Office of General Services Strategic Plan 2023

We face a rapidly changing world that requires us to evolve with it. Our strategic plan describes a dynamic vision for the future of OGS and our role in a transparent, responsive, and sustainable New York State government.

Our job, as public servants, is to create the best possible lives for New Yorkers. That means building infrastructure that works and reducing our carbon footprint so future generations can enjoy the same quality of life that we enjoy. It means delivering government services that are modern, easy to use, and that reduce burdens on the New Yorkers who need them. It means expanding opportunities for good government jobs and for contractors — particularly those who have historically been blocked from equal opportunities — to conduct business easily and equitably with the State. By working together, we can build a better New York.

This 2023 Strategic Plan is a roadmap for the years ahead that shows how, through OGS, New York will deliver smarter, more efficient, responsive government for all New Yorkers. It aligns with Governor Hochul’s “Achieving the New York Dream” agenda and answers her call for State government to increase its transparency, accountability, and accessibility. Our agency is uniquely positioned to implement many of the Governor’s priorities and make strides in government operations. Doing so, however, will require reforms and changes that solidify our foundations.

In 2022, OGS began the process of engaging with our customers, staff, and vendors to chart our path into the future together. The 89 initiatives in this ambitious plan detail how OGS will support the transformation of State government operations.

Here is our commitment:

• We will be transparent with our staff, customers, vendors, and the public
• We will focus on our customers and our role in supporting their missions
• We will deliver services and products that provide the best outcomes and value for the State
• We will incorporate sustainability and equity into all our work

In order to exemplify our commitment to transparency, customer service, and sustainability — and advance OGS’s role as a leader in government operations over the next five years — the agency is undertaking a series of ambitious goals.

These goals are organized under Our Work, which will include initiatives that directly impact key partners across the State, and Our Foundation, which will improve the core of the agency to support employees and deliver better services.

OGS will improve our capital planning and management of the State’s vast real estate portfolio, for our design and construction work, and for other assets, including the State’s large fleet of vehicles. Years of deferred maintenance and low investment have resulted in many spaces that are either in poor condition or built for government services of a different era. To address our aging infrastructure and assets, we need to obtain more precise information about our overall portfolio and provide more transparency and guidance to the agencies that we serve. We must also help the State adapt our infrastructure to climate change while creating 21st-century workspaces that support the shift to hybrid work and enable programs to scale nimbly.

To advance this effort, we will implement new processes and technology that will provide our agency with real-time insights into the condition and life cycle of State assets and allow us to deliver better guidance on State facilities, leases, and assets to our partner agencies.

As OGS improves our physical real estate and asset services for our State partners, we will also improve the shared business services we provide for the State. From smart management of our portfolio of contracts, to efficiently servicing the administrative HR and Finance processing needs of over 66,000 State employees, we can nimbly help the State save time and money while improving quality, increasing managerial oversight, and advancing the State’s climate goals.

To advance this effort, we will center our work around our partner agencies and their staff members. Our Shared Services — from procurement, to warehousing, to our Business Services Center (BSC) — will establish key performance indicators, including operational outcomes and measures, for our work that can be used for management and to share with our partner agencies. We will design an account management approach for our partner agencies that focuses on their service outcomes and measures customer service and satisfaction.

OGS designs and implements engagement strategies that improve communications and interactions between State government and the New Yorkers that we serve. From our digital and media services teams to our Statewide Office of Language Access, we help agencies focus on their users and give them the tools they need to expand access to, and understanding of, State programs, services, and regulatory requirements.

To advance this effort, we will work with the Executive Chamber and our partner agencies to improve digital content and integration of language access as a core service across all Executive agencies.

OGS oversees a vast portfolio of noteworthy public buildings and art that encapsulate the history of our State. By sharing these assets, we can transmit the stories, identities, and cultural history of New York for generations to come. OGS buildings can create a sense of place and belonging for our surrounding communities, provide access to the richness of New York’s past, and allow our agency to establish unique venues to uplift and celebrate stories of the State’s diversity.

To advance this effort, we will preserve and restore our valued assets, while designing programs that allow the public to access and engage with our cultural resources. We will find new ways to advance and grow our engagement strategies with communities across New York State by re-envisioning existing events and exhibits, as well as building new ones.

At our very core, OGS services require a trained and skilled workforce that can advance the State’s interests. Each staff member represents OGS and directly impacts the perception of our agency. We must address our considerable resource pressures, including significant staff attrition resulting from retirements and pandemic-related shifts in the labor market. If we want to be successful in our operations, we need to invest in and retain our talented workforce – from the day they are hired to the day they leave.

To advance this effort, we need to operate as one team, with a commitment to service excellence at all levels. We will build a One OGS culture and communicate and engage with all of our staff members in meaningful ways. By working transparently and accountably, we can adapt as one team when challenges arise, whether internal or external.

OGS provides a wide array of services for the State, with incredible depth and breadth of responsibilities. We firmly believe that if we cannot measure our operations, we cannot effectively manage, respond to, or evaluate outcomes. OGS will implement a series of projects to improve our operations, from functional tasks that support the State’s workforce, to transformational efforts that allow our divisions to use data to improve our operations and workflows.

To advance this effort, we will put data and project management at the center of our work. We will implement projects that provide greater insight into how our portfolio is functioning, whether referring to our Design and Construction projects, the efficiency of our Shared Services, or the quality of our cultural programs. By instilling a culture of data-driven decision-making, we can better identify and communicate challenges, design initiatives to address structural issues, nimbly adjust course as business needs change, and measure our progress over time.