Business Opportunity
Faced with a common organizational challenge of driving the business plan out of the ivory tower and into the day-to-day operations of the business, Nathan introduced and led a multi-phased process to facilitate, develop and deliver the 2018-2022 Business Plan for the Community and Recreation Facilities (CRF) branch (since renamed Community, Recreation and Culture branch).
CRF has over 2,000 staff across 9 sections and is responsible for generating as much as $70 million in annual revenue.
2018-2022 Community & Recreation Facilities Branch Business Plan: Executive Overview (2018 Edition)
2018-2022 Community & Recreation Facilities Branch Business Plan: Operational Action Plan (2018 Edition)
Actions + Outcomes
In order to successfully deliver on the task, Nathan structured the approach into three strategic phases:
Establishing the long-term strategic direction
Outlining the annual tactical approach
Establishing the mechanism for ongoing governance, reporting and delivery
1. Establishing Long-Term Strategic Direction
Within the first phase, Mr. Walters pulled together a project team, where they designed the strategic framework and facilitated workshops at the branch leadership level. This multi-phased process, started with identifying and prioritizing market and operational drivers, ultimately, leading to the development of strategic pillars (focus areas), objectives and performance measures, which were then approved by the Branch Leadership Team.
The strategic pillars aligned organizational resources with strategic outcomes and included the following:
I. Financial Accountability
Accountability for the use of City resources.
Financial-based decisions through utilization and understanding of software that helps organize and analyze data (information systems).
II. Infrastructure Growth and Technology
Infrastructure renewal, refresh, investment and growth.
Adoption / utilization of technology to stay competitive.
III. Operational Excellence
Efficient, effective and publicly-satisfied operation of facilities, open spaces and events
Excellence in service delivery within facilities, open spaces, events and the community
Leadership in occupational health and safety, public safety, environmental management and security
IV. Organizational Excellence
Proactive and integrated as a transparent public entity
Capacity for strategy and innovation within a competitive market / environment
High-performance through staff wellness, development and retention
V. Relationships
Connection with Citizens through customer service delivery
Reputation management of the Branch, Department and City, as well as the interdependent relationships
Engagement of organizations across recreation, sport, attractions and events
2. Outlining Annual Tactical Approach
Balancing top-down strategy with bottom up tactical design and delivery proved to be foundational. Nathan achieved this by introducing a Business Planning and Governance Committee framework, where working committees led the development of action plans under each strategic pillar. Particularly, each pillar was assigned a separate management and oversight committee that was led by a Director from within the branch. Each Director was responsible for supporting the generation, prioritization and delivery of activities managed by their committee.
3. Ongoing Governance, Reporting and Delivery
Quarterly business performance reporting sessions were scheduled with the Branch Leadership Team to ensure active management, tracking and delivery of the branch business plan. Lines of business were responsible for providing status updates at the tactical level, while the strategy team within Nathan’s section, managed analytics and performance reporting.
