How to strengthen existing capabilities?

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How to strengthen existing capabilities?

By Mansour Baker, SHRM-CP

Posted: 29 May 2020 | Revised: 15 March 2021

Each area addresses the activities necessary to realize the desired future state.

Organization has uniform standard of excellence and is employer of choice
Comprehensive operational planning processes ensure successful department-level strategy implementation
Organization-wide collaboration informs strategic decisions and mitigates risks
Advanced vendor management tools and processes enable effective oversight and quality control for all outsourced activities
Technology is leveraged to enhance services

Exhibit 1

The 5 series to strengthen existing capabilities

1 How to enhance company’s culture of excellence?

To develop a strategy and follow-on implementation plan for identifying and building desired capabilities that differentiate the company as the leading of its kind.

Objectives

To develop a uniform standard of excellence across company departments and differentiate as a leading institution.
To position the company as an employer for choice.

Near Term (1-6 months) Initiatives

Convene a cross cutting working group to identify desired attributes of company’s Culture of Excellence.
Leverage results of best-practice study tour to identify best in class attributes of similar organizations.
Develop a Culture of Excellence strategy and implementation plan with identified initiatives related to business core activities.

Medium Term (6-12 months) Initiatives

Implement initiatives
Create an incentives program to encourage innovative thinking among company’s staff.

Exhibit 2

Uniform standard of culture of excellence

How to enhance company’s culture of excellence?

Key Activities

Plan and carry out cross cutting workshops to identify desired attributes of company’s Culture of Excellence to encourage creative and innovative thinking and practices.
Incorporate feedback from international study focused on organizational structure best practices.
Identify desired attributes of company’s Culture of Excellence.
Develop Culture of Excellence strategy.
Develop implementation plan for identifying Culture of Excellence initiatives to be implemented in 7- 2 months.

Key Deliverables

Working groups
Conduct baseline study
Identification of desired Culture of Excellence attributes
Draft Culture of Excellence Strategy
Finalized Culture of Excellence Strategy
Implementation plan for initiatives

1. Working groups

Advance preparation and conducting of working groups to identify desired attributes of company’s Culture of Excellence
Summary report of working group findings

2. Conduct baseline study

Identification of relevant international best practice institutions
Benchmarking exercise with focus on business core practices
Summary report of benchmarking finding

3. Identification of desired Culture of Excellence attributes

Summary report outlining desired attributes of company’s Culture of Excellence based on working group and benchmarking exercises

4. Draft Culture of Excellence Strategy

Draft key findings from working groups, benchmarking exercise, interviews, and data gathering efforts
Finalize company future state for Culture of Excellence
Draft strategy with identification of prioritized implementation initiatives

5. Finalized Culture of Excellence Strategy

Finalized strategy report

6. Implementation plan for initiatives

Focused implementation plan that breaks each priority area into tasks, timelines, deliverables, resource requirements, and accountabilities

2 How to strengthen planning and performance management?

Establish comprehensive annual operational and strategic planning processes for company and all its departments.

Near Term (1-6 months) Initiatives

Establish comprehensive annual operational and strategic planning processes, including performance management and budget formulation.
Develop and implement annual strategic and operational planning calendar.
Develop updated operational planning template for all departments.
Conduct operational planning workshops with department heads and key staff to facilitate development of operational action plans aligned to company strategy.

Medium Term (6-12 months) Initiatives

Develop and implement operational plans for all departments, aligning to company strategy.
Create KPIs for all operational plans, collect data and report performance on a quarterly basis.
Develop a performance management system that monitors company performance progress.

Exhibit 3

Comprehensive operational planning processes to ensure successful department-level strategy implementation.

How to strengthen planning and performance management?

Objectives

Ensure successful implementation of company’s strategy at the department level.
Align organization priorities and goals with metrics to monitor and track success across core functions and processes.
Enhance company’s ability to report on and manage performance.

Key Activities

Review baseline analysis for strategic and operational planning processes.
Facilitate workshop to brainstorm ways to align strategic goals and supporting operational action plans.
Develop draft annual comprehensive strategic and operational planning processes (to include alignment to budget and performance management processes).
Develop and finalize operational planning templates.
Plan and carry out operational planning workshops to facilitate development of operational plans for all company departments.

