CFA emergency management leaders from around the state "took a step forward into the future" last week according to Chief Officer Euan Ferguson, who officially launched the Service Delivery Strategy last Wednesday.
In a symbolic gesture, the large gathering of operations managers and managers of community safety formed a line across the room and, each holding a copy of the Strategy, stepped forward together.
CFA Chief Officer Euan Ferguson told the group: “We’ve just taken a step together in this room. We’ve also taken a step forward into the future.”
The gravity of the gesture reflects the significance of the strategy to CFA, which carries the theme ‘Supporting local people to solve local problems.’
Euan said supporting the front line should be front and centre of people’s minds as we move into an already busy fire season.
“At the crux of this document is CFA strongly defining itself as a service delivery organisation, with every single member conscious and mindful of how they fit into that bigger picture,” Euan said.
“Even if you’re not the one holding a hose, or out there engaging with communities, think about how you are helping that person on the front line. Are your actions and decisions genuinely empowering them to do what they need to do at a local level?”
Many of the managers present at the launch have been instrumental in using the Service Delivery Strategy to guide regional and district plans.
Euan thanked the group for their work so far, but stressed the need for widespread support within CFA.
“It’s one thing to create a high-level document and another thing to bring the intent and principles within it to life.” he said.
“CFA is a large and complex organisation and this process is about helping us to stay focused on what is most important.”
The Service Delivery Strategy has been widely used to guide planning for the coming year. Its four objectives are:
- Empowering and sustaining the front line
- Transforming service delivery to meet local needs
- Working with communities
- Strengthening relationships through collaboration.
The Service Delivery Strategy sits at the centre of CFA’s network of five-year Strategies (the others are Volunteerism, People, Asset, and Finance). These all feed into the overall CFA Annual Plan and the CFA priorities for 2015-16.
A copy of the Strategy can be downloaded from Brigades Online. Simply type in ‘Service Delivery Strategy’ to the Search bar.
Author: CFA News