CC - Agendas - City Council - STUDY SESSION - 2/14/2023

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Community First - Courage, Grit, and Duty - Driven by Excellence Page 26 Environmental Scan – Objective Factors While the first phase of the stakeholder process assessed the “heart” of the organization, the environmental scan is the “head” of this effort. This is a more rigorous process in terms of finding factual features in the community that impact the future ability of the city to provide services. The first step is to evaluate the external and internal organizational environment. The internal planning team combined feedback from the citizen forum, the internal survey results, and their collective knowledge of the organization and the community to assess the environment in which the district operates. The 2019 and 2022 process found very similar results and further validate the environmental factors in play. 2019 Strategic Plan SWOT Analysis To properly formulate strategic initiatives, the internal planning team had to evaluate the external and internal organizational environment. The internal planning team combined feedback from the citizen forum, the internal survey results, and their collective knowledge of the organization and the community to assess the environment in which the district operates. Analyzing the organization’s strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats (SWOT) is the first step in identifying actionable strategies for the future. The internal survey results of the SWOT were condensed and prioritized by the internal planning team. Strengths The identification of organizational strengths is the first step in the environment scan. An organization’s strengths identify its capability of providing the services requested by its customers. The organization needs to make certain that its strengths are consistent with the issues it faces. Programs that do not match organizational strengths or primary functions should be reviewed to evaluate the rate of return on precious staff time. The internal planning team identified the following core department strengths: Human Capital Resilience /Adaptability Reputation/Community Perception Weaknesses Organizational weaknesses, or lack of performance, are also an important environmental scan element. To move forward, the organization must honestly identify the issues that have created barriers to success in the past. Weak areas needing improvement are not the same as challenges, which will be identified later, but rather those day-to-day issues and concerns that may slow or inhibit progress. Internal organizational issues, as identified by the planning team, are typically issues that are at the heart of an agency’s problems. The internal planning team identified the following core department weaknesses: Financial Lack of Sufficient Personnel Number and Conditions of Stations Ability to Conduct Training 105