Tania Mysak
When this issue goes to publication, the Canadian Society of Hospital Pharmacists (CSHP) Board, Branch Presidents, and Affiliated Board Chairs will have completed a strategic planning session. If you have been part of strategic planning you may have mixed feelings on the experience. You love the energy of shooting for the stars with opportunities to move your organization forward. You hate drilling idealistic statements and goals into concrete measurable actions that lose the spark of inspiration. Done well, a strategic plan should permeate the organization: all oars rowing together to achieve a common goal. Too often, while senior leadership can articulate ongoing work toward goals, front-line members are unable to articulate the plan at all, demonstrating a disconnection in the level of engagement and sense of shared goals. Given these limitations, at this moment for CSHP, status quo strategic planning was not an option.
Recognizing the major shifts within CSHP required to sustain our organization, we made the decision to approach our strategic planning session a bit differently. Often, we develop a vision and mission statement, brainstorm goals, and then develop strategies or tactics to achieve those goals. But what if your vision and mission still largely resonate with your membership and the really critical work ahead of you is already laid out?
As a Society, our foundational responsibilities lie in articulating a mission and vision that resonate with members, having effective governance, and ensuring our infrastructure supports our work. In our recent membership survey, 84% of members either agreed or strongly agreed that our existing Mission and Vision statements should carry forward. Regarding governance and infrastructure, this work was approved in the Strategy Towards Sustainability plan (https://www.cshp.ca/strategy-towards-sustainability) and is the responsibility of the CEO and staff.
Our core business as a Society is reflected in the roles we are known for, as well as the ones members feel are appropriate for CSHP. Again, we have general consensus from our Board, validated by the membership survey, that education, professional practice and standards, advocacy, the Canadian Journal of Hospital Pharmacy, and member services constitute the “what” of CSHP. Having a strong foundation and focusing our work on those core business areas allows us to provide value for members and meet their expressed needs.
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Finally, having laid a solid foundation and remaining focused on the pieces that really matter to CSHP, we can look at the strategies that will sustain and grow our organization for years to come. These are the “big ideas” to take CSHP to the next level and beyond discussed by the Board when developing the Strategy Towards Sustainability, centred on pharmacy technician membership, specialization, and a name change for the Society. We tested these ideas through our membership survey, and our strategic planning session was an opportunity to further discuss these ideas and consider how to move CSHP forward toward a goal of membership and financial sustainability.
We will be sharing the results of our session over the coming months and look forward to receiving feedback as to whether or not our “different” approach this year got it right!
Canadian Journal of Hospital Pharmacy, VOLUME 72, NUMBER 6, November-December 2019