THE STRATEGIC PLANNING PROCESS, PART 2
BY FRANK L. FIRE
“Strategic Planning for the Fire Service: An Introduction” appeared in October 1996; “The Strategic Planning Process, Part 1” appeared in April 1997.
The toughest part of the formal strategic planning process is not deciding where do we want to go? (How do we want our organization to look at the end of the planning period or even further into the future?) It`s convincing the planning team and the rest of the organization that the sky really is the only limit to our possibilities. Whatever vision we can see for ourselves really can be attained if we plan properly for it and then carry out the plan. Members of the planning team must not only be free to work together and plan together, but they must also be empowered to carry out the actions necessary to successfully complete the plan.
Part 2 of the process is covered in the following outline. Let`s go through the questions as we did in Part 1 and offer some possible answers for a typical fire department.
PART 2: WHERE DO WE WANT TO GO?
As stated above, this question really means, How do we want our organization to look at the end of the planning period or even further into the future? Where do we want to go? means that we have a chance to design our organization to be exactly what we want it to be after a certain period of time has passed, a certain amount of effort has been made, and probably a fairly large amount of money has been expended.
Where do we want to go? is at the core of the strategic planning issue and the main reason for the strategic planning process. It represents the ultimate goal of the organization for the immediate future (the planning period). It is the essence of the vision of the future that the team will develop. Of course, this vision must coincide with that of the customers (the citizens and organizations within your protection district) and the government leaders of the jurisdiction within which the fire department operates. Very often, these visions are completely different from each other.
The fire department tends to create visions of itself that depict a shiny, gleaming, streamlined organization that is the envy of fire departments around the world in response time, loss prevention, education, and other services. There are no problems with the chain of command, promotional tests, overtime, communications, equipment, or budgets.
The politicians who run the district in which the fire department resides may also have a range of visions. At worst, they see the department as a hole in the ground into which an endless stream of money is poured and see the firefighters and officers as whiners and complainers who are never satisfied with their lot in life. At best, they may brag about how efficient the department is, but only because they have whipped it into shape. You can see the poorly hidden agenda of most politicians here.
The customers–the citizens-at-large, the individual and business taxpayers, and other organizations–will also have a multitude of visions, depending on their interaction with the fire department. If their houses and all their worldly belongings were destroyed in fires they believe the department could have extinguished long before they had been extinguished, they will have one vision. If their children were rescued from certain death by a firefighter, they certainly will have a different vision. Most people have a vision of their own particular fire department somewhere in between these two extremes.
Where do we want to go? is the vision you (the planning team) have of the department–not today but in the future. It represents the way you want your department to function in the future, the organization it will have, the services it will deliver, and certainly the way you want others to view the department. Perhaps the planning team should spend more time on public relations than it has in the past.
In this section, I usually assume that the planners want the organization to grow during the planning period and beyond. As all of you know, this is not always the case. Many companies today are downsizing, which means they want to shrink their organizations. While this is done for many reasons, usually it is only to remove people from the payroll, lower the cost of doing business, and make their stock more attractive to stockholders.
Some fire departments and other governmental agencies must shrink their organizations because of a shrinking population base, a reduced protection area due to governmental property annexation, or simply a shrinking supply of tax money to run the municipality or other governmental unit.
Having said this, it will be assumed for the purposes of these articles that the planners want the organization to grow in personnel, equipment, services, protection area, a combination of these, or another area.
A. What Are Our Key Result Objectives (KROs) for the Future?
This is straightforward enough. We may have literally hundreds of goals–some big, some small. Key Result Objectives (KROs) are those objectives and goals that, if not successfully completed, will prevent fulfillment of the plan. We must know what we want our organization to look like at a particular point in the future. To attain that vision, we must set certain mileposts and endpoints to measure against when we reach the desired results.
A-1. Annual sales
Obviously, a fire department doesn`t have sales in dollars that it seeks to achieve. Fire departments usually don`t sell products for economic gain. However, fire departments, other governmental agencies, and other not-for-profit organizations do provide services. The delivery of these services can be equated with the sales of a for-profit organization. Thus, one fire department KRO could be attaining a certain number of fire runs. The goal in this case would be to reduce the number each planning period through the delivery of other services, such as fire prevention programs, smoke detector distribution, and increased inspections. Each method to reduce the runs would be goals in themselves–if each is reached, the KRO would be achieved.
Another KRO could be extending EMS to new geographic areas, adding new equipment within the EMS, or any such improvement in the service. It could include a rescue team, a dive team, or any other service the fire department provides.
