Finance Department Strategic Planning
Background: The finance department for a midsized County had substantial turnover at the director position and lacked a deputy director. A new director had joined, overseeing seven divisions, each with a director, and over 170 total employees. The divisions did not have shared goals, within the department or with the organization, were significantly siloed, and disengaged from the department and organization broadly. During the County’s first annual employee survey, the finance department scored very low amongst the newest and the longest tenured employees (a reverse C curve), which is a-typical for staff scoring in most organizations. These employees particularly identified issues with management
Process: The department director and the division directors participated in facilitated leadership retreat focusing on communication between directors and developing a specific action plan to address discrete management concerns.
Solution: An action plan was created to manage and provide accountability to address specific strategic needs within the department. The plan included only those actions which could be taken by the department director or division directors, including more frequent team meetings and established protocols for intradepartmental collaboration such as using Sharepoint. Issues relating to County leadership were addressed as discrete actions the director could take to influence those issues, such as writing a formal memo to their supervisor on unaddressed approvals of technology resource allocations. Issues relating to consistency in performance management by middle managers and supervisors were addressed through a series of communications to all staff, which set clear expectations for all supervising employees, and dedicated training for those doing any performance management.
Results: The directors, managers, supervisors, and staff expressed increased satisfaction due to actions on the shared priorities such as technology deployment, communication, and personnel support during busy periods. There was increased communication and clarity between the directors and staff as well as the directors and the County leadership.
