics
95
Creative Development
120-150
135
Production Co- ordination
90
70
Hourly Rate Ranges
Based on the above hourly rate analysis, it is clearthat it is more cost effective to use internal staff ratherthan hire external
professionals in the same roles.
The second approach to compare costs was to have four different external firms provide estimates in terms of dollars and /
or hours relating to four specific and four general projects that the Division has completed in the past. These estimates were
compared to the actual time and dollars spent by the City to complete the projects in- house. Internal dollars were
calculated using the hourly rates from above applied to the hours spent by staff members for each project.
A summary of the costs is shown below. For the complete chart showing hours please see Appendix G
January 2006
High
Low
Average
External Firms
150
451
100
City of Kitchener
80
401
48
Average Savings per hour
52
Based on the above hourly rate analysis, it is clearthat it is more cost effective to use internal staff ratherthan hire external
professionals in the same roles.
The second approach to compare costs was to have four different external firms provide estimates in terms of dollars and /
or hours relating to four specific and four general projects that the Division has completed in the past. These estimates were
compared to the actual time and dollars spent by the City to complete the projects in- house. Internal dollars were
calculated using the hourly rates from above applied to the hours spent by staff members for each project.
A summary of the costs is shown below. For the complete chart showing hours please see Appendix G
January 2006
Comparison of External Costs to City of Kitchener Costs
Specific Projects
Annual Report
Creation of Logo and guidelines
Guelph St. Park issue management
New Market launch and marketing plan
General Projects
Posters (11 X 17 - 4 colour)
Newspaper ads (1/2 page black & white)
Brochures (11 X 17 centre fold, double
sided, 4 colour)
Flyers (1 page, single sided, black font on
coloured paper, may include graphics but
no photos)
Cost ($)
N/A
Firms
5,399
3,105
Kitchener
A
B
C
D
N/A
31,000- 50,000
46,403
23,000
6,645
N/A
25,500- 36,000
31,850
23,805
45,026
20,822
N/A
21,763
N/A
17,138
N/A
28,000- 40,000
25,503
11,500
17,030
N/A
2,500 -5,000
5,399
3,105
146 -1,176
N/A
2,500 -4,000
2,643
2,415
99 -220
N/A
4,200 -7,500
7,217
4,140
280 -1,547
N/A
2,200 -3,200
1,660
1,610
44 -191
Based on the above data, in most cases it is much cheaper to perform the work in- house. There are two exceptions to this.
First, Firm D appears to have underestimated their charge for the New Market launch when compared to the other firms
which may be due to a lack of understanding in terms of what was involved in the project. Second, City of Kitchener cost to
create the logo and guidelines came in much higher than the external firms. Actual costs outlaid were only $5000, however
there was considerably more staff time invested in this project. Comments from the firms indicated that they felt for the
most part that it was beneficial for the City to have in -house expertise. This is due to the amount of time required for an
external firm to research the project, gather relevant data and customer specifications, and then perform the work. In the
case of in -house expertise, there is a lot of time savings in the information gathering and research phases as they will
generally have some knowledge of the topics and general knowledge of the corporate messaging requirements.
When looking at the results of both of the above costing comparisons, from a purely financial perspective it is cheaper to
maintain the services in- house. The point that can be debated is the quality of work that you get from an external firm vs. in-
house staff. The in -house staff are highly qualified and have produced award winning quality products in the past.
However, they themselves have mentioned that due to workload issues they don't always have enough time to put the
proper effort into some projects. It can be argued that an external firm would have the time to do a superiorjob. However,
the increased cost does not necessarily outweigh the increased quality. Operating in the public sector environment, it is
important for the City to get its messages out to the public in a consistent and professional manner, however, it doesn't
necessarily need to be at the highest level of quality. In fact, taxpayers may balk at the idea of their tax dollars going to
advertising and communications. In conclusion, the evidence points towards maintaining the core services in- house.
External firms could be used in emergency situations should workload or quality become an issue.
