Executive Order No. 3-79

(No. 04-17)

[Program to Improve Vermont Outcomes Together (PIVOT)]

WHEREAS, Vermonters deserve a modern government that provides efficient and effective services and programs that produce results now and into the future; and

WHEREAS, continuous improvement is both a culture to be adopted, as well as a toolbox that includes proven results and process improvement tools such as Lean and Results-Based Accountability; and

WHEREAS, continuous improvement should be driven by strategic outcomes (goals) contained in a living Strategic Plan; and

WHEREAS, said strategic outcomes should be monitored by using results-based indicators and programmatic performance measures to inform the level of success in achieving the strategic outcomes; and

WHEREAS, tools such as Lean should be used for process improvement by focusing on customer value-added activities, elimination of unnecessary steps and bottlenecks, and build capacity in programs and activities; and

WHEREAS, the Governor has created, by separate Executive Order, the Government Modernization and Efficiency Team, a dedicated team of State operational professionals and business and technology leaders to enable the Governor to benefit from both public and private sector experience in successfully implementing modernization changes.

NOW, THEREFORE, I, Philip B. Scott, by virtue of the authority vested in me as Governor of the State of Vermont, do hereby order and direct the following:

1) All Agency Secretaries, Department Commissioners, and their deputies shall:

a) Attend executive branch appointing authority Boot-Camp developed and directed by the Chief Performance Officer;

b) No later than July 1, 2017, develop a multi-year State Strategic Plan, in consultation with the Governmental Modernization and Efficiency Team (GMET), with consideration for the existing outcomes in 3 V.S.A. § 2311;

c) Assign Agency and Department staff to participate in an internal Continuous Improvement ("CI") team;

d) Assign a team lead for consideration as a participant in a statewide Continuous Improvement Steering Committee to be chaired by the Chief Performance Officer;

e) Select and instruct CI team members to attend Lean White and Yellow Belt training, and Green belt training where deemed necessary;

f) Instruct business managers and staff to attend Programmatic Budget training, and thereafter:

i)   No later than July 1, 2017, in consultation with the Commissioner of Finance and Management, develop a list of programs, program areas and program groups, including associated FTEs, funding, and coding;

ii)   Prioritize the program list in line with the Governor's Strategic Goals of affordability, economic growth, and protecting vulnerable Vermonters;

iii)   Prioritize, in consultation with the Commissioner of Finance and Management, programs to be designated for results-based improvement and/or process improvement;

iv)   Assign the CI team lead to work with the Chief Performance Officer, or designee to develop an improvement events schedule;

v)   Use results-based methods and tools, such as Lean tools to develop viable changes, improvements, and action plans to achieve results and efficiency improvement;

vi)   Integrate identified efficiencies and changes into programs and operations, utilizing and redeploying adding capacity, and new efficiencies attained to avoid future costs;

vii)   Develop a list of future improvements requiring statutory and/r rule changes, or additional costs, for consideration;

viii)   Incorporate known efficiencies and capacity building into future programmatic budgets, aligning programmatic results with the programmatic investment, and strategic outcomes;

ix)   Secretaries, Commissioners, and Deputies shall report to the Governor and the GMET on a quarterly basis on the programmatic results and process improvements;

x)   Secretaries, Commissioners, and Deputies shall report to the Governor annually as directed by the GMET.

2) A Continuous Improvement Steering Committee is established to provide guidance and technical assistance for the PIVOT; the Committee shall be chaired by the Chief Performance Officer and comprised of a representative number of agency and department CI team leads.

3) All Agency Secretaries, Department Commissioners, and their deputies shall ensure classified State employees, middle management, and upper management have the requisite training and knowledge and are empowered to:

a) Make improvements to programs and processes;

b) Suggest innovative solutions; achieve better outcomes; and

c) Provide support training, resources and tools necessary for a broad array of employees at all levels.

4) All Agency Secretaries, Department Commissioners, and their deputies shall encourage participation of internal and external stakeholders to ensure that the State government is more responsive to Vermonters.

This Executive Order shall take effect upon execution.

Dated January 5, 2017