A strategic plan is a course of action to achieve long-range goals, generally up to five years. Strategic plans reflect the company’s direction and its purpose as stated in its mission statement. In order to develop strategic plans, top management must develop and use summary reports on finances, operations and the external environment. Strategic plans influence the development of tactical plans.

A tactical plan is a course of action to achieve short-term goals, generally within a year or less. Tactical plans represent the short-term efforts to achieve the strategic, longer-term goals. They are concerned with what the units beneath top management must do, how they must do it and who has the responsibility. They have shorter time frames and narrower scopes than the strategic plans.

As an example, an HR strategic plan may include the following five-year strategic goals: to recruit, develop and retain a high-quality and diverse staff; and to offer flexible work arrangements. The tactical plan for these strategic goals would be detailed action plans with due dates by year-end for completion. For the strategic goal to recruit, develop and retain a high-quality and diverse staff, the tactical plan might consist of the short-term goals to obtain salary survey data to benchmark all positions; conduct job fairs at local schools with diverse student bodies; develop a more effective exit interview program; conduct an employee attitude survey for job satisfaction and staff retention; and provide effective in-house training and more funds for external training. The tactical plans for the strategic goal to offer flexible work arrangements might consist of the short-term goals of polling employees to determine what, if any, alternative work schedules or arrangement, such as telecommuting, may be of interest and then to draft policies and procedures for any flexible work arrangements that are proposed.

Although you set out strategic and tactical plans separately, they actually are inseparable. The overall strategy of a company is success, which relies on tactical plans building on each other to achieve the strategic plan.

 
Please Note: This material is provided as general information and is not a substitute for legal or other professional advice. Contact the Knowledge Center for more information.
 

Express Request
SHRM’s Express Request (ER) service allows members to request and receive resources on over 100 timely HR topics via e-mail. Available Express Requests are listed on the web site, and responses are sent immediately.