FCM Blog

New Year – New Approaches to Strategic Planning

It seems that 2011 held one challenge after another as nonprofit and government organizations worked at warp speed to survive extreme funding cuts, a dip in donor support, and a dismal economic landscape. Moving into 2012, these challenges call for new approaches in how organizations strategically plan.

Traditional government and nonprofit approaches to plan for the future fall short because of their episodic and linear nature. No sooner has a strategic plan been documented, than many of the assumptions upon which it is based are no longer valid. Strategic planning in concept and application has to be reinvented to foster a culture of planning and marketing strategically with objective data that can drive discussions.

Organizational excellence will come to those that are masters of aligning their internal business processes with their brand strategy, resulting in exceeding the needs and expectations of stakeholders, funders and customers.

Here are the three processes that should be integrated into your approach.

#1: Start with a baseline analysis of your brand.
In the world of nonprofit and government organizations, politics can often drive decisions which is why it’s imperative to gather and analyze relevant data that can give executive team leaders an objective-based understanding of a) how the community perceives the organization and its mission; b) the most urgent issues that are important to the community and key stakeholders; c) how your mission solves any part of these issues and the impacts of these solutions; and d) how the community perceives the need for your services. Examining these data sets can provide clear strategies around developing a brand platform that positions the organization so that donors, funders, volunteers, customers and the community at large understand, value, and support the mission.

#2: Use structured improvement processes to evaluate internal operations.
Private sector companies have long known the value of implementing processes pertaining to quality improvement such as Lean Six Sigma, Total Quality Management, and Change Management. Yet, government and nonprofits often make the mistake of thinking that its staff, partners, board members and volunteers will naturally maximize customer and business processes. These private sector processes can be adapted to government and nonprofit organizations to eliminate customer dissatisfaction, reduce errors, increase speed of service, and optimize process efficiency.

#3: Develop an organizational dashboard that can drive funding decisions.
Planning strategically means that executive teams and managers have the ability to capture ongoing, real-time data that measures the efficiency of internal processes, the perception of the brand externally, and the opportunities that can lead to expanded funding, partnerships and support.

FCM’s unique approach to planning strategically combines private-sector quality improvement processes with marketing and communication strategies that result in streamlined operations, community awareness, strategic partnerships and funding. For a complimentary consultation on our approach and how it would work for your organization, contact us.

FCM Partners in National Workforce Economic Impact Model

A major contributing factor in the struggle to reauthorize the Workforce Investment Act (WIA) has been the system’s lack of ability to collectively report fully-vetted benefit-cost assessment and impact data. The National Association of Workforce Boards (NAWB) conducted a 2011 survey in which the top challenge reported by workforce investment boards (WIBs) across the country was demonstrating success/investment feasibility to funders and elected officials (55%). Only 58% of WIBs actually measure investment effectiveness or impact analysis on WIA and/or non-WIA funded activities.

Herein lies one of the critical challenges facing the system in reauthorization of WIA—the system’s lack of ability to report fully vetted benefit-cost assessment and impact data collectively to demonstrate the system’s effectiveness. Just one published report showcasing a poorly designed methodology can destroy the credibility of the entire system.

Full Capacity Marketing, Inc. (FCM) has joined in a collaborative partnership with the National Association of Workforce Boards (NAWB), and EMSI to undertake a process to design an economic impact scorecard model that examines the economic impact and investment effectiveness of the WIBs’ WIA-funded jobseeker programs, as well as the WIBs’ employer-based services. The NAWB has contracted with three of the nation’s top economists to fully vet the model. Additionally, FCM is developing the communication framework to help WIBs share the results of study. The team of project partners shares the core components required for replication of the study process, including data collection, model development, analysis, and communication of results.

The pilot will be completed in early January, and the team is scheduled to present the findings at the NAWB Annual Forum in March 2012. Read the full press release at http://www.fullcapacitymarketing.com/pressroom.shtml

Sell Internships by Demonstrating Business ROI

Too often, workforce professionals expect businesses to “help” youth by placing them in an internship. Your business customers need to see the value for their company first, and the youth benefits second.

References for Businesses states that many business owners and managers use internship programs as an early opportunity to gauge the talents of a new generation of workers, and to sell themselves as a quality place for students to begin their careers after they graduate.

Employers will bring on more interns this year than they did last year, according to results of a 2010 Internship Survey conducted by the National Association of Colleges and Employers (NACE). The survey shows a 2.9 percent increase in the number of students taking part in employer-sponsored internships. NACE states while this represents a modest increase, it is a significant turnaround from 2009 when the intern hiring rate dropped by more than 20 percent.

