Strategic Plan
Our members and stakeholders are important to us. YGL annually surveys our members in order to ensure our strategic priorities are addressing our members’ most salient needs. For the 2007-2012 Plan, YGL sought the views of our members about their interests and needs in an October 2006 survey.
Key among the questions YGL asked our members were what the specific challenges and opportunities facing YGL are and what strategic priorities we should therefore adopt through the strategic planning process.
In their responses, several priorities dominated. In brief, they were:
- Understanding government structure and how to navigate the system including, differences between various agencies, knowledge of the grade system and benefit structure, and training necessary to make lateral or horizontal moves in government within and outside of one’s agency.
- Challenges in the government include mobility, understanding expectations of mid-level and senior management, and managing career aspirations.
- Values include leadership and Senior Executive Service (SES) preparation, training opportunities (including project management workshops, seminars, conferences, and social networking opportunities with other young government communities.
- Reasons for joining the government include work/life balance, generous benefits, and job security.
On November 10, 2006 Young Government Leaders held a Strategic Planning retreat (YGL Vision Quest Retreat) to assist the organization with better understanding its members and mission, engage in future "visioning" to determine the best infrastructure necessary for meeting its members’ needs, and ultimately set the stage for organizational and committee goal-setting. Over 20 Board Members participated in the vision process and engaged in a SWOT (Strengths, Weaknesses, Threats, and Opportunities) analysis. Our goal was to understand how the membership survey results aligned with our current mission and activities and identify any underlying gaps. We identified what we did well, what we needed to improve upon, and set ambitious goals to address our challenges and opportunities for 2007- 2012.