Leadership and Change

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Leadership and Change

• The Revenue Story
• Commissioner Josephine Feehily

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Leadership and Change

• The Revenue Business
• The Revenue Organisation
• The Story of a Change Programme
• The role of PMDS
• The Labour Relations Commission

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Revenue a Big Business

• 2.8 million items of correspondence
• 2.9 million external emails
• 700,000 personal callers
• 4.3 million telephone calls
• 4 million visits to www.revenue.ie
• 4.2 million payments
• 3.5 million tax and customs returns
• 250,000 vehicles registered
• 50,000 plus new business registrations

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Revenue the Organisation

• Tax and Customs
• Largest Department in the Civil Service
• 6,500 employees
• 130 offices/26 locations
• 2.8 million customers
• Annual revenues 42 billion (repay 4bn)
• Budget to run the Office - 387 m
• Cost of admin 0.85 of gross revenues
• ../

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Age Profile
Gender Balance
Male 42.9
Female 57.1
lt 20 0.1
21-30 13.1
31-40 19.8
41-50 44.6
51-60 20
gt60 2.4
Work arrangements
Full time 82
Job Sharing 9.7
Work-sharing 8.3
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Electronic Services
Payment Returns Received of Total
Income Tax 159,478 53
Corporation Tax 30,151 18
VAT 136,246 13.37
PAYE 133,000 8.36
VRT 147,637 79.08
SADs 912,000 91.82
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The Theory

• Michael Collins
• An integrated Customs and Tax organisation
  responsible for all the nations revenues and
  frontier control
• A Board of Revenue Commissioners to oversee the
  organisation

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The Reality 1923 - 2003

• Separate tax and customs Depts
• Roots going back to Middle Ages
• Different and deeply established cultures
• Different information systems difficult
  dialogues
• Separate grade streams, promotion systems and
  even magazines
• Multiple Head Offices
• But why change?

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Most things were going well!

• Tax receipts rising
• Self-assessment big success
• Customer service accolades
• So nothing really broken?

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Environment Had Changed

• Single Market
• Economic growth/Wealth
• New business models
• More Sophisticated Citizens
• Public Sector Reform
• Some Doubts about Compliance

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Strategy was Clear

• Its all about compliance!
• Maximise voluntary compliance through best
  possible service
• Enforcement a sharp response to those who do
  not voluntarily comply

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The Organisation?

• Both approaches are about the Customer
• We were organised by tax/duty
• Cumbersome management structures
• Poor Accountability

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Creating a climate for change

• Statement of Strategy
• Align the organisation with the business
• .review to ensure that we have the best
  structure to complement our Programmes

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The Review

• In House Control
• Internal representative team
• No consultants reforming us
• Keep powerful people in the tent
• Confidential interviews
• Slow, steady engagement
• All in the loop no inner circles
• Consensus building

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Creating a climate for change

• Building a Senior Management Team (MAC)
• Permitting Dissent
• Encourage a corporate view
• Provide a non-confrontational environment to
  surface issues
• The Status Quo is not an option!

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The Decision

• A more flexible focussed organisation
• Re-build Revenue around our strategy for
  compliance
• Operational Divisions dealing with all taxes
  and duties for their cases
• Supported by a streamlined National Office
• /

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• The Heads of Operational Divisions would have
  clear responsibility and authority
• A move from central (Dublin) command and control
• Move to a single staffing stream

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From this
Chairman Commissioner
Commissioner
CE Collections Division CE Enforcement
Division Customs Residence Division Information
Communications Technology Division Revenue
Solicitor
Chief Inspector of Taxes Taxes Audit
Investigation Taxes Customer Services Technical
Services Direct Taxes Policy Legislation
Division Direct Taxes International
Administration Division Collector Generals Office
Corporate Management Division Human Resources
Division Indirect Taxes Policy Legislation
Division Capital Taxes Division
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To this ..
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From this .
To this .
Border Midlands West Region
DublinRegion
East South East Region
South-West Region
Taxes Duties
Taxes Duties
Customers
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From this (Customer View 2000)
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To this (Customer View 2005)
Stamp Office Dublin, Cork, Galway
Stamp Duty
All functions (except as shown)
Taxpayer (Worst Case)
District Office
CGs OR ROS
Returns/ Payments
Import/Export
AEP
Majority of cases have no import/export
transactions and no or infrequent Stamp Duty
transactions. For most cases contact is limited
to the District and the Collector General/ROS
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Engaging the Organisation