2.5 Customer Service
One element of the review scope was to determine the key customer groups and whether they are getting the services and
level of service that they require. The customer groups can be generally classified as all City Departments and the Mayor
and Councillors. To get a sense of whether customers are receiving the services and level of service they require,
interviews with 25 internal customers across all sections and various levels of the Corporation were done, as well as
interviews with 6 members of Council.
Staff representatives were interviewed from virtually all Divisions of the organization who were identified by their General
Manager as having a good knowledge and experience with Corporate Communications and Marketing, and who could be
seen as key users of their services. These staff were interviewed as internal customers or clients of Communications and
Marketing to get a sense of their understanding of the Division and services provided, the importance of those services to
them, their characterization of the customer service provided, their relationship with the Division, its benefits to them and the
Corporation, as well as some challenges or areas for improvement.
January 2006
Customers noted the following as strengths and benefits of the Division: expertise and diversity of talent; committed,
professional and friendly staff; award- winning quality product; knowledge and expertise in communications, issues
management and media relations. Several customers noted that the work of the Division translate into meaningful and
measurable benefits in public relations. The ability to accommodate last- minute requests and emergency or crisis
communications were also noted favourably.
When asked how important the services of Communications and Marketing were to their Division, responses ranged from
not at all important to critical, with most noting the services as important or quite important. User Divisions with a more
internal focus tended to assess the services as not as important as those areas which have a larger public interface, such
as the Divisions of Community Services.
Customers were asked to comment on what they feel should be the focus of services provided by a municipal
communications and marketing Division, and most emphasized communicating City business, decisions of Council and
improving how the City is portrayed in the media as key roles. Several customers felt the Division has grown over time to
include more functions and roles than what was originally intended, and that in turn those original intentions have been
compromised. A number of customers commented that the communications and public affairs components are key and that
marketing is secondary, and could be either dispensed with or done by others. This input was considered in the
development of a proposed mandate included in Section 2.2.2 of this report.
While not asked specifically, customers offered varying opinions on the role of the Division in internal communications —
several felt they should lead it, others felt this was not their role but that it is incumbent upon each operating area to
understand and improve communication with staff, while still others felt if it is done collaboratively then there could be
benefits. There is a need for this aspect of the Division's role to be clarified. Further, there is confusion on the Division's
involvement with internal projects, with some customers noting that when originally created, the Division's focus seemed to
be on external communications, yet has evolved to encompass everything - including design of all posters, flyers and pay
inserts for staff communications purposes - which in turn has led to a huge increase in workload and lack of
responsiveness.
Some areas customers noted for improvement include: variability in performance — inconsistent level of service provided
throughout the Corporation; timeliness of delivery of projects due to a lengthy approval process; timeliness for new or larger
initiatives. The Division is also seen by many customers to be inflexible and reactive in many ways. Customers felt that
there is too broad a scope for the current staffing, with several commenting that the Division is trying to be "all things to all
people ". The Division is perceived by some to not be inclusive or valuing user Divisions' input into projects where they have
expertise in areas such as community involvement, public participation and marketing. Customers expressed concern for
the staff due to both the workload and the perception of a difficult working environment, and concern that the City has lost
valuable and talented employees in the past and that this might continue if the workload and other issues are not
addressed.
Input from customers indicates variability in both the understanding of the scope of services provided by the Division, and in
performance of the Division corporate -wide. Performance and success in the various service elements was rated very high
by customers in some areas, and rated very low by customers in other areas. There is a lack of information about the entire
scope of services provided and available from the Division, and there seems to be a need to manage expectations around
turnaround times, volumes of work and the level of service provided corporately.
