The Phoenix Rises from the Ashes: The Reconsideration Unit’s Remarkable Turnaround

The Ministry of Social Development and Social Innovation (SDSI) provides the opportunity for its clients to seek reconsideration on income and disability assistance decisions for which they are dissatisfied. The ministry makes 4,000 to 5,000 reconsideration decisions per year. Once received, a reconsideration request from a client, the ministry is legislatively required to complete a reconsideration decision within 10 business days. In June 2009, the Reconsideration Unit’s workload and subject matter doubled, with no increase in FTEs. The effect of global economic downturn also gained traction, resulting in a 40 per cent increase in the number of client applications and a corresponding increase in reconsideration requests. This perfect storm greatly impacted the response time to reconsideration decisions and created an opportunity to do things differently. After the completion of a comprehensive LEAN review of its processes and policies, the Reconsideration Unit transformed itself into a highl