The director of planning at the Petroleum Industry Health Organization (PIHO) has underscored the necessity of implementation of the organization's vision plan.
"In the current [calendar] year, five working groups on health, human resources, finance, customer relationship management and information technology will be established to examine planning," said Mehdi Hashemi.
He said that health and treatment were key in oil operations logistics.
"As petroleum industry macroconditions are changing, PIHO, as a logistician of this industry, is adapting itself to new conditions within the framework of vision plan," he added.
Hashemi said PIHO Vision Plan was drawn up in 2015 with the collaboration of all directors and experts of PIHO-run areas. The vision plan was adopted as an organizational covenant whose implementation was assigned to the Directorate of Planning.
"Therefore, this Directorate coordinates all operational plans of PIHO-run areas and administrative sections with this document and monitors PIHO in line with objectives set forth in this document," he added.
Hashemi highlighted the Directorate of Planning's effectiveness in PIHO's vision plan and success, saying: "Within PIHO, plans are drawn up at the three macro level, middle level and operational level. Integrity of and harmony between these plans would be the most important factor guaranteeing materialization of PIHO objectives."
"The macro objectives set out for PIHO in the Vision Plan are as follows: improving the level of health, upgrading the quality of services, increasing the level of satisfaction of colleagues and recipients of services, upgrading organizational efficiency, updated technology and research about health and improving relationships beyond PIHO. All activities of this body are required to be in line with the objectives; otherwise, we will achieve nothing but the waste of resources," he said.
"Since the very establishment of PIHO in 1998, the Directorate of Planning had four divisions: Strategic Studies and Performance Assessment, Systems Engineering and Productivity, Statistics and Data, and Regulations," said Hashemi.
Referring to challenges, he said: "Planning is not a procedure exclusively related to a Directorate. As books on management have made it clear, planning is one of important tasks of a manager. Therefore, anyone holding the post of manager in an organization is automatically required to have plans for the administration of affairs."
"The planning vision is not tasked with defining plans for other division; rather the Directorate of Planning is tasked with integrity, monitoring and controlling progress of plans. It also keeps a tab on the exercise of monitoring," Hashemi said.
Regarding guarantees for the implementation of plans within PIHO, he said: "In all organizations, the commitment of senior managers vis-à-vis macroobjectives is one of most important factors of success. Another factor guaranteeing implementation of plans is the relation between plan and budget and spending."
He reiterated that the process of planning is a participative one. He said that the five working groups of health, human resources, finance, customer relationship management and IT would be set up in order to make plans more realistic.
He said the working groups would examine practical plans in different areas and submit for approval.
Highlights of Measures Undertaken by Strategic Studies and Performance Assessment Division in 2017:
• Preparing reports on the activity and general conditions of PIHO to be discussed at the General Assembly of Shareholders
• Reconsidering PIHO Vision Plan
• Monitoring the adoption of annual PIHO plan for different areas and divisions based on the Vision Plan
• Review of PIHO operational plan
• Receiving report on the progress of operational plans for areas and their examination
• Supervising the implementation of operational plan throughout year
• Assessing progress of operational plans and adopting a collective report
• Defining indices to assess performance of PIHO-run areas.
• Receiving data and statistics from the statistics division for drawing up reports on performance assessment.
• Evaluating performance and ranking PIHO-run areas
• Providing consulting services for drawing up and reconsidering the strategic plan of hospitals
• Participation in and supervision on the process of budgeting for next calendar year
• Participation in designing reforms and drawing up next year's plans for PIHO-run areas
• Conducting studies to examine different aspects and feasibility of development and key projects
• Obtaining permission from CEO in order to mechanize the processes of planning and controlling all PIHO-run areas
• Conducting case studies upon the view of director of planning