Policies, procedures and expected turnaround times are not well understood within the Corporation. The procedure for
making a request is in many cases informal or customers go to the individual they are most familiar with. This is not
necessarily a weakness, it might be a best means to access the services. Priorities and lack of clarity around them was a
significant area noted by customers. Comments were received that while the Division is good with last- minute and
emergency type projects, that longer -term, larger initiatives seem to have trouble getting off the ground, for example, some
customers mentioned media training and communications plans for larger projects /entire Departments. In these cases
customers felt there was some initial conversation, and then the projects seemed to fall secondary to other priorities. The
key point here is that there is not well- understood rationale of what takes precedence, and some customers felt that it is a
matter of personal preference on the part of Divisional staff what takes priority. Several customers questioned the City's
Communications function being involved in larger community projects e.g., Drive to Stay Alive, at the expense of what they
feel is the core function of communicating the City's message and marketing the City and its programs. Some customers
noted that while the Division has won significant awards for their work, they questioned if this had been done at the expense
of other endeavours. There is disagreement on whether or not the Division should provide service to affiliated groups to the
City. Several customers indicated that services should be provided to arms - length groups, while others felt the focus
should be solely on City functions, issues, and programs.
January 2006
There is also a lack of understanding on a fundamental level of the image of the City with several customers feeling that the
City is being marketed as the image of how a few would like it to be, rather than how it really is. And there is little
understanding of what market and other research went into decisions on how to brand the city, i.e., is Kitchener big City,
mid -size City or small -town, and how was the branding approach determined?
Customers were also asked to complete a numerical ratings exercise to assess both the desired priority of various service
elements, and the Division's current performance in those areas. These ratings included such things as communications
knowledge /expertise, marketing knowledge /expertise, understanding the customer's business, listening to needs,
timeliness, follow -up, and clear /consistent communication of new initiatives. Staff of the Division also completed this same
exercise which allowed for a gap analysis on both the priorities assessment and current ratings in order to see where the
differences in perceptions are between the two groups. A full analysis of the ratings exercise and gap analysis is included
in Appendix H.
The gap analysis between priorities and current success rating between customers and staff is illustrative of a few key
differences in perception, and only significant gaps (wider than average) are noted here. In terms of priorities, that
Communications and Marketing have a consultative approach and follow -up with customers were both given a higher
priority by customers than staff. Communication on new initiatives and educating the customer were rated a higher by staff
than customers. In rating current performance, customers perceived the following as lower than how staff rated the Division:
value for money, marketing knowledge /expertise and responsiveness/timelines.
Six members of City Council were interviewed to provide input for this review. Overall their comments echoed many of the
same thoughts gathered from staff and customers, including improving the City website to be more informative and easy to
navigate by the public, and implementation of media training. Council had specific suggestions which were unique from the
customers. Council would like to see decreased lead time between gathering Councillors' quotes for publications like Your
Kitchener and actual publication in order to make the contents more relevant and time sensitive. Another item was to
ensure consistent branding of all services across the Corporation including enterprises, specifically Golf Courses and
Kitchener Utilities which have been branded separately and distinctly from the City in the past. Dedicating a single staff
contact within the Division to work from start to finish on Council projects to better protect confidentiality was also
suggested.
The Division and its reputation are at risk given the current areas for improvement, and gaps between customer and staff
perceptions. This could lead to Departments undertaking communications and marketing work on their own, through
outside companies, or failing to engage any services where communications or marketing is essential. The ultimate results
of any of these decisions could include inconsistent messaging across City, inferior quality communications and marketing,
or lack of information being provided to the public. This poses a risk to the City's image.
Recommendations
1. Education of customers as to services available, how to access the Division, processes, and the value provided by
the Division
2. Refocusing of energies to close gaps in priorities between customers and staff, and to improve performance in
these areas
3. Develop clear parameters on how the Division's priorities are set and communicate these corporately
4. Clarify the role of the Division in internal communications both in terms of services provided from a design
standpoint, i.e., must internal Divisions use the Corporate Communications and Marketing Division, as well as the
larger initiative of improving staff communications amongst Divisions and locations — refer to Mandate section 2.2.2
for more comments and recommendations on this topic.
