Five Important Factors in a Strategic Plan Design - By Karla Hopkins

 

 

Create a Leadership Culture.   Leadership focuses on producing change and forward movement.  Leaders are able to clearly communicate their vision and can inspire others to be successful.  Any personality can be a leader, people just need someone to give them the room and support for taking charge of anything from their own job, to a department, to a business model.

One size doesn't work for all companies.  In additon to size, a company's position on its life cycle is an important factor.  For example a new company with a virtual business model would approach their strategic plan differently than a single shop third generation business.

 

Create a culture of shared accountability and personal responsibility.  Leaders who inspire trust and share their vision with their employees generally can create a team that supports them and their vision.  Their workforce becomes engaged in the overall goals of the company and these company goals become their personal goals.
 
Execute and implement timely.  Create a sense of urgency by getting senior leaders on board, communicate exhaustively, and reward incremental success in the strategic plan development.  Garner commitment and once you have employees who understand the vision, are involved with its process, own the future success, and believe in it, you can execute effectively.

Measure your success factors.  What are the metrics for measuring the success, are there rewards for stages in the plan, is the strategy clear, how is every level of the company benefitted from the plan.   According to Peter Dricker, management consultant, "what gets measured gets done"

The Massachusetts Small Employer Wellness Program
Tax Credit by Karla Hopkins, CPA



 

For most, taking care of our health is just as important as saving money on taxes.  To support this, the Massachusetts Department of Public Health has created an annual tax credit (up to $10,000 per year) equal to 25% of the costs associated with implementing an employer-sponsored certified wellness program.

The employer's wellness program must provide for things such as:

·       A work environment that supports physical and mental health

·        A process for identifying and addressing specific needs and health risks of  employees

·        Offering awareness and education programs for health information

·        Offering behavior and change programs for the employees seeking to change their lifestyle.

The program must be certified by the Massachusetts Department of Public Health in advance of filing for the tax credit.  The business must have fewer than 200 employees.  The business must offer health benefits to its employees and not have recent OSHA violations.

A minimum of 33% of the employees must participate in at least one element of the wellness program to qualify for the credit.

This credit is available for 2013 through 2017 on an annual basis and employers must submit their plan for approval each year to be eligible for the credit.  Preference for approval is given to employers with fewer than 100 employees.

The following link provides detailed information on the process for creating a qualifying plan.  In a day where taxes are taking more and more of company profits and employee disposable income, this may be one way to become a healthy company both physically and financially.

http://www.mass.gov/eohhs/docs/eohhs/wellness-tax-credit/obtaining-a-wellness-tax-credit-cert.pdf