Definition of Strategic Planning

Strategic planning is a smart approach wherein an organization develops and implements strategic plans to achieve its goals in the long run.

Strategic planning is a very well-known technique which almost all businesses implement whether small, big, or medium-sized and whether private or public.

Do you know that all of this strategic planning can help your entire organization?

As an HR professional, it is important for you to have in-depth knowledge about its meaning, importance, and benefits.

$__ nek_ improper rubbish

So, let''s dive in:

• What is Strategic Planning?
• Importance of Strategic Planning
• Benefits of Strategic Planning
• What are the Steps in Strategic Planning?

What is Strategic Planning?

That is, the strategic planning process includes formulation and implementation of some effective strategies that help a business achieve its predefined goals. In most companies, such plans are made by the HR managers along with the higher management, who evaluate their effectiveness in the long run.

Importance of Strategic Planning

Every business out there needs to have a vision and clear sense of direction. You tend to review your past achievements and make predictions for the time ahead, your whole workforce will have a plan to follow.

Do you know what happens when a business does not have a roadmap that tells it where it is and where it has to get? It fails miserably in the middle of the way.

So, strategic planning is a must. It is going to help you identify which is the top priority, the probable challenges, and the processes that can be removed for good.

Benefits of Strategic Planning

Here are the top benefits of strategic planning you must know:

• Retains Employee: One of the best things about strategic planning is that it leads to more employee involvement and productivity. It also creates a positive work environment where the employees get plenty of opportunities for development and perks. Strategic planning also eliminates micromanagement to a greater extent. Now, which employee would wish to leave such a workplace?
• Fosters Collaboration: The very process of strategic planning starts with a meeting of the management and employees of all levels, where they come up with suggestions and opinions most transparently. With time, both parties work together to fulfill the organizational goals. This in turn increases communication and participation across the workplace.
• Encourages Sustainability: Another amazing benefit of having strategic plans is that it enables HR to discover and resolve problems more quickly. Secondly, it is no news that the needs of the customer and industries are surging more and more with each passing day. Therefore, if the company fails to work out a robust strategy, it would become quite difficult to stay on the track. In simple words, strategic planning also helps the business to accommodate all the latest needs with a bare minimum effort.
• Improves Bottom Line: It is also a part of strategic planning to study and understand what is happening in the market. You will be in a position to learn a lot of new things about your market and end customers by doing the same. You can come up with effective sales and marketing plans, which may lead to higher business profitability.
• More Involvement: When people from top to bottom are allowed to interact and communicate effectively, they feel valued and work with more motivation. To develop the strategies for their working, it is essential to involve middle-level managers and lower-level team members. This kind of participation empowers every person within a working environment.

What is the Process of Strategic Planning?

Following is the strategic plan process step by step:

1. Identify: First of all, you have to understand where your business stands at this point in time by taking a closer look at your business operations. Some do this step by reviewing the current strategic plan and long-term strategic goals while others use the SWOT analysis method. You can choose the technique accordingly.
2. Make a List: Second, work out precisely what can be done towards facilitating your organization''s objectives. To achieve this, list down all the key, relevant, and pressing objectives of your business. While making the list, do not forget to note down the resources that you need, like some automated software and more funds. Apart from this, you should also set the timeline and KPI to track the overall progress in future.
3. Build: This is where you actually plan the strategies. For this, sit with the respective individuals, brainstorm, and develop some effective strategies that will eventually help your company achieve the strategic goals you set in the earlier step. Of late, a number of HR professionals are also using several automated tools/software to develop strategic plans, review them, and update them whenever required.
4. Implement: After making the overall plan, it''s time to implement the same. In order to set roles, make investments and to make changes in policies and procedures, you will need to ensure clear communication throughout the organization. Basically, this step involves strategic management and regular strategic reviews to make sure that plans stay on the track.
5. Revise: It''s important to review and revise any strategic plan at intervals to address changed business conditions and new opportunities. You might want to consider quarterly reviews of the KPIs of the plan, and annual changes to the actual strategic plan itself.

And, we''re done!

We are sure that you must be thinking of prioritizing strategic planning for your organization now. You know how you can make strategic plans effortlessly? By using HRMantra software, HRMantra automates every step involved in strategic planning, thereby saving time and energy for every individual involved.