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Incorporate Strategic Planning
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Definition
Strategic Planning is the cornerstone of implementing and sustaining the Correctional Industries Best Practices Model.
Strategic planning is an organization ‘s process of defining its direction, goals, and strategies , and making
decisions on allocating resources pursuant to those strategies. Strategic plans identify what an organization is striving
to achieve and map out the necessary steps needed to be successful. Developing a strategic plan is a multi-step
process with one step building off of another.
In Correctional Industries (CI), having a strategic plan is vital. A strategic plan shouldclearly define goals and
measurements to assess both the internal and external situations. Formulating a strategic plan, implementing the
strategies, evaluating progress and making adjustments as necessary will keep the CI’s purpose and direction on the
right track.
A strategic plan includes having vision and mission statements that describe what you are doing and where you want to
go. The vision and mission of a CI organization should include a focus on training and reentry, as well as the business
aspects of the organization.
Rationale/Benefits
Strategic planning is a very important business activity that
can be highly effective when incorporated in CI. No matter
where your organization is in its development, it is always
important to evaluate where it is currently, where you want it to
be, and when. Strategic Planning is the process used in
setting goals that will help lead the organization to success.
A strategic plan is dynamic, yet practical, and serves as a
guide to implementing programs, evaluating how these
programs are doing and making adjustments when necessary.
A strategic plan reflects the needs of the organization and
customers, and will integrate them with the organization’s
purpose, mission, and vision into a single document. The development of a plan requires much probing, discussion,
and examination of the views of the leaders who are responsible for the plan’s preparation. It is an excellent process in
evaluating an organization and will provide a plan for incorporating best practices into daily processes.
The purpose of strategic planning is to assist CI in establishing priorities that will better serve the needs of incarcerated
individuals, employees and stakeholders.
Practices
1. Determine the current state of your Correctional Industry
In order to determine the future direction of the organization, it is necessary to understand its current position and the
possible avenues through which it can pursue particular courses of action. This is harder than it looks. Some leaders
see their organization how they want it to be, not how it actually appears to others.
Generally, the strategic planning process starts with at least one of four key questions:
What do we do?
For whom do we do it?
What do we want to look like?
How do we excel?
For an accurate picture of your Correctional Industry, conduct external and internal analysis to get a clear
understanding of your organization’s competencies. Reviews may include conducting a SWOT (Strengths, Weakness,
Opportunities, Threats) analysis, as well as reviewing departmental goals/strategies, legislation, core values,
stakeholder and customer feedback, etc. The review should include an analysis of the focus of each industry and its
culture.
2. Identify what’s important
Focus on where you want to take your organization over time. This sets the direction of the CI program over the long
term and clearly defines the vision and mission of what your future organization should look like. From this analysis,
you can determine the priority issues—those issues so significant to the overall well-being of your CI program that they
require the full and immediate attention of the entire management team. The strategic plan should focus on three to five
key goals. Remember to include safety and security within CI operations, as they are critical to the sustainability of the
CI program.
3. Define what you must achieve
Define the expected goals that clearly state what the
organization must achieve to address the identified priority
issues. Review validated research and proven programs to
help define objectives, strategies and performance measures.
Define the what, how and when of data collection. Reach out
to other agencies, universities and research institutes to
determine data availability.
4. Write a word essay – Evaluate long-term sustainability
Define the resources and budget necessary to continually fund efforts to achieve the goals. Write a word essay – Evaluate revenue, reserve
fund balance, future capital investments, and ability to obtain grant funds.
5. Determine who is accountable
This is how to get to where you want to go. The strategies, action plans, and budgets are all steps in the process that
effectively communicate how you will allocate time, human capital, and funding to address the priority issues and
achieve the defined goals and objectives. It is recommended that each goal is assigned to an individual or group to
champion its progression.
6. Obtain Buy-In
Involve staff, incarcerated individuals and stakeholders in the creation, implementation and progress of the strategic
plan. Success towards goals will be difficult to achieve without the cooperation of these core groups.
7. Review, Review, Review
To ensure the plan performs as designed, regularly scheduled formal reviews of performance measures must be
completed. Review the process and refine as necessary. Champions should meet regularly, at least quarterly, to report
on progress, barriers and successes. Progress should be reported to key stakeholders continually, but not less than
annually. Clear and concise reporting can be accomplished through the use of dashboards, providing textual and visual
summaries of key indicators.
Measurements
Identify key data sets to track, report and gauge success. Sample measurements include:
Incarcerated individual jobs available
Recidivism rate for CI-trained workers at one and three years after release
Certifications awarded to incarcerated individuals
Portfolio of accomplishments for incarcerated individuals
Incarcerated individuals trained in soft-skill training programs
Incarcerated individuals receiving job readiness training
Job readiness assessments conducted
CI worker referrals to business community
Incarcerated individuals securing employment within 90 days of release.
Incarcerated individuals retaining employment at 6 months
Earnings received at 6 months after entry into employment
Post-release employment services
Letters of reference issued
Collection of restitution, room and board, victim’s funds, family support, etc.
