Report to: General Committee Report
Date: March 7, 2007
SUBJECT: Recreation Department
Organizational Review
PREPARED BY: Barbara M. Roth, ext. 7515
RECOMMENDATION:
That the report titled Recreation Department Organizational Review be received;
And that the Organizational Model for Recreation
Services, contained in the presentation of Wood-Sloan Inc. dated March
6, 2007
(Appendix A) be endorsed in principle, and the organizational and complement
adjustments for 2007 be referred to the 2007 budget deliberations for
consideration;
And that the organizational and complement adjustments
timed for 2008, 2009, and 2010 be reviewed and reassessed in conjunction with
each year’s annual budget process;
And that John Ryerson be appointed as Acting General Manager of the Culture
portfolio;
And that the Culture portfolio be transferred to Strategic
Services (see Option I, page 8);
And that Staff be
authorized and directed to take the actions set out in this report;
And that the
following resolution be reported out in the public Council meeting on May 8, 2007 subject to budget approval on April 24, 2007."
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY:
The Recreation
and Culture Services Department has undergone an Organizational Review within
its Recreation Division, the results of which were presented to Members of
Council in a series of two information workshops. At the February 20th Workshop, the
Director, Recreation and Culture Services provided an overview of the
Department’s services and current challenges.
A copy of the Director’s presentation is attached as Appendix B. At the March 6th Workshop, the
consultant, Ainslie Wood, Wood-Sloan Inc. provided an overviewed of the proposed
organizational model for Recreation including its benefits and costs. A copy of the consultant’s presentation is
attached as Appendix A.
At the March 6th
workshop Council Members present requested costing details and a summary of
positions proposed. This information is
attached as Appendix C and D, respectively.
The proposed
organizational model is a phase-in model over four years staring 2007 to 2010
at a total annualized salary cost of $934,059 and one time costs of $136,000.
A summary of the
Organizational Review findings and recommendations is contained within the
background section of this report, below.
FINANCIAL CONSIDERATIONS:
The proposed organizational model is phased over four years at a
total annualized operating budget salary cost of $934,059 and one time capital
cost of $136,000. For 2007, the
annualized operating amount is $314,607 which is comprised of two items.
1. Cost
associated with realigning existing positions is estimated at $102,707.
2. Costs
for the two new positions – Manager, Policy and Program Development and
Coordinator Business Support are estimated at $211,900.
For 2007 one time capital costs of $17,000 is required for work
stations and computers.
The cost for 2008 is to add four new positions at an annualized salary
cost of $280,181 and one-time capital costs of $58,500.
In 2009, it is proposed to add one new position at an annualized
salary cost of $90,300 and one time capital costs of $8,500.
In 2010, it is proposed to add three new positions at an annualized
salary cost of $248,941 and one-time capital cost of $52,000. It is proposed that each budget year the
positions would be brought forward for deliberations and consideration.
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RECREATION DEPARTMENT ORGANIZATIONAL
REVIEW
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Year
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New FT Positions
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FT
Conversions
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* Annualized
Personnel Cost
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One-time
Capital Cost
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2007
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2
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8
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$314,607
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$17,000
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2008
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4
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$280,181
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$58,500
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2009
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1
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$90,330
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$8,500
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2010
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3
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$248,941
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$52,000
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TOTAL
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10
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8
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$934,059
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$136,000
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* Annualized
Personnel costs are at April 1, 2006 rates, and include Benefits @ 24%.
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The Community and Fire Services Commission
have been systematically reviewing its departments over the past 4 to 5
years. The review that is subject of
this report is the Recreation Division within the Recreation and Culture
Department - more specifically the Programs Branch and the Community Centre
Operations Branch. While the majority of
the Review focuses on these two functions, it also references the Culture
portfolio.
Ainslie Wood of Wood-Sloan
Inc. was retained to develop a new organizational model for Recreation
Services. She consulted extensively with
Recreation staff and key internal partners during the project, as well as
researched three external municipal comparators.
Reasons
for the Review
The Review of Recreation Services was precipitated by:
- Changing
demographics, participation patterns and diversity within the general
population and the community
- An organizational
model that was not effective as it could no longer easily accommodate /
integrate growth or new opportunities.
