Written by: Nikki Luscombe, APR
In 2018, George Brown College needed to create a new strategic plan. We had one, but that was written back in 2010 for the decade ahead. Remember 10-year strategic plans? Back when we thought we could actually predict the future?
In a world that is changing so rapidly and unpredictably, (and this was pre-COVID) the college knew that it had to design a plan that anticipated and responded to external trends and disruptors like economic transformations, climate change, urbanization and disruptive technologies but could also allow the college to strategize in shorter sprints.
We asked ourselves – what will the graduating class of 2022 need? Will it be the same as the class of 2025 or 2028?
Giving employees a say and voice
In the past, strategic plans were written by a few senior leaders at the top and then mandated and passed down. Unfortunately, this approach was met with resistance. Employees at all levels said the plans were too vague and they just couldn’t connect with the material.
This time around, we were going to ask early, ask often and ask in all kinds of ways. We would ask for input so that employees really felt that they had a say, a voice and were heard.
We started by surveying our employees about topics related to our strategy to start to validate some of our early ideas. We learned that employees wanted the George Brown of the future to be more innovative, agile and transformative. They also wanted the college to be less complacent, bureaucratic and traditional.
We invited employees to contribute in many ways. There were surveys, think tanks, roundtables, workshops and “extreme exchanges” over several months. While these in-person events were meaningful, fun and interesting, they were not sustainable. We knew that we needed to scale up. We tried crowdsourcing.
Breaking down siloes by crowdsourcing ideas
We created iGBC.ca – a place where innovative ideas thrive. Using iGBC as an ideation platform, we could flatten the organization and start silo-busting. We could crowdsource ideas for our Vision for 2030 and our Strategy for 2022.
We wanted the user to engage in one of three ways: they could “like” the idea by voting for it; or they could add a comment to build on an existing idea; or they could contribute their own, new idea.
Ideas worth sharing
We started to see lots of great new ideas emerge including posts about:
- Flexibility in the Workplace – expressing the importance of flexibility from the organization – which we’ve been forced to learn over the past year.
- Turning George Brown’s verticals into student horizontals – reimagining a typical diploma or degree and instead allowing a student to pick and choose credentials that could lead them down a customized career path.
- Extending classes into the evenings – providing students with access to services and supports whenever and wherever they need it.
- Sustainability – empowering our community to up our game in being even more environmentally aware and sustainable in daily practice.
Overall, it was great to see ideas coming to life on this platform, and it was encouraging to see that colleagues were supportive, innovative and collaborative. Many of the ideas published on iGBC in some way, influenced the final strategic plan.
Engaging employees in strategic directions
In just over six months, 939 employees visited the site. They generated 123 ideas, voted 1,800 times and posted 400 comments. We originally aimed to get 10 per cent of our workforce engaged, but we actually managed to almost double that with a 19 per cent engagement rate.
We’re still inviting input and conversation on new strategic projects as we encourage a culture of innovation and collaboration. We’re still asking our employees to share ideas all their own and ask how they can make a difference – to help shape the future of George Brown College.
Read more about George Brown College’s strategic plan, Imagining Possibilities: Vision 2030/Strategy 2022.