The summer has been busy (and HOT) in Houston!
Much of July was spent on preparing the budget for the 2012 fiscal year which starts today and operational planning and issues, but we continue to move along with the strategic planning process in the Department of Rehabilitation at the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center.
Previously the department's Leadership Team (Director, 4 Supervisors and a business manager) led the department staff (total of 81.5 FTE's) through SOAR and SWOT analyses, updated our mission statement and drafted a vision statement and identified our strategic challenges facing the Department.
In our process a challenge can be a positive challenge or a negative challenge so we considered all of our strengths, weaknesses, aspirations, opportunities, threats and the results we are hoping for in the future............. What is tough is the process of setting priorities and separating operational issues that will need to happen and be addressed no matter what from strategic issues and challenges. For instance, even in a tight economy and uncertain health care setting we have been successful in justifying the addition of 7 new FTE's since January. Just yesterday I submitted the request for two new positions for our Regional Care Centers and I expect to request more inpatient OT positions soon. Despite this and despite how important staffing itself is, staffing levels itself likely won't be represented in our strategic plan. Identifying needed staffing, justifying those staff and recruiting them to some degree is "just my job." There are strategic connections though......so it gets complicated!
My leadership team spent 4 hours on Monday reviewing our SWOT analysis and prior discussions to draft a list of strategic challenges and broad strategic objectives to share with our staff and key stakeholders for feedback.
Challenge (HSC 1): The Department of Rehabilitation Services lacks a systematic approach for the development, delivery and evaluation of best practices in oncology rehabilitation.
Objective to Address (HSC 1): Become recognized as the model for the development , delivery and evaluation of best practices in oncology rehabilitation.
Challenge (OC1): Meeting the varied needs of rehabilitation services employees and the organization in an effective, efficient and economical manner
Objective to Address (OC1): Develop and implement an approach to talent management that attracts and retains highly skilled staff while maximizing organizational resources.
Challenge (OC2): Managing the resources of the Department of Rehabilitation Services to develop, implement and evaluate effective, efficient and economical service delivery.
Objective to address (OC2): Develop and implement a set of strategies that promotes client centered and effective, efficient and economical service delivery.
Challenge (HRC1): The Department of Rehabilitation Services has a low level of name recognition within the professions of physical therapy and occupational therapy.
Objective to address (HRC1): Develop and implement strategies to increase the level of name recognition of the Department of Rehabilitation Services within MD Anderson and within the professions of physical therapy and occupational therapy.
Challenge (HRC2): Meeting the educational needs of our internal and external customers
Objective to address (HRC2): Create a culture of education that fosters an environment of continual learning and sharing of knowledge to meet the needs of our internal and external customers.
After getting feedback on these challenges and broad objectives from our staff and key stakeholders the next step will be to begin to identify specific SMART goals (specific, measureable, achievable, realistic and time specific) with actions for completion, time frames and responsible parties.
It is easy to get caught up in the "trees" and lose the big picture here........but as long as we keep grounded in our mission and vision which are :
Mission: “To optimize participation and quality of life of individuals and communities affected by cancer through the development, application and evaluation of best practices in oncology rehabilitation.”
Vision: "The vision of the MD Anderson Department of Rehabilitation is to be the globally recognized leader in the development, implementation and promotion of best practices in oncology rehabilitation, education and research."