- A long service and
lean management team whose span of control and workload demands have grown
unwieldy, and who could retire within close proximity to one another –
accelerating the need to succession plan.
- Recognition of the
need for a more flexible / expandable model to be better able to pursue
and integrate new opportunities, and to adapt to and accommodate changing
needs.
Overall Goal
The main goal of the Review was to develop a new organizational model that would:
- Better accommodate growth
- Allow for strategic planning within the Department
- Address program gaps
- Target resources to meet the community’s needs
- Succession plan for the future.
Scope/Context
The scope of Recreation Services is large
and diverse and is detailed in the Director’s report (Appendix B). However, a sample is as follows:
- Maintain 17
facilities totaling 846,455 square feet of space and serving over 5M
visitors annually
- Issue over 6,200
rental contracts annually
- Operate 4 large
multi-use facilities year round, 15-20 hours per day, 7 days/week
- 80,000 direct program
registrations annually
- 440,000 swimmers
enjoyed recreational swims at 4 indoor and 2 outdoor pools
Programs are offered for pre-school,
children, youth, teens, adults, seniors and special needs in areas such as
general programs, aquatics, seniors programs, fitness programs, summer camps
and school break activities. Services
are delivered through management of 2,200 people resources annually – the
majority of which (2,100) are part-time staff and volunteers. The Department’s 2006 operating budget was
$20.5M in expenses and $14.6M in revenues.
About 70% of expenses are recovered through program and rental fees,
making the cost on the tax base approximately $6m annually.
Key Pressures/Challenges
One of the key pressures facing the
Department is growth. With growth comes a need for more programs and facilities
in general, and for more drop-in programs, more consideration of cultural
diversity, health and therapeutic programs, and programming for special
needs. Recreation also needs to promote
wellness and active living and that relationship to health, within the
community. Aging facility infrastructure
requires more repair. In 2006, 46
capital projects were completed. There
is increased demand for dedicated facility space, extended hours, and broader
access (Fitness Centres.) There are
part-time staff recruitment and retention challenges, and with a 1,300+
part-time staff workforce and over 800 volunteers assisting, training,
orientation and due diligence are paramount to ensure staff and public safety
and an enjoyable experience for patrons.
The Department also needs to plan for
operational effectiveness, efficiency, economy and stability. There is limited strategic planning to survey
community needs, research best practices, recommend policies and service levels,
and track performance with meaningful measures that demonstrate sound policies
and defensible practices and pricing.
Business support is also limited.
With increasing administrative/financial requirements and significant HR
and payroll volume, along with the partnership with the Contact Centre for
registrations processing, there is no “point-person” within the Department to
investigate and trouble-shoot matters other than the Director and Managers –
making senior staff less available and visible in the community and within the
large workforce they are responsible to manage.
All senior managers in the Department are eligible for retirement within
the next seven years making succession planning an important strategic focus.
Organizational
Model – Existing and Proposed
Currently, the Recreation and Culture Services Department is
organized along functional lines – Recreational Programs, Community Centre
Operations, Theatre, Museum, and Art Gallery.
The Review proposes a District and
Facility-based Model for Recreation Services with a planning wing to support
front-line service delivery.
Programs and Community Centre Operations would be blended at the
Manager levels. The two existing
Managers – Programs and Community Centre Operations are proposed to become
District Manager positions – one for the North District and one for the South
District. (Highway 7 would be the
“natural” boundary, allowing the Department to balance Manager workload /
responsibility as equitably as possible.)
These District Managers would be responsible for all recreation
facilities and program activities within a District.
In addition, each major multi-use recreation facility is proposed to
have dedicated on-site leadership in the form of a Community Centre
Manager. This position would be
responsible for all recreation activities and staff at the major community
centre and for building strong ties with the surrounding community.
The above positions would not be new / additional complement. Rather, they are proposed as reconfigured
existing positions.
A Policy and Program Development branch is proposed to support the
Districts and separate policy development and business requirements from
day-to-day service delivery; and would also consolidate sports field, ice, and
other facility allocations / bookings into a centralized function. This branch would be comprised of a few
existing positions that have Town-wide portfolios (such as Youth, Sport
Council, Seniors), augmented by new positions in other key areas of
specialty/expertise – such as Fitness & Health, Training & Development, Business Services, and
General Programs / Aquatics / Camps.
