Strategically Rethinking Trustee Education

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Strategically Rethinking Trustee Education

• Lisa Duggan
• Fall/Winter 2006

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Learning Objectives

• In this course you will
• identify the elements of successful strategic
  thinking approaches
• experience the SWOT process
• apply a strategic approach to trustee education

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What is Strategy?

• What are some words, pictures, images, concepts
  that come to mind when thinking about the concept
  strategy?

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What is Strategic Thinking?

• Ford, GM
• ATMs
• Internet
• Cell phones
• E-mail
• Canada Post
• Fashion Industry
• Big Box Stores
• West Jet

• These companies/services have all made
  strategic changes.
• What thinking occurred that lead to these changes
  (or what might they be thinking now)?

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Process for Strategic Thinking
80
Time
20
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What is Systems Thinking?

• How would you define a system? ___________________
  ___________________________________________
• What does it mean to be a systems thinker?
• _________________________________
• Why might this be considered a critical skill for
  pension trustees? ________________________________
  ______________________________

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A System Thinking Example

• A cloud masses, the sky darkens, and we know
  that it will rain. We also know that after the
  storm, the runoff will feed into groundwater
  miles away and the sky will grow clear by
  tomorrow. All these events are distant in time
  and space, and yet they are all connected within
  the same pattern. Each has an influence on the
  rest, an influence that is usually hidden from
  view. You can only understand the system of the
  rainstorm by contemplating the whole, not any
  individual part of the pattern.
• (Senge The Fifth Discipline)

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What is Strategic Planning?

• How can you concretely apply a strategic approach
  to SRIs and pension planning?

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The Strategy ProcessStarts with a Vision and
then looks at

• Where have we come from? (What has happened in
  the past?)
• What are we now? (What is currently happening
  around us?)
• What is possible for the future? (What
  opportunities might there be (the truth is out
  there) that will result in dominance or
  uniqueness in the area of SRIs and pensions?

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What is Strategic Leadership?

• Some thoughts...
• The ability to create a tension in the mind so
  that individuals can rise from the bondage of
  myths and half truths (Socrates)
• This tension is generated by holding a vision and
  concurrently telling the truth about the current
  reality relative to that vision to dramatize the
  issue so that it can no longer be ignored (King)

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The Environmental Scan Where are we now?

• Environments to look at are
• Internal about your pension plan/board/union -
  the current strengths and weaknesses
• External about your pension plan/board/union -
  the current and future opportunities and the
  threats
• (a.k.a. SWOT)
• External to your pension plan/board/union -
  current and future political, economical,
  societal, and technical changes
• (a.k.a. PEST)

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The SWOT Analysis
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Small Group Exercise

• A Case Study - Thinking Strategically about
  trustee education.
• Our Vision for the Future is

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What events in the past have contributed to the
current numbers/education of union trustees?

• At your tables, discuss past events (over the
  past 10 to 15 years) in the union movement and in
  the area of pensions as a whole, that have
  contributed to the current state of affairs for
  trustee pension education.
• Record your ideas on post-it notes.

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The Environmental Scan on Trustee
Education.Where are we now?

• Lets apply a Forcefield analysis to the
  information discussed in the previous exercise!
• Each group will have the task of addressing one
  of the opportunities identified in the SWOT
  exercise.
• Discuss as many ideas as possible to address the
  barriers/ issues/concerns on your assigned task.
• Record your ideas on a flipchart paper using the
  coloured marker provided.

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Current Tensions The issue of class

• Union Trustee
• Generally, represent workers with salary range of
  70,000 and under
• The pension plan will be the primary source of
  income for these workers on retirement
• Lack of education available on pensions
• Members represented are most vulnerable to high
  risk and detrimental investments, e.g., layoff,
  contracting out

• Manager/Employer Rep
• Generally, represent people with salary range of
  75,000 to /over 500,000
• The people they represent have more opportunity
  to diversify their income investments the plan
  is not necessarily a primary source of retirement
  income
• More resources available for their educational
  needs on pensions

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Roleplay

• The Union Meeting

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Group Exercise

• Participants are divided into two groups to
  discuss the following question
• Pension plans can be influenced by bargaining.
  Is this an inhibitor to carrying out a board
  members fiduciary responsibilities?
• One group will explore the question with the
  answer Yes and Why.
• The other group will explore No and Why not?
• Two groups will come back together to compare the
  issues.

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Wrap up

• In this session you have learned
• Elements of strategic thinking and planning
• A SWOT analysis and how to apply it to your
  situation
• The opportunities available to move trustee
  education, SRIs and pension issues forward in
  your union and pension plans