HomeMy WebLinkAboutCAO-12-005 - A Plan for a Healthy Community - Strategic Plan 2REPORT TO:Mayor Carl Zehr and Members of Council
DATE OF MEETING:
February 6, 2012
SUBMITTED BY: Carla Ladd, CAO, X 2350
PREPARED BY:
Shelley Adams, Director, Strategic Planning and Innovation,
X 2476
WARD(S) INVOLVED:
All
DATE OF REPORT:
January 27, 2012
REPORT NO.:
CAO-12-005
SUBJECT:
A Plan for a Healthy Kitchener: the City of Kitchener’s
Strategic Plan for 2011-2014
RECOMMENDATION:
For Information
REPORT:
The “strategic plan” for the City of Kitchener is absolutely a living document, and – if one looks
back - has been in a state of constant renewal since 2000. Compass Kitchener, an advisory
committee to Council whose mandate it is to create and lead public engagement processes to
determine community priorities, first delivered the community’s vision, principles and priorities in
June of 2000, with Compass Kitchener, Charting a Path for our Future. Since that time, and
through various means, we have presented A Plan for a Healthy Kitchener (2007-2027), the City
of Kitchener Strategic Plan: A different future for City government and public service. (2009),
and this document, A Plan for a Healthy Kitchener; the City of Kitchener’s Strategic Plan for
2011 – 2014. Each captures the themes – and inspired aspirations – of the people involved.
At its heart are the six community priorities which were identified through both quantitative
(Environics Survey 2009) and qualitative (Who are you, Kitchener? 2010) research. The six
priorities are:
Quality of Life
Leadership and Community Engagement
Diversity
Dynamic Downtown
Development
Environment
There are two critical foundations which underpin the plan – business systems (Efficient and
Effective Government) and people (People Plan) – without which, we could not bring the plan to
life.
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Efficient and Effective Government embodies strategies around our corporate systems. First
developed under the Corporate Plan in 2002, this foundational area has grown to ensure that
we have the business systems and processes in place to support our staff in advancing the
community’s priorities and delivering high quality services. The focus of Efficient and Effective
Government is to strengthen the performance and accountability of municipal government in
Kitchener. To this end, we focus on:
Financial Management
Asset Management
Information Technology
Communications, Marketing and Customer Service, and
Organizational Governance
Finally, our ‘People Plan’, the strategy that supports the city’s workforce so that they can
continue to be successful in delivering services to the community. Based on employee input,
this part of the plan outlines the city’s workplace culture and the six strategic directions that will
ensure we make progress towards achieving that culture:
A Culture of Learning
A Culture of Safety and Wellbeing
A Culture of Inclusion
A Culture of Appreciation and Fun
A Culture of Community Stewardship
A Culture of Accountability
The people plan is intended to ensure that Kitchener will continue to be a dynamic Canadian
municipal leader that is able to build its future on the ideas and innovations of some of the best
and brightest talent.
Following Council’s approval of the strategy for 2011-2014, a formal roll-out of the City’s
Strategic Plan will be undertaken with staff and the larger community. In addition, Compass
Kitchener has – in its 2012 workplan – plans to reach out to the community and build awareness
around the strategies, outcomes and avenues for increased involvement. Our intent is to make
the plan available most readily via our City website and through limited printed copy. Over the
short term, we intend to build a more robust strategic plan section on the City’s site that will
include links to our 4-year Departmental Business Plans and to the individual strategies that
support the larger plan (eg., Leisure Facilities Master Plan, The City of Kitchener’s Commitment
to Diversity and Inclusion, the People Plan, and so many more). In the longer term – and with
the availability of resources – our goal will be to use multi-media to update the community
regarding our progress against the priority areas and strategic directions under each.
The City of Kitchener Strategic Plan represents our touchstone for directing the work of city
government, guiding and bringing clarity to our decisions, and sustaining and supporting the
development of our community. Stemming from Council’s interest in creating a “Different
Future for City Government and Public Service”, this plan seeks to create the kind of
organization they envisioned – one that has a sharpened focus on continuous improvement;
building community trust and appreciation; providing valued and accessible services and
excellent customer service, and engaging and informing citizens about decisions.
FINANCIAL IMPLICATIONS:
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The structure of the Strategic Plan is such that all city initiatives are to be aligned with the
priorities and directions outlined in the plan – these initiatives will be identified on an annual
basis in Departmental Business Plans. The City’s annual business planning cycle is intended to
provide a process in which to review annual work plans across the corporation and align annual
budgets to those plans.
ALIGNMENT WITH CITY OF KITCHENER STRATEGIC PLAN:
The process undertaken to build A Plan for a Healthy Kitchener; the City of Kitchener’s Strategic
Leadership and
Plan for 2011-2014 is completely aligned with the community’s priority of
Community EngagementA Culture of Inclusion
and the People Plan’s goals around building .
Of course, the outcomes materializing across each of the priority areas - through the work of
this organization – means we have succeeded in bringing the strategic plan to life.
COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT:
ThePlan for a Healthy Kitchener; the City of Kitchener’s Strategic Plan for 2011-2014 was
developed through extensive and substantive community engagement, with members of the
community, the staff of this organization, Council members, advisory committee members, and
our partners and collaborators, as appropriate.
ACKNOWLEDGED BY:
Carla Ladd, CAO
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