The Innovation, Resilience and Performance Division within County Administration was first formed in FY 2020 from existing staff resources formerly allocated to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) when performance management was an adjunct role within the OMB. With the development of a strategic plan framework in early 2020, the Board of County Commissioners approved the County Administrator's recommendation to enhance the focus on innovation and performance. The Division is tasked with refining, implementing, and integrating the community's vision in the strategic plan framework into the existing performance management system. This strategic initiative changed the focus from basic metrics tracking and reporting by adding the role of organization-wide strategy management.

The strategic plan introduced an improved focus on the alignment of strategy, performance, and budgeting by being able to measure progress toward the County Commission's vision, goals, objectives, and initiatives. In addition to setting direction, the enhanced performance-driven strategic focus enables us to evaluate performance in relation to strategic objectives, so data on past performance can inform and help improve future performance. The initial data to set the vision, mission, goals, and objectives for the strategic plan came directly from the community through stakeholder meetings and the National Community Survey conducted in 2019, and have been revised based on the National Community Survey conducted in 2022. The Division's enhanced responsibilities now encompass the following:

Performance Management

• The Division assists with the refinement and implementation of the community's and Board of County Commissioners' vision, goals, and objectives found within the County's Strategic Plan.
• Assist with reviewing and defining Initiatives and Action Steps while monitoring progress toward achieving key intended outcomes on a quarterly basis, following a continuous improvement approach.
• Develop, review, and refine the strategic plan while merging it with our performance management focus, ensuring performance in both strategy and operations.
• Administer a robust Performance Management Reporting System that tracks progress on strategic Initiatives and Action Steps that will achieve identified Goals and Objectives, as well as reviewing and reporting detailed departmental program and service metrics that support our operational objectives.
• Conduct Community Surveys on a recurring schedule (2019, 2022, 2025) to measure the effectiveness of service delivery.

Special Project Administration

• Studied comparison communities and provided recommendations to implement a comprehensive cost recovery schedule to diversify revenue streams and reduce the burden on property tax revenue.
• Assist with data organization, analysis, and dashboard creation to enhance department efficiency and effectiveness.
• Provided support to the Hurricane Milton recovery phase, including in-field data collection of tornado-impacted residences and processed over 1,300 data points from the Multi-Agency Resource Center.
• Reviewed annual reports and master plans related to local Community Redevelopment Agencies to further the County’s partnerships and long-term strategic planning efforts.
• Developed a Board of County Commissioners’ meeting time pilot program following analysis of the meeting schedules of Florida’s 67 counties to enhance operations, public engagement, and transparency.

In addition to these core functions, the Division's performance analytics and strategy focus lends itself toward acting as a ready resource tasked with assisting when complex problems arise. This is accomplished by delivering as-needed analytical, research and special project requests for County Administration.