Strategic Goals: Setting Goals For any Business(+ Detailed Guide)

Planning to achieve our goals and objectives in our organization will, therefore, help us to have quality management in setting our business goals. This article will thus, explain, define, give examples, and explain the best settings, goals, and objectives of strategic goals.

Strategic Goals

No matter what goal you are working toward, however, It is important to focus on what goals will move you closer to your vision or mission. Strategic plans or goals also come in different shapes, forms, and sizes.

In addition, Strategic goals are visions for your business that will make it go qualitatively; this means that achieving the goal must be thus, something you can measure and track, using data like increased numbers, financial figures, or improved productivity rates. 

In developing your organizational strategic goals, it is important to write it to be good and understanding, therefore there are effective ways you can write your strategic plan which can be:

1. Defining your vision: A vision statement at first serves as a clear guide for choosing current and future courses of action. Consequently, an organization’s vision statement is an aspirational description of what it wants to achieve in the future.
2. Mission in creation: In creating your mission, to begin with, it depends on how you want to plan to achieve the vision. If everyone in your organization has their own interpretation of the vision, lastly, it can lead to conflicting strategies and initiatives. Without a mission, your organization thus lacks the why and how.
3. Setting objectives: Objectives are subsequently, specific results that a person or system aims to achieve within a time frame. In general, good objectives should be clear, measurable, and supported by multiple strategic initiatives across the organization.
4. Developing your Strategy: Strategies are much more specific than an organization’s vision, strategies are developed to enable you to achieve your organization’s objectives.
5. Outlining your approach: it guides an organization on how to eventually execute the strategic plan. The approach is a framework for answering key questions that will later determine tactics. An approach however provides a methodology for executing your strategy.
6. Getting down to your plans: plans are generally the key to execution. They are the actions you take to make it all happen. In the meantime, tactics are focused initiatives, projects, or programs that allow organizations to execute a strategic plan.

What Are Strategic Goals 

Strategic goals are defined as the visions and objectives in the long term for both the financial and non-financial segments; which are equally important to achieve over a specific period of time, for the growth of the organization. 

In other words, they are also important for planning because they point to priority settings, help in budgeting activities, and resource allocation, provide motivation for employees, and provide comprehensive data for analyzing the team’s results. Strategic goals, therefore, influence how and where a team’s energy and resources are used.

They also provide the team with concrete objectives that will keep them focused and motivated. Setting strategic goals can also have a significant impact on the success and productivity of your team

Examples Of Strategic Goals

In this example of strategic goals, firstly you need to focus on the goals that will move your organization at a higher pace. Secondly, for each objective or strategic goal, you must have an accompanying measurement.

Some examples of strategic goals can thus be in Finance, learning and growth, business processes, and customers. Below are some of them.

Examples Of Strategic Goals For Finance

1. Create and launch a new product(s)
2. Increase customer conversion
3. Company’s/Market sales Growth must be greater than 1
4. Customer satisfaction  
5. Gain market position
6. Explore new customer segments
7. Increase revenues
8. Attract investment
9. Return on Assets
10. Shareholders dividend
11. Diversified revenue streams

Example For Learning And Growth

1. Number of online and in-person team updates
2. Number of reporting tools and internal newsletters a week and in addition to communication skills training programs
3. Survey your teams.
4. Build on momentum and also implement a performance review and reward system
5. Build a culture and align with it across the organization.
6. Open new locations, for example, the number of locations per city/region/country
7. Going international and also a percentage of sales abroad/local
8. Number of exported products

Examples of Strategic Goals For Business Processes

1. Increase web traffic
2. Number of publications and also backlinks
3. Vendor performance
4. Restructure organization
5. Implement software project
6. Grow your organization through acquisition
7. Increase the value of projects and also manage growth
8. Lower production costs and also build capacity for the future
9. Improve supplier relationships
10. Increase team size
11. Find new volunteers
12. Launch and complete special projects

Examples Of Strategic Goals For Customers

1. Improve customer satisfaction
2. Decrease the number of product returns 
3. Increase net promoter score
4. % of defaults on products
5. Response time to complaints
6. Number of followers/likes on social media
7. Number of returning customers
8. Improve our service approach for new and existing customers.
9. Strategic partnerships
10. Create impact measurement
11. Customer Delivery time
12. Increase in new customers

Setting Strategic Goals

Setting strategic goals for your team is a smart way to change aspects of the company in a positive way. When a company has set goals, everyone can work as a team toward a common objective. Having goals that are weekly, monthly, quarterly, and yearly is also important so you can see if the team is on track to meet each goal and adjust accordingly if not. Do some research, assess your team members, and decide which strategic goals will be the most beneficial for you and your team.

In considering the strategic goal setting you can use in your organization, any approach you use solemnly depends, entirely on the individual needs and objectives of your team. The progress your team makes toward the goals you choose to implement should be simple to track, easy to record, and have recognizable results. Let us have a look at some examples of strategic goal plan to consider before setting goals for your team:

#1. Goal Statements

Goals statements are broader concepts that interpret the vision statement of the organization into something that is more time-sensitive and meaningful. When used in conjunction with strategic themes, goal statements translate a vision into a strategic plan. Goal statements typically take the focus of an entire company and make it actionable for an individual team.