It’s your job to sell the opportunity and point out the benefits to the prospective company. Here are a few key messages to help you do so.

• Smart business models include internship programs which are a highly effective tool to recruit future workforce talent.
• Internships are a proven way to nurture potential full time employees; NACE statistics consistently show that 20-25 percent of new hires are sourced from employers’ own internship programs.
• Interns are viable candidates for employees as they are already familiar with the company at the conclusion of the internship.
• Interns are eager to gain experience and perform well, even with less-desirable tasks.
• Interns can lend fresh perspectives to entrenched processes and attitudes that may need an overhaul.

When you have a great success with placing an intern, make sure you interview the company and get a quote as to how it has impacted their business. These stories can go a long way in recruiting future companies to participate.

Are you over-stimulated by the stimulus?

“It’s now or never”.  This was the phrase that echoed most frequently at the National Association of Workforce Board’s (NAWB) 2009 Annual Conference in Washington, D.C., where the hot topic was all about the stimulus package. 

Those states, regions and local areas across the country that have spent the last five years developing the right strategic partnerships are in a place to shine; those that haven’t are struggling to develop high-impact economic strategies.  The “right” partnerships include the private sector, workforce boards, community colleges, economic development professionals, and educators, all of whom have come together for a common, unified goal - - developing the competitive skills of workers to meet the global demands of businesses. 

Those states and regions that are feeling over-stimulated by the package are scrambling now to make those strategic connections and are no doubt behind the power curve, at a time when responding rapidly and garnering results is imperative.

So how are organizations maximizing the use of the stimulus package?  Here are some innovations that came out of the NAWB conference this month.

• Leveraging strategic partnerships to expand their high-growth sector training programs already in place.
• Retraining the large numbers of dislocated workers into high demand occupations with short-term skills training.
• Developing “institutes” of learning with community colleges around high growth sectors, using membership fees for sustainability.
• Using online learning portals for 24/7 training. 
• Deploying street teams and volunteers to target dislocated workers and apply resources quickly.
• Partnering with the news media on outreach and educational campaigns, to communicate how areas are responding to the economic crisis.
• Using social media tools and online forums to get community input, support and engagement with initiatives.
• Building private sector funding matches to create more reach and a higher impact.
• Designing economic scorecards that rank regional and state competitiveness of the workforce.

Full Capacity Marketing, Inc. will be launching some free communication tools and tips within this next quarter that organizations can download to help support the efforts needed to better tell the story of workforce and economic development, and create a call to action to engage the necessary partners during this time of great need. Stay tuned for the download links, and in the mean time happy planning!

Weigh in on our poll this month and let us know how you are using the stimulus, and the challenges your area is facing.

Complex Multi-Partner Initiatives

While it is still too early to understand the full impact of the financial crisis and a slowing economy on government, non-profit, and community-based organizations, Full Capacity Marketing, Inc. (FCM) has been inundated with phone calls from executive directors because they are unsure how to raise enough money to continue providing services.

Some organizations are seeing cuts in city funding as tax revenue, foundation giving, gifts and contributions from corporate and private donors decline simultaneously. Others are awaiting talks with funders to see how they will be affected.

Making the case in this economy for collaboration and multi-partner initiatives is an easy one. Organizations and government agencies are banding together to work on common initiatives that benefit their individual organizations. If like missions, similar goals, or parallel target markets exist between organizations, collaborative initiatives can assist all participating partners in helping to meet both individual and collective goals.

We’ve highlighted many cross-organizational and multi-partner initiatives in EleVate over the past several years that have been highly successful. From the Institute for Sales and Service Excellence [www.ISSExcellence.com], the Biotech Workforce Network [www.BiotechWorkforceNetwork.com] and the GROW Oklahoma campaign [www.GROWOklahoma.com], these multi-partner initiatives had the same formula for success. Each of the participating partners had similar target audiences, missions and goals, but most importantly, a complete consensus among organizations on building an effective brand strategy for its success.

Here are some guidelines for communicating complex and collaborative initiatives involving multiple organizations.

• Understand who’s at the table and their individual motivations for contributing to the initiative.
• Make sure that some of these individual motivations are included in the collaborative goals and objectives for the initiative.
• Have a plan to define brand architecture [ i.e what’s the name of the initiative, will it be a standalone brand or “owned” by one of the partners, how will the partners be linked to the initiative]
• Develop an initiative brand platform with a brand name, mission, vision, and key messages for each identified target audience.
• Create communication platforms that make complex issues understandable including the urgency and relevancy of the initiative and who it serves; the value propositions for the target audiences; a clear call to action.
• Understand what motivates target audiences to take the call to action.
• Set expectations with partners upfront and determine clear roles and responsibilities.
• Have a clearly defined tracking report that indicates key success metrics and milestones.

