Strategic Planning Retreat Report

Transcription

1 Strategic Planning Retreat Report Table of Contents EXECUTIVE SUMMARY 2 TCR! MISSION 3 SUMMARY 3 CURRENT TCR! MISSION 3 MISSION ACTIVITY 3 NEXT STEPS 5 CORE PROGRAM 5 SUMMARY 5 CORE PROGRAM ACTIVITY 6 NEXT STEPS 7 EMPOWERMENT INSTITUTE 7 SUMMARY 7 EMPOWERMENT INSTITUTE ACTIVITY 7 NEXT STEPS 8 1

2 Executive Summary On September 18, 2014 the Board of Directors and senior level staff of Twin Cities Rise held a retreat to discuss Strategic Issues that were raised in the recent environmental scan conducted by Bill Smith of Biko Associates. The eight strategic issues were collapsed into four major topics for discussion: Mission, Financial Sustainability, Core Program and Empowerment Institute as displayed in the graphic below. (See environmental scan framework document for details.) Due to time constraints and preferences by some attendees, the Financial Sustainability discussion was delayed until a future time. This report contains a summary of three major topics of the retreat, the group processes used, activity output and next steps. 2

3 TCR! Mission Summary Participants were given context about what came out of the environmental scan regarding TCR! s current mission statement. (See environmental scan framework document for details.) After an overview of common definitions of Mission and Vision, along with samples to view, participants offered a single word or short phrase for potential revisions to the current mission or the creation of a new one. Note that the current mission is What TCR! does to fulfill its purpose statement, which is more like a traditional Why mission statement. Current TCR! Mission Our mission is to provide employers with skilled workers primarily men from communities of color in the Twin Cities area by training under and unemployed adults for skilled jobs that pay a living wage of at least $20,000 annually. Mission Activity Participants were asked to think of one word or a 2-3-word phrase to answer the following question: Why does TCR! exist? The following words and phrases were offered. Similar words/phrases are clustered and color-coded. Reduce Poverty Economic Opportunity (Intergenerational) Contribute to Society To Change Lives Reduce Poverty Eliminate Intergenerational Poverty Jobs Change Lives Reduce Poverty Reduce Intergenerational Poverty Empower Hardest-To Serve Change Lives Stop Poverty Out of Poverty Transform Lives Reclaim Lost Lives Provide a Future for those in Poverty Empower Out of Poverty Transformative Improving Peoples Lives 3

4 The following word cloud is a visual representation of the words and phrases offered in the mission activity. Greater prominence is given to words that appeared more frequently (created at wordle.com). 4

5 When asked what they notice about the words and phrases, participants said: The words and phrases are o Broad (e.g. change lives, end poverty, transform) o Issue-directed o Future-oriented o Focused on most needy o Reflect transformation and change over time Jobs is an impactful word Contribute stands out Themes: Action-Oriented, Transformation, Stopping/Reducing Poverty Next Steps Who What By When Review words/phrases generated and offer potential revisions to the current TCR! Mission Planning Committee (and other staff who are interested) Revised mission will be presented at December 2014 Board meeting Core Program Summary Participants were given context about what came out of the environmental scan regarding TCR! s Core Program. (See environmental scan framework document for details.) After a brief discussion about current elements of the Core Program and opportunities for improvement, participants were asked the following question: What strategic changes would you make to out Core Program? Participants reflected individually before offering ideas in small groups. The following seven themes were created as a large group. 5

6 Core Program Activity BIG NEW IDEAS *Make Empowerment Institute the new core program *Empowerment Inc. *Create new Reentry Program MEASURE AND DEFINE SUCCESS *Create success predictors (via survey) predictive analytics *Define success in multiple ways depending on audience *Improve screening: how to measure GRIT *Redefine homerun metric MARKET DEMAND EMPLOYER FOCUS *Lease/sell license out know how (not just EI) *Embedded collaboration with employers: EI, Pull-through participants *Increase ability to fill custom orders *Marketing: Communicating target population, Communicating measurements, ROI, Pay for Perf. *From retail to wholesale ADMISSION POLICY AND SUCCESS FACTORS *Expand audience: Exoffenders, Younger, Vulnerable, Reduced requirements *Refine admissions & expand assessment *Flexible programming to address multiple needs & readiness SHORTEN PROGRAM *Shorten program timeline: intake assessment, test out, ind. study *Streamline/con dense program (pilot) *Speed up program, Offer fast track *Break program into pieces *Online training *Collaboration with other training orgs. *More training hours per week=fewer weeks of training SECTOR TRAINING CONSIDERATIONS *Sector training credentialing career pathways *Focus on direct service (PE, coaching, job search, & partner w/other training programs for sector) *Focus on Core Comps- >outsource to others *Scale core competencies using economies of scale *Selective sector training: Market driven by employees *Sector activity: Outsource skills training, Corp. sponsors, Internships *Partnerships for sector training: Relations, Training *Move toward more sectors RETENTION AND PLACEMENT STRATEGIES *Internships *Paid internships (x2) *Paid internships *Offer a stipend or earned income *Retention strategies *Understand success & failure factors: Improve placements, Reduce costs *Address housing barriers 6

7 Next Steps TCR! Leadership Team and Key Staff/Subject Matter Experts Who What By When Review seven Core Program strategic Begin implementing changes ASAP change themes Create options for which changes can be made, by when, resource needs, etc. Present action plan at December 2014 Board meeting Empowerment Institute Summary Participants were given context about what came out of the environmental scan regarding the Empowerment Institute (EI). (See environmental scan framework document for details.) After a brief discussion about current statistics for the EI, participants took part in a Force Field analysis conversation using the following questions for context. What business benefit will the expansion deliver? Who supports the change? Who is against it? Why? How easy will it be to make the change? Do we have enough time and resources to make it work? What costs are involved? What additional resources will be needed? Empowerment Institute Activity Forces For EI Expansion *Revenue goes up *Addresses mission to address poverty *Brand recognition *Creates intellectual property (IP) *Visibility *Reciprocal learning *Expand Core Program into other states *Expand funding appeal Forces Against EI Expansion *Lack of resources: staff and $$ *Copycats *Organizational legal structure vis-à-vis TCR! *Market def. $ revenue potential *Need to analyze ROI potential for EI *Distinguish EI from others 7

8 Next Steps Tom Who What By When Explore options for EI study and Tom to present progress at December business/marketing plan development 2014 Board meeting Put next steps plan together and present to Board. 8