Client Problem

A major utilities company needed to drive strategic awareness and alignment of their new vision through operational plans, but had inconsistent business planning and (sometimes non-existent) reporting processes to support them.

The absence of a unified vision led to a disconnection between the broader business objectives and individual performance plans. When the largest business area was required to develop business area and departmental business plans, they had no consistent method of cascading or aligning objectives to ensure the organisation was able to drive, measure, and reward progress toward the strategy.

SMS was engaged to provide assistance in developing a standardised business planning approach and a process to support consistent reporting and performance rewards across the Business Area.
 

SMS Approach

SMS utilised a collaborative process of workshops and meetings with the company’s management team and their individual departments to ensure strong buy-in to the strategy, clearly cascaded objectives and appropriate performance rewards.

SMS utilised a best practice Strategy Mapping process (Balanced Scorecard Approach) to articulate the key objectives of the business plan and then identify individual accountabilities. (These accountabilities formed the basis of the company’s departmental plans.) 

A series of workshops was then conducted with teams to ensure that all plans encompassed both ‘business as usual’ obligations and project based delivery commitments (at the same time, these workshops generated greater strategic awareness and buy-in).

SMS also helped each participant define their contribution to the strategy and set appropriate targets and KPIs. This allowed everyone to map their accountabilities to the strategic objectives at the departmental level, and also ensured that they were rewarded on a mix of their individual, team and business contribution.

Once objectives were aligned, accountabilities established, and business plans were in place, the emphasis turned to developing a robust, repeatable process and framework for reporting progress to plan. SMS worked with the management team to define their operational reporting needs, ensuring the outcome was aligned with the existing business plans. 
 

Recommendation

SMS developed a robust, repeatable process and framework for reporting progress to plan.

SMS achieved agreement from the management team on a dashboard format for the departmental monthly report. This included reporting both operational and strategic data to provide visibility of progress. A mix of lead and lag measures ensured the ability to identify areas where mitigation was required. SMS developed and socialised the process for monthly reporting, with expectations and principles agreed. Training in the agreed reporting processes was also designed and delivered to all Managers. 

SMS then transitioned responsibility to the client for implementation and continuous improvement. 
 

Outcome

SMS's solution resulted in four major benefits for the utilities company. 

1. a repeatable business planning process
2. greater strategic awareness throughout the organisation 
3. clearer accountability for delivery to plan 
4. a performance reward system that drives behaviour toward delivering against plan/strategy