For more information on successful communication strategies for multi-partner initiatives, go to http://www.fullcapacitymarketing.com/portfolio.shtml.

Shared Youth Vision: Engaging Employers Strategically

In 2004, the Department of Labor Employment and Training Administration [DOL-ETA] developed a new strategic vision to serve at-risk youth in response to the 2003 White House Taskforce Report on Disadvantaged Youth. The Report recommended a need to increase collaboration among youth serving federal agencies to better coordinate how Federal programs serve the neediest youth.

As a result, the Shared Youth Vision (SYV) Federal Collaborative Partnership was formed to include the Department of Labor,  Housing and Urban Development, Health and Human Services, Justice, Education, Transportation,  the U.S. Social Security Administration, and the Corporation for National and Community Service. The goal of the Partnership is to bring these agencies together to better serve youth and assist them with obtaining self sufficiency.

The White House Report identified the neediest youth as dropouts, foster youth, juvenile offenders, children of incarcerated parents, and migrant youth. The Partnership expanded this definition to include American Indian and Alaska Native youth along with youth with disabilities. These youth are an important part of the new workforce “supply pipeline” needed by businesses to fill job vacancies in the knowledge economy. 

Over the past three years, the SYV has worked at both the state and local levels to meet the needs of the nation’s most vulnerable youth. Other activities undertaken by the SYV include sponsoring a series of forums in 2004 and 2006, selecting 16 states to serve as catalyst in the implementation of their shared youth vision, conducting a pilot project to demonstrate the effectiveness of state-level partnerships and programmatic outcomes, and developing an overall technical assistance plan to infuse the collaborative vision throughout the country.

The 16 states include Alabama, Arizona, Arkansas, Delaware, Florida, Iowa, Kansas, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, New Hampshire, Ohio, Oklahoma, Rhode Island and Utah. Each state is in a different stage of the process in terms of building collaborations and creating systems and strategies to work more effectively across agencies in targeting needy youth.

The SYV is a systems-building initiative that ultimately will support employers, by addressing worker shortages and pipeline issues. However, effective systems can be built only if employers understand the critical workforce issues and how they impact their business and the economy.  To advance public/private partnerships for the SYV requires that businesses and employers understand three elements of the initiative including:

1) the urgency and relevancy of the SYV to their world;
2) the “products” that arise out of the SYV and its value proposition for them; and
3) the ways in which they can engage as a partner in the SYV.

The Department of Labor has contracted with Full Capacity Marketing, Inc. to assist one of the states in an in-depth strategic pilot process to build upon the collaborations and planning that has taken place to date. FCM will assist the selected state partners in:

1) identifying the “products” for businesses and employers that arise out of the SYV;
2) defining value proposition for engagement;
3) integrating outreach efforts of the SYV partners, and
4) developing systems to leverage business and employer relationships for funding, in-kind support and resources for the state’s SYV plan.

For more information on the Department of Labor’s Shared Youth Vision, go to http://www.doleta.gov/ryf/whitehousereport/vmo.cfm.

Government Agencies: The Role in Place Branding

Branding a place is serious business. Economic developers, chambers of commerce, city and county governments, and business leaders know that to attract new businesses, they must have a viable and thriving brand that offers a solid business climate and supports business development.

Anholt’s City Brand Index is an analytical ranking of the world’s city brands. Released quarterly, the Index surveys and analyzes nearly 20,000 consumers in 18-20 countries once a year to determine how cities are perceived by others. The Index is comprised of six components including:

• Presence – a city’s status and standing
• Place – a city’s beauty, climate and other physical attributes
• Potential – a city’s economic and educational opportunities
• Pulse – a city’s appeal and lifestyle
• People – a city’s friendliness, openness, cultural diversification and safety
• Pre-requisites – a city’s basic qualities, including hotels, schools, public transport and sports.

There is no doubt that city and county governments can have a significant impact on these six factors that in turn, can influence people’s decision to visit the city, to buy its products or services, and/or to do business or relocate there. Citizens’ perceptions and understanding of its government entities can play a dramatic role in building equity for place branding. Government agencies must have an understanding of how to proactively create a brand strategy that is integrated into every aspect of its operational structure, and one that its citizens comprehend, appreciate, and support.