5. Investigate strengthening of City of Kitchener image in relation to specific enterprise units such as Golf Courses
and Kitchener Utilities which are perceived as disconnected from the City brand
6. Develop a method for measuring the effectiveness of communications and marketing products to ensure they are
meeting customer expectations and reaching the target audiences.
7. Investigate implementing the Council specific recommendations.
January 2006
Z6 Media Releases
The Audit Committee had questioned whether we are sending out too many media releases and whether they are effective
or not. Media releases were therefore looked at in detail to determine their effectiveness for both external media outlets and
internally for staff. A three - pronged approach was used in this analysis. First, media releases created in 2005 were
examined to determine the percentage that was picked up by media outlets and to what extent the content was used.
Second, three media outlets were interviewed to get their thoughts on the effectiveness of the releases and what
improvements could be made. Third, comments from the recent internal Communications survey and focus groups were
reviewed.
2005 Media Releases:
In looking at the total number of media releases, the quantity has increased steadily from a total of 74 in 2002 to a peak of
199 in 2004. A slight decrease has occurred in 2005 due to the elimination of snow and ice warnings. For 2005, 24% of
releases related to special events (when and where they are happening), while Council decisions (15 %), CSD facility
openings /closing /programs (10 %), new large projects (10 %) and requests for public input (10 %) rounded out the top 5
topics.
The list of 2005 media releases (104 in total as of September) was cross - referenced to the Record clippings kept by the
Communications and Marketing Division to determine how many were reported on in the newspaper. Based on this test,
23% of the releases had related stories. However, this number may be artificially low as some clippings may have been
missed in the scrapbook or some of the releases may have been picked up in the community events listings rather than
having a news story printed.
Communications and Marketing staff maintain a tracking spreadsheet with details of each media release and which media
outlets picked up the story. According to this listing, which includes TV and radio in addition to the Record, 56% of releases
were picked up by the media.
Media Interviews:
Contacts from The Record, 570 News, and CKCO -TV were interviewed to gather their perceptions on the effectiveness of
the City's media releases. A general theme was that they do not mind getting a lot of releases and would prefer to filter
them themselves rather than having the City pick and choose which ones to send to them. Although the text of the media
releases is not usually used word for word, they serve as tip sheets to help the media develop or follow up on stories. Even
if the release is not used for a main news story, often the details will be used in Community Events listings or mentioned on-
air, for example the dates and times of special events or public meetings /open houses.
All media representatives contacted felt the content of the releases was extremely helpful although one source felt they
would be more useful if the format was altered to include the basic facts such as the topic, dates and contact names at the
top followed by the detail. For the most part the content was felt to be impartial and not value laden. It was noted that the
media releases provide a clear indication of what issues are important to the City, and what themes and priorities are
emerging.
One other suggestion relating to media releases was to ensure that the listed contact people are available for comment
immediately after the release is faxed to the media outlets. Two of the outlets have had trouble contacting the City for
further clarification in the past. Timeliness in general was felt to be a crucial part of media releases, both in terms of
receiving the original release and in terms of being able to follow up on the details.
Internal Survey and Focus Group Results:
According to the results of the recent internal Communications survey, media releases were ranked by staff as the most
effective way to communicate with the public. 91 % of all respondents indicated that media releases were either very
effective or somewhat effective, while only 4% indicated they were not effective at all.
Comments gathered during subsequent focus groups indicated that roughly half of the staff enjoyed receiving the media
releases themselves. They felt that the releases provided them with information about ongoing initiatives or events
happening throughout the City, and further that if a media release didn't interest them personally, it likely was of interest to
others. However, the other half of employees felt there were too many media releases and often would end up deleting
them without reading them. A suggestion was made to create a distribution list which staff could subscribe to if they wished
to receive the media releases.
January 2006
Based on the research above, it is clear that the media releases serve two very important functions — informing both staff
and media outlets about what is happening and what is important to the City. They should continue to be used for this
purpose going forward and no changes should be made to the quantity produced.
