Welcoming 2022
January 5, 2022
Happy New Year! I hope you and your families enjoyed a safe and healthy holiday season. Last year was a very productive year considering the ongoing challenges that the pandemic brought our way. We accomplished a great deal by working together and operating in support of our partners and communities during times of uncertainty. I greatly appreciated the guidance from SLT and the professionalism of our staff as we carried out our diverse programs and projects with resulting public benefits. I am pleased to share that in addition to adapting to delivering our programs and projects during the pandemic, we also met with success in securing senior government funds for priority projects and in helping to shape CA Act Regulations to enable us to continue our good work through our role on the CA Act Working Group. I am also pleased that TRCA continues to be chosen by our partners to advance major green infrastructure and education projects in our communities due to our science-based approach, niche expertise, and track record of success. While it has been hard work, through our shared efforts we have made some very progressive and lasting changes for our organization, our partners, and the communities we serve.
2022 Divisional Priorities:
As we prepare for the opportunities ahead for 2022, our SLT has reaffirmed our commitment to achieving the organizational priorities outlined in our Five-Year Update to the Strategic Plan. As part of this, SLT and SMT members have developed 2022 divisional priorities to support staff in their Performance Development Program objective setting process.
Over the next few weeks, your SLT member will be speaking with divisional staff to ensure that over-arching divisional goals and objectives are clearly defined, measurable and aligned to workplace and staff objectives. These discussions will be the pathway to cascading organizational priorities and divisional objectives to support the Performance Development Program objective setting process and will ensure that all staff are working on key strategic and operating priorities that are identified as critical for organizational success. Our three organizational wide themes — People Focus, Financial Focus, and Customer Service and Excellence — are incorporated into all divisional priorities so that every single employee can connect to these three themes in your daily work.
Strategic Plan Update:
With our Five-Year Update to the Strategic Plan coming to an end in 2022, we have completed the framework on our new Strategic Plan that I would like to share with you today.
The new Strategic Plan is built around a 12-year timeframe starting in 2023 and divided into three 4-year phases, reflecting our partner municipalities’ terms of council. The strategic plan is a living document guided by the evolving needs of TRCA and its partners and will be capable of adapting to changes in the environment at each of its three 4-year phases. This enables TRCA, through the Strategic Plan, to adapt in response to changes in the external operating environment (e.g., to reflect new government directives), while still ultimately guiding the organization towards its desired outcomes. This process will pave the way for future strategic planning processes by integrating an outlook of future trends within each phase.
Objectives
This Strategic Plan will provide a roadmap for the critical years ahead, when TRCA’s partnerships and engagement within its diverse communities will be more vital than ever before to accomplishing its goals. TRCA plays an important role in preparing the GTA for unprecedented growth and managing green infrastructure in the face of a changing climate. However, it is only through a collective effort towards shared objectives that TRCA, through working with all levels of government, businesses, and community partners can build adaptation and resilience into our region while at the same time enhancing wellbeing and quality of life. Our Strategic Plan will more strongly reinforce our alignments with partner municipalities and government to help realize even greater positive impacts across our jurisdiction.
Planning & Timelines
Over the course of the past 6 months, SLT with the support of Strategic Business Planning and Performance (SBPP), has undertaken a range of analysis methodologies that have included reviewing: Municipal Strategic Plans, Provincial priorities, and not for profit organizations/conservation authorities strategic guiding documents. This review provided a foundation which informed TRCA’s 4 strategic pillars in the proposed framework. In addition to this document review process, SBPP also spent over 20 hours consulting internally including hosting 8 interviews with SLT members and consulting externally with experts in the field. Over the summer of 2021, a SWOT analysis was completed and resulted in over 203 written responses which were analyzed and coded, identifying over 46 subthemes that were then mapped into desired outcomes.
Framework
The Strategic Plan Framework starts with TRCA’s vision and mission, which will shape the ultimate future state that all priorities and actions across the organization are working towards achieving. The development of the new Strategic Plan included examining the current vision and mission to rethink and re-create these elements and ensure that the pillars, desired outcomes, and strategic playbook continue to remain supportive. Our proposed renewed vision and mission are outlined below:
TRCA Proposed Renewed Vision: To be a global leader in achieving resilient communities.
TRCA Proposed Renewed Mission: TRCA delivers world class programs and services that further the conservation, restoration, development, and management of natural resources, to support the vital role of our natural environment.