Employee satisfaction
Community and State partnerships
Customer satisfaction rates
Customer complaints
Sales
On-time deliveries
Safety violations
Employee training hours
CI worker training hours
Resources
Publications
Antonowicz, D.H., Ross, R. R. (1994). Essential Components of Successful Rehabilitation Programs for Offenders.
International Journal of Offender Therapy and Comparative Criminology, 38 (2), 97-104.
Blanchard, K. (2009). Leading at a Higher Level: Blanchard on Leadership and Creating High Performing Organizations
. Upper Saddle River, NJ: FT Press
Bradford, R., Duncan, P., Tarcy, B. (2000). Simplified Strategic Planning: A No-nonsense Guide for Busy People Who
Want Results Fast! Worcester, MA: Chandler House Press.
Collins, J., Porras, J. (1994). Built to Last. New York: HarperCollins Publishers.
David, F. R. (2009) Strategic Get research paper samples and course-specific study resources under homework for you course hero writing service – Manage ment (14 Ed.). New York: Macmillan Publishing Company. (Dr. David also
maintains a strategic planning web site, Checkmate Plan)
Flaherty, Carol and Zonis Associates. (2007). Building Culture Strategically: A Team Approach for Corrections.
Available at https://s3.amazonaws.com/static.nicic.gov/Library/021749.pdf
Waal, A. A. (2010 – Essay Writing Service: Write My Essay by Top-Notch Writer). The characteristics of a high performing organization. Business Strategy Series, 8 (3) 2010 – Essay Writing Service: Write My Essay by Top-Notch Writer.
Available at https://www.hpocenter.nl/wp-content/uploads/2013/07/Business-Strategy-Series-2007-HPO.pdf
Washington State Institute for Public Policy. (2006 – Write a paper; Professional research paper writing service – Best essay writers). Evidence-Based Public Policy Options to Reduce Future Prison
Construction, Criminal Justice Costs, and Crime Rates. Available at
http://www.wsipp.wa.gov/ReportFile/952/Wsipp_Evidence-Based-Public-Policy-Options-to-Reduce-Future-PrisonConstruction-Criminal-Justice-Costs-and-Crime-Rates_Full-Report.pdf
Workforce Investment Act (WIA) Performance Measures
Websites
https://www.nist.gov/baldrige/
Baldrige Performance Excellence Program website
https://nicic.gov/apex-building-model-and-beginning-journey
https://nicic.gov/applying-apex-tools-organizational-assessment
https://nicic.gov/achieving-performance-excellence-influence-leadership-organizational-performance
Achieving Performance Excellence (APEX)
https://www.ncja.org/strategic-planning/planning-guide
U.S. Department of Justice Strategic Planning
Tools
https://ctb.ku.edu/en/table-of-contents/assessment/assessing-community-needs-and-resources/swot-analysis/main
SWOT analysis (Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats) is used to analyze internal strategic factors,
strengths and weaknesses attributed to the organization, and external factors beyond control of the organization.
http://www.aca.org/ACA_Prod_IMIS/ACA_Member/Standards___Accreditation/ACA_Member/Standards_and_Accreditation/SAC_AboutUs.aspx?
hkey=7f4cf7bf-2b27-4a6b-b124-36e5bd90b93d
ACA Standards, an additional tool used in organizational analysis
https://www.bain.com/publications/articles/management-tools-balanced-scorecard.aspx
Balanced Scorecards create a systematic framework for strategic planning.
Dashboards, or visual web graphics, are tools to display progress towards goals.
Sample Dashboard
https://www.businessballs.com/pestanalysisfreetemplate.htm
PEST analysis (Political, Economic, S ocial, and Technological)
https://asq.org/learn-about-quality/root-cause-analysis/overview/overview.html
Root Cause Analysis (RCA): Used to understand the threats, barriers, and challenges to achieving the end state.
https://sloanreview.mit.edu/article/scenario-planning-a-tool-for-strategic-thinking/
Scenario planning : originally used in the military and recently used by large corporations to analyze future scenarios
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Quick Links
The links below are provided
for more information.
The National Correctional
Industries Association (NCIA)
website
The National Institute of
Corrections (NIC) website
NIC Micro-sites
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Success Stories
“The Strategic Planning Process allowed us to take a good hard look at our organization, focusing on what we do well and where we needed to improve to move
NC Correction Enterprises forward. Since the inception of our five year strategic plan we have remained focused on our goals, resulting in the delivery of specific,
measurable results for our organization. I am always excited to review the quarterly results to see what we have accomplished.” —Karen A. Brown, Director NC
Correction Enterprises
“The Maryland Correctional Enterprises Strategic Business Plan has been a driving force of our organization since its implementation in September of 2000. Like
our industry, our strategic plan is constantly evolving so that we can better serve our customers, our employees, and our inmate workforce. Considering the
diverse range of activities in our business, our strategic plan helps to increase communication and understanding throughout our organization so that we are
working to accomplish a unified mission. By assessing our successes and shortcomings we are able to take pride in our accomplishments while making changes
to promote success in our future.” —Steve Shiloh, CEO Maryland Correctional Enterprises
Correctional Industries
A Guide to Reentry-Focused Performance Excellence
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