A good first step for government agencies to integrate place branding as part of their overall strategy is to conduct both internal and external surveys around customer perceptions. Internal surveys can take the form of mystery shopping in which objective research is obtained about government services through the eyes of its citizens. Uncovering strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats will assist government agencies in better aligning their services with the relevant needs of its citizens and ultimately play a role in positioning the region as one that is appealing to visit, conduct business, and/or relocate.

For more information on how to leverage place branding concepts, contact Full Capacity Marketing, Inc. at info@fullcapacitymarketing.com or call (858) 793-6694.

Regionalism and Effective Collaboration

A branding tool for workforce development
By Celina Shands Gradijan

Either by mistake or by choice, communities have their unique brands that create a specific image in the minds of its residents, businesses and tourists.

Paris is associated with romance; New York is high energy; while Washington's story is all about power. Other communities have had to re-brand and overcome negative images.  For years, Cleveland was known as the “mistake on the lake”,  but has been successful in re-branding itself as a vibrant city with their new tagline “Cleveland Rocks”.  These images play a vital role in cultivating economic growth and prosperity, and a community’s ability to attract and/or retain businesses, residents and tourists.

There has been a growing and positive trend toward regionalism in which neighboring cities and counties collaborate to build a unique brand identity for their region. Economic developers, chambers of commerce, city and county governments, and business leaders know that to attract new businesses, they must have a viable and thriving regional brand that offers a solid business climate and supports business development. How can workforce development leverage this growing trend?

There are multiple factors in branding a region as a great place to conduct business. Workforce availability tops the list. Relocation surveys consistently show that an available skilled workforce continues to rank high on the list of business’ needs. 

Both states and regions are aggressively competing to build an effective brand that touts its uniqueness in creating a superior business climate.  This is a prime opportunity for workforce investment boards to convene regional leaders and create a comprehensive regional workforce and economic development strategic plan, with a regional brand strategy as one of the prime outcomes. By positioning workforce issues as a core barrier to regionalism, workforce investment boards can create the urgency for other regional leaders to collaborate in building a thriving business climate.

If your region is continuing to work in silos and has not made the leap to merge economic and workforce development strategies – now is the time.   Working with your economic development leaders, consider undertaking an objective analysis of all of your region’s business climate factors with the goal of creating a regional brand that can be collaboratively promoted. The list includes:

• Workforce availability
• Business and income tax levels
• Energy costs
• Market size
• Quality of services
• Cost of living
• Quality of life
• Environmental regulation
• Permitting, licensing, and various reporting regulations
• Real estate costs and availability
• Infrastructure
• Access to financing and capital
• Incentives

If you’d like more information on building a regional brand, contact us at info@fullcapacitymarketing.com, or catch our presentation at:

Regional Economic and Workforce Development Summit 2007
Muskogee, Oklahoma – March 8-9, 2007

The Eastern Workforce Investment Board (EWIB) convenes key community leaders in business, economic development, education and workforce development to create a regional strategic workforce and economic development plan. Celina Shands Gradijan, Full Capacity Marketing, Inc., will conduct general sessions on the impact of workforce challenges in the region, and effective regional collaboration. For more information, contact Debi Busch at dbusch@easternwib.com.

Collaboration And Regionalism: Removing The Barriers

The Council on Competitiveness highlights five key factors to successful regional innovation and collaboration.  These include 1) promotion of regionalism; 2) building and retaining talent; 3) transitioning to advanced manufacturing; 4) networking knowledge assets; and 5) energizing the entrepreneurial economy.  Creating a thriving business climate within these five factors takes collaboration among economic and workforce development leaders, chambers of commerce, education, businesses and government. Many times collaboration stalls because one or more of these partners do not see the urgency in creating a regional economic force.

What are the barriers to regional collaboration in addressing these key success factors?  Many of them revolve around fear of losing individual brand identities; concerns of decreased budgets; and turf issues around customer bases.  These stakeholders need to understand their role as a regional "brand ambassador" that contributes to building a competitive advantage to recruit, retain, and grow businesses and regional wealth.

When addressing regionalism, it's important to solidify a framework upfront for working through the fears of a collaborative regional strategic plan of action that includes both workforce and economic development components.

Oklahoma’s eastern regional workforce development leaders convened key community stakeholders in business, economic development, education and workforce development at a recent summit.  The objective was to begin to create a regional strategic workforce and economic development plan that can grow, retain and attract businesses in the eastern, northeastern and southeastern parts of the state.   

The Oklahoma Department of Commerce has developed an "economic development building block model" that provided the framework for the eastern regional teams.