Key Deliverables

Comprehensive annual strategic planning process
Comprehensive annual operational planning process
Annual strategic and operational planning calendar
Updated operational planning templates
Operational planning workshops

1. Comprehensive annual strategic planning process

Baseline of existing strategic planning process
Workshop to identify revised process and mechanisms to fully align process to operational planning cycle
Revised annual strategic planning process

2. Comprehensive annual operational planning process

Baseline of existing operational planning process
Workshop to identify revised process and mechanisms to fully align process to strategic planning cycle
Revised annual operational planning process

3. Annual strategic and operational planning calendar

Revised annual strategic and operational planning calendar that is fully aligned to the relevant standards of budgeting and reporting requirements

4. Updated operational planning templates

Standardized templates for developing department level operational plans

5. Operational planning workshops

Planning and convening of workshops to train staff on new process and templates and initiate planning within all company departments for annual operational plans

3 How to institutionalize accountability and transparency?

Develop and convene collaborative forums to discuss and draft recommended new policies and processes within critical cross-functional areas.

Near Term (1-6 months) Initiatives

Identify company cross-functional activities that benefit from review and discussion in collaborative forums
Develop operating guidelines, including forum rules, procedures, membership, meeting frequency, etc.
Pilot delegation of authority forum
Roll out other forums (e.g. policies and procedures, budget processes, risk management)
Undertake program evaluation assessment for forum effectiveness

Medium Term (6-12 months) Initiatives

Train company staff on modified or new processes (e.g. new delegations of authority, budget formulation, etc.)

Exhibit 4

Organization-wide collaboration informs strategic decisions and mitigates risks

Institutionalize Accountability & Transparency

Objectives

To inform strategic decision making through the development of new or streamlined policies and processes in key areas
To enhance collaboration and information sharing across the organization

Key Activities

Convene working group to identify cross-functional activities that require dedicated forums for discussion and development of new recommended procedures and processes
Develop operating guidelines for all company forums, including forum rules and procedures, membership requirements, meeting frequencies, etc.
Identify membership and forum scope of activities for pilot delegation of authority forum
Convene delegation of authority forum
Facilitate forum’s development of recommended redraft of company delegation of authority matrix
Roll out other company forums as appropriate
Undertake program evaluation to assess forum effectiveness and mechanisms for improving their performance

Key Deliverables

Workshop to identify forums
List of company forums
Operating guidelines for forums
Set up of delegation of authority forum
Revised delegation of authority matrix
Roll out of other forums
Program evaluation assessment

1. Workshop to identify forums

Advance preparation and conducting of working groups to identify desired company forums
Summary report of working group recommendations

2. List of company (chosen) forums

List of issues requiring dedicated forums within next year

3. Operating guidelines for forums

Operating guidelines for all company forums, including forum rules and procedures, membership requirements, meeting frequencies, etc.

4. Set up of delegation of authority forum

Identification of forum members
Preparation of forum guidelines and scope of activities
Convening of delegation of authority forum

5. Revised delegation of authority matrix

Forum review of revised delegation of authority matrix
Draft revisions to matrix
Finalized delegation of authority matrix

6. Roll out of other forums

Identification of forum members
Preparation of forum guidelines and scope of activities
Initial convening of forums

7. Program evaluation assessment

Interviews with forum members
Assessment of forum format and outcomes
Summary report with identified improvement opportunities

4 How to enhance procurement and supply chain management capabilities?

Refine procurement and sourcing strategies to coordinate and manage all company supply chain management functions based on an assessment of company’s procurement and material management capabilities and needs.

Near Term (1-6 months) Initiatives

Evaluate current procurement and material management activities and balance of centralized versus satellite procurement capabilities and structure.
Develop a supply chain management strategy to address warehousing, distribution, supplier partnerships, and IT infrastructure needs.

Medium Term (6-12 months) Initiatives

Set performance indicators and service level agreements (SLAs) to track performance and serve as a basis for issue identification and escalation.
Benchmark supply chain performance for specific high-impact categories.

Exhibit 5

Advanced vendor management tools and processes enable effective oversight and quality control for all outsourced activities.

