Fiscal Year 2000 Integrated Strategic Plan
STRATEGIC ISSUE 5
Public Service
The Department of Natural Resources is an array of programs striving to sustain our natural resources. A diversity of programs brings strength to the department, and the opportunity to provide quality services in light of changing priorities, ongoing issues, and new challenges. A diversity of staff brings strength to our decision making and actions. All these considerations, taken together, allow us to effectively strive to attain our mission to preserve and protect our natural, cultural and energy resources, and to inspire their enjoyment and responsible use for present and future generations.
The Department has approximately 2,000 positions. As with any organization, delivery of service to the public is a result of effective management of its employees – the key to the department’s success in fulfilling its mission. While considerable effort and progress has been made, results from an informal employee survey indicate that training and career advancement continue to be challenges for the department.
By using creative and innovative approaches, we must also develop and maintain adequate sources of funding to achieve our mission. Statutory limitation, economic conditions, finite life of some funds, and other causes impact the ability of both tax-based and fee-based funds to support administrative and program specific distribution requirements. New or alternative funding sources are also considerations.
Goal
To sustain or improve quality of services through a diverse staff, while addressing changing priorities and challenges.
Outcomes
- Employee diversity reflects the population of recruiting areas
- Excellent public service
- Effectiveness and productivity
Outcome A
Employee diversity reflects the population of recruiting areas
Outcome Measures
Percentage of groups represented in workforce demographics compared
to demographic makeup of the labor force in the relevant recruiting areas
Increased percentage of minority and female state employees earning more than the median salary (Show-Me Result) with measurement including an analysis on the demographics by job groups
Increased percentage of state government purchases from minority and female businesses (Show-Me Result)
Objective 1
Increase diversity of employees, to mirror the population of Missouri,
throughout the department.
Objective Measures
Percentage of offers to applicants from targeted groups resulting in
employment
Turnover of targeted groups
Strategies
Give priority to developing programs and policies that encourage cultural
diversity.
Seek innovative alliances with diverse groups to expand and diversify our cultural and historic preservation effort and enhance preservation services to diverse communities.
Expand recognition of the contribution of diverse groups and seek to involve all in every level of decision making from planning to implementation.
Utilize certificated and other processes for vacancies that fall within under-utilized groups to ensure a diverse applicant pool.
Recruit employees of all cultural and other backgrounds who value diversity in their work community.
Continue efforts to encourage natural resource careers with minorities and females through interns, externs, scholarships, work study and mentoring programs to increase diversity in pool of potential staff.
Coordinate and consolidate departmental recruiting and outsourcing activities to evaluate and track effectiveness.
Research and develop a management plan to encourage success, growth and promotional capability of all DNR staff.
Objective 2
Increase the dollar value of purchases from minority- and female-owned
businesses.
Objective Measure
Dollar value of purchases from minority- and female-owned businesses
Strategies
Expand vendor lists by seeking minority and female owned businesses
to add.
Encourage employees to first consider purchases from minority- and female-owned businesses, through increased awareness of opportunities for such purchases.
Continue support of interdivisional efforts regarding identification of minority- and female-owned businesses.
Develop a historical document that identifies where Minority Business Enterprise (MBE) and Women’s Business Enterprise (WBE) spending is occuring and identify in the budget which resources are available for increasing MBE and WBE expenditures.
Objective 3
Maintain cultural awareness programs and increase strategies for managing
and empowering a diverse workforce.
Objective Measure
Percentage of policies identified, reviewed and revised to better support
cultural diversity
Strategies
Develop and fund a recognition program of outstanding employee contributions
to the department’s diversity objectives.
Support diverse membership when forming employee working and advisory groups.
Support the Multicultural Affairs Committee.
Depict diversity in all consumer, policy and technical public information products and services.
Complete department-wide analysis and modification of all existing policies and procedures to assure these policies support diversity.
Train program directors and supervisors in management practices to support diversity objectives.
Outcome B
Excellent public service
Outcome Measure
Customer service survey results
Objective 1
Enhance our employees’ ability to provide excellent customer service.
