Planning long-term corporate growth in today’s highly competitive global economy can be a challenge for organizations of all shapes and sizes. That’s precisely why many corporations hire a strategic planning analyst to help design business development plans that maximize profitability. Strategic planning and analysis is often a consulting job in which analysts gather, evaluate, and organize key performance indicators to form recommendations. Strategic planning analysts will carefully study market trends and create forecasting models to help senior executives develop creative action tactics. Professionals working in strategic planning and analysis view the overall market picture to help businesses capitalize on growth opportunities. Strategic planning analysts play a large part in determining the company’s future direction.
Salary
According to data accessed on Salary.com, the median annual salary for strategic planning analysts working in the United States is $53,342. This could be equated to a median weekly salary of $1,026 or hourly wage of $26. In addition to a base salary, strategic planners often receive bonuses, retirement planning, and insurance benefits. It’s estimated that the total average yearly compensation for strategic planning analysts is $78,917.
Beginning Salary
When just starting out in strategic planning and analysis, you’ll likely land in the bottom tenth percentile of earnings with an annual base salary around $39,623. However, strategic planning analysts with several years of experience can eventually bring home upwards of $78,600 annually. Those who progress into top executive roles in strategic planning could make $180,700 or more.
Key Responsibilities
Strategic planning analysts have significant responsibility in developing their organization’s long-term objectives and the right strategies for achieving them. Analysts focus on identifying, scrutinizing, and monitoring any business issues that impact productivity. Typical daily duties can include tracking industry trends, developing financial forecasts, conducting scenario analysis, examining strategic performance, spotting emerging markets, minimizing business risks, evaluating geographic expansion, determining business activity costs, researching competitors, auditing internal operations, and maintaining operational plans. Most strategic planning and analysis jobs are mid-level, which means analysts will collect data and put together their recommendations in presentations for senior management.
Necessary Skills
Before jumping into strategic planning and analysis, it’s essential that you develop the business acumen and analytical mind to see the big organizational picture. Mathematical skills are important for strategic planners to conduct market research and build financial models. Being detail-oriented is key for strategic planning analysts to solve business puzzles in a timely manner. Strategic planners must be persuasive communicators with the interpersonal skills to convince executives to adopt their development ideas. Good computer skills will help strategic planning analysts use statistical analysis software. Planners should also be political savvy, creative, and self-motivated to form strategic executive suggestions that work.
Degree and Education Requirements
Working in strategic planning and analysis will require graduating with at least a four-year bachelor’s degree from a top accredited business school. Most strategic planning analysts have obtained an undergraduate major in accounting, finance, business administration, marketing, or economics. Be sure to fill up on electives that discuss strategic planning models, statistics, market research, organizational behavior, human resources, budgeting, and financial forecasting for solid career preparation. Competing for strategic planning and analysis jobs is hard, so earning a Master of Business Administration (MBA) or Master of Accounting (MAcc) could set you apart. Having a master’s degree will make it easier to enter consulting too.
Pros and Cons of the Position
Of course, finding a job in strategic planning and analysis will provide its fair share of rewards and challenges that you should be aware of now. Strategic planners have the ability to specialize in virtually any industry, such as manufacturing, healthcare, retail, energy, or financial services. Strategic planning analysts can put their high degree of creativity into producing business development plans that capitalize on growth potential. High salaries with good benefits and bonuses is common. Job growth is expected to be above average in the business field. On the other hand, strategic planners have a stressful job in which the weight of an entire company’s future rests on their shoulders. Long hours beyond the traditional 40-hour work week are basically required. Pressure to meet presentation deadlines and invoke immediate growth results can be overwhelming. Strategic planning analysts also need to invest significant time and money into getting the right experience and education for the role.
Getting Started
Before offering businesses any advice on growth avenues, you’ll need to have corporate experience yourself. While earning your degree, use your creativity to find real-world learning options outside the classroom. Take advantage of internships, co-operatives, service learning trips, consulting projects, and field practicum. After graduation, your resume should be filled with enough experience to land an entry-level job as a strategic planning and analysis associate. If not, look for assistant positions to get your foot in the door. As you’re climbing the corporate ladder, become familiar with goal-based strategic planning models. Subscribing to industry publications like Harvard Business Review can help develop key insights. Earning a master’s degree or becoming certified can help expedite advancement. Through the Association for Strategic Planning (ASP), you can become designated as a Strategic Planning Professional (SPP) by having at least two years of experience and passing the three-hour exam.
Future Outlook
As our globe continues recovering from the Great Recession, organizations are looking for innovative ways to improve their efficiency and stay ahead of competitors. Reducing spending costs is another major motive of today’s businesses as outscoring to foreign markets escalates. Therefore, it’s expected that the demand for strategic planning analysts will remain favorable. The Bureau of Labor Statistics reports that the employment of management analysts, including those in strategic planning and analysis, is projected to grow 19 percent through 2022. Strong competition is likely for these 133,800 new jobs among the plethora of business school graduates though. Strategic planning analysts with a graduate degree and certification will have the best prospects. Positions can be found in consulting firms, government agencies, private corporations, non-profit organizations, insurance carriers, and even hospitals.
Overall, strategic planning and analysis is a unique niche where accounting or finance professionals can play a vital role in proposing ways to improve organizational efficiency. It’s their duty to craft creative action plans for reducing costs, outpacing competitors, and bringing in more profitable revenue streams. If you work towards becoming a strategic planning analyst, you could have a rewarding career reorganizing an organization’s corporate structures to encourage the greatest industry growth and expansion.
