County Board gets progress report on strategic plan

Those involved in the strategic planning process have been meeting on a monthly basis, LeBlanc said.

The benefits of the process, which he said he got from Envisio, include: being proactive rather than reactive; there’s buy-in from county staff members, as they are really developing the plan; increased operational efficiency; staff satisfaction and retention; and managing expectations.

“Those are some pretty good benefits,” LeBlanc said. “I really think that they help kind of fuel this.”

The strategic plan has not yet been approved by the Board, so LeBlanc said he was also hopeful to get feedback on the work done so far. If board members had input, that would be considered before the final plan eventually comes forward for approval.

As far as a guide, LeBlanc said he was using Envisio’s template, while not losing sight of the work that was already done and approved by the County Board. For example, steps two and three of the nine total that were outlined — identifying a mission, along with values and attributes — were already approved by the Board in 2018 or 2019.

“That work has been done and it hasn’t been lost and forgotten,” LeBlanc said. “It has been incorporated back into the strategic plan.”

He said the staff has put a lot of hard work into developing the plan — which lays out goals both big and small, tangible and abstract, for the next two to 10 years.

One item that needed to be established was the county’s vision. LeBlanc said that should answer the question to “why we exist.” That was the focus of the group’s most recent meeting.

Ultimately, the vision is to “promote a culture of support and respect while remaining agile and responsive to residents’ needs.”

“Again, this is not Morrison County at large, 34,000 residents,” LeBlanc said. “This is Morrison County staff, 340 employees in 11 departments.”

The vision then feeds into the mission, which he described as a “fundamental purpose, what we do to achieve our vision.”

That mission was one of the aforementioned pieces that had already been set by the County Board. That is to be cost-effective and fiscally responsible while providing quality services to county residents.

What was also previously set were the imperatives and values, which LeBlanc said boils down to being the “cultural norms and expectations of employees,” as they conduct their day to day business.

“That’s the feeder then, I guess, that goes into the work that’s been done,” he said.

The final strategic plan will include a “running estimate.” As they update the plan, which LeBlanc said he hopes to continue to do annually, it will allow them to look back and see how they did, while also continuing to stretch the vision out to 10 years.

The plan is divided into six “lines of effort,” each of which has a “champion,” leading the effort of that particular group. They also will work with other department heads and staff members who have a stake or expertise in their areas.

The lines of effort are: people, championed by Human Resources Director Beth Hamlin; real properties, championed by Facilities Director John Erdrich; infrastructure, championed by IT Director Amy Middendorf; future resident support, championed by Community Corrections Director Nicole Kern; community collaboration, championed by Veterans Services Officer Kris VonBerge; and policy, championed by LeBlanc.

“As each of those lines of effort leads had their breakout sessions, they determined the tasks or what items they want to try to accomplish over the period of time,” LeBlanc said.

The progress of each of those tasks can be tracked with a meter that has “tick marks” on it representing each individual task. As goals are accomplished, the tick marks will move across the meter. LeBlanc said this will provide a “quick glance” at how they’re coming along.

At this point, all of the tick marks are adjusted to the left because the plan is yet to be approved. However, LeBlanc said some of the efforts were already underway.

An example, he said, was the initiative to “maintain the right staff.” That is something the county works to do every day..

“There are some items that are in the works, maybe there is not as much fidelity to them as we’d like, or that they’ve captured,” he said. “This is the running estimate that I hope the Board gets to see annually, kind to check our learning and see what we’ve been doing.”

The group will also incorporate a calendar that will set objectives they’re aiming for over a period of time.

One item he said jumps out on the calendar is in the real property line of effort. In that, he said there are some years that are much busier and/or more costly than others. As they get into the process and can measure the calendar against predictability and expectation management, some of those initiatives could possibly be moved around.

“The idea is, how do we look ahead over 10 years and anticipate some of these requirements so it’s less reactive and it’s more proactive,” LeBlanc said.

Once it’s approved, he said he plans to bring the strategic plan forward for annual review by the Board each fall. That way, it can be incorporated into the planning and budgeting process for the following year.

Ultimately, the Board had no qualms about the work that has been done so far. LeBlanc said they would continue to push forward and, hopefully within the next couple of months, bring a finished plan to the Board for formal approval.

“At a glance, a lot of work; very good work,” said Board Chair Jeffrey Jelinski.