The role of the finance officer in strategic planning.

• Author: Casey, Joseph P.
• Position: Company overview

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Strategic planning is one of those terms that is often heard but rarely seen. Nearly all governments now have vision and mission statements, and these iconic phrases are plastered prominently on office wails, letterhead, and on the inside cover of budget documents and audit reports. These statements generally reflect good governance through good employees who provide good programs to good people. The vision and mission statements of Hanover County, Virginia, are no different (see Exhibit 1).

Many governments leave these macro-statements to administrators and department heads to apply micro-operating strategies that will, it is hoped, correlate with the vision and mission statements. There may also be some terms in these statements for which little or no further direct involvement may be needed from local administration--for example, the education of children in areas that have local school boards. Many local school boards have the autonomy to provide 100 percent of the service (and levy a tax to pay for it), and those school boards that rely on an appropriation from the local governing body are not held to any strategic program or outcome correlated to any funding.

One might think that if education is important enough for a mission statement, then it should be important enough for an engaged relationship with school officials, including proactive strategies and outcome goals. If the local government officials do not have a vested interest in the education of children, then they need to consider removing the reference to education, as well as references to other non-vital concerns, from their mission statements. That exercise in itself could be a defining strategic point in local government.

PROVIDING FOCUS

The challenge jurisdictions face is translating good vision and mission statements into strategic pathways that can focus the entire organization on what is important to the community, allowing departments to effectively collaborate and share information and resources. These strategic pathways can also define results based on outcomes and comparisons with peers. The first step is asking senior leaders to define the process that will allow this transformation to occur--and the finance official needs to be a key senior leader throughout all steps of this journey.

Finance officials have a number of skills and attributes that make them uniquely positioned for this role. They possess the technical skills needed to develop and monitor a compliance-based framework, and they know the entire entity's operations, resources, and systems. Finance officials also have great potential for developing strong working relationships with senior leaders from every department in the organization. While the chief administrative officer might also have the same or even better skills and attributes, this task works best with teams, not just one central leader. The teams should comprise senior leaders and other key employees who can best define where the organization has been, where it is going, and what framework needs to be applied to ensure success.

Collaboration among departments is the foundation for financial stewardship and strategic planning. The finance official can see the entire field and thus has the ability to improve the use of financial resources throughout an organization. The Hanover County Finance Department has recurring relationship meetings with key internal customers to outline financial strategies and tools that will help the county achieve its operational and strategic objectives. As a result, financial results and strategic objectives are integrated successfully in areas such as:

* Information Technology (IT) Governance. Departments that make budget requests for technology enhancements must get their technology requests approved.

* Operational Action Plans. Departments develop action plans to define tasks for board initiatives and operational projects.

* Integrated Dashboards. The finance department summarizes and interprets performance measures that are reported on department-level dashboards, helping senior leaders assess the affects of strategic decisions.

* SharePoint. SharePoint software allows the county to communicate and share results and services that result from the financial and strategic planning process. Exhibit 2 shows the SharePoint team site that department heads use to share dashboards and weekly briefs with other county leaders. Similar sites have been established as team sites and workspaces for departments, financial contacts, projects, and meetings. The county also has sites in development for strategic plans and financial products (e.g., budget, comprehensive annual...