As with other Commission Reviews, a
phased-in approach to organizational realignment has been taken. New positions are proposed to be phased in
over a four-year period, and would continue to be subject to review and
reassessment during each year’s budget deliberations.
The Review also proposes that Culture be
transferred to the Strategic Services Department and consolidated under an Acting General Manager (John Ryerson) on an
interim basis to provide collective leadership to the three venues /
functions. The Acting General Manager
would report through to the Director of Strategic Services who
would share some of the work related to Culture’s Boards / Foundation and
provide general/strategic leadership for the portfolio.
Benefits
of the Proposed Model
The District Model is flexible and expandable. It can easily be expanded to three or four
Districts as growth / volume dictate. It
is used successfully by other municipalities the size / scope of Markham (and
larger.) A similar model was introduced
for Operations in 2005, where the majority of Roads and Parks operations were
integrated under District Managers and supported by a technical services wing.
The Community Centre Manager positions encourage strong ties with
communities surrounding major multi-use facilities. Community Centre Managers would provide on‑site
leadership to a centre and a defined area.
Program and operations staff report to one position that is resident
on-site. The Community Centre Managers can adapt programming and facility use
to specific community needs, building the customer relationship, and providing
quick response to on-site issues and needs.
The model builds a Policy and Program Development Branch - which is
essentially an internal specialty and support function that supports front-line
service delivery through longer-range strategic operational planning. Specialty functions survey participants and
the community, monitor trends in their fields of expertise and design programs
and strategies to make the customer experience more relevant. Policies for each program area, including
operations, are developed / updated and communicated by this branch. The branch would also develop and recommend a
defensible pricing policy for all programs, rentals, subsidies, and surcharges
– and would cyclically review and update it.
And it would ensure marketing and promotion is strategically targeted
and that Boards and task forces (seniors, youth, sport, etc.) have adequate
support. Staff and volunteer
orientation, training and development would be consolidated within the
department providing consistency, improved alignment with corporate and due
diligence for this large (2,200+ workforce.)
The Business Services wing of the Policy & Program Development
Branch would also contribute to a better customer experience. For example, it would work closely with the Contact Centre to educate
them on program offerings to encourage patrons on wait lists into other
programs that have capacity. It would
consolidate and centralize seasonal allocations and bookings for sports fields,
ice and other facilities, making it easier for the customer to find their
rental needs and maximizing rental potential.
Internally, Business Services would support financial, HR, payroll,
technology needs and processes and provide a single point of contact for
corporate departments that deal with Recreation on these issues. It would also prepare and manage the
Department’s budget.
Efficiencies are found through
realignment of existing staff and / or avoiding the need to hire some staff for
new facilities. For example, existing Fitness staff can be redeployed and realigned to provide promotional
opportunities for most, thus avoiding hire of three full-time Fitness complement for the
new East Markham Community Centre.
Instead, more / better use would be made of part-time staff - which can
be more effective and allow more back-up contingency with a facility open 18-20
hours each day.
The model creates a wider range of jobs for staff development,
cross-functional back-up contingencies, and succession planning at all
levels. This expands and retains
intellectual and community knowledge within the department for a better
customer experience, provides more choice for internal promotion and back-up,
and assures service and leadership continuity when retirements occur.
Culture Services
Transferring the Culture portfolio to Strategic Services on an
interim basis has a number of benefits.
Firstly, it allows Culture to receive more time/attention during a
period of staffing transition (Theatre Manager, Museum Manager) by consolidated leadership for all three
venues into an Acting General Manager position filled by John Ryerson (currently Art Gallery Director /
Manager.) Culture aligns well with Strategic Services – given
the corporate sponsorship and events portfolio.
Transfer distributes workload more equitably within the Commission, and
allows Recreation to focus on transitioning to the proposed new model during
2007. The interim transfer also allows
time to study Culture to determine the best fit in the longer term.
Summary
By implementing the recommended
structure, Recreation will be better positioned to accommodate growth,
succession plan for the future, and strategically plan for operational program
needs that maximize revenue and improve customer experience in consideration of
changing demographics, cultural diversity, and community consultation.