Running head: CHECKPOINT VETERAN HARGROVE 1

Organizational Leadership 4341 Final Artifact: Checkpoint Veteran

Jonathan Hargrove

South Texas College

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Abstract

Starting a nonprofit organization from the ground up is one of the hardest things a group of

likeminded individuals can do, especially an organization that caters to disabled veterans and

their families. Being able to radically innovate is something that takes a lot of time and energy.

Systematically implementing a plan of action to get an organization off the ground takes

dedication and perseverance. Proper layouts, incremental improvements, scheduling, community

relationships and collaboration, and quality employees and services are just a few of the things

needed to get any organization up and running.

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Checkpoint Veteran is a non-profit organization that I have the pleasure of being a part of.

The organization is still in the “crawling” stages since its creation. However, as time keeps going

by, there seems to be a sense of urgency to get the organization into the “walking” and then the

“running” stages. There are some very important management operations that need to take place

to be able to accomplish this.

One of my biggest concerns with this organization, being as we are just starting out, is

innovation management. The services that we want to provide to other veterans are not the

typical services that other organizations that are like ours provide. The type of services provided

by veteran organizations are essentially social services typically dealing with counseling,

housing, claims and medical care. The problem is that most organizations only provide limited

service and, from what I have personally seen, only if it stands to benefit the organization as

well, such as with numbers and money. The only issue I can foresee with what it is that we have

in mind for Checkpoint Veteran is that there is going to be a lot of moving parts that need to be

able to work smoothly together to be effective and successful.

So, to combat all these issues that me and my colleagues face, we have decided that to

really provide veterans with what they need, we must consider radical innovation to accomplish

our goals. The idea that we have for our organization is to provide veterans with not only social

services but also mental and physical wellness as well as services that are normally not

considered by other organizations, such as vehicle repairs or other industrial services. The plan is

to eventually set up a one stop for veterans. A place where they can come and get all the help

they need without having to spend more time driving around and filling out paper work than

getting actual help. As I said, this is quite an ambitious endeavor and there are a lot of moving
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parts that need to be coordinated, but, having a centralized location to do all of this will make

that a lot easier to accomplish.

To have a centrally located facility that will be able to house all the different departments

we want, from counseling services to outdoor activities and physical fitness to vehicle

maintenance, is going to take some very careful planning. Process focused measures are going to

have to be put in place for us to be able to track our success rates. Milestone progress measures

are what is most likely going to have to be used. As we build up our organization, there are going

to have to be progress measures in place to help set up future milestones. Take for example

counseling services, this in theory should be a goal that can be reached quickly. There is not a lot

of equipment needed, only qualified counselors and a facility. However, if it takes 6 months to

set up, how long will it take to set something up like a recreational wellness facility or an

automotive shop? So, to help figure out the time frames needed to create these different facilities,

progress measures must be in place.

Concurrent engineering is also something that we must consider to be able to build this

organization. Most non-profit organizations, especially veteran organizations, rely much more on

relationships and collaborations with others. An example would be donations from vendors to

provide food at an event. Being as non-profits do not have a lot of extra money, building

relationships with the community members and businesses and working jointly with other

organizations can increase the success of an organization such as Checkpoint Veteran.

Again, being as this is a very new organization, there is going to have to be a lot of

analyzing of the processes that we will use to be successful. Kaizen is most likely going to be,

initially, the main improvement process that we are going to have to utilize. Since this is a start

from nothing sort of deal, incremental improvements are going to be necessary to develop into an
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improved organization. Analyzing these improvements are also going to be necessary. There may

be instances where we try to improve something, and it doesn’t work. In cases like this, we will

have to scrap the original idea or improve upon it to make it work.

Quality is something that we are going to have to manage very closely. Being as we are a

new organization, but also an organization that helps veterans, we are going to have to make sure

that we provide quality services to those we are trying to help. Most of what it is that our

organization is going to provide is going to be customer service. Customer service, automotive

service, counseling service, physical and mental welfare service. Everything we do is going to be

based on the face that we are serving others. So, we are going to have to set up service model

that will give us the confidence that we are providing the best quality service to our customers as

possible.

Plan of Action.

Now, as far as setting this up and putting together a plan of action goes, there is going to

have to be a starting point somewhere. There are many aspects of action planning needed to

reach the specified goals. We are going to have to create a broad/overall corporate level plan of

action that covers all facets of what it is we want to do. For every specific section of the

organization, there is going to have to be a well thought out plan of action. These plans will

dictate how the plan of action will be implemented. We are going to have to make sure that each

person we hire as managers can bring a plan of action that fit in with the overall concept of what

our organization wants to do. The general format of the plan of action will be similar to this but

can be modified to fit our organizations particular concept. “The plan for the organization, each

major function, each manager, and each employee, might specify:

a) The goal(s) that are to be accomplished

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b) How each goal contributes to the organization's overall strategic goals

c) What specific results (or objectives) much be accomplished that, in total, reach the

goal of the organization

d) How those results will be achieved

e) When the results will be achieved (or timelines for each objective)” (Basics of Action

Planning, 2018).

Once we organize everything, we are going to have to build up our organizations name.

