Overall, the centralized mail system is functioning as intended. Mail is received at one location, and once scanned the information is available as required to all users improving the effectiveness of delivery of service. The audit team identified opportunities to improve the processing and overall management of mail as described below.
3.1 Business Processes and Training
Centralized mail business processes and tools are available to staff.
Current business processes must be available to all VAC staff to maximize the efficiency of processing centralized mail documents. Interviews with staff at VAC Kirkland Lake and area offices confirmed that they are provided sufficient tools to complete the processing of centralized mail. The audit team observed that all staff had required tools with appropriate workstations and individual computers and that VAC Kirkland Lake had a well-equipped training room.
Some centralized mail business processes are out of date.
Business processes for VAC Kirkland Lake and PSPC Matane were provided to the audit team. Most business processes were current; however, with ongoing changes to the processes since the 2013 implementation, it was found that some need to be updated.
Specifically, the audit team found documented business processes with respect to the area office forwarding documents to PSPC Matane for scanning were not current. The business processes provided to the audit team directed all mail from area offices to be couriered to VAC Kirkland Lake. VAC Kirkland Lake staff advised that business processes had been changed to direct area offices to send mail directly to PSPC Matane. Confirmation of these outdated business processes was verified by interviews and a review of copies of business processes received from the following area offices: Halifax/Dartmouth, Saint John, and Vancouver.
VAC staff need training on centralized mail processes.
To avoid delays in processing documents, all required information must be visible at the time of scanning to avoid exceptionsFootnote 3 which need to go to VAC Kirkland Lake for resolution.
The area of most concern to the audit team relates to missing CSDN IDsFootnote 4 on documents to be scanned. Scanned documents without these IDs are identified as exceptions and take longer to be processed to the Veteran's file in CSDN.
Area office staff need to be aware that the ID is required on all documents for scanning. When the ID is not available, manual intervention is required to locate and record the CSDN ID on the Veteran’s document. This causes delays in the information being available for the Department to take appropriate action in response to the Veteran’s correspondence.
The audit team reviewed 50 documents that were identified as exceptions at PSPC Matane and sent to VAC Kirkland Lake for resolution. Of these exceptions, six had originated in an area office and only three of them (50%) included a CSDN ID. VAC Kirkland Lake staff indicated this process issue is caused primarily by a gap in training.
To ensure consistency in the delivery of service, area office staff, including all heads, administrative services, should receive up-to-date training in order to ensure consistency of the processes.
Recommendation 1
It is recommended that the Director General, Field Operations, ensure that business processes are kept current, reviewed regularly, and communicated and that training is provided as required. (Essential)
Management Response
| Corrective action to be taken | OPI (Office of Primary Interest) | Action Completion Date |
|---|---|---|
| Business processes have been updated and shared with appropriate staff. Training will be provided to staff as needs are identified. | Director of Planning and Administrative Support | Dec 2016 - Completed |
| Review of all business processes will be completed annually. All business processes will be dated to identify when review took place. | March 2018 |
3.2 Management of hard copy documents after scanning
Guidance is needed with respect to the management of hard copy documents after scanning.
All documents, after being scanned, are boxed, sealed and stored at PSPC Matane. No scanned documents have been destroyed since the implementation of the project.
Currently the Department has retention and disposition (RDA) schedules that set out how long information may be retained before it is disposed of or sent to Library and Archives Canada. These RDAs do not distinguish the format of the information or how it is stored. As a result, duplicate information is considered part of the RDA and will be kept even after being scanned.
Consideration should be given to address the unique situation that the centralized mail initiative has created, namely the known creation of duplicate information. Given that this situation is known, the existing RDA, and/or storage practices should be updated to avoid storage of duplicate information if it is not needed by program areas (e.g., notarized documents may need to be kept whereas envelopes could perhaps be destroyed).
Recommendation 2
It is recommended that Director General, Information Technology, Information Management, Administration and Privacy investigate the viability of developing a retention and disposition authority to address duplicate documents held at PSPC Matane as part of the scanning process and implement as required. (Essential)
Management Response
| Corrective action to be taken | OPI (Office of Primary Interest) | Action Completion Date |
|---|---|---|
|
The Director General, ITIMAP Division will work with the Treasury Board Secretariat to obtain guidance on duplicate documents and implement either a:
|
Privacy and Information Management Directorate | December 31, 2017 |
3.3 Quality Assurance
Strengthen the Quality Assurance (QA) processes for centralized mail.
In 2015, VAC implemented a Quality Management Framework (QMF) to consolidate existing expertise and standardize processes and practices directly affecting the work of front-line staff. As part of the QMF, quality assurance (QA) processes ensure effective measuring and reporting to help identify gaps, challenges and training needs and lead to timely resolution and corrective action for service improvement.
The audit team found limited QA processes at VAC Kirkland Lake. PSPC Matane does have a cleanup/quality control process but reviews documents to ensure overall image quality, correct orientation of images, and removal of blank pages only. As a result, there is a risk that the Veteran's mail may not be processed completely.
Operations managers at PSPC Matane and VAC Kirkland Lake are responsible for monitoring their respective error rates and addressing these errors. Although the current memorandum of understanding (MOU) between VAC and PSPC Matane establishes an acceptable scanning error rate, the MOU does not require a QA process to ensure effective measuring and reporting is occurring.
Recommendation 3
It is recommended that Director General, Field Operations:
- Develop, document and implement a quality assurance process for centralized mail in accordance with the Department’s Quality Management Framework. (Essential)
- Revise the memorandum of understanding to include a quality assurance process at PSPC Matane. (Essential)
Management Response
| Corrective action to be taken | OPI (Office of Primary Interest) | Action Completion Date |
|---|---|---|
|
An expanded formal Quality Assurance (QA) Process has been implemented for centralized mail and is performed weekly. A QA business process has also been created. Results will be used to monitor and address performance issues as well as identify any training requirements.
|
Director of Planning and Administrative Support | Implemented February 8, 2017 |
| PSPC Matane has agreed to mirror this process and is implementing it as of March 13, 2017. This will be reflected in 2017-18 MOU. | March 2018 |
3.4 Audit Opinion
The audit team found that roles and responsibilities had been clearly established and although business processes were available, some were found to be out of date. As with any new process, ongoing training is required. A file review identified general compliance with key requirements and confirmed that documents are being processed promptly. Compliance gaps will be addressed with the recommended training. A formalized QA process should be implemented at VAC Kirkland Lake and PSPC Matane. An RDA should be developed for managing hard copy documents after they have been scanned.
Overall, the audit team determined the management control framework, compliance with guidelines and business processes and efficiency relating to the centralized mail process is “Generally Acceptable.”