Since the late Spring of this year, I have been engaged in the development of our new corporate strategy, which needs to be in place by the 1st of April 2011. Whenever I use the word ‘strategy’, I am always prepared to be met with an expression of fear, because it seems such a lofty and important term, used to express a seemingly complicated process. In my opinion, nothing is further from the truth. For me, a strategy is simply an expression of aspiration: this is where we, as a Library, want to be in three years’ time, and this is how we intend to get there.
In an effort to demystify the Library’s strategic framework, I’d like to tell you about a few of the Library’s key documents, and the way in which they fit into our strategic context.
- The Library’s most important planning document is its corporate strategy. The current document is entitled Shaping the Future, published in October 2008. It outlines the Library’s strategic goals over a three-year period – in this case, from 2008-09 to 2010-11 – and these plans commenced in May 2008.
- The Minister for Heritage issues the annual remit letter at the beginning of each financial year. This letter delineates the priorities and work areas for the following year, as well as detailing the budgets that are to be allocated to the Library as grant-in-aid. As an Assembly Government sponsored body, the Library is expected to contribute to some of the Assembly’s own strategic aims, as noted in its own strategy, (currently One Wales); these priorities are listed clearly in the remit letter.
- The remit letter also instructs the Library on its corporate and operational plans. The strategic and operational priorities for the coming year are listed clearly – these priorities have been agreed with the Library in order to ensure that they correspond with the objectives of Shaping the Future. These are known as the key performance indicators, and the Library submits progress reports on each measure to the Assembly on a quarterly basis.
- The operational plan sets out in detail the work that the Library will undertake in the following year in order to achieve its – and the Assembly’s – strategic aims. Its content is agreed with the Assembly by the beginning of the financial year (that is, the end of April / beginning of May).
- The key performance indicators are listed in an appendix to the operational plan, along with a summary of the Library’s service performance indicators. These are the individual activities that represent the Library’s services – such as conservation, the enquiries service, acquisition, cataloguing, etc. The targets that the Library is expected to achieve by the end of the financial year are also listed; the Library submits a progress report to the Assembly every three months.
- The departmental operational plans focus on the work that each department seeks to complete during the year in order to achieve the Library’s operational aims.
- During the annual assessments, each member of staff is required to discuss and agree their individual work plans for the following year. These plans will often include individual targets, and it is possible that these will contribute to the service performance indicators. These work plans detail how each member of staff contributes directly to the departmental operational plans and, ultimately, the Library’s strategic objectives.
Work on the strategy that is to be implemented on 1 April 2011 is now well underway, but I expect to produce a number of drafts as new information, such as our budget, becomes available later in the autumn. A period of public consultation will be launched around November, and I hope you will send me your thoughts and comments at that time.
Sara Lee Branch
Strategy and Research Manager