Recommendations:
1. Continue to distribute media releases both externally and internally.
2. Continue sending media releases to all staff via `All Departments' emails rather than a subscriber list. This ensures
all staff are equally informed about important decisions, events and issues, and also see the key themes of
importance to the organization. Although some staff prefer not to receive them, they should be more engaged in
what is happening across the City. Even if all employees don't read the release, they will hopefully at least see the
headlines and then have a choice to read further or delete.
3. Analyze the effectiveness of the media releases going forward to determine the amount being picked up by media
outlets and continue to monitor whether they find them useful or not.
4. Create a better method of tracking media stories. The current method of clipping the Record articles and pasting
them in a scrapbook is prone to omissions and is a very time consuming process. If in fact the articles are
referenced, they could be captured electronically from the online version of the Record and pasted in a database
that can utilize a keyword search.
5. Send all media releases to all media outlets and allow them to filter them themselves. (Specifically 570 News felt
they were being missed on some of the larger news stories).
6. Investigate inclusion of key facts are at the top of the media releases for easy viewing, i.e., topic, dates, times,
contact name and number.
2.7 Publications
One element of the scope of this review was to provide a current listing of publications created and published by Corporate
Communications and Marketing:
Although there doesn't appear to be any overlap in the above publications, it has been noted that perhaps there is some
duplication between the Your Kitchener publication and the various Neighbourhood Association newsletters.
Recommendations:
1. Investigate whether there is any overlap between the publications in terms of content, timing and target audience,
specifically between Your Kitchener and Neighbourhood Association newsletters.
2. Evaluate the cost - benefits of delivery of Your Kitchener to each household; this publication was praised by a
number of internal customers as an excellent quality means to communicate the City's message with the public.
However it currently only is delivered to households with a subscription to the Record newspaper.
3. Investigate the use of a common page in the local newspaper to highlight any and all City communications
including statutory public advertising requirements, other public notices and upcoming events. Other Cities have
adopted this practice and advise the page has a consistent location in the paper, a common look and feel and
becomes known to readers as the place to go in the newspaper for information about the City.
January 2006
Publication
Frequency of Publication
1
Best of Times (Seniors Newsletter)
Produced 4 times per year (Jan,Apr,Jul,Oct)
2
Leisure
Produced 4 times per year (Jan,Apr,Jul,Oct)
3
Evolution (Downtown Newsletter)
Produced monthly (3r week of the month)
4
Your Kitchener (City -wide Newsletter)
Produced 6 times per year (Feb,Apr,Jun,Aug,Oct,Dec)
5
Access Files (Newsletter for persons with a disability)
Produced 3 times per year (Mar,Jun,Nov)
6
Annual Report
Produced 1 time per year (May / Jun)
7
KW Tourism Guide
Produced 1 time per year (Feb)
8
Little Black Book (resource for youth)
Produced 1 time per year (Nov)
9
City Talk (Staff Newsletter)
Produced 5 times per year (Feb,Apr,Jun,Sep,Nov)
Although there doesn't appear to be any overlap in the above publications, it has been noted that perhaps there is some
duplication between the Your Kitchener publication and the various Neighbourhood Association newsletters.
Recommendations:
1. Investigate whether there is any overlap between the publications in terms of content, timing and target audience,
specifically between Your Kitchener and Neighbourhood Association newsletters.
2. Evaluate the cost - benefits of delivery of Your Kitchener to each household; this publication was praised by a
number of internal customers as an excellent quality means to communicate the City's message with the public.
However it currently only is delivered to households with a subscription to the Record newspaper.
3. Investigate the use of a common page in the local newspaper to highlight any and all City communications
including statutory public advertising requirements, other public notices and upcoming events. Other Cities have
adopted this practice and advise the page has a consistent location in the paper, a common look and feel and
becomes known to readers as the place to go in the newspaper for information about the City.
January 2006
3.0 Conclusion
The comprehensive review of the Corporate Communications and Marketing Division included various methods of
collecting data including interviews, research, testing, benchmarking and analysis. The findings confirm the value that the
Division provides to the Corporation and validates their existence. Not only is the work that the Division performs cost
effective, but it is also valued by their customers. Recommendations included in this report focus on ways to improve
customer service and streamline the entire process. There is no indication that staffing or funding should be cut from this
Division.
