This document discusses the process used by Depaul Group to develop their strategic plan. It outlines how they focused on embedding their values and mission throughout the process, including extensive consultation with staff, managers, and service users. This ensured the resulting strategic plan was values-driven and gave everyone a sense of ownership. Feedback from staff indicated the process allowed their voices to be heard and inspired them by reflecting the work of the founders in an accessible way. The strategic plan will now be used to guide multi-year planning and management tools going forward.

1. CREATING A LINE OF SIGHT
Kerry Anthony – CEO

2. HOPE TO COVER…
• Introduction to Depaul
• What our values mean to us
• How we embed our VMV
• Our strategic planning process
Kerry Anthony – CEO

3. DEPAUL GROUP
DEPAUL
INTERNATIONAL
DEPAUL DEPAUL DEPAUL DEPAUL DEPAUL
IRELAND UK SLOVENSKO KHARKIV USA
Kerry Anthony – CEO

4. DEPAUL IRELAND
• Est. Dublin 2002 and Belfast 2005
• Employ c.200 people
• Annual turnover c.9 million euro
• 12 specialist services working with the most
marginalised
Kerry Anthony – CEO

5. VISION
‘Everyone should have a place to
call home and a stake in their
community’
Kerry Anthony – CEO

6. MISSION
‘To offer homeless and
disadvantaged people the
opportunity to fulfil their potential
and make positive and informed
choices about their future’
Kerry Anthony – CEO

7. VALUES
• We celebrate the potential of people
• We put our words into action
• We aim to take a wider role in civil society
• We believe in rights a responsibilities
Kerry Anthony – CEO

8. HISTORY
• 400 year tradition
• Remember and celebrate our religious past
• St Vincent de Paul and St Louise de Marillac
Kerry Anthony – CEO

9. VINCENT AND LOUISE
• Ahead of their time
• Champions of Justice
• Action over words
• Inspirational and motivational leaders
• Team work and support
• They let others thrive
• Not perfect – but committed
Kerry Anthony – CEO

10. EMBEDDING OUR VALUES
• CEO role – to promote and protect
• Continual consistence promotion at SMT
• Use of organisational literature and
communications
• Recruitment
• Induction
• Developing Champions within
• Training, seminars and review
Kerry Anthony – CEO

11. WHAT OTHERS SAY
“We enjoyed our visit hugely, and were so
impressed by your staff and the work they do.
You run a remarkable organisation. We were
particularly struck by the culture and values
has been articulated for everyone”
- London Housing Foundation
Kerry Anthony – CEO

12. WHAT OTHERS SAY
“Senior managers and staff were all able to clearly
reference the vision, mission and values of Depaul
and how they are used on a daily basis not only to
provide inspirations but also the logic against
which to make difficult and personal decision.
[We] also found sound evidence of their use in the
organisations marketing strategy, recruitment
process, induction and during leadership and
management development”
- IIP Assessor
Kerry Anthony – CEO

13. DEVELOPING OUR
STRATEGIC PLAN
WHY NOT?
Kerry Anthony – CEO

14. KEY ISSUES IN A
LEADERSHIP ROLE
• Having enough time – 6 months
• Having a vision yourself – no such thing as a
fully blank canvas – its your job!
• Who owns the plan?
• How can you achieve full buy in?
Kerry Anthony – CEO

15. KEY QUESTIONS - SMT
• What makes a great strategic plan?
• Thinking of Depaul – what common themes
are important
• Looking at others – what would you want
and what would you not want?
• What audience is the strategic plan for?
Kerry Anthony – CEO

16. WHAT DID WE WANT?
• Service users focused
• Well written
• Concise
• Realistic
• Ambitious
• Values Driven
• Properly consulted on
Kerry Anthony – CEO

17. WHAT DID WE WANT?
• Engender a feeling of ownership
• Jargon Free
• Optimistic and positive
• Ensure others understand what we are
about
• Get this right!
Kerry Anthony – CEO

18. STAGES
• Development of first draft – Aims
• Agreement at board level
• Consultation with managers and
development of further themes – objectives
Kerry Anthony – CEO

19. STAGES
• Delegation to managers to consult with
projects – tight time lines
• Re- emphasis and further consultation at
staff conference – themed ‘why not?’
• External consultation
Kerry Anthony – CEO

20. STAGES
• Design and layout
• Further info gathering – quotes, photos etc
• Final draft out for amendments internally
• Final draft for approval and sign off
Kerry Anthony – CEO

21. WHAT STAFF SAY
“ I think the strategic plan process was
simplistic and realistic. This was important
as our service users were able to understand
the organisations aims and they were able to
feed in, in a simple fashion, to the areas that
meant the most to them”
- Project Manager
Kerry Anthony – CEO

22. WHAT STAFF SAY
“I believe that all of us, at whatever status we
have in the organisation, have ownership of
the strategic plan because the process
allowed us to have a voice in the
organisation’s direction”
- Project Staff
Kerry Anthony – CEO

23. WHAT STAFF SAY
“It can be easy to lose oneself in the objectivity
of HR but when our vision and mission is
constantly being reframed in everything we do
it is hard to lose your way. It also feels that
inspiration is never far off when the strategic
plan is close at hand, reflecting the work of
Vincent and Louise in a modern and
accessible way”
- Human Resources Manager
Kerry Anthony – CEO

24. NEXT STEPS – HAVE WE
CREATED A LINE OF SIGHT?
• More to do
• Three year plans and year plans
• Reporting Structure
• Management tools
Kerry Anthony – CEO

25. KEY ISSUES
• You need to promote and protect your values
• You need to inspire others through these
• You need to ensure that the strategy relates
directly to the VMV
• It’s not your strategy it is everyone’s!
Kerry Anthony – CEO

26. VISION AND STRATEGY ARE
AS INTERDEPENDABLE AS
TWO SIDES OF THE ONE
COIN…
Kerry Anthony – CEO
Thank you