I’m pleased to share with you the Growth Company’s Business Plan for 2021/22 which represents our second year of delivery against our Three Year Strategy, which we are also sharing for the first time. (For tips on viewing the Business Plan and Three Year Strategy using Microsoft Sway, please see this guidance.)
We had intended to share the Three Year Strategy with colleagues this time last year, however, the onset of the Covid-19 pandemic meant that the timing was no longer right, as we recognised we were entering a period of great uncertainty and change which could have an impact on our strategy.
A year on, we have now reviewed our Three Year Strategy, and whilst Covid-19 has caused an unprecedented level of economic and social disruption, it has also highlighted that the vision and ambition we had set for the GC is still valid and, in many ways, is now more critical than ever. It is clear that directionally, the end goal of our strategy remains the same – indeed if we were already the organisation envisioned by our strategy, GC would have been in a stronger position to weather the Covid storm.
The Business Plan for 2021/22 was produced in February this year, and was endorsed by the GC Board in March. The first four sections are introductory, setting out the context and complexities of our current operating environment, within which the activities of our Business Plan are set to be delivered. In section three we set out our vision, aligned to our Three Year Strategy, and our purpose and values, which many of you will be familiar with. In section four, we have provided a review of our activities and achievements in 2020/21, which demonstrate how GC has responded to the pandemic with speed and agility, as well as the breadth and depth of our response, and I am immensely proud of how colleagues have come together to achieve so much during what has been, and will continue to be, a challenging period.
The substantive part of the Business Plan is provided in section five, which is divided into Part A and B, and is directly aligned to our Three Year Strategy. Part A sets out our ambition which features five key themes:
Our ambition is for the Growth Company to be the UK’s most successful provider of development services to people, places and businesses. By 2023 we are:
- A market leader
- With unrivalled reach
- Attracting the brightest and best
- Financially robust; and
- Delivering positive social and environmental impacts
Part B details the sixth theme of our Business Plan, Delivering for Greater Manchester (GM), with GM representing the largest share of our delivery and therefore a key theme for GC.
Under each of these six themes, there are a series of Strategic Priorities, Actions and Milestones, which we have planned to deliver in order to move us closer to the realisation of our Three Year Strategy by 2023.
The remaining three sections of the Business Plan cover our Key Performance Indicators, our Budget for the year, and how we will manage Risk and Performance.
It is also important to highlight that section five of the Business Plan details a shorter list of 11 Group level prioritised outcomes for 2021/22. This list has been composed in light of the volatility which we have experienced during 2020, and under the expectation that we may again need to reprioritise activities and resources during the course of the year in response to changing circumstances. These 11 priority outcomes are:
- Effective transition of GM’s Productivity and Inclusion Programme
- Achieving GM Internationalisation objectives
- Securing future revenue
- Being financially robust
- Digitising delivery
- Step change in performance management data
- Becoming net-carbon zero
- Ensuring Black Lives Matter
- Geographic diversification
- Leading social value and impact
- Increased workforce agility
Our priority outcomes, which are set out in more detail within the Business Plan, are drawn from across the six themes of the Business Plan and Three Year Strategy and represent the actions which we need to take this year within any economic, political, or public funding environment to ensure that we achieve demonstrable momentum towards our Three Year Strategy.
Next Steps - Performance Reviews & Objective Setting for 2021/22
Our new performance platform will be ready to launch in June. With that in mind, we are launching an interim process, and while last year for the majority of GC we kept the PRD process informal, we want to make sure there is time for feedback and objectives for the forthcoming year to be set within your teams. The key next step following the sharing of the Business Plan for 2021/22 is ensuring that operational plans within Business Units and Service teams align, including your individual objectives. Your manager will book a review with you, and we are introducing this interim form for you to reflect on last year and for your line manager to discuss and agree your objectives with you over the coming weeks. Please see the PRD guidance for further information on completing the interim form.
The deadline for completing performance reviews and setting objectives for 2021/22 is 31st May.
Having carried out the formal PRD process in December/January, Education and Skills colleagues will be commencing the mid-year review process on the interim form which can be accessed here, along with PRD guidance. The deadline for completing your mid-year reviews is 31st May.
When the new platform is ready, objectives will need to be transferred on to the new platform, where you will be able to update them on a regular basis. We will share further information on how to do this at a later date.
Senior Management will be sending follow up communications to Business Units/Service areas within the next few days in order to provide a further commentary on the Business Plan and how our objectives relate more specifically to different parts of the Group, which should also help to support you in setting objectives for the year.