Breaking New Ground—Stories from Defence Construction Breaking_new_ground | Page 102
Did You Know?
Steve Irwin, then DND’s Director General Infrastructure,
was part of a planning session with Ross Nicholls when
Ross was informed that he would be appointed President.
“ That’s when Ross got the call that he was no longer
acting in the position—he was the President. So DND
knew before DCC!”
communication with clients about the type and level of services provided,
resulting in a mutual understanding of the requirements, the measures of
satisfaction and the price/value proposition.
Ross Nicholls explains the significance of the change:
Defence Construction always tried to manage itself like the private sector—
we benchmarked our productivity, for example, against the private sector
even when our funding came from appropriations. Fee-for-service allowed
us the flexibility to tailor our services to suit the requirements of various
clients in different locations. It also allowed us to fund the development of
services to meet new or developing areas, and to take control of the quality
of our services—not just to do what we could with the money that we had,
but also to provide the quality and the nature of services that are needed in
each case.
The change in our business model to fee-for-service changed our whole
financial planning context. The change in management approach that
went with it set the stage to improve the quality and scope of the service
that we provide and it improved our relationship with our clients. It also
injected a healthy private sector component to our culture, which is based
on government values but now has this healthy entrepreneurial balance.
Most important of all, the improved communication and accountability
inherent in the model has resulted in sustained client satisfaction and
sustained corporate growth—in other words, DCC is fulfilling its mandate
more effectively, achieving its mission, and moving towards its vision.
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BREAKING NEW GROUND
DEFENCE CONSTRUCTION CANADA