Bridging the Gap

Government Relations for Social Entrepreneurs

BUILDING THE CONNECTION

CONTENT PAGE

GOVERNMENT’S CHALLENGE 4

GOVERNMENT’S OPPORTUNITY 5

SUSTAINABLE INSTITUTIONS ARE BUILT ON: 6

HOW ERMG CAN HELP 7

SUMMARY 8

DISCUSSION 9

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WHAT DO I NEED GOVERNMENT FOR?

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What Is Government?• If society is a body and business is its nervous system, then Government is

the grey matter.

• Government is responsible for:

– designing and overseeing the implementation of social and economic policywithin its jurisdiction

– Working with other levels of government– Communicating its actions to the public– Collecting taxes and pursuing revenue-generating activities to pay for its

programs

• Like it nor not, government matters to you, your business, and the futureof your community.

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Piecing the Puzzle Together• Government is a complex hive of groups, individuals, mandates and

agendas– Internal influences (decision makers, planners and advisors)– External influences (Associations, Private Sector, Not-For-Profit Sector, Media)

• To successfully navigate this web and achieve your objectives, you need asolid understanding of:

– Who makes political decisions, how those decisions are shaped and what thebroader context is in which those decision are are being made.

– The social economic and political landscape which informs these decisionmakers and influencers

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The Players

INTERNAL

Tier 1 – Decision Makers

(Ministers, Premier’s Office, Leaders of Opposition)

Tier 2 – Decision Planners

(Minister’s Staff, Deputy Ministers, Assistant

Deputy Ministers, Agency leads)

Tier 3 – Decision Influencers

Parliamentary Assistants, Opposition

Critics

EXTERNAL

Private Sector

(Professional Associations, Lobby Groups, Corporations)

Advocacy Groups

(Unions, Not-For-Profits, Associations)

Other

(Constituents, Media, Foreign/extra-regional governments

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The Landscape

• Political– Timing of elections (federal, provincial, municipal, by-elections, some external

jurisdictions– Status of government (majority, minority, current polling, etc.)– Established government priorities, Ministerial priorities, polling

• Social and Economic – Long term (environmental concern,

unemployment, the economy– Short-term (Eaton Centre shooting,

mall collapse in Elliot Lake)– Key themes emerging from established/new media

• Social Media– Taking on a life of it’s own (#TellVicEverything and #ThanksKenney on Twitter,

Min Reyes, etc)

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• The bad news:

– Government is populated by busy people with top-down mandates, personalagendas, limited information and even less time

– The fire-hose nature of policy and politics means that politicians andbureaucrats tend to focus on a few key priority points they feel are bothnecessary and have political traction

– Government officials realize they will never make everyone happy; as such,bringing concerns to their attention is not enough to ensure action

• The good news:

– Politicians and bureaucrats are still people; they live in the same world as therest of us. If you can personalize your ask, humanize yourself and create aconnection between your objectives and their objectives, you can buildpartners and effect change

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WHAT DOES GOVERNMENT WANT FROM ME?

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“We will continue looking for additional savings across governmentwhile providing quality public services for Ontario families.

“And we welcome good ideas — from people, business owners,economists and the Opposition — on how to best find thosesavings.

- Dwight Duncan, Ontario Minister of Finance

“We can perhaps shoot for a grander goal – a province thatprovides the best public services, delivered in the mostefficient manner in the world.

If this sounds impossibly ambitious, put the question anotherway: Why not?

- The Drummond Report

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GOVERNMENT’S CHALLENGE

• Reducing expenditure to ensure systematic sustainability

• Avoiding future e-Healths and ORNGEs

• Creating a Public Sector culture of empowered responsibility

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• Delivering the highest quality, most cost-efficient public services to the people ofOntario

• The public expects government to protectcore public services, uncover and managesystem abuse, reduce the deficit yet createsustainable opportunity

GOVERNMENT’s OPPORTUNITY

• Create viable, sustainableinstitutions to support the bestpublic service system in the world

• Avoid organizational disrepute andcosts that result from internal andexternal fraud, abuse and waste

• Foster sustainable prosperity in theprovince of Ontario that ensuresequitable status to all Ontarians,regardless of demographics

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• Successful individuals and sustainable environments for a strong Ontario

CHARTING A COURSETO SUCCESS

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SITUATIONAL AWARENESS

• Media monitoring (news chains, social media, key commentators)

– Identify potential partners and initiatives that could be at cross-purposes– Follow related events to maintain situational awareness– Determine opportunities for responses that build the market and build the

brand– Develop events calendar for relevant opportunities

to connect with potential partners

• Political Watch

– Related activity in the Legislature (relevant Bills, stories, MPPs expressingrelated interest through debate, Statements and Questions)

– Tier 1 and 3 MPP websites and social media feed (for events and relevantdata)

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KNOW YOUR AUDIENCE

• Identify policy development priority groups:

– Tier 1 – Decision Makers

– Tier 2 – Decision Planners

– Tier 3 – Decision Influencers

• Identify potential allies and potential threats within external influence groups – Competitors, Groups and organizations, etc. that could be impacted

positively or negatively by the achievement of your objective

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MAKE THE CASE

• Clarify your concept

– Market research, look for similar models for best practices/lessonslearned; flesh out concept in greater detail

• Conduct a SWOT (Strength, Weaknesses, Opportunities, Threats) analysis

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• Build partnerships

– Government agencies, Universities, ResearchInstitutions, Think Tanks, MaRS, Mental HealthService Providers, technical expertise, etc.

• Tailor/align message for audience

– Government, BPS, Unions, Private Sector, etc.)

PHASE II – SHARE THE VISION

COMPLETION – 2013

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SPREAD THE WORD• Create Priority Group

engagement strategies:

– Direct outreach (in-officemeetings)

– In situ outreach (political fundraisers, post-budgetconsultations, telephone townhalls)

– Self-generated events (invites toseminars, press conferences, etc.)

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• Sell your vision and seek input from decision makers, decision plannersand decision informers – don’t bring problems, bring solutions

• Connect partners through strands of mutual interest; demonstrateefficacy of your vision through practice

PLANT THE SEED

• Engage a set of stakeholders to test-drive theconcept

– Your local MPP, a Parliamentary assistant, your clients a goodstarting point

– Study results for what works, what doesn’t and unexpectedopportunities

– Create a plan to include these lessons and expand the conceptprovince-wide

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GROW THE NETWORK

• Based on pilot-networkresults, feedback and publicresponse, grow the model toestablish a full-fledged SSNOthat engages and empowersall levels of Ontarians inbuilding the best publicservices, delivered in the mostefficient manner, in the world.

• This is what being the best atpublic policy and services lookslike.”

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SUMMARY

• The Government of Ontario is looking for ways to improvepublic service, manage service costs and reduce systematicchallenges that foster/fail to prevent fraud and litigation costs

• Appropriate HR strategies are essential to achieving this goal

• EMRG has the solutions and experience to help Governmentachieve the goal of providing the best public services,delivered in the most efficient manner in the world.

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DISCUSSION

Notes

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