Whitehorse Community Health Service

Australian Centre for Healthcare Governance

2014 Governance Excellence Award Winner

ACHG 2014 Governance Excellence Award

• The Board challenge: how to ensure what is set at a strategic level is being implemented at an organisational level

• This may seem simple, but it is often said that strategy is rendered useless because of failure to implement and execute.

• Implementing the strategic plan through quarterly goals: management of Whitehorse Community Health Service (WCHS) organisational performance and accountability

• “If companies would invest as much time in their strategy cascade as they do in their budgeting process, most would perform a lot better” Jeroen de Flander

The three-year strategic plan was developed in 2013

A one-year business plan then created for the current financial year

The business plan was summarised to one-page to be simple and memorable, then widely distributed throughout the organisation. The plan highlights the four key strategic pillars and the major strategic direction for each

This one-year plan was then broken down into organisation-wide quarterly goals

Quarterly targets were developed for all levels in the organisation, from the over-arching business goals, to management goals, and then individual and program goals

At board level this information is reviewed using a traffic light system so the group are clear that long-term projects are being progressed in smaller sub-groups of work, with agreed milestones being ticked off at intervals during the project duration.

Three-year strategic plan

One-year business plan

One-year business plan Summary – one page

Quarterly goals - organisation

Quarterly targets – each level in organisation (incl Board)

Business goalsManagement goals

Program goalsIndividual goals

ACHG 2014 Governance Excellence AwardImplementing strategic plan through quarterly goals

Benefits:

• Developing timely milestones and achievable levels that allow us to keep track of what can often be complex, long term, strategic goals

• Cascading goals throughout levels of the organisation to develop alignment, direction and control

• Motivating and aligning staff, as the opportunity to celebrate success occurs quarterly

• Ensuring the board is informed and steering the performance and accountability of the strategic goals, and not just the day-to-day activities of the organisation. The strategic plan is top of mind, operational and not simply “set and forget”.

ACHG 2014 Governance Excellence AwardImplementing strategic plan through quarterly goals