# Presentation: 379441

## Department of Veterans Affairs

- Strategic Planning Process

**Office of Policy, Planning, and Preparedness**
**October 1, 2003**

## Intended Outcomes:	

**    ****To understand:**
**Why we do strategic planning**
**The steps in VA’s strategic planning process**
**The structure of VA’s strategic plan**
**The importance of alignment between strategic plans and integrated business plans**
**The schedule for planning documents**
**The tools for assessing your strategic plan and integrated business plans**
**How the strategic planning process can be improved**

## Why We Do Strategic Planning:

**Provide Focus for the Organization**
**Allows leaders and stakeholders to develop consensus about the future**
**Provide a Roadmap to the Future**
**Documents vision, mission, priorities, outcome strategies and measures**
**Communicate our direction externally and internally**
**Provide a management tool to assess progress and results**
**Implement the Government Performance and Results Act (GPRA) of 1993**

## GPRA -- A First-Time Governmental Statute that:

- Focuses on defining and measuring outcomes
- Holds managers accountable for results
- Provides data for decision-making
- Includes the following major elements:
- Strategic Plan (5 years forward)
- Budget (Includes Performance Plan)
- Performance and Accountability Report
- Program Evaluation

## The Structure of VA’s Strategic Plan:	

- Crosscutting orientation with 4 Strategic Goals and 1 Enabling Goal
- Systems approach that includes balanced measures of program results, program management (e.g., schedule, cost, accuracy), customer satisfaction, and employee satisfaction in the discussion of each VA program
- Allows for more integrated management and accountability (i.e. hold managers accountable for assessing outcomes/results and strategy implementation)
- Allows readers to focus on all aspects of VA’s programs versus jumping from section to section
- Provides for easier alignment employee performance with strategic goals and objectives
- Consistent with GPRA requirements

## Strategic Plan Structure – Cont’d

**Strategic ****	**Foundation of planning.  Crosscutting and broad.
**Goals:****	**Overall thematic outcomes for veterans and the Nation
**Objectives: ****	**Support strategic goals.  Focus on specific programs.  Define program outcomes and management priorities
**Strategies:****	**Means used to achieve the goals and objectives (actions, R&D, training, IT, etc.)
**Measures:****	**Methods for assessing progress (outcome/service-oriented)
**Targets: ****	**Describes performance expectations

## Strategic Plan Structure – Cont’d

- Introduction
**Secretary’s Statement**
**Who We Serve**
**Who We Are**
**Vision for the Future/Core Values**
**Strategic Outlook**
**VA Strategic Goals and Objectives**
- Strategic Goal 1 – Restore Capability of Veterans with Disabilities
- Strategic Goal 2 – Ensure a Smooth Transition from Military
- Strategic Goal 3 – Honor and Serve Veterans
- Strategic Goal 4 – Contribute to the Public Health, Emergency Management, Socioeconomic Well-Being, and Nation’s History
- Enabling Goal – People, Communication, Technology, and Governance

## Importance of Alignment between strategic plans and integrated business plans:

## Importance of Alignment – Cont’d:

- Alignment ensures that there is a better focus and concerted effort by all VA organizations to accomplish the Secretary’s vision, goals, objectives, and priorities.
- Alignment helps VA be more responsive to veterans and their families through improved efficiency, cost effectiveness, quality, and innovation.

## Importance of Alignment – Cont’d:

- Each Administration should develop a **Strategic Plan** that is aligned with the Department’s plan and provides more details regarding implementing strategies and performance measures
- Each organization and staff office should develop a detailed **Integrated Business Plan** to describe how they will achieve the strategic goals and objectives
- Each manager’s and employee’s performance standards and individual performance plans should be aligned with the Strategic Plans and Integrated Business Plans

## The Schedule for Planning Documents:

## Tool for Assessing Strategic Plans and Integrated Business Plans:(Carey Organizational Excellence Award Criteria)

-   Help VA organizations improve their overall performance in delivering service and satisfying their customers
-   Based on the Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award criteria for the following categories:  Leadership, Strategic Planning, Customer Focus, Information and Analysis, Human Resource Focus, Process Management, Business Results
-   The Strategic Planning Category examines how your organization develops strategic objectives and action plans, how your chosen strategic objectives and actions plans are deployed, and how progress is measured.
-   The Strategic Planning Category is generally consistent with and supportive of the requirements of the Government Performance and Results Act (GPRA).

## Carey Award Strategic Planning Criteria:

**2.1 Strategy Development**
**Strategic Development Process – **What is your strategic planning process?  How are relevant data and information gathered and analyzed to address customer needs, competition, technology, human resources, strengths and weaknesses, financial and other potential risks?
**Strategic Objectives – **What are your key strategic objectives and timeframes for accomplishing them?  How do your strategic objectives address the organization’s key challenges?  How do you ensure that your strategic objectives balance the needs of all key stakeholders?

## Carey Award Strategic Planning Criteria – Cont’d:

**2.2 Strategy Deployment**
**Action Plan Development and Deployment – **How do you develop, communicate and deploy action plans and allocate resources to achieve your key strategic objectives?  How do you allocate resources to ensure accomplishment of your action plans?
**Performance Projection – **What are your performance projections for your key measures for both short and longer-term planning time horizons?  How does your projected performance compare with the performance of competitors and similar organizations, key benchmarks, goals, and past performance, as appropriate?

## How the Strategic Planning Process can be Improved:

- Improve linkage to resource allocation and performance
- Become more outcome-oriented (description of program purpose and outcome measures)
- Replace “To Be Determined” with performance targets
- Improve crosscutting efforts (internal - *One VA* & external)
- Continue to develop a strategic and future-oriented perspective
- Align Secretary’s priorities with Goals and Objectives
- Improve treatment of external factors and address key themes identified in the environmental scan
- Address results of Program Evaluations

## Office of Policy, Planning, and Preparedness Staff Contacts:

| Subject | Point of Contact | Phone Number |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Strategic Planning | Gary Steinberg
Curt Marshall
Amy Briggs
 | 202-273-5068
202-273-7522
202-273-9833 |
| Carey Organizational Excellence Award
 | Marty Reiss
Darine Prok | 202-273-5131
202-273-6784 |