LouisvilleJefferson County MSD Blueprint 2025 Integrating Strategy and

Louisville-Jefferson County MSD Blueprint 2025: Integrating Strategy and Innovation to Drive Organizational Transformation September 4, 2019

Louisville MSD Highlights • Wastewater, stormwater and flood protection services • Serve over 755, 000 people in greater Louisville area • Own and operate o 5 wastewater treatment facilities (155 mgd) o 3200 miles of sewer pipe o 29 miles of flood wall and levees • 713 employees

Organizational Transformation Opportunity • 2014 -18 Strategic Plan • Employed traditional top down approach • Focused around 8 strategic change initiatives • Objectives for 2019 forward o Transition to maintained excellence o Embrace innovation to foster a culture of engagement and purpose o Create a blueprint for transforming into a Utility of the Future

Strategic Planning Challenge Over two-thirds of large organizations are unhappy with the execution of their strategic plans. While these plans can provide a powerful vision for the future, they almost always fail to empower the organization to make this vision a reality.

Topics to be Covered 1. Engaging staff in organization-wide strategic planning 2. Aligning organizational performance to the strategic plan 3. Maintaining staff engagement throughout the strategic plan implementation 4. Lessons learned

Engaging Staff in Organizational Strategic Planning

Engaging Staff Our Objectives • Assess progress toward existing strategic business plan goals • Develop lessons learned from prior planning efforts • Define the context for future planning • Assess organizational change readiness • Engage MSD staff in values, vision and mission creation • Build commitment to critical success factors • Establish meaningful opportunities to maintain momentum

Engaging Staff Our Approach • Strategic Plan Report Card Survey • Innovation Readiness Survey • Interviews and Focus Groups • Values, Vision, Mission Workshop • Innovation Assess and Aspire Workshop

2014 -2018 Strategic Business Plan Report Card • Scorecard survey asked participants to assess achievement levels of existing strategic business plan • Team assessed survey results to identify potential change blockers and opportunities for improvement • 274 respondents ü Union 30%, Non-Union 70% ü Management 44%, Non-management 56% • Reporting hierarchy (respondent reporting as follows) ü Director/Chief/Executive Directors 19. 0% ü Supervisor/Administrator 56. 2% (nonmanagement)

Innovation Readiness and Ideas Surveys • MSD staff benchmarked the existing environment of innovation using the Water Research Foundation’s Utility Innovation Framework. • Results highlighted the need to improve engagement of staff as well as a process for supporting innovation across organization. • 176 unique ideas were proposed by staff through the simple idea survey.

Interview & Focus Group Key Takeaways Strategic Business Plan • Develop more effective communication from upper management to the front lines as well as interdepartment communication • Increase availability of training to understand other departments’ roles and responsibilities • Document policies and procedures for succession planning and accountability • Execute clear and consistent communication of the value of MSD’s services to the community • Implement robust performance management to track strategic planning initiatives to completion • Implement strategic initiatives to completion and in a timely manner Innovation Environment • Focus innovation efforts on implementing best practices • Combat challenge of staff being at full capacity with day to day responsibilities • Identify key strengths of MSD and mature into possible additional non-rate payer revenue • Leverage regionalization and community partnerships for innovation efforts • Breakdown communication barriers between “silos”

VVM Workshop • Engaged 50 MSD staff from major operating units in 2 -part workshop • Part 1 - Values • • • Review survey and interview results Discussed peer utility experience Conducted SOAR analysis through World Café exercise Reviewed values of industry-leading companies Developed priorities for Values • Part 2 – Vision and Mission • Conducted breakout groups for Vision and Mission development • Conducted heat mapping and sharing sessions to identify key elements for final Vision and Mission Statements • Drafted Critical Success Factors

Innovation Aspiration Workshop • Engaged VVM Workshop Team in 2 -part Workshop • Part 1 – Innovation Assessment o o Evaluated innovation survey results Identified strengths and opportunities Discussed MSD’s legacy of innovation Benchmarked innovation maturity levels • Part 2 – Innovation Aspirations o Reviewed peer utility innovation programs o Identified specific aspirations for MSD innovation through World Café o Set target maturity level o Prioritized building blocks (i. e. , people, process, tools and performance measures) for program development

Aligning Organizational Performance to the Strategic Plan BLUEPRINT MODE

Blueprint for Organizational Performance Management • Organizational goals aligned with Strategic Plan elements • Identifies “outcomes” themes for organization-wide focus for FY 20 -FY 22 • Focuses performance around both daily business activity and implementation of defined initiatives • Sets metric targets for FY 20 and continuous improvement targets for the following 2 years • Division/Department goals aligned with the Organizational goals • Division and department managers outline programmatic initiatives and key outcome areas, along with completion dates and metrics, necessary to support achievement of the common mission • Increases likelihood for successful organization goal attainment • Team/Individual goals aligned with the Division/Department goals • Division and department managers outline specific team-based and individual contributor activities, along with completion dates and metrics, necessary to support achievement of the common mission • Further increases likelihood for successful organization goal attainment Individual Divisional Organizational Goals

Maintaining Staff Engagement Throughout Strategic Plan Implementation

Approach for Maintaining Staff Engagement • Utilize continual and multi-media communications • • Onboarding Staff meetings Newsletters Video spots • Align staff performance competencies and appraisal elements with strategic plan • Conduct interviews and focus groups for development of initiatives

Lessons Learned • Organizational transformation should begin as PART of the planning process rather than as a RESULT of planning. • Engagement requires leaders to leverage various tools and techniques to provide staff a platform through which they connect. • Innovation is a business practice that requires planning and management. • Broad engagement builds tremendous momentum and expectation for change. • Performance expectations must be tied to plan to communicate organizational commitment, prioritization with daily activities and urgency.

Angela Akridge, PE – Chief Strategy Officer Louisville MSD Angela. akridge@louisvillemsd. org 502. 540. 6136 Jason Carter, PE – Strategy & Innovation Leader Arcadis Jason. carter@arcadis. com 205. 253. 2276