In other words, over the planning period, what must the fire department offer and deliver to its customers to achieve the goals the planning team wants it to achieve at the end of the period?
A-2. Annual profits
Since the fire department is a not-for-profit organization, annual profits do not exist. However, other measurements and KROs may be substituted for profits. For instance, one KRO could be reducing losses in the protection area, reducing response times, or some similar increase or reduction of other meaningful operations. Whatever represents an increase in benefits to the community per dollar spent or per firefighter employee or anything that shows increased department productivity will be a meaningful KRO in terms of profits.
A-3. Number of employees
How many employees (firefighters and officers) will it take to fulfill the plan? Are there enough in each area in which the department wishes to expand its services? Is a reduction in force (RIF) called for; if so, can it be done by normal attrition (retirement and resignations), or must there be a layoff? Would anyone on the planning team be directly involved in such a reduction?
A-4. Expansion into new products and services
Again, fire departments don`t have products, but they certainly provide services. Will new services be introduced during the planning period? Will be some be dropped? If new services will be introduced, will they require new technology and new training? How much additional money will be required? How many new firefighters or other employees will be required? Will new equipment–and, therefore, new suppliers–be required?
A-5. Dropping established products and services
Is it time to drop established services your department has offered for years? Does the community want all the services you`ve been offering? Do you really know, or are you assuming, that the taxpayers want you to continue everything you`ve been doing? Have you asked anyone lately what your department should be doing, or do you naturally do what every other fire department in the country does?
A-6. Expansion into new markets
Should you offer new services to your customers? Again, have you asked them? What new customers do you want to attract? Is there a new service you can offer to a new class of customers?
What is the competitive situation? Is another tax-supported organization providing the service, such as a countywide haz-mat team? Is there a private (for-profit) company that currently offers the service or will soon offer the service? Is the service currently offered but in such a manner that the customers are not satisfied?
What are the barriers to entry with this new service? What is there about the service under consideration that makes it difficult to provide? Does it require large increases in personnel, very expensive equipment, extensive training, or other costly preparations and procedures? Effective competition is a very high barrier to entry.
What share of each market will you try to attain? Obviously, a fire department will offer to provide 100 percent of the services needed in the field it is entering. It may have to share this service with another organization such as EMS, where the fire department responds initially and a private ambulance is called to transport the patient to a hospital. It could also be fire investigation, which might be shared with the police department.
A-7. Exiting old markets
Sometimes, an organization must decide whether it will continue to offer some product or service that it has always offered or at least has offered for so long that the product or service has become synonymous with that organization. A fire department may have to give up EMS, for example, because the customers no longer want it, at least from the fire department. The customers may no longer want it from the fire department because they voted to reduce taxes, and the department subsequently was forced to cut staff allotted to the service. The service in turn suffers, and the customers become even more dissatisfied with the service than originally, and the cycle continues. In business, continuing with a product or service despite declining interest without a surefire plan to revive its popularity is the quickest route to bankruptcy. So, if you do not have a strategic plan to revive the customer`s interest in a service (i.e., no way to escape the catch-22 you are currently in), you must consider dropping out of that market. Your exit plan for the market must include making your remaining customers aware of the discontinuation so they are not harmed by it.
A-8. Mergers and acquisitions
Mergers and acquisitions within the fire service are not too much different from those within the business world. The major difference, of course, is that there is no real buying or selling of companies. However, there might be transactions involving personnel and equipment. The merger could be anything from a mutual-aid agreement to an outright consolidation of facilities because of a property annexation. It could also be the formation of a regional haz-mat response team, a rescue team, or another service in which shared duties, personnel, and equipment would increase service to the customers, increase productivity, and lower the overall service cost.
So, the first questions must be: Does the service merger represent any benefit to the customers? Are there any competitors in the private business world we want to buy? Yes, it is possible for a governmental entity to purchase a business. Next, you must consider if there are any customers you want to buy or join forces with. There may be another nonprofit organization in which you may see a good fit. You also must answer the question, Do we really want to compete with our other customers?
Are there any suppliers you want to buy? This may be a much more difficult situation for a governmental entity to consider, let alone carry off. It is probably much better to determine if any diversification strategies can be developed. Fire departments traditionally have expanded into new markets by developing their own diversification strategies. Perhaps a blending of the two (mergers/acquisitions and diversification) can be accomplished. A fire department not yet into EMS could purchase the assets of a local ambulance response company but not necessarily take its personnel.
