By Cecilia Nasmith

Northumberland County council voted at Wednesday's meeting to adopt the Corporate Services Strategic Plan presented by Community Emergency Management Co-ordinator Ken Stubbings to cover 2019-2023.

The director of corporate services presides over 19 employees who work in everything from human resources and emergency planning to archival services and natural and cultural heritage.

The plan was needed, Stubbings said, to provide direction for a collaborative approach to advance the diverse operations of the department and improve integration with other operational departments.

It began with a 2018 survey among corporate-services staff and, from that, they have devised what they believe is a strategic plan that meshes smoothly with the county's over-all strategic plan under its Leadership In Change pillar – focusing on engaging continuous improvement to develop a comprehensive human-resources strategy.

Six key priorities have been identified and action plans made to implement each.

Develop a centralized model for delivering shared services to other county departments.

Improve corporate-services orientation and onboarding.

Implement a county-wide volunteer information strategy.

Improve communications within and education on the role of the corporate-services department.

Develop a formal training-and-succession-planning program for each position in the county.

Implement stronger record-management practices.

“Why I am here is to request council's formal approval for our process and moving forward,” Stubbings said.

Warden Bob Sanderson asked what the cost might be resulting from such approval.

“It's purely internal,” Stubbings replied.

“It's all internal resources. There's no extra additional cost.”