Some examples of goal statements are:

1. Increase team productivity
2. Increase web traffic
3. Improve customer relations
4. Increase community outreach
5. Innovate new solutions

#2. Objectives Goals

Objectives are measurable and quantifiable targets that inform when goals will be met and by how much. Progress toward objectives must be regularly recorded. If the objectives are not measurable, they have simply tasked lists. Factors that objectives measure include targeted performance, baseline performance, and the date that the objective will be achieved.

Objectives are an important example of strategic goals that are created to promote success, as they are the foundation for planning.

More examples of objectives goals include:

1. Increasing shareholder value by the next quarter
2. Lowering production costs by the next year
3. Balancing the company budget before January 1
4. Maintaining the current profit margins for six months
5. Securing five new client deals by the end of the year

#3. Communication Goals

There are a variety of strategic goal examples that will improve communication in your business. This includes increasing internal communications so everyone shares information better as a team and accomplishes more.

There might be more in-person and online team updates that you want to happen so the team is more informed of what is happening daily. A company might want more reporting tools used or created so it is easier to see the progress the team is making. A weekly newsletter can go out each week internally to update all teams on what the others are up to.

If your team needs to work on communication skills, several tasks can aid in that goal. Surveys can be sent out each month to make sure you are meeting the needs of everyone on the team. The company may want to start a reward and performance review system.

Other examples of communication goals include:

• Increase employee satisfaction ratings
• Simplify instruction materials
• Streamline the new employee training process
• Maintain a positive company culture
• Prioritize team projects over individual tasks

#4. Theme Goals

A strategic theme goal is usually comprised of one to three words and is used to organize operational and strategic plans. Companies that have strategic themes may have an average of four to six different ones. These goals focus on unifying a team by choosing a simple idea that everyone on the team can understand and support. Because this type of goal is usually quite general, the individual tasks needed to achieve the goal will need to be effectively communicated for the goal to be achieved.

#5. Financial Strategies

When it comes to financial strategic goals, a good way to measure success is going from the current state of X to the desired state of Y by a certain date. Setting a deadline makes it easier to accomplish your specific goals.

As an example, a strategic goal example is to enter new markets, so you would set a goal of getting into X, Y, and Z markets by a certain date. You could also set a goal of having 15 regional markets in total by a specific date. Another strategic goal example would be a 15% market share in every new market by a set date. These all have the same goals of entering new markets, but there are varying measurements that impact how you will execute your strategy.

Here are a few more examples:

1. Reduce financial waste by 10% in the next year
2. Increase revenue by transaction by 12% before next September
3. Reduce customer wait times from 20 minutes to 10 minutes in nine months
4. Reduce marketing budget by 15% before May 30

#6. Growth Goals

If the business is doing well at the current location, it might aim to open several new locations across the state or the country. This is a big goal, so having set tactics and strategies with objectives is essential to make sure all deadlines are met and all tasks are checked off the list. One goal may be to figure out which locations are the best choice for opening up new stores.

The company may even want to go international, which will have its own set of tasks to follow to make sure all international regulations are complied with. Other goals related to this may be having a certain percentage of sales in local stores and a certain goal for sales in international stores. A business can also track how many exported products are made and shipped out.

Strategic Goals And Objectives

Strategic Goals and objectives are tools we can use to optimize our plans to achieve our aim of building our organizations. Therefore, we will start by understanding what the goals and objectives represent respectively.

Goal: A goal is a specific target, an end result or something to be desired. It is a major step in achieving the vision of the organization.

Objectives: A measure of change in order to bring about the achievement of the goal. The attainment of each goal may require a number of objectives to be reached. 

If a goal is a description of a destination, then an objective is a measure of the progress that is needed to get to the destination. It is also important to understand that a number of goals must be attained before the strategic plan can be achieved. Similarly, each objective in the strategic plan will in turn require a number of goals to be successfully achieved.

What Is the Difference between Strategic Goals and Objectives?

Strategic Goal: A goal is a specific target, an end result or something to be desired. It is a major step in achieving the vision of the organization.

Strategic Objectives: A measure of change in order to bring about the achievement of the goal. The attainment of each goal may require a number of objectives to be reached.

What Are the 3 Types of Goals?

1. Process goals.
2. Personal standards
3. Outcome goals.

What Are Strategic Goals and Plans?

Strategic goals are defined as visions and objectives in long term both for the financial and non-financial segments; which are equally important to achieve over a specific period of time, for the growth of the organization.

Who Is Responsible for Cost Reduction?

In a major company, this committee is made up of different department heads and senior executives, but in a small business, it might be any one of the executives.

What Are Cost Saving Measures?

A cost-saving measure is any change made to a building or any piece of equipment, fixture, or furnishing installed or used within a building that is intended to lower the building’s overall operational or maintenance expenses.

What Is Cost Reduction Effort?

Companies employ cost reduction to decrease their expenses and enhance their revenues. Strategies can differ depending on the services or products offered by a company.

Related Article

1. What Is Strategic Financial Management?- Functions and Importance
2. FINANCIAL GOALS 2023: The Complete Guide for Students and Businesses (+ quick tips)
3. BUSINESS PLAN: Examples and Template for StartupTHE COCA-COLA HISTORY: Success Facts