Canadian Government Executive - Volume 24 - Issue 01

January/February 2018 // Canadian Government Executive / 15 porate new technologies to become more efficient and effective in the work that we do. And they understand that a culture of accountability, collaboration and risk- taking is needed to properly embrace in- novation. So as our public service renewal project goes forward, the priority for our senior leadership is to put the policies and prac- tices in place that will allow our employ- ees to execute on their vision for what the public service of the future should be. This new vision will touch every aspect of what we do and who we are. Our suc- cess is contingent on creating a diverse and inclusive workplace where everyone is free to bring their whole selves to work. This will impact our talent recruitment and retention policies as we work towards removing unconscious biases to attract and recruit the best and brightest. This vi- sion will also help us transform the way we work with one another by improving collaboration across ministries and with stakeholders to tackle the biggest chal- lenges we face as a province. And it will allow us to apply design principles to put citizens at the centre of the development process as we create policies and services. Across the OPS, we are putting these principles into practice. Through our Red Tape Challenge, public servants are crowdsourcing solutions from businesses and industry associations to find and fix outdated, unclear, redundant and unnec- essarily costly regulations while protect- ing the public interest. Our new Ontario Student Assistance Program combines a number of programs designed to financially assist students at- tending post-secondary education into a single grant. Through the new OSAP, we have simultaneously reduced the com- plexity of the application process while allowing one-third of all full-time college and university students in Ontario to re- ceive tuition, all without spending any ad- ditional money. And the recent redesign of the Environ- mental Registry, a legislated web-based tool used by the Government of Ontario to communicate and consult with the pub- lic on issues related to the environment, was built around the experience of the registry’s most frequent users. Through research, the Ontario Digital Service team built personas for the registry’s most fre- quent visitors and beta-tested the site’s de- sign, its language and its interactivity with stakeholders. These are just a few examples of where our public servants have made the citi- zen the centre of design and policy. On every team, in every department and throughout every ministry across the entire public service, our managers are enabling employees to take the lead in shifting our culture to become more in- novative, more integrated, more diverse and more inclusive. Through their responses to our em- ployee surveys and our PSR engagement, members of the OPS have demonstrated that they are ready and willing to disrupt the way that public services are designed and delivered in our province in order to create better outcomes for the people we serve. When it comes to cultural transforma- tion at the OPS, our employees are in the driver’s seat. I can’t wait to see where they take us. In July 2014, S teve O rsini was appointed Secretary of the Cabinet, Head of the Ontario Public Service and Clerk of the Executive Council. Steve has more than 27 years of experience in the Ontario Public Service (OPS) where he has held numerous leadership roles, including Deputy Minister of Finance and Secre- tary of the Treasury Board, and Deputy Minister of Revenue. He has also held a number of positions at the Ontario Hos- pital Association, including Vice Presi- dent of Policy and Public Affairs. Public Service