CGSO Executive Summary

May 2020

To the board and leadership of CGSO:

We want to sincerely thank you for giving us your time and allowing us to come and learn with
you the past few weeks! Despite the challenge of working together virtually, we felt your
hospitality and helpfulness throughout the engagement. It has been a joy to get to know you and
the organization better.

We kicked off our engagement focused on the board’s request to review the organization’s
readiness around ‘Fit for purpose.’ The interviews we performed confirmed that the staff has
much passion around the organization’s mission - and most employees wish to continue
growing at CGSO. We heard about the impact Covid-19 is having on the caseload and the way
in which the staff works remotely right now and believe this project was very timely for the
organization.

The interview feedback and our recommendations follow in this summary. With some
modifications, we believe the organization will be more prepared to drive its mission forward to
its members and consumers. We encourage you to use this momentum and prioritize the items
that serve the organization best during these challenging times.

With kindest regards,

Lynne Forbes-Zeller, Casey Trottier, Natalie Weathers and Jonathan Weller

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Feedback and Recommendations
We conducted thirteen interviews with Administrators, Adjudicators, Complaints Manager, Human
Resources, Marketing/Media, Board Members, Ombudsman and CEO. The following are the major
themes and pertaining recommendations.

1. Market Inadequate Salary: Majority of staff is concerned that the board will not address
the topic of market salary despite outside consultancies verifying the salaries are too
low. Staff is concerned that they will need to continue working long hours for the same
(below market) pay.

Recommendation: Consider the cost of losing employees, recruiting efforts to replace

them and the training time needed from managers to prepare new employees. The
salary increases may well outweigh the benefits, whereas attrition is costly to any
organization, and especially one the size of CGSO. With a salary increase, attrition
should decrease and employees’ performance may also improve.

2. Case Load: With the impact of Covid-19, majority of staff is working longer hours and
the backlog continues to grow. There’s no end in sight and morale is lower than it’s been
in a long time leading to further risk of attrition.

Recommendation: More staff is necessary to carry the current (growing) workload. Hire
staff with some legal background so they can be helpful from the start. Additional
credentialed staff may also help with customer satisfaction by meeting member and
consumer expectations sooner and more often.

3. Talent Development: Much of the staff are passionate about the organization’s mission
and many wish to advance their careers with CGSO. Fear of being in the same role for a
long time as well as repetitive and mundane work were common themes of feedback.

Recommendation: Perform an audit of roles and see where gaps and overlaps exist.
Invest in the top performing employees with new opportunities. Communicate career
advancement opportunities often. Reward performers with recognition and other benefits
when possible.

4. Leadership Development: The CEO is a competent and capable leader, well-liked by

her staff and the board. However, the current structure of leadership where the CEO and
Ombudsman have the appearance of sharing power and authority has been detrimental
to the CEO being more fully empowered to lead. CEO has also been continuing to
function as an operations manager, serving as distraction from higher level leadership
activities.

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Recommendation: Make appropriate changes to organization chart, website, and board
reporting to properly reflect CEO’s position of authority/power. It is highly recommended
that the board support the CEO in accessing developmental support in the form of an
executive coach and/or CEO networking group. Consider hiring an operations manager
to further empower the CEO to do more leading and less “doing” (e.g., developing the
staff, driving positive change and growth in the company, strategic planning, etc.).

Other Recommendations include:

● Make appropriate trainings available (and mandatory, such as CPA) to staff
● Conduct employee reviews every six months for accountability to their company
KPIs and personal career goals