Fundraisers, social events, food drives and anything else we can do is going to have to be done to

let people know who we are. This is going to be a part of the collaboration and relationships

building that was mentioned before. Once the name Checkpoint Veteran is out there, and our

reputation is set and intact, we can move on.

Secondly, a plan needed to procure a facility is going to have to be established. The

layout of this facility is going to have to meet very specific criteria for us to be able to reach the

goals that we have set. Being as we are going to have professional services (e.g. counselors,

claims reps, mental health providers) we are going to have to have a facility that is either already

laid out or will be able to be built to specifications. Also, since we are going to have other

services like shop services, physical fitness, and recreational facilities, the layout of the entire

facility itself is going to have to be well planned out. Since this is going to be a one stop kind of

organization, we are wanting to keep all these facilities in very close proximity to each other. The

only exception that I can see would be the automotive shop. I would prefer that to be adjacent to

the main facility. The reason being is that it’s going to interfere with other sections of the facility.

Shops are inherently loud and the produce a lot of smells and other debris that some customers

may not want to be around, especially if they are there seeking something like counseling or
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mental health services. Since the layout of the facility is very specific, the only option we really

have is to go with a custom service layout design.

Once everything is laid out the way we want, and we have all the counselors and

providers and trainers and technicians needed, we will have to set up a schedule for everyone.

With a facility this size and with all the different services provided, this is going to be a bigger

endeavor than most organizations must deal with. Assignments are going to have to be given out

to different workers for the specific job that they do. For example, a marriage/family counselor

will have to deal with couples and an intake counselor will be for new customers. Scheduling

service operations is going to have to be needed. Being as this will be a very large facility,

scheduling mass services is going to be, in my opinion, necessary. Even though this is not a

production service, mass scheduling will be needed for the simple fact that the services we plan

to provide are usually secondary to most people’s daily routine. Counseling services, recreational

facilities, and shops may have to have different time frames than other parts of the organization

like counselors and health providers.

Conclusion.

There are many aspects that need to work together to create and organization that can

allow it to go from a good organization to a great organization. The ideas I laid out are just a few

of the many things that need to happen to reach the goals that are established. A good quality

plan is needed when setting out on such an ambitious endeavor, however, that is not all you need.

Executing that plan to near perfection can be the difference between success and failure. So, over

the next few months, I will be taking these ideas and perfecting them to make sure this

organization reaches it “running” stage.

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References

Basics of Action Planning (as part of strategic planning). (n.d.). Retrieved February 10, 2018,

from https://managementhelp.org/strategicplanning/actionplanning.htm

Employee Growth. (n.d.). Retrieved February 11, 2018, from

https://www.chartgo.com/create.do?charttype=line&width=600&height=400&chrtbkgndc

olor=gradientblue&labelorientation=diagonal&title=Employee%2BGrowth&subtitle=&x

title=3%2BYear%2BProjection&ytitle=Number%2Bof%2BEmployees&source=&fontty

petitle=bold&fonttypelabel=normal&max_yaxis=75&min_yaxis=5&threshold=&show3d

=1&gridlines=1&labels=1&gradient=1&border=1&shape=1&xaxis1=Year%2B1%0D%0

A%0D%0AYear%2B2%0D%0A%0D%0AYear%2B3%0D%0A%0D%0A&yaxis1=10%

0D%0A20%0D%0A30%0D%0A40%0D%0A50%0D%0A&group1=Group%2B1&grou

pcolor1=green&file=&viewsource=lineView&language=en§ionSetting=false§ionSpecifi

c=false§ionData=false&usePost=#.WoB3jKjtzcc

Leseure, M. (2010). Key concepts in operations management. London: SAGE.

(n.d.). Retrieved February 11, 2018, from http://sporkforge.com/index.php

Strategic Planning for Nonprofits. (2017, December 29). Retrieved February 10, 2018, from

https://www.councilofnonprofits.org/tools-resources/strategic-planning-nonprofits
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Graph # 1

This graph represents the percentage of customers helped over a three-year period. As a

nonprofit organization, there is a minimum requirement of customers needed as well as a

minimum number of customers that must be helped to procure essential funding. The satisfaction

of customers is always a priority in the service industry. There are many positives that come

along with satisfied customers. Returning customers will allow an organization like this to be

able to keep numbers where they need to be so that proper funding can be allotted. The word of

mouth by satisfied customers will bring in new customers as the reputation of the organization

will be that of a high-quality organization and the organization will be able to grow. The larger

we get, the more customers we get, the better our chances of landing grants that will allow us to

really accomplish the goals we have set. Our reputation will amongst other organizations will
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allow for standards to be set with these kinds of services and in turn there will be rewards and

recognition for such outstanding services.

Graph # 2

This graph represents estimated employee growth over a 3-year period. The plot points

indicate that there will be a need for an additional 10 employees every six months until our goal

is met by the end of the 3-year period. There are many things involved with employee growth.

First there will be a need to adjust the pay system every time a new employee comes on. They

will need to be trained up on how the organization works and what we expect. It also shows how

the organization is growing. The more people we provide services to, the more employees we

will need to carry out those services. Eventually this will lead to other things as well. Employee

growth may lead to the creation of different departments, investments, and retirements.