Strategic Management

Strategic Management is the art of understanding the impact a certain employee will have on the rest of the company. Different people offer different skills. Some of these skills can be very useful to your company and some not so much. The idea of strategic management is to place employees in the situation where their unique skills will be best utilized.

Strategic management is not something that comes over night. It takes many years in management positions to be able to identify where employees will be most useful.

There are three main challenges that all strategic managers have to face. These obstacles can inhibit managers from implementing his/her new plan.

The first problem to overcome is a question of competency. The employees need to believe that the new strategic manager is qualified in his new position. Competency does come from the pieces of paper you have framed in the office. It comes from having the ability to make a plan and efficiently manage your resources. I have done business with people that have their MBA, but could not manage a three ring circus. Competency is the most important thing in the workplace. Leadership is going to promote those who can best perform the task at hand. Fellow employees will not support a strategic manager that can't get this done.

The second issue that stands between a manager and a successful strategic plan is training. When a new manager comes on the team he hopes his employees are prepared to work. Many times this is not the case. If you are going to have new procedures, you are going to have to train people how to do them. The key in this step is efficiency. You need to figure a way to get the best training in the least expensive and fastest way. This is going to vary depending on the company.

Lastly is the question of time. When you step into a strategic management position, the executive leadership is going to expect results. One of the best ways to get immediate improvement is to set up an incentives program. The number one thing that drives most people in the work place is money. If you set up a realistic way where your employees can affect this they are going to work hard. It is essential to give the people that work for you the reason to stay late and give the extra effort. When you go into the executive meeting at the end of the quarter and your strategic plan has raised sales your bosses will be very impressed.

Most companies are missing individuals that have good strategic management skills. If you can develop this characteristic, you are going to have great value in the workplace.

Strategic management will help you get the most out of your employees and impress the executives in your company.