Application
This unit of competency specifies the outcomes required to lead the development of high-level strategic plans for an organisation or professional practice. These plans are usually long-term covering three to five years. Establishing financial and non-financial performance indicators, and monitoring them, are critical to success. It requires the analysis of the environment, identification of risks and opportunities, and specification of strategic directions for the organisation or practice. The unit also addresses annual operational planning to support the strategic plan, including planning staffing requirements and succession planning.
The unit supports the work involved in serving the vision and mission of an organisation. It applies to senior managers and owners who provide the strategic direction and planning for the organisation.
No licensing, legislative, regulatory, or certification requirements apply to this unit of competency at the time of endorsement.
Elements and Performance Criteria
Elements describe the essential outcomes. | Performance criteria describe the performance needed to demonstrate achievement of the element. Where bold italicised text is used, further information is detailed in the range of conditions. | ||
1. | Initiate the strategic planning process. | 1.1. | Owners and senior staff are extensively consulted to determine the parameters that will be used for the planning process, including timeframes and budget. |
1.2. | Current strategic planning documents are analysed to determine a methodology that is in keeping with the organisation’s needs and past practice. | ||
1.3. | Stakeholders who will contribute to the plan’s development are identified. | ||
1.4. | Planning methodology is developed and a project plan, including resource allocation, is documented. | ||
2. | Conduct an environmental and organisational scan. | 2.1. | Extensive research is conducted of local and international best practice and trends in the organisation’s field of operation. |
2.2. | Demographic and trend data is identified, collected and analysed to provide profiling information about the organisation’s market. | ||
2.3. | Industry intelligence relating to competitors is collected and analysed. | ||
2.4. | Key strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats (SWOT) to the organisation are identified. | ||
2.5. | Major risk factors are identified that could constrain the achievement of organisational goals in the short, medium and long term. | ||
2.6. | Stakeholders are consulted to identify issues and expectations affecting the organisation’s operations. | ||
3. | Lead the establishment of organisational key directions and goals. | 3.1. | Processes to engage staff and stakeholders in establishing the major goals of the organisation are developed and implemented during the predetermined planning period. |
3.2. | Leadership is provided to establish the vision, mission and key goals of the organisation for the planning period. | ||
3.3. | Leadership to establish the organisation’s key result areas for the period of the plan is provided. | ||
4. | Lead the development of the plan’s key activities and performance indicators. | 4.1. | Processes and delegations are put in place and managed to develop detailed activities to achieve the organisation’s goals. |
4.2. | Processes and delegations are put in place and managed to develop specific performance indicators to enable the measurement of success. | ||
4.3. | Resourcing levels to enable the plan to be enacted are costed and budgeted. | ||
4.4. | Strategies are developed and applied to gain staff and stakeholder commitment to the process and the plan. | ||
4.5. | Sign-off and commitment to finalised strategic plan are obtained from stakeholders and participants. | ||
5. | Manage the implementation process. | 5.1. | Development of necessary tactical or operational annual plans is lead and managed across the organisation to facilitate implementation of longer-term strategic plan. |
5.2. | Prioritising and human, financial and capital resourcing of programs or operational tactics are planned and conducted. | ||
5.3. | Changed processes or practices to support implementation are analysed and planned. | ||
5.4. | Succession planning and other human resource development strategies are enacted to ensure long-term viability of organisation. | ||
5.5. | Strategies to skill the workforce in order to enact the plan are put in place. | ||
5.6. | Communication processes are put in place to inform and support staff and stakeholders during required change and implementation process. | ||
6. | Manage the evaluation process. | 6.1. | Processes to monitor performance against agreed benchmarks and performance indicators are put in place and enacted. |
6.2. | Outcomes of the strategic and operational plans are monitored in line with agreed processes. | ||
6.3. | Review or refinement of activities is undertaken in light of changing conditions to ensure the attainment of the strategic plan’s goals. | ||
Evidence of Performance
A person demonstrating competency in this unit must satisfy the requirements of the elements, performance criteria, foundation skills and range of conditions of this unit.
The person must also consult and coordinate to initiate and implement a high-level strategic planning process for one organisation.
In doing the above, the person must:
identify and analyse a body of research to identify industry trends and organisational requirements, including:
examples of industry best practice
industry intelligence
demographic trends and other market profiling
stakeholder interests and needs
use communication and management skills to design and drive a strategic planning process
develop a strategic plan that reflects organisational needs and positions the organisation for success, underpinned by sound financial and other analysis
source and engage resources and staff commitment to ensure implementation of the detailed tactics required for organisation’s success.
Evidence of Knowledge
A person demonstrating competency in this unit must demonstrate knowledge of:
contractual requirements and implications for the organisation
financial management requirements and processes of the organisation
industry trends, including changes to technology
organisational resource requirements to undertake projects
processes and procedures for goal setting and activity setting
regulatory and licensing arrangement and potential changes
risk management processes
strategic and operational planning processes, including:
environmental analysis
strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats (SWOT)
establishing a vision and mission
establishing key performance indicators and performance measures.
Assessment Conditions
The following must be present and available to learners during assessment activities:
equipment:
computer with internet access
telephone
materials:
historical and current company information
contingencies:
objections to elements of the plan from a staff or stakeholders
physical conditions:
established organisation requiring strategic planning.
Timeframe:
according to organisational requirements.
Assessor requirements
As a minimum, assessors must satisfy the assessor requirements in the Standards for Registered Training Organisations (RTOs) current at the time of assessment.
Foundation Skills
This section describes the language, literacy, numeracy and employment skills essential to performance in this unit but not explicit in the performance criteria. | |
Skill | Performance feature |
Learning skills to: | develop and implement a methodology to research, produce and lead a strategic plan identify reliable sources of information on industry best practice and trends lead change management involved in plan implementation. |
Numeracy skills to: | interpret numerical data, including statistical analysis of market research in research findings prepare and manage budgets and financial plans for resourcing plan roll-out. |
Oral communication skills to: | lead discussions and obtain precise information using questioning skills motivate and persuade staff and stakeholders to commit to strategic plans. |
Reading skills to: | interpret complex information, including market research reports, industry sector analyses and competitor information available in the public domain. |
Writing skills to: | prepare reports to support strategic plans based on research findings and staff and stakeholder consultations. |
Initiative and enterprise skills to: | develop strategies to gain staff and stakeholder support for strategic plans. |
Planning and organising skills to: | develop goals and operational plans for the organisation establish a vision and mission set strategic directions. |
Range Statement
This section specifies work environments and conditions that may affect performance. Essential operating conditions that may be present (depending on the work situation, needs of the candidate, accessibility of the item, and local industry and regional contexts) are included. Bold italicised wording, if used in the performance criteria, is detailed below. | |
Best practice and trends must include: | emerging or changed use of technologies company structures, including trends towards: changed ownerships merged or diversified organisations multi-service organisations new or changing levels and ranges of services. |
Industry intelligence | data available from industry associations information gained through industry networks market research published reports on industry composition search of publicly available annual reports for listed companies search of publicly available business records. |
Risk factors to be considered must include: | access to skilled workforce change to regulatory or licensing environment changing client requirements cyclical changes within the industry or region difficulties associated with nature or complexity of project itself difficulties inherent to site difficulty in accessing funds emergence of new technologies ill health of principal or key staff legal proceedings reliance on gaining input from external professionals in a timely manner requirement to operate within a complex and rigid regulatory and compliance system strength of existing or new competitors tightened economic environment time delays due to the planning process work health and safety (WHS). |
Resourcing levels to be considered must include: | consultant costs funding of organisation’s expansion human resources infrastructure new marketing effort and costs. |
Sectors
Common