January 2006
Appendix A: Communications Review - Scope
(From Audit Committee meeting of July 4, 2005)
Financial Review
• Review current and past actual costs compared to budgets, and related financial
practices, to see if there are any line items which have been traditionally under spent or
overspent that could be eliminated, reduced, or reallocated in up coming budgets. i.e.
how are they doing vs. their budget?
• Compare costs incurred today vs. when this division was first set up — what has changed,
been added, or deleted and ultimately what is the money being spent on. This includes
comparing the costs of the original decentralized structure (services provided from within
the other departments), the initial costs of providing centralized services within the
Communications division and the current costs.
Services Provided
• Determine who the key customer groups are and whether they are getting the services
and level of service they require.
• List all services currently provided and compare to the services originally offered when
the division was created, including level of service provided.
• List all publications put out by Communications
• Perform a SWOT analysis (strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, threats).
• Determine whether press releases are valuable and whether there are too many of them.
• Determine what "communications" type activities or services are being carried out by
other departments or outside firms currently and whether it is more economical to
perform the services within Communications.
External Comparison
• Compare the cost of similar external services to the internal costs to determine if
providing the service internally is cost effective.
Organizational structure
• Review the current staff complement compared to what it was when the division was
created (including how many staff were required in the decentralized structure and how
many staff were originally transferred over to the new Communications division). Relate
this to the list of services provided then and now.
• Determine if this is the best structure and amount of staff to accomplish the mandate; i.e.
validate whether a centralized structure (vs decentralized within departments) is the best
structure.
Mandate
• Compare the mandate of the division when it was first created with what the staff feel is
the mandate today.
• Review the strategic goals and determine if they are in alignment with the corporate plan.
• Analyze whether the current services help achieve the strategic goals and if not, whether
there is a valid reason for providing the service.
Suggested Recommendations
• Neighbourhood association newsletters to be coordinated with Communications
newsletters
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Appendix F: Comparison of External Costs to City of Kitchener Costs
General Comuarison of Hourly Rates ($)
For the Total Kitchener Hourly Rate:
1. Salary shows the upper range for the grades as per the org chart and 2005 salary grid
2. Benefits is 27% of the salary amount
3. Variable Overhead is calculated as follows:
Total Communications overhead 2005 budget = $57,115
Per staff (based on 12 staff) _ $4760 / year
Per staff per hour = $3.55 / hr (based on 1339 productive hours)
Variable Overhead includes all Communications expenses other than salary,
wages, benefits and any specific supply costs such as photography, brochures, etc.
4. Fixed Overhead is calculated as follows:
Total 2005 Budget for overhead = $2,056,183
Overhead per sq.ft = $9.56 (based on 215,081 sq.ft for City Hall)
Plus rent allocation = $9.46 / sq.ft.
Total overhead allocation = $9.56 + $9.46 = $19.02 / sq.ft
Communications area = 2002 sq.ft
Commnications overhead = 19.02 X 2002 = $38,078
Overhead per person = 38078 / 10 = $3808 (omit 2 tourism staff)
Overhead cost per hour = 3808 / 1339 = $2.84
Overhead includes heat, water, electricity, security, taxes, maintenance
salary /variable overhead for Facilities staff, allocations for corporate services
such as Legal, HR, IT, Purchasing, and rent allocation.
Hourly Rate Ranges
High I Low JAverage
External Firms 1 1501 451 100
City of Kitchener 1 801 401 48
Average Savings per hour 52
Productive Hours:
Total hours
Firms:
2002 Rates
less vacation
35 hrs /wk X 3 wks
105.00
Other Roles
7 hrs /day X 7 days
2005 Rates
Position Title
A
B C
D Kitchener
7 hrs /day X 1 day
Variable
Subtotal
Fixed
Ifi(wli
less non - productive time
15% of at -work hours
140
Hourly rate Benefits Overhead
Overhead
65
Management
Art Director
125
90
President
Web Developer
125
Computer Graphics
Director
Creative Development
58
15.66
3.55
!°
2.84.(?