Building Block Model
From Oklahoma Department of Commerce

Summit leaders created a framework with break-out sessions targeting each of the six building blocks to examine future trends and issues, desired states, and perceived barriers to regional success.  The information will be used by the Regional Economic Development Council that has been formed to drive the outcomes from the summit and develop a draft strategic plan for community review.  The key to regional collaboration is to ensure that each area maintains its unique identity, while contributing to the overall success of the regional business climate. 

While regional collaboration can be a daunting task, a first step is creating a common framework to ensure all partners agree on the definition of a successful business climate. For more information on the eastern Oklahoma Summit and the Regional Economic Development Council's next steps, go to http://www.easternwib.com/

Opinion: Cause-related marketing leverages nonprofit money

By Holly Cuoco & Josh Brown - 4/17/2006
Springfield Business Journal Staff

Leveraging marketing dollars for nonprofits is like selling swimsuits to polar bears.

In tough economic times, donations drop, government budgets tighten, and grants become more competitive. Service and awareness must remain high to make nonprofits viable; the priority is always the service.

Finding the balance between service and awareness is difficult, but the concept of cause-related marketing shows a balance can be found.

Cause-related marketing unites for-profit business with the cause of services provided by nonprofits. High-profile partnerships, such as The Lance Armstrong Foundation and Nike, American Cancer Society’s Relay for Life and McAlister’s Deli, and Avon’s crusade for breast cancer research and awareness show how cause-related marketing works.

For instance, Nike has developed the 10/2 cycling apparel line, named after the month and day in 1996 Armstrong was diagnosed with cancer. For each 10/2 product sold – the most popular item is the yellow LIVESTRONG bracelet – Nike donates $1 to Armstrong’s foundation to support those living with cancer.

Similarly, Avon has raised and donated more than $400 million since 1992 to fight breast cancer.

A ton of work goes into bringing these partnerships to life, but service remains high and awareness is even higher.

Celina Shands Gradijan of Full Capacity Marketing spent time with the Missouri Association of Workforce Development during the annual conference April 3–5 at Lodge of the Four Seasons on Lake of the Ozarks. She discussed the value of these partnerships by asking three questions: What is in it for the business? What is in it for nonprofits? And, why is involvement crucial?

What is in it for the business?

Eighty-three percent of Americans have a more positive image of companies who support a cause that they individually think is important. Sixty-six percent of those surveyed have more trust in companies associated with issues of social concern. When price and quality are equal, nearly two thirds of the general public said that they would switch to a brand associated with a good cause.

Consumers expect businesses to commit to moral causes and believe it is good business practice to participate in cause-related marketing. These statistics show a business can increase its profitability, improve its productivity, and raise its perceived value.

What is in it for the nonprofit?

The answer to this question is clear: the nonprofit increases its market awareness, raises its market penetration rates and leverages a higher return on investment with little or no money spent. The nonprofit is responsible for maintaining a clear and open relationship with its partner businesses earning the opportunity to carry out its objectives, focusing its scarce resources on the services associated with its cause.

Why is involvement crucial?

Resources are limited, and effective partnerships extend resources allowing the partners to get the most bang for their

buck. Businesses are short on manpower, and nonprofits are short on money.

Effective partnering creates a win-win situation. For both sides of the partnership, important questions need to be asked:

• Who are you trying to reach and why?

• Who are potential partners, sponsors or community groups, and what would they contribute?

• How would this project idea benefit everyone involved?

• What are the roles for each partner?

• What is the budget for this project?

Addressing these questions will allow you to see who would be effective partners. Shands said, “Remember, you have to get enough people on board to move the train.”

At the Missouri Career Center, we’re trying to model this partnering method.

We are working with Missouri’s Statewide Marketing Taskforce, chartered to improve the image of the public work force system. This team of marketing practitioners from all the regions from Missouri and the state work force agencies, meets quarterly to develop marketing guidelines, training/desk aids and marketing campaign best-practices. Shands met with this team at the conference as an information share/strategic planning discussion.

We anticipate increased awareness of the services that the public work force system can provide; helping businesses decrease human resource costs by brokering qualified applicants to job needs; and helping businesses access skills development and tax credit opportunities.

In our industry, we talk about “being the best-kept secret” by becoming a catalyst of change. This allows both the nonprofit and the business to gain more visibility.

Is your business a best-kept secret, too? Small businesses don’t always know what avenues to take or what service opportunities are available to them.

How do you plan to build your business’ future? Do you need to take a look at cause-related marketing opportunities in your local region and not only get on board the train but become the engineer? Do you have a ticket to ride? All aboard!

Josh Brown and Holly Cuoco are work force development specialists for the city of Springfield. They work at the Missouri Career Center and can be reached at jbrown@jcocmis.org and hcuoco@jcocmis.org, respectively.