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/ Canadian Government Executive
// February 2016
A
year ago, the Canada Revenue
Agency (CRA) announced the
creation of an “Accelerated Busi-
ness Solutions Lab.” To find this
small innovation, one has to dig. It is half of
the Agency Change and Innovation Direc-
torate. The other half is the “Change Man-
agement Division.” The Agency Change
and Innovation Directorate is one of the
six directorates that form the Strategy and
Integration Branch of the CRA. The Lab’s
role is to support programs by employing
data analytics and behavioural economics
to provide concrete evidence for policy
and program decision-making.
The Agency’s innovation efforts are fo-
cused largely on their service and compli-
ance mandates. Their main priority is to
make it easier for Canadians to fulfil their
tax obligations. The assumption is that
increased speed, improved accuracy and
greener ways of doing business will not
only enhance interactions with clients, but
Design
CRA’s Accelerated
Business Solutions Lab
improve internal operations as well. Many
employees were asking: “Why shouldn’t
our client experience be as good or better
as those being offered by the private sec-
tor?”
There were two obstacles to overcome
in order to get the innovation ball rolling,
which included establishing the lab.
The first was cultural. The management
team, led by Commissioner and CEO An-
drew Treusch, knew that CRA’s staff were
deeply aware of the consequences of fail-
ure to the point where the tolerance for
risk dropped to near zero. This was not a
bad thing
per se
, but it made the CRA un-
willing to try other ways to do things.
The second was structural. Managers
recognized that front line employees had
creative solutions for problems and issues
they encountered on a daily basis. There
were sparks of innovation. But there was
no systemic way to encourage new ideas
and move quickly with those that worked.
The goal is to encourage front line employ-
ees to become active innovators.
To break through the inertia, a new ap-
proach was required, one that would reas-
sure decision makers that risk had been
minimized to levels where innovation
could be safely introduced.
There has been a lot of talk about innova-
tion at the Agency. Middle managers sus-
pected that despite the positive messages
from the top, innovation could not take
hold without employee buy-in. Many staff
were inspired initially by statements about
the promise of innovation made by the
executive, but an equal number reserved
judgment. They looked for evidence dem-
onstrating that suggestions brought forth
would be valued.
The Change Management Division trig-
gered consultative activities that were fo-
cused on suggestions for service improve-
ment. It was a way to bring the voice of
employees to the seniormanagement table.
Rod
Windover