While the Strategic Plan is both an externally and internally facing resource that guides the direction and priorities of the organization, the accompanying strategic playbook will act as a companion document to the Strategic Plan and be an internal resource that defines the tactics and resources required to achieve the desired outcomes. The strategic playbook will outline a phased approach of key initiatives and actions required to achieve the desired outcomes. The biggest strength of this resource is that it will be developed and informed by staff across the organization. This strong emphasis on staff engagement and input on the playbook will enable TRCA to more accurately understand how our programs and projects are contributing to reaching our strategic goals and better equip us to support continuous improvement at all levels of the organization moving forward.
Another important component will be the integration of performance indicators into the playbook to measure progress. The performance of the desired outcomes will be reported using an impact report at the end of each 4-year phase. While annual metrics will continue to be measured on an ongoing annual basis through the Annual Report, the impact report will specifically measure performance against the desired outcomes. This added component allows for the identification of successes, achievements, challenges, and barriers, and will help identify where modification in the approach may be warranted to meet the desired future state. Performance Measures for the Strategic Plan will be refined in consultation with staff and integrated into TRCA’s existing reporting process and will utilize existing indicators wherever possible to minimize impacts to staff.
Click to view a full-sized version of this chart:
Pillars and Outcomes
To structure the Strategic Plan, four strategic pillars were created to group associated outcomes within TRCA’s Strategic Plan. The strategic pillars provide a clear alignment and defined link that reflects how TRCA works towards supporting the efforts of our partner municipalities. Each strategic pillar includes a goal statement that charts the direction and defines the future state of that focus area. These strategic pillars and goal statements provide a pathway between the Strategic Plan and TRCA’s vision, helping draw the connections between vision and action. The strategic pillars can be maintained beyond the lifecycle of the current Strategic Plan, and further inform the direction of the organization over a longer timeframe. These components will aid in organizational communications, providing clear connections to partner municipalities and simplifying how TRCA communicates its work to the public.
Click to view a full-sized version of this chart:
Within each strategic pillar are a set of four related desired outcomes that define the results anticipated at the end of the 12-year strategic plan lifecycle.
Pillar 1: Environmental Protection and Management with a goal of mitigating natural hazard risks to communities and improving the surrounding natural environment is focused on many of TRCA’s core mandated roles. This includes both the protection of our communities and shared resources, while creating opportunities to enhance the natural environment through restoration and sustainable development.
Pillar 2: Knowledge Economy with a goal of contributing to environmental targets through knowledge advancement is focused on how TRCA’s embedded expertise informs and contributes to furthering the knowledge and science advancement of our stakeholders.
Pillar 3: Community Prosperity with a goal of building communities to drive local action and improve wellbeing is focused on TRCA’s contributions to building connections between communities and the natural environment as a means of promoting health, well-being, and planting the seeds for the next generation of conservation champions.
Pillar 4: Service Excellence with a goal of customer service excellence for efficient service delivery to adapt to a changing environment is focused on strengthening TRCA’s internal operations and management to ensure customer service excellence and enhanced partnerships through investments in its workforce and a focus on transparent and accountable service delivery.
Next Steps
Staff are our greatest resource for achieving the desired outcomes. It is important for you and your teams to contribute to operationalizing the Strategic Plan. We plan to accomplish this together by undertaking the following actions:
- Led by your divisional director, operationalization engagement sessions will be hosted — which will inform all aspects of the strategic playbook.
- Your inputs will be reviewed and analyzed with your divisional director and the broader SLT — ensuring that all contributions are recognized.
- Senior management across the organization will be consulted on developing direct performance measures to be included in the strategic plan document, as well as the contributing performance measures in the strategic playbook — to ensure that TRCA’s performance measurement program continues to support accountability and transparency.
Our organizational commitment to maintain a service-oriented culture at TRCA helped us succeed in 2021 despite numerous challenges. Going into 2022 I would please ask that you read, understand and continue to incorporate TRCA’s Core Values into your daily work as well as to refresh yourselves on TRCA’s Customer Service Standards. TRCA’s Code of Conduct (the Code) will be released for all employees annual review via our Learning Management System (LMS) on January 10. I ask that you refresh yourselves on the Code and affirm your commitment to adhere to the Code within the LMS.
I look forward to continuing to work with you all to execute on our strategic priorities to make 2022 another memorable and successful year.
Sincerely,
John MacKenzie, M.Sc.(Pl) MCIP, RPP
Chief Executive Officer
Toronto and Region Conservation Authority (TRCA)