How to strengthen existing capabilities?
Posted by: Mansour Baker
Each area addresses the activities necessary to realize the desired future state.
- Organization has uniform standard of excellence and is employer of choice
- Employer strategy for promoting and protecting company brand locally, regionally, and globally
- Comprehensive operational planning processes ensure successful department level strategy implementation
- Organization-wide collaboration informs strategic decisions and mitigates risks
- Technology is leveraged to enhance services
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1 How to enhance a 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.
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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 2-7 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 develop employer branding strategy?
Develop an employer strategy for promoting and protecting company brand locally, regionally, and globally.
Near Term (1-6 months)
- Create company brand management strategy based on company’s strategic vision and validate against similar successful entities.
- Develop/update branding guidelines and develop brand tracking capabilities.
- Communicate brand strategy and guidelines to all departments across the organization and enforce adherence.
- Manage brand positioning, develop key campaigns and drive consistency in execution across departments.
Medium Term (6-12 months)
- Roll out a market research capability that includes measurement of ROI.
- Optimize capability and update as required.
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Brand Objectives
- Promote consistent brand messaging
- Promote distinct and differentiated messaging from competitors
- Ensure long-term planning to develop strong core messages that will resonate over many years
- Promote domestic stakeholder buy-in from relevant sectors, business groups, and civil society
- Promote International recognition from target audiences to generate the results desired by the company
Branding Key Activities
- Analyze current brand perception, including critics/advocates, competitors and key messages, communications tools, and gaps (can be supported by structured survey or desk research)
- Design brand management strategy
- Implement brand management strategy
- Bi-weekly media monitoring reports
- Quarterly perception and awareness reports
- Annual reputation management review
Branding Key Deliverables
- Brand Perception Baseline Report
- Draft Brand Management Strategy
- Bi-weekly Media Monitoring Reports
- Quarterly Perception and Awareness Reports
- Annual Reputation Management Review
1. Brand Perception Baseline Report
- Baseline report analyzing current brand perception, including critics/advocates, competitors and key messages, communications tools and gaps (can be supported by structured survey or desk research).
2. Draft Brand Management Strategy
- Draft brand management strategy for promoting consistent messaging and monitoring public awareness and perspectives of company brand.
3. Bi-weekly Media Monitoring Reports
- Bi-weekly report that analyzes company image within key constituencies such as the global news media, economic industry analysts, blogs and online forums, academic thought leaders, and international/multilateral institutions.
4. Quarterly Perception and Awareness Reports
- Quantitative and qualitative data collection monitoring the key components of company’s brand, identifying shifts in target audience perceptions and measuring internal and external audience awareness of key messages being promoted by company through their branding campaign.
5. Annual Reputation Management Review
- Annual work plan for all reputation management activities, including (but not limited to) global marketing and PR campaigns, international advertising campaigns, international event management, and intra-government brand coordination.
3 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.
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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
4 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 in modified or new processes (e.g., new delegations of authority, budget formulation, etc.)
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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
5 How to use technology as an enabler?
Restructuring company’s IT organization and developing an IT strategy, roadmap, 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 roadmap 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 roadmap.
- Conduct regular IT assessments:
- Adequacy of current technology against requirements
- Projection of future needs
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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 roadmap based on prioritization of IT initiatives
- Roadmap identifies the sequence of initiatives to be implemented