Strategic Planning

The Integrated Strategic Planning approach creates a balance that aligns both your financial and human capital (employees) to focus on achieving the strategic goals and objectives of the plan. A strategic plan is not just a document that identifies the strategies, goals and objectives for prioritizing your services, programs and capital needs. This is one element, but it can offer much more. Our process fully integrates your budget process with the strategic plan. It also provides a system for prioritizing strategic projects and work plans for your staff to improve service delivery and effectiveness based on the strategies and goals in the plan.

Finally, Mercer Group Associates will also fully integrate the strategic plan projects and initiatives into the Board Agenda process. Mercer Group Associates uses an innovative format and approach to develop your strategic plan. Our format allows us to tailor our strategic plan to meet your specific needs and requirements.

Strategic Plan

Budget

Capital Plan

Staff Work Plan

Performance Measures

Update Plan

Baldrige Organizational Survey

How do you know that your organization is ready to go from good to great? What are your organizational strengths and opportunities for improvement? How does your organization compare with the best run organizations in the world? The Baldrige confidential online survey provides a “Gap Analysis” for you to determine and then focus on areas that need to be improved in your organization for the strategic plan to be successful. The results of the Baldrige Survey are used to develop specific projects and approaches for improving your organization.

High Performance Survey

The model, made famous by the McKinsey consulting company, is good for a thorough discussion around an organization’s activities, strategies, structures and systems. Mercer Group Associates’ High Performance (HPO) Survey is an essential first step in developing benchmarks for organizations to become high performing.

The HPO Survey is built around the 7S model that evaluates seven essential components of your organization.

Strategy

Structure

Style

Staff

Skills

Systems

High Performing Governance Board

The role of a Governing Board is often difficult to define. This lack of clarity of the board’s role can results in a disconnect between the governing board and the executive. Ideally, the role of an elected public board is to develop policy. The implementation of that policy and responsibility for the day to day operations of the organization reside with the executive or manager. What is missing? The answer is the expectations the Board has for the manager. The Governance Relations System (GRS) is designed to create a bridge between the Elected Board’s expectations of the manager and the day to day operations of the organization. The GRS also sets expectations for the Board to support the success of the manager in executing their expectations.

The GRS includes FOUR areas:

1. The Expectations of the Organization
2. The Performance Expectation of the Manager
3. The Expectations of the Board
4. The Expectations of Customer Service/Civic Engagement

These areas provide expectations for how the organization will be managed, conduct of the Board and provide services and opportunities for engagement with citizens. The key to making the GRS work is the partnership between the Board and manager to set clear expectations on how the organization will operate.