In a letter to commissioners and state employees, the governor said the initiative is an effort to improve state government services by taking a more coordinated, government-wide approach to things such as information technology, human resources, accounting, training and safety.
"State government needs to be more accountable," said Gov. Pawlenty. "Moving from the current practice of each department being relatively autonomous to a more enterprise or 'whole state' approach is an important step towards making state government more accountable. Right now, there are too many overlapping functions in state agencies and we can do better."
The first phase of Drive to Excellence is a comprehensive analysis of business functions and IT resources and it will also identify opportunities for improved services. The analysis, scheduled to be completed by January, 2005, will look at 72 agencies, commissions and boards in the executive branch. The results will influence preparation of the governor's 2006 -- 2007 biannual budget.
"The most competitive and successful businesses have gone through exhaustive efforts to replace the decentralized, redundant support structure with a more effective, enterprise-wide one," the governor added. "It won't be easy to do, but it is critical as we deal with future budget pressures and strive to continuously improve state services."
The initial analysis will be conducted by a team of technology and business specialists from a cross-section of state agencies, assisted by Deloitte Consulting LLP. The team will fan out across state agencies conducting surveys, interviews, focus groups, and technology scans to collect information on current business functions and technology assets in participating agencies.
The governor concluded, "State employees shouldn't read between the lines with this initiative. This isn't about layoffs or downsizing. In fact, we're going to face increasing challenges in filling positions as a significant portion of the state government workforce approaches retirement age. This is about adding value to the hard work of our state employees and improving the end product for the people of Minnesota."