B. Are Our KROs Reasonable and Attainable?
The KROs, as defined earlier, are those objectives so important to the strategic plan that the plan will not be fulfilled if they are not reached. Eight categories are listed, with several questions asked in some categories. The KROs for the planning period should be selected from these categories.
Once the list of KROs has been finalized, examine them from a practical viewpoint. Goals and objectives are worthless if they are impossible to attain and equally worthless if they are so easy to reach that it takes no effort whatsoever. To determine if each KRO is valid, some questions must be answered.
B-1. Is “stretch” built in?
Will the KRO need extra, concentrated effort to attain? Is the effort expended and the accomplishment gained measurable? Can you measure success at mileposts along the way? It should not be easy, but it must not be impossible. Efforts, resources, and personnel should be stretched to make it. Everyone involved with a particular KRO should have to “go the extra mile” to achieve the objective.
B-2. What are the rewards for attaining our KROs?
The rewards can be monetary, large or small prizes, or simply recognition of the success. Bonuses can be paid based on a determination of the planned increase or decrease of any parameter. The bonus can be cash, a donated prize, or paid time off.
B-3. What are the ramifications of not attaining our KROs?
Just as there are rewards for achieving KROs, there should be a clear understanding of what will happen if the objectives are not met. This does not imply punishment but that the failure to attain a KRO will keep the overall strategic plan from being fulfilled, and reports must explain why the KRO wasn`t reached. These reports should be made at each milepost along the planning period.
C. Will Our Organization`s Culture Change in Attaining Our KROs?
It is entirely possible that culture changes will occur during the planning period. A culture change may be necessary to fulfill the plan. It may not, if the department has not improved or changed in the past because the chief of department has not pushed for changes, has not done planning, or did the planning poorly and incompletely. The chief might have been easygoing or a tough dictator. A fire department usually takes on the culture of the chief. If the chief is replaced or decides to change the culture to accomplish the strategic plan, then the culture will change.
C-1. Will our success force our department to change?
It might. But remember, in this whole process, it is not your department that is important, but how you satisfy your customers. The purpose of the strategic plan is to get you to a particular place where the department is effective; is efficient; and, above all, gives your customers the service they deserve.
C-2. Must we change to fit the strategic plan?
Probably. It is almost a sure bet that there is a lot of room for improvement. It is also a pretty sure bet that you have existed in a survival mode for some time, worried more about your department and your jobs. No one can accuse you of not worrying about the safety and well-being of the citizens and institutions in your protection district. However, you probably have not thought of them as customers and probably have not participated in formal strategic planning before. Therefore, changes must occur.
D. Will Our Management Style Change in Attaining Our KROs?
Maybe. It just might be that the management style in your department (almost always set by the chief) is perfect for strategic planning and the fulfillment of that plan. However, if the management style is not conducive to proper planning and the successful implementation of that plan, then the style will have to change.
D-1. Will our success force us to change?
Unquestionably it will, but for the better. It may be a big change or a tiny one, but success always changes people and organizations. Can you imagine being a better fire department? Giving your customers better service? Reducing response time, the number of fires, property loss, or the number of deaths and injuries? If you can, you know you will change. If nothing else, your chest will be puffed out a little farther, and you`ll wear your uniform with more pride.
D-2. Must we change to fit the strategic plan?
Usually it is only a person`s attitude that has to change to fit within a strategic plan for one`s organization. If you can change your focus from inward to outward, if you can put the health and welfare of your customers ahead of your own (which almost all firefighters do anyway), and if you can be a strong member of an effective and efficient team, you will not have to change to fulfill the strategic plan.
Where do we want to go? is the core of strategic planning and defining what you want your organization to be by the end of the planning period. It establishes the KROs that must be reached to get there and defines the changes that must be made. The toughest part is not deciding what we want our organization to look like at the end of the planning period or even further into the future; it`s convincing the planning team and the rest of the organization that the sky really is the only limit to our possibilities. Whatever vision we can see for ourselves really can be attained if we will plan properly for it and carry out the plan. n
FRANK L. FIRE is the vice president of marketing for Americhem, Inc. in Cuyahoga Falls, Ohio. He`s an instructor of hazardous-materials chemistry at the University of Akron as well as an adjunct instructor of haz mats at the National Fire Academy. Fire is the author of The Common Sense Approach to Hazardous Materials (first and second editions) and an accompanying study guide, The Combustibility of Plastics, and Chemical Data Notebook: A User`s Manual, published by Fire Engineering Books. He is an editorial advisory board member of Fire Engineering.
