Keeping Score: Virginia Capitalizes on Staff Insight and Experience During Budget Challenges

• NCJ Number: 206965
• Journal: Corrections Today Magazine Volume: 66 Issue: 5 Dated: August 2004 Pages: 58-62
• Author(s): R. Stephen Smith
• Date Published: August 2004
• Length: 5 pages
• Publication Format: Article
• Publication Type: Program Description (Model)
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America

Annotation

This article describes the pilot process within the Virginia Department of Corrections that is designed to accomplish their institutional and community-based public safety mission within a restricted budget.

Abstract

Resources are being reduced and budgets are tightening within the American correctional system. While it is difficult for correctional agencies to do little more than survive under such fiscally restricted conditions, four Virginia State correctional institutions have developed a pilot process designed to balance the restricted budget with opportunities for workforce development at their sites. To accomplish their goals, the pilot process emphasizes the comprehensive alignment of management tools to focus employees on forward-looking goals. Four key elements are central to this process: strategic planning, human capital, goal setting, and total compensation support. The emphasis on human capital underscores the contribution that individual employees make to the agency as a whole, while strategic planning continually re-emphasizes the vision, values, and mission statements so that they are familiar to all staff. The Virginia agencies go through a four-stage strategic planning process, which takes about 6 to 9 months. The first stage, the strategic formulation stage, involves a “readiness” check of the agency’s management practices, while the second stage, the strategic development stage, utilizes human capital by asking employees to brainstorm about the vision and mission of the agency. The third stage, the strategic implementation stage, employs a constant dialog among site management to ensure proper plan implementation, while the final stage, the strategic evaluation stage, employs a feedback and evaluation process. An emphasis on goal setting is used as a tool to retain the original vision and goals of the agency created during the strategic planning phase. The final element of the pilot process is a total compensation program that rewards employees for performance. This process involving the elements of human capital, strategic planning, goal setting, and employee rewards provides a sense of shared vision and helps overcome employee indifference. Figures, endnotes