IMPACT - Standards for Reading Daily Bulletins and Communiqués

1. Objective

These standards aim to ensure that citizen service officers (CSOs) consistently read the Daily Bulletins and Communiqués according to the expectations outlined below. Adhering to these standards will allow CSOs to be on top of the latest news and upcoming changes.

2. Overview

IMPACT is the centralized application that supports front-line staff in their interactions with the public by allowing CSOs to easily search for procedures and important developments, and to provide clients with information on Government of Canada programs and services, service offerings as well as core benefits. The application is accessible from all Service Canada employee workstations.

3. Expectations

Login and Logout

Regardless of the workstation or service zone from which CSOs are working in a SCC, IMPACT can only be accessed by logging in with an individual user name (there are no generic accounts). CSOs moving around within the different service zones are expected to use the logout function in IMPACT every time they change or leave a workstation so that the next user can log in to IMPACT using his or her own username.

Important:

By following the login and logout procedure, CSOs will be adhering to departmental IT Security procedures and ensuring that they are accurately accredited for their Daily Bulletins and Communiqués' usage rates in IMPACT. See the "Reporting" section below for more details.

The Daily

The Daily tab allows CSOs to read bulletins on new programs, services and procedures, as well as developments and updates related to programs and services delivered by SCCs. Since Daily Bulletins are the sole mechanism used to inform CSOs of developments affecting their interactions with clients, it is expected that CSOs will read all newly posted Daily Bulletins within a period of one to two business days, including the posting day. It is important that the Daily bulletins' page be checked regularly by CSOs for new postings before serving clients because updates can occur throughout the day and can immediately affect service delivery in a SCC.

Communiqués

The Communiqués section provides CSOs with access to new information that supports overall service delivery but does not directly affect the CSOs interactions with clients. Although the information posted under the Communiqués section may not directly affect interactions with clients, it may affect internal procedures or result in changes to service delivery, and include important reminders. Therefore, it is expected that CSOs read Communiqués within a period of one to two business days, including the posting day.

4. Reporting

The Business Intelligence and Operational Performance Unit at NHQ will provide the regions with monthly performance reports to ensure that the IMPACT tool is used as expected; therefore, it is important that all CSOs read the new posts as explained in this document. If these guidelines are not followed, compliancy with national standards will be at risk.

Team leader (TL) responsibility

It is the TL's role to ensure that CSOs are aware of the expectations related to the reading of Daily bulletins and Communiqués in IMPACT. National reports do not consider employees on vacation or provincial holidays; therefore, it is the TL's responsibility to analyze office data and consider these factors when interpreting staff performance. (National reports only exclude employees that have been totally inactive during the period of time reported).

5. Useful Do's and Don'ts

Do's:

• Log in to IMPACT to read new Daily bulletins and Communiqués as part of your morning activities.
• Check for new Daily bulletins throughout the day.
• Open and read each of the Daily bulletins and Communiqués carefully within a period of one to two working days.
• Read the new Daily bulletins and Communiqués during low client traffic periods.
• Follow up with the team leader if you are unsure about new programs, services and procedures, as well as developments and updates related to programs and services.
• Open all programs and tools (ATOM, NWS, FTS, etc.) from the IMPACT application.
• Always log out of IMPACT, by clicking the logout button at the top of the page, when leaving a workstation with a generic account (e.g. at the Welcome Point).
• If a previous user forgot to log out, click on the logout button and log back into IMPACT under your user name.

Don'ts

• Read Daily bulletins and Communiqués under another CSO's profile.
• Rely on a specific CSO to read the Daily bulletins and Communiqués for you.
• Simply close the IMPACT Web page, rather than click the logout button at the top of the page.