Marketing Manager
70
40
10.80
3.55
54,E
2.84
7
Communications
Media Planner/ Public Affairs
75
90-200
28
7.56
3.55
:1 f
2.84,
°
Senior Public Affairs Officer
33
8.91
3.55
45.E
2.84
41.
Marketing Associate
90
Marketing & Comm Assistant
28
7.56
3.55
g 17
2.841
Marketing
Copy Writer
75
80-100
110
28
7.56
3.55
.'t 1
2.84(1:
Graphic Designer
Senior Graphic Desianer
75
65
27
30
7.29
8.10
3.55
3.55
' .$
. _
2.84
2.84
40
�U:
For the Total Kitchener Hourly Rate:
1. Salary shows the upper range for the grades as per the org chart and 2005 salary grid
2. Benefits is 27% of the salary amount
3. Variable Overhead is calculated as follows:
Total Communications overhead 2005 budget = $57,115
Per staff (based on 12 staff) _ $4760 / year
Per staff per hour = $3.55 / hr (based on 1339 productive hours)
Variable Overhead includes all Communications expenses other than salary,
wages, benefits and any specific supply costs such as photography, brochures, etc.
4. Fixed Overhead is calculated as follows:
Total 2005 Budget for overhead = $2,056,183
Overhead per sq.ft = $9.56 (based on 215,081 sq.ft for City Hall)
Plus rent allocation = $9.46 / sq.ft.
Total overhead allocation = $9.56 + $9.46 = $19.02 / sq.ft
Communications area = 2002 sq.ft
Commnications overhead = 19.02 X 2002 = $38,078
Overhead per person = 38078 / 10 = $3808 (omit 2 tourism staff)
Overhead cost per hour = 3808 / 1339 = $2.84
Overhead includes heat, water, electricity, security, taxes, maintenance
salary /variable overhead for Facilities staff, allocations for corporate services
such as Legal, HR, IT, Purchasing, and rent allocation.
Hourly Rate Ranges
High I Low JAverage
External Firms 1 1501 451 100
City of Kitchener 1 801 401 48
Average Savings per hour 52
Productive Hours:
Total hours
35 hrs /wk X 52 wks
1,820.00
less vacation
35 hrs /wk X 3 wks
105.00
Other Roles
7 hrs /day X 7 days
49.00
less stat holidays
7 hrs /day X 12 days
Strategy Analyst
45
7 hrs /day X 1 day
7.00
Subtotal
Project Mgmt / Strategy
less non - productive time
15% of at -work hours
140
150
Account Co- ordinator
65
Art Director
125
90
Web Developer
125
Computer Graphics
95
Creative Development
120-150
135
Production Co- ordination
90
70
For the Total Kitchener Hourly Rate:
1. Salary shows the upper range for the grades as per the org chart and 2005 salary grid
2. Benefits is 27% of the salary amount
3. Variable Overhead is calculated as follows:
Total Communications overhead 2005 budget = $57,115
Per staff (based on 12 staff) _ $4760 / year
Per staff per hour = $3.55 / hr (based on 1339 productive hours)
Variable Overhead includes all Communications expenses other than salary,
wages, benefits and any specific supply costs such as photography, brochures, etc.
4. Fixed Overhead is calculated as follows:
Total 2005 Budget for overhead = $2,056,183
Overhead per sq.ft = $9.56 (based on 215,081 sq.ft for City Hall)
Plus rent allocation = $9.46 / sq.ft.
Total overhead allocation = $9.56 + $9.46 = $19.02 / sq.ft
Communications area = 2002 sq.ft
Commnications overhead = 19.02 X 2002 = $38,078
Overhead per person = 38078 / 10 = $3808 (omit 2 tourism staff)
Overhead cost per hour = 3808 / 1339 = $2.84
Overhead includes heat, water, electricity, security, taxes, maintenance
salary /variable overhead for Facilities staff, allocations for corporate services
such as Legal, HR, IT, Purchasing, and rent allocation.
