Volume 2004, Issue 1
September 1, 2004

Headquarters Happenings

Status on Strategic Retreat Action Items

Work continues on the actions that arose from the April 2004 Executive Retreat. The following four specific tasks were identifed and committees were developed to move the actions forward:

1. Career development ladder
2. Human resources (HR) policies
3. Marketing plan
4. Mission/vision/values booklet

Committee chairs have provided the following information on the current status of their committee's work.

Career Development Ladder

The committee established to work on this task (Pat Powell, Johnnie Sexton, Shelaine Curd-Hetrick, and June Crowe) has developed a plan that includes emphasis on career development paths. These paths will be clearly defined. The intent is to provide opportunities for growth in the company starting at entry levels within career areas and outlining what education and experience requirements are necessary to move into each progressive level. The human resources (HR) Division is working toward those goals as well, beginning with the recent audit of positions, development of clearly defined job descriptions, and career paths. In addition, this committee is ready to present two benefit requests for consideration. These include ideas for individual projects to have ways to award employee successes within their own groups throughout the year and suggestions for recognizing longevity within the company (i.e., recognition at the one-year anniversary; three-year anniversary, etc.).

Return to top

Human Resources Policies

Several recurring HR themes were identified as a result of the retreat. Those included insufficient or confusing communication on company policies and procedures and the need to clarify information in the IIa Handbook.

An HR Policy Committee was developed and is comprised of Martha Wallus, Mendy Wolfenbarger, Donna Haynes, and Heather Castleberry. The committee has met several times since the April retreat and report making good progress. To date, a compliance audit of the Employee Handbook has been completed. In addition, the committee has solicited input from all IIa employees. Responses from that survey have been prioritized into categories consistent with IIa's vision, mission, and goals. Based on those results, policies and procedures are being drafted on the following topics:

• Educational assistance
• Progressive discipline
• Purchasing
• Recruitment
• Expense reports

While those policies and procedures are under review, polices and procedures for the following operational issues have been assigned for development:

• Leave
• Travel
• Hiring/termination
• Timekeeping
• Flexible spending accounts

Return to top

Marketing Plan

In the past five years IIa has grown from a $5M company to $15M in Fiscal Year 2004. This growth and success is due to the hard work of all IIa employees in building a solid reputation for outstanding service provision. Our number one goal for FY 2005 is to continue with providing exceptional service, which will translate into new opportunities and further growth. The Executive Committee has spent considerable time reviewing opportunities and developing marketing strategies for these opportunities. Plans include involving more employees in representing IIa and marketing our capabilities to our customers. More on this later.

Return to top

Mission/Vision/Values Booklet

During the summer, the committee (Deborah York, Bruce Bowland, Roy Cooper, Franciel Azpurua-Linares, and Susanne Dupes) developed drafts of mission, vision, and purpose statements for IIa as well as a set of IIa values. The first three have been reviewed and approved by IIa's Executive Committee. The committee continues to work to finalize the set of values and a final booklet that will showcase all of these elements. The approved mission, vision, and purpose statements are:

The Committee will continue to work together to refine the corporate values and a draft set will be submitted to the Executive Committee for review in October.

Return to top