Former Deputy Chair
Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada
March 2010
I had the opportunity to work with Bradford Bachinski Limited (BBL) on two different projects in my capacity as Deputy Chairperson of Canada’s Immigration and Refugee Board (IRB) from 1995 to 2001. BBL was initially retained by the IRB in June 1996 to assist in a comprehensive corporate renewal exercise aimed at addressing fundamental operational problems in the organization. These problems arose in large part from a cultural split between career public servants responsible for corporate operations and the quasi-judicial decision-makers appointed for relatively short terms by the Governor-in-Council as members of the Immigration Appeal Division and the Convention Refugee Determination Division of the IRB.
This first exercise was divided into three phases:
In the first phase, Anne Bachinski, one of the principals of BBL, held interviews with members of the senior management team at IRB headquarters in Ottawa to identify the underlying organizational problems and possible solutions.
Next, Board members and support staff in regional offices across the country were interviewed to obtain frontline input on the challenges faced by the Board and suggestions for ways to create a more cohesive and productive corporate culture.
A national meeting of the entire management team from all regions and all functional sectors of the IRB was held to finalize and launch an Action Plan for Renewal. BBL played a key role in setting the agenda and facilitating the meeting of the entire management team. The consultants from BBL, John-Peter Bradford and Anne Bachinski, challenged participants to put aside conflicting preconceived notions about the way things had traditionally been done and find ways to focus on the achievement of the organization’s mandate using new tools and approaches.
I was sufficiently impressed with the way in which BBL handled the overall corporate renewal exercise that I subsequently arranged to have BBL retained again in 1998-99 to assist me in reorganizing operating procedures within the Convention Refugee Determination Division of the IRB, which I headed in my capacity as Deputy Chairperson. Anne Bachinski from BBL worked closely with me and my immediate staff at national headquarters to identify and eliminate inefficiencies in operating procedures within our own office and between our office and those of the five Assistant Deputy Chairpersons in regional offices across the country.
This review helped us identify resource gaps that were impairing our ability to provide effective direction to all members of the Refugee Division across the country. Based on recommendations flowing from this review, we implemented a series of measures to promote greater consistency among regional offices in the disposition of factually similar cases. Ms. Bachinski also helped us to articulate clearer performance objectives for members of the Refugee Division and to put in place evaluation tools that assisted regional managers in providing Division members with fairer, more consistent and more transparent performance feedback. Implementation of these changes contributed to a significant improvement in productivity of the Refugee Division, both in terms of an increase in average number of cases decided by each member and a reduction in the average delay between completion of hearings and delivery of final decisions.
In the course of her work with me and my immediate support staff within the Deputy Chairperson’s office, Ms. Bachinski also provided invaluable coaching support to me personally, particularly in relation to priority setting, time management, and communication with managers of other sectors within the Board.
In all of my dealings with BBL, I found both Ms. Bachinski and Mr. Bradford to be perceptive and forthright. The analysis and advice they have provided has been clear, constructive and extremely helpful in moving us toward our desired objectives in corporate reorganization. I have no hesitation in recommending BBL in relation to any challenging and sensitive restructuring exercise.