By Aly Virrey

In an era where strategic agility is key to staying ahead, AboitizPower’s Distribution Utilities Group recognized the need to refresh its approach to strategic planning. On July 24, 2024, the AEV Transformation Team designed and facilitated a pivotal Pre-Strategic Planning session for the Core Leadership team and their next-level peers entitled “Big Picture and Objective-Setting Workshop”.

More than just the usual pre-work activity for Strategic Planning, it was a focused effort to reactivate the leaders’ strategic vision, challenge conventional ways of thinking, and align on the path moving forward. Throughout the workshop, participants embodied key A+10 Behaviors—remaining Open to new ways of strategizing, being Innovative in crafting fresh objectives, embracing an Entrepreneurial mindset to explore business growth, and staying Purpose-Driven by ensuring all strategies aligned with their Massive Transformative Purpose.

Setting the Stage

APDU’s journey toward a new strategic outlook began a week before with a virtual Expectation Setting session. This initial meeting proved to be important, as it laid the groundwork in preparing the top leaders from APDU’s Operations teams to engage in deeper, more focused discussions.

When July 24 rolled around, the energy was palpable, even as the event went hybrid with most participants being in Cebu and some leaders having to attend virtually. The workshop kicked off with a Welcome Remarks from Anton Perdices, Chief Operating Officer of AboitizPower Distribution Group.

“Hopefully, today we can set the mood for next week, the 2 days [of Strategic Planning], to really sit down, take time, and analyze clearly – and not fall into the trap of making our operational plan our strategy... Since we’ve been operators for so long, myself included, it’s easy to fall back into the operational side of things rather than the strategic side of things… But operational excellence doesn’t grow the business in leaps and bounds the way strategy does,” he said.

This was followed by a thought-provoking keynote from AEV’s Vice President for Transformation, Dea Franko Csuba, wherein she emphasized the critical distinctions between strategy and operation plan. The discussions highlighted that strategy is about making deliberate choices that position the company to win, and that a clear, coherent strategy prevents conflicting priorities, and optimizes resource allocation. Leaders also had a chance to engage and ask questions.

Before diving into the day’s first breakout activity, the Transformation Team also discussed some key industry Megatrends and Foresight Signals to help activate the leaders’ big picture or futures thinking.

From Strategy to Action

With these guiding themes in mind, the participants moved into a breakout activity where they tackled their playing field of choice where they have the right to win, to produce their strategy.

The Transformation Team then gave a quick refresher on objective-setting before they broke out for another activity. This time, leaders collaborated to translate their strategy into actionable objectives. The conversations were dynamic, with participants sharing insights and ideas that would help shape the roadmap for APDU’s future.

Looking Ahead

By the end of the workshop, APDU’s leaders had not only refreshed their thinking but also solidified a strategic direction. With measurable objectives in place, they laid a strong foundation for achieving concrete results.

Talking about her experience, Jeihan Borlaza, CFO of APDU said, “The pre-strat plan exercise reminded us of the difference between strategic planning and operational planning. We were so immersed in our operations – which is our comfort zone – that we only focused on operational KPIs and have missed to purposely look outside and much further into the future. The AEV Transformation team shared really good videos that triggered our thinking on what actually creates value for our business.”

During the workshop, I appreciated the mentoring and the challenges put forward by the team on how we should craft our strategies and objectives as we tend to gravitate towards operations. It was good that we had those guided sessions as it helped us identify the areas that will create real value for us. The workshop reminded me to unlearn some things so I could learn more, like don't start with the number but start with the opportunities and we need to have a more structured way of managing our adjacencies. Overall, it was a very good workshop that created the foundation for our strategic planning.

- Jeihan Borlaza, CFO, APDU

Mark Kindica, AVP for Engineering Operations of Visayan Electric Co., Inc. echoed this sentiment. He said, “The workshop provided invaluable clarity on distinguishing between strategy and planning. We were able to clearly define and map out our strategic focus, centering on three key areas. The workshop played a crucial role in translating high-level strategies into actionable and measurable objectives. The facilitated discussions pushed us to think critically, ensuring that our strategies are not only aspirational but also grounded in reality and achievability. Furthermore, the workshop enabled us to prioritize our objectives in a way that maximizes their impact on the broader organizational goals, aligning our efforts with the bigger picture.”

We were able to discuss strategic objectives aligned to AP, our MoveThe Needles, and the APDU Massive Transformative Purpose. Objectives for our three key strategic themes were initially identified. The aspiration or  ambition of APDU is now crystal clear to the team. The challenge within us is how to operationalize and this can be discussed in the strat plan session. The mindset should be that we are all together in this objective. We should work together not only in APDU but across AP to deliver what we promised.

- Val Saludes, President & COO, Cotabato Light and Power Company

Creating Value Through Crafting An Experience

Through close collaboration with the APDU team, the Transformation Team ensured the session was tailored to meet the leaders' true needs, pushing them to think bigger and more strategically. The result was a dynamic, impactful workshop that sparked meaningful conversations and set the stage for long-term success.

As always, the Transformation Team remains committed to partnering with A-People across the Group, providing them with the tools and mindsets needed to drive the organization’s Techglomerate aspirations forward. Together, we’re shaping a future that’s innovative, impactful, and full of potential. Interested in learning more about the session or collaborating with the AEV Transformation Team? Reach out to aev.transformation@aboitiz.com for more details.