Planning is one of the primary responsibilities of management. The purpose is to ensure a clear course of action and facilitate coordination and the best use of resources. Good planning is the foundation of an organization and a sign of organizational effectiveness.
Planning in Queen’s Advancement has certainly evolved over the years. Last year, the process was facilitated by Avon MacFarlane, ACM Consulting, and took seven weeks. This year, we are using the same general planning framework as last, but with some improvements.
Last year, at the 2022-23 Planning Launch we talked about learnings from the pandemic, areas we wanted to be the best at, and impediments to our success. During the deep-dive planning sessions for Fundraising, Alumni Engagement, and Internal Operations, we narrowed our focus to develop a list of priorities for the year. The list of priorities far outstripped capacity, so ALT worked to reduce the list of priorities to 14. In the weeks following the deep-dive sessions, priority owners were tasked with turning the 14 priorities into SMART objectives and tactics. Finalization of the plan was then delayed to account for a review of faculty plans.
This year, in advance of our formal planning sessions, many discussions took place between departments and faculties to develop a shared understanding of operational/programmatic plans for 2023-24. At the same time, ALT finalized a list of seven priorities that Advancement, as a collective, would focus on moving forward in 2023-24. We entered the Planning Launch on March 2 with this information in hand and communicated the following priorities to the management team:
• Campaign Planning
• CASE-aligned philanthropic counting
• Fundraising priority-setting process
• Donor Relations review implementation
• Gift Planning review implementation
• Employee Engagement Survey action plan
• Participate in Phase 0 Enterprise Engagement Tools
Note: Similar to individual PDPs, these seven priorities represent objectives over and above our responsibilities for core operational work.
The following week we had three deep-dive days centred on three pillars – Fundraising, Alumni Engagement and Internal Operations – where the seven priorities were turned into SMART objectives and tactics developed. Groups also reviewed the operating/programmatic plans for each unit.
At this point, we are far ahead of where we were at the same time last year.
Next Steps
Over the next several weeks, service and support areas will look at resource optimization – matching the available resources with the needs of Advancement in order to support operational/programmatic work first, and then as it relates to the annual plan for the seven priorities.
Once the plan is finalized and the new fiscal year begins, we will track our objectives and tactics, revisiting and making necessary changes throughout the year.
Employee Wellness
By Carla Ferreira Rodrigues
In 2021, Principal and Vice-Chancellor Patrick Deane announced the expansion of employee-focused wellness services (EWS). As part of this commitment and investment, a new unit within Central Human Resources was formed called Employee Wellness Services. During this time, the team has grown with the addition of wellness positions to advance this important work and respond to the growing needs and demand for services focused on supporting employee wellbeing, including developing year-round employee resources and services focused on preventative physical and mental health.
EWS created a PowerPoint that serves as a directory, consolidating the mental-health resources and services to support and encourage a culture of wellbeing, as well as foster awareness and access. The presentation can be found at I:\ADV Common\2020-2025 Advancement\Building a Better Workplace\Mental Health Resources EWS Presentation.pdf.
Be sure to make your health and wellbeing a priority by and accessing the many offerings that are currently available to each of you as a Queen’s employee. Feel free to also contact if you need help navigating these options or finding the supports you need.
Employee spotlight
The Employee Spotlight celebrates the arrival of our new and existing staff by profiling responses they share through a fun and informal survey that will help us get to know them better. Be sure to review these profiles and use these fun facts and tidbits to find commonalities, embrace differences, and spark a conversation.
A few weeks ago, we welcomed three new members to Advancement:
Elaina Raponi in the position of Coordinator, Stewardship & Development, Smith. and what languages she speaks.
Thanavy Jeyabalasundaram in the position of Officer, Stewardship and Events, FAS. and what her favourite family tradition is.
Ryan Brenders in the position of Senior Web Programmer Analyst, ITM. and what you would most likely find him doing outside of work!