How Small Businesses Strategically Plan a New Year

Whether you’re in growth mode or maintenance stage, strategic planning is just as important for the little guys as fortune 500 companies. In many cases the smaller the employer, the more hats each employee wears. This is just a natural way to maximize productivity with the resources and talent available. With that in mind, small employers (anything less than 100) are often busy! Our plates are so full, how could we possibly take on more?? Strategic planning is the way to break out of the droll of the everyday tasks and look further into the future for purposeful projects.??

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Importance of Strategic Plans?

As HR Consultants, we work with many smaller employers and Mom and Pop Shops. We often hear the very real arguments against strategic planning of not having enough time to add an additional project or that “everything seems to be working just fine the way it always has”. Our advisement usually is that these arguments may be the exact problem! We’re doing the same old thing, and not innovating, recreating, or improving our products/services. Many employees relish in the routine of everyday work, and many get excited about the possibility of growth and learning new skills! It’s up to you, the employer, to break people out of their habits (good and bad) and get the company moving in the direction you’ve always imagined, not just maintain the status quo and hope for continuity.??

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Being Purposeful?

Strategic planning is about envisioning what could be better when it comes to the daily, weekly, and monthly tasks of your own workload, but also each employee’s key responsibilities. Then we dig a bit deeper, one at a time, year by year. It is not possible (or at least recommended) to address every little thing at once. And Rome wasn’t built in a day. It’s time to put together a one-, three-, and five-year “strat plan”! Where do you want to be in that time? And what do you want to be working on? With the new year approaching, now is the time to be thinking about your organization’s future.??

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Possible Strategic planning Initiatives?

• Automation. What manual process can we automate? Perhaps the management of your receipts, check-ins, follow-ups, marketing campaigns, etc. are taking up too much administrative time. What templates could be created so we aren’t duplicating our efforts and beginning from?scratch each day? If we re-purposed even a fraction of unnecessary administrative time, what else could we achieve with new goals????

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• Team Building and Culture. Could our leadership team or front-line heroes use a fun and effective heart to heart? Sometimes, a simple personality assessment and grand reveal can have a big impact on how we work together and communicate with the different styles and demographics of our peers!?What do you think ideal culture looks like?

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• Succession Planning. How do we keep our legacy employees? Identifying who will step in or step up early in the employee’s relationship with the company allows time for professional development, job shadowing, and training. Teammates are more likely to stay engaged and employed with you if they know where they are going and in which ways you are investing in their future.??

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• Addressing Those “Floating” Tasks. As there are projects we have been meaning to get to, such as marketing efforts, creating new service offerings, bundling pricing for discounts, client/employee satisfaction surveys, etc. Let’s write them down and put a deadline on it!??

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• Developing Metrics. How many clients are we bringing on monthly? What quotes are we “missing”? Why are our employees staying? Why are they resigning? If you’ve ever asked yourself these questions, let’s build the appropriate monthly reports and check the status of these items. More information means we can make data-driven decisions to pivot, when necessary.???

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Getting Started?

To begin, we need to get the leadership team on the same page. What is the current status of our services, customers, employee satisfaction level, etc.? If there are any big-ticket items that need to be addressed, your strat plan should start here. We recommend starting with a SWOT analysis. This includes assessing the internal attributes of your organization’s strengths (S) and weaknesses (W).? List them out and then pick the ones to be addressed within the defined timeline. ?

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Using Your Imagination?

After the initial diagnosis, we get more creative and think about what could be, instead of what is. This is where the external factors of opportunities (O) and threats (T) come into play with the SWOT plan. Perhaps there is a budget for software enhancement? Perhaps we need to invest in our employees to obtain new licensures and/or training to break into a new service or product offering? Once we have a vision, we get that on paper. ?

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Team Involvement?

Yes, each person at your organization should have their own part of the strategic planning process, and even have their own goals. In order to get all our teammates rowing the boat in the same direction, everyone needs a goal that contributes to the overall plan. By starting with a list of teammates and job roles, we then create a list of action items and due dates. Strat planning doesn’t work unless there are periodic progress checks, so everyone is accountable to report in and accomplish the overall mission. These temperature checks are recommended at least monthly, but quarterly meetings can be successful if your working culture is already excelling in accountability.??

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Time for Action!?

As 2024 is right around the corner, what can we imagine our organization to be better at? What will motivate our teammates to “buy in” and strive for continuous improvement? Skywalk Group is here to help! Why reinvent the wheel when we have templates and seasoned professionals available to guide you through the process? Email us today at [email protected]!