The people side of a financial planning framework.

• Author: Seay, Kathleen T.
• Position: Solutions

However well-planned an organization's financial planning framework might be, the people who manage and monitor its performance are the ultimate factor for success. Hanover County's goal is to create sustainable teams to oversee its financial planning framework. In Hanover County, Virginia, officials from the county and schools, as well as elected officials, sit next to the finance officer and chief administrative official at finance meetings. Focus area experts also help make the decisions, explaining their effects on service levels.

The county is identifying key focus areas tied to its countywide strategic plan and putting financial stewardship representatives on every focus-area team. This common foundation allows the county to adopt the same strategic focus across all departments and agencies. Having similar financial goals and strategies for all the divisions that make up the organization enhances the entire jurisdiction's financial results, resiliency, and use of teamwork.

SUSTAINABLE TEAMS

Many organizations form teams periodically for specific initiatives. Hanover County's approach is unique because it forms sustainable teams for operational, strategic, and financial goals (see Exhibit 1). The financial planning framework is successful because it is built on existing relationships. Senior leaders like the chief administrative official and school superintendent lead by example, holding joint meetings on budget strategies and strategic planning that are also attended by finance and human resource leaders. These leaders sit side by side and discuss budget goals, frame communications, and plan for long-term financial stability.

Similarly, senior leaders from regional authorities and other elected officials talk with the chief administrative official about financial and strategic goals. The chief administrative official and the sheriff work on both administrative and public safety initiatives. The sheriff supports the budget, as the chief administrative official supports emergency events. And these relationships extend beyond the senior leaders to the finance officers and other staff, and to state agencies, which subsidize local funding. Government staff doesn't tend to work regularly with elected and appointed officials, but this is the people side of the financial planning framework for success.

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Finance officials use existing relationships to bring key participants together for short- and long-term financial planning. Finance continuously assembles teams and solicits input for implementing the county's five-year financial plan. Identifying successful solutions to financial challenges is a shared responsibility. Operational savings and opportunities for redeploying resources are identified through existing partnerships--school officials share budget shortfalls that result from declining revenues and additional revenues in periods of positive growth, and elected...