How to enhance procurement and supply chain management capabilities?

Objectives

Advanced supply chain management fully meets company diverse procurement, storage, and distribution needs.
Coordination and standardization of procurement and material management activities remove duplication of procurement efforts and create economies of scale.

Key Activities

Collect and inventory existing documentation related to procurement, material management, and applicable laws and regulations governing these functions
Evaluate documentation to identify gaps and/or redundancies
Develop recommendations on how to address gaps and/or redundancies
Develop supply chain management strategy aligned to company strategy
Align work plans/processes for individual functions (procurement, warehousing, distribution)
Draft initial high-level sourcing strategy
Assess capability of IT functions to support restructured supply chain functions

Key Deliverables

Inventory of all procurement and material management activities
Evaluate existing documentation
Recommendations to address gaps
Supply chain management strategy
Aligned processes
High-level sourcing strategy
IT functional assessment

1. Inventory of all procurement and material management activities

Collection and inventory existing documentation and processes related to procurement, material management
Assessment of relevant legal and regulatory requirements

2. Evaluate existing documentation

Report assessment existing documentation to identify gaps and redundancies

3. Recommendations to address gaps

Recommendations on best approach to close identified gaps

4. Supply chain management strategy

Summary of gap analysis and recommendations
Development of strategy for managing company’s procurement and material management needs
Identification of high-level requirements and action steps

5. Aligned processes

Alignment of company procurement and material management processes to company supply chain management strategy

6. High-level sourcing strategy

Assessment of sourcing options based on outcomes of strategy development
Development of strategy to guide sourcing decisions for procurement and material management

7. IT functional assessment

Assessment of company IT capabilities against functional requirements emerging from company supply chain management strategy

5 How to use technology as an enabler?

Restructuring company’s IT organization and developing an IT strategy, road-map, and documentation of baseline business requirements to fully align company’s use of technology to its strategic and organizational business needs.

Near Term (1-6 months) Initiatives

Review current structure of company IT organization to ensure appropriate provision of strategic and operational oversight of technology initiatives.
Develop company IT strategy to support business strategies.
Identify and prioritize key business initiatives and align to IT initiatives.
Develop technology road-map that specifically addresses broad technologies and integration elements across company.

Medium Term (6-12 months) Initiatives

Analyze and document current business requirements and processes for key initiatives.
Document leading and emerging technologies relevant to company sector, in accordance with international best practices (e.g., interactive technologies, Web 2.0).
Create cross-functional planning and oversight teams for critical IT projects (e.g., SAP / Oracle roll-out).
Implement projects in line with technology road-map.
Conduct regular IT assessments:
- Adequacy of current technology against requirements
- Projection of future needs

Exhibit 6

Technology is leveraged to enhance services

Objectives

Enhance company technology capabilities to drive success in its overall mission
Identify and prioritize all IT initiatives that align to key business initiatives and drivers

Key Activities

Assessment of IT operational and strategic role in the organization
Redesign of company IT restructure
Recruitment of key IT staff
Development of draft IT strategy
Identification, development, and prioritization of key IT initiatives
Development of IT road-map based on key IT initiatives

Key Deliverables

Assess IT role
Design IT organization
Recruit key IT staff
Draft IT Strategy Document
Identification and Prioritization of all key IT initiatives
IT Road-map

1. Assess IT role

Review and identify IT strategic role within the company
Analyze role of outsourcing and implementations for IT structure and operations

2. Design IT organization

Design leadership staff structure
Develop job descriptions for key staff positions
Review and agree draft structure with company leadership

3. Recruit key IT staff

Identify and facilitate engagement with executive search and selection firms
Facilitate identification and vetting of candidates
Facilitate successful and timely on-boarding of selected candidates

4. Draft IT Strategy Document

Document that identifies company’s technology strategy to support the overall business needs of the organization.
Draft strategy will be revised at the end of the initial 6-month period to assess if IT and business goals are in alignment

5. Identification and Prioritization of all key IT initiatives

Identification and prioritization of all IT initiatives based on business needs to support the organization

6. IT Road-map

Development of IT road-map based on prioritization of IT initiatives
Road-map identifies the sequence of initiatives to be implemented