Objective Measures
Customer service project results
Hours of non-employee volunteer service
Percentage of employees receiving customer service training
Percentage of employees receiving recognition for contributions to productivity and customer service
Percentage of complimentary and complaint letters verified as quality issues
Percentage of comment cards returned annually
Strategies
By January 2000, develop an employee and volunteer recognition program
for outstanding service, especially as it relates to high-quality customer service.
Participate in the Governor’s Excellence in Customer Service program by continuing to revise the park system’s reservation program for visitor convenience and assisting in the development of a program to reduce visitor complaints based on benchmark data and success measures.
Develop methods for use throughout the department to measure customer satisfaction.
Evaluate and implement projects to improve customer service.
Conduct baseline survey of employee values, seeking input on diversity, career growth needs, benefits, and work environment. Support training to meet these needs.
Provide annual staff training directed at quality customer service at all levels of the department.
Utilize volunteers to assist with research, stewardship and enhancement of services.
Utilize the departmental strategic plan as a guide, make performance planning and appraisal an expectation for all staff. Tie performance planning to the public benefit of our work and program expectations will help increase our service to the public.
Use cross training and temporary cross-placement to enhance staff skills.
Investigate ways to increase public service by keeping DNR offices open during non-traditional holidays.
Objective 2
Increase the safety and productivity of our employees work environment.
Objective Measures
Percent of positions evaluated for health and safety issues
Percent of work facilities inspecting for safety considerations
Strategies
Develop a comprehensive program to address occupational health and
safety concerns.
Develop reports and benchmark data for analyzing accidents and productivity by unit and division.
Develop strategies to address the risk of violence that can occur as a result of job duties.
Inform employees of career tracks to provide advancement opportunities.
Outcome C
Increased effectiveness and productivity of the department
Outcome Measures
Reallocation of funding resources toward strategic priorities
Redirection of staff and equipment to strategic priorities
New sources of revenue to offset declining funding streams
Completed Information Strategy Plan projects
Objective 1
Develop and maintain adequate sources of funding to achieve our mission.
Objective Measures
New funding sources reviewed
Detail based program reviews
Financial partnerships with other government programs
Financial partnerships with private entities
New entrepreneurial approaches implemented
Donations and gifts to programs
Strategies
Develop funding sources to address and mitigate emergencies.
Identify, combine and streamline funding sources, including appropriations and reappropriations.
Establish funding priorities for key issues.
Estimate the impact on the environment and the citizens of the state of potential losses of funding for key departmental areas.
Identify contingency funding sources for priority issues in the event of a loss of current funding sources.
Continue to evaluate the fiscal impact of retaining delegated federal programs (air, water, drinking water, historic preservation, etc.).
Identify and pursue grants consistent with strategic priorities.
Identify and evaluate opportunities where entrepreneurial approaches could be self-funding or produce revenue, or both.
Seek ways to expand donations and gifts to the parks system and other department programs.
Continue to evaluate the fiscal impact of unfunded mandates.
Objective 2
Increase the effectiveness of existing resources.
Objective Measures
Number of detail based reviews of existing funding sources
Number of duplicate functions eliminated
Number of detail-based reviews of programs
Increase in percentage of costs recovered
Strategies
Use the business process improvement strategy to break down job functions
and identify duplications.
Evaluate the recommendations regarding cost allocation methodologies.
Continue to evaluate and revise departmental administrative policies and procedures.
Continue operational planning projects that allow redirection of resources.
Review concession contracts in state parks and, where appropriate, adjust the state’s return to reflect a non-monetary return of additional services or service amenities.
Seek approval under the new personnel law to have flexibility for classifying department-specific classes and positions.
Pursue cost recovery from responsible parties when feasible.
Identify and evaluate opportunities to collect natural-resource damages.
Revisit the Information Strategy Plan for appropriateness of recommendations, five years into implementation of the plan. Implementation of the Information Strategy Plan will improve the communication effectiveness within the department and our ability to make information more readily available to those outside our department.
Seek statutory authority to increase operational efficiencies.
Develop an audit of program efficiencies and productivity, including verification that all resources are received.
Continuously evaluate opportunities for outsourcing of departmental work.
Return to the Table of Contents