Hourly Rate Ranges
High I Low JAverage
External Firms 1 1501 451 100
City of Kitchener 1 801 401 48
Average Savings per hour 52
Productive Hours:
Total hours
35 hrs /wk X 52 wks
1,820.00
less vacation
35 hrs /wk X 3 wks
105.00
less sick time
7 hrs /day X 7 days
49.00
less stat holidays
7 hrs /day X 12 days
84.00
less floater
7 hrs /day X 1 day
7.00
Subtotal
1,575.00
less non - productive time
15% of at -work hours
236.25
Total productive hours
1,338.75
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Appendix H: Gap Analysis - Staff and Internal Customer Priorities Assessment
and Current Success Ratings
VALUES
RANKING
PRIORITY GAPS
Staff Customer Gap
Staff Customer Gap
1. Understanding the Customer's Business
8.78
8.32
0.46 7
6
1
2. Listens & Analyzes Needs
9.00
8.76
0.24 5
2
3
3. Communications Knowledge / Expertise
9.44
8.76
0.68 1
3
-2
4. Marketing Knowledge / Expertise
9.11
8.46
0.65 4
5
-1
5. Responsiveness / Timeliness
9.22
8.72
0.50 2
4
-2
6. Consultative / Collaborative Approach
T.
ti. `; '(
,
7. Proactive Approach
8.22
7.71
0.51 9
12
-3
8. Friendly, Helpful
7.56
8.00
0.44 14
10
4
9. Satisfactory Outcome for Customer
8.88
9.08
0.21
10. Fallow -up with Customer
7.78
7.00
0.78 13
15
-2
11. Cost Effective / Value- far -Money
8.22
7.96
0.27 10
11
-1
12. Accessibility/ Availability
8.44
8.28
0.16 8
8
0
13. Clear, Consistent Communication on new /planned initiatives
1.1v
1+ Q '
; . `.
.. .
.. . .
14. Clear, Consistent Policies /Processes
8.11
7.68
0.43 12
13
-1
15. Education of Customer (by Communications)
,1{1'
11
14
-3
MEAN
8.50
8.15
0.54
MEDIAN
8.44
8.28
0.50
STANDARD DEVIATION
0.63
0.60
0.27
Iti ii igriNicr�t gaps
VALUES
RANKING
RATING GAPS
Staff
Customer Gap
Staff
Customer Gap
1. Understanding the Customer's Business
7.60
7.44
0.16
8a
2. Listens & Analyzes Needs
7.60
6.88
0.72
9
10
-1
3. Communications Knowledge / Expertise
8.60
8.28
0.32
1
1
0
4. Marketing Knowledge / Expertise.tT
46,
5. Responsiveness /Timeliness
K
6. Consultative / Collaborative Approach
6.70
7.12
0.42
10
7
3
7. Proactive Approach
6.10
6.54
0.44
13
11
2
8. Friendly, Helpful
7.80
7.96
0.16
9. Satisfactory Outcome for Customer
8.00
7.28
0.72
5
4
1
10. Fallow -up with Customer
5.40
5.84
0.44
14
15
-1
11. Cost Effective / Value- far -Money
!'
«1t
2
5
-3
12. Accessibility/ Availability
7.80
7.16
0.64
7
6
1
13. Clear, Consistent Communication on new /planned initiatives
6.67
6.32
0.35
11
12
-1
14. Clear, Consistent Policies /Processes
5.00
5.96
0.96
15
14
1
15. Education of Customer (by Communications)
6.11
6.28
0.17
12
13
-1
MEAN
7.26
6.94
0.66
MEDIAN
7.60
6.96
0.44
STANDARD DEVIATION
1.19
0.68
0.47
0 ick± i nl c rat p