California Police Chief- Fall 2013 CPCA_2018_Winter Magazine-FINAL | Page 34

YOUR ROADMAP FOR
MOVING FORWARD
A DEEP DIVE INTO STRATEGIC AND SUCCESSION PLANNING
By Pete Dunbar, Chief of Police, Retired
W
hile agencies have utilized POST Team Building
workshops and other consultants to develop
strategic and succession plans, our members
have been looking for a more expeditious yet collaborative
way to design and implement their plans. The California
Police Chiefs Association (CPCA) developed a course
several years ago to provide the skills to meet these needs
and the class has become a popular staple of the training
courses offered.
The most recent presentation of the class was in Octo-
ber at the Buena Park Police Department and had its largest
attendance since it was created. A pre-class survey of the 42
attendees asked for the status of agency strategic and suc-
cession plans. The results showed that some attendees had
some type of strategic plan, but succession plans are rare,
and out of the class members, only two students reported
they had succession plans.
Strategic and succession planning are both commonly
looked at as processes, but as the class started, the idea that
strategic plan creates change was clear. With change, the
organizational culture might need change, and we all know
how well we handle change. Some call it an attack on the
current relationships and the current business plan but un-
derstanding change management and ways of accomplish-
ing that collaboratively are fundamentally key elements of
the course.
Equally important are the mission and vision. The
vision is meant to be an image or description of the depart-
ment. This section of the class is imperative, without a clear
vision, how do you know the direction you are heading?
During this section the class had an opportunity to design a
vision and present it to the class for feedback.
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“This class was a very productive use of my time and
helped me get motivated toward strategic and successive
plans that will be undertaken soon.”
The remainder of the process involved organizational
assessment and ways to accomplish it quickly yet effec-
tively. Following the assessment, the most important part
of the process is identifying those issues to be addressed
by the plan. Setting goals, strategies and evaluation mea-
sures completed the strategic planning part of the day and
students were asked to complete those on a small scale for
their department.
As part of the class, strategic and succession plans from
other agencies were given to students to assist in their plan
development. Exercises during class were designed to start
that process.
“I found the course materials to be most helpful, espe-
cially the plans from other agencies.”
Succession planning is an option as a goal for an agen-
cy’s strategic plan or can be done alone. The idea behind
succession planning is to commit to staff development to
improve current performance and better prepare employ-
ees for transfer and promotion. While succession planning
comes with no guarantees, it demonstrates an organization-
al effort for development.
Overall, the class left with a feeling of accomplishment
and that Strategic and Succession Planning, though they
have the potential to be daunting, can be productive and
efficient. CPCA plans on offering this course each year, and
I would highly recommend you check it out.
“Thanks for the opportunity and advice to help move
my department further along.” ■