• Urgency
• Timely external shock
• Change agenda out of the closet
• Government interest
• Short-circuited a more prolonged debate
• /

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• Involvement
• Target everybody
• Try middle managers on board first
• Consultation
• Can we really involve all 6,500 staff?
• The Revenue Roadshows
• Communication
• Reclaiming the radio station
• /

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• Visible commitment from top
• Individual letter to everybody
• All the Board and MAC involved
• The powerful princes
• Local chairing of sessions
• A consistent message

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Making it happen

• From broad structure to detailed design
• Small project teams volunteers
• Briefing sessions focus groups
• Dedicated central communications function
  bulletins hotline for queries publication of
  FAQs
• Plenaries (150 people)

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• The Process

C O M M U N I C A T I O N
Spring 2001 Winter 2003
Plan
C O N S U L T A T I O N
High-Level Design
Project Board
Detailed Design
Project Board
Implementation Plan
Project Board
Implementation
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Re-energising the Process

• Getting bogged down in analysis
• Slow negotiations on the Industrial Relations
  front
• New Chairman important to make it clear no
  change of direction

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Therefore

• Risks would have to be taken
• Civil Servants and leaps of faith!
• Not possible to tie down and validate every
  detail in advance
• Get the fundamentals right and move on
• Expect some mistakes
• Tell the Minister!

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Parallel IR Process

• Plenary and Bi-lateral
• All parties would be dealt with fairly and the
  same
• Representation issue
• 4 out of 5 said yes
• Proceed Anyway!

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Go and do it

• Assigned to new leadership positions
• Dominant figures very publicly mapped into new
  roles
• Ambitious Start-up dates for new Divisions
  announced
• Sceptics were outed
• Change was for real

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Change flags and emblems rapidly

• Email addresses
• Corporate stationery
• Telephones
• Organisation Charts
• The magazines important symbolic moment!
• Get people using and used to the language of the
  new organisation

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Making it happen

• Shut down for a week?
• Reconfigure the team with the ball in play!
• Implementation Management Group
• Master inventory of tasks
• Careful planning of each transition step
• Transition managers
• Planned Incrementalism
• Communicate! Staff and Unions

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Visible Top Management Support

• Support managers
• Steady nerves
• Firefighting occasional crises
• And always
• Re-affirming the core objectives of change
• Focus on the gain

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How have we done?

• Not all plain sailing
• The vital signs are good
• Streamlined governance/management
• Streamlined customer service
• Energy and initiative released
• A high degree of flexibility
• Business Growth

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Most importantly

• Compliance moving in the right direction
• Public confidence in Revenue being rebuilt
• New Changes happening more easily

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Key Lessons

• Initiate Yourself
• Vision Articulate it
• Urgency
• Culture is Critical
• Test proposals - suspect defences
• Process and Pace Drive momentum
• Define milestones and celebrate them
• Communicate!!!

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And finally

• Keep the change going
• The bottom line is still Compliance
• The Structure is a means to an end
• Keep reminding people

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PMDS

• Introduced in 2000
• Partnership Intensive Group
• Extensive Training
• Key is Role Definition
• Link to Strategy Statement
• Conversation about Performance
• 2004 Upward Feedback
• 2007 Integration with HR policies and processes

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Labour Relations Commission

• An important part of the States Industrial
  Relations Machinery
• New territory for the public sector
• but lots of business!
• 34 of Conciliations in 2004
• Understand it and engage with it

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Rights Based Legislation

• Growing body of law
• Rights Commissioners
• 19 Acts/Regs
• Employment Appeals Tribunal
• Equality Tribunal