Over the past years, GAER has refined its processes and competencies and has a strong understanding of how it adds value and how it integrates with other organizations. The core business of GAER can be defined through eight processes and are outlined below.
Identify Needs
Each community representative on the Board is responsible for presenting the needs and priorities of their respective communities, and ensure their process for defining local needs is clear and transparent.
Prioritize Needs
The collection of community needs are assessed and evaluated at the GAER Board table, and priorities are determined that have the greatest economic impact across the region. Priorities are identified, and specific initiatives are defined.
Launch Initiatives
GAER management and Board work collectively to determine the Terms of Reference for the initiative to be undertaken (consulting study, research report, feasibility study, impact assessment, etc.) and establishes the board-approved budget, milestones and performance metrics to be achieved.
Develop Reports
GAER management maintains responsibility for the deliverable associated with each initiative, and ensures that the quality of work is adequate for the Board to make informed decisions. Third party contractors are remunerated for the work completed, and all intellectual property derived from the report remains the property of GAER.
Disseminate Reports
It is the responsibility of GAER management to distribute and communicate the report to key stakeholders - including the Government of Alberta, industry participants, local citizens, adjacent communities, etc. - in hardcopy and digital forms. Reports should also be made public on the GAER website and submitted to media when appropriate.
Educate Stakeholders
Specific stakeholders that are affected by the reports or the recommendations in the reports need to be further educated about its contents and impacts. GAER Management maintains responsibility for properly walking key stakeholders through the content of the report and the recommendations to ensure reports are not left to be adopted by chance.
Facilitate Meetings
In certain times where specific stakeholder groups or organizations should be taking action (positive or negative) surrounding the challenges or opportunities identified in the reports, it is important for GAER management to facilitate meetings of key stakeholders or interested parties to explore the pending realities.
Measure Progress
Upon the subsequent completion of a report, it is important for date measurements and performance metrics to be collected and evaluated in order for progress to be measured and so that return on investment can be quantified. No report should be considered completed until all eight steps are completed.
The Value of our Core Processes
GAER takes an active responsibility to ensure value is delivered at each step, and for each project. These eight steps represent the core processes for GAER and ensure they are completed with extreme competence.
There are many benefits to these processes. Two of the most fundamental are:
- The hand-off to partner organizations and institutions that can implement at the local level.
- The advocacy process that needs to be enacted upon the completion of any report for the purpose of soliciting funds to support the implementation of the report's recommendations.
These two points of completion ensure the report's recommendations are implemented and not just considered.
For more information on our core processes view our Business Plan.