The Roles of a Strategic Advisor to an Organization
Business executives strive to ensure that their organization remains in good financial and operational health. However, there are instances where a business needs new strategies and perspectives, especially with changing business environments. Some remedies to fix the company, like bailouts, may worsen the situation. A strategic advisor offers objective insight into a department or company’s performance and financial health and provides proposals for improvement.
A strategic advisor ensures an organization works efficiently by overseeing all business facets. This entails determining and formulating policies and providing direction for the organization. The strategic advisor communicates and works with management in developing and coordinating operational activities. Notably, the advisor does not execute strategies- they guide business leadership on their development and implementation.
Vaguely defined outcomes lead to waste and loss of time, money, skilled labor, and organizational failure. Strategic advisors assist businesses in identifying outcomes and defining objectives through metrics, targets, and measurable timelines. To set clear goals, the advisor seeks an understanding of the issues and sub-issues to determine the answers to complex demands, risks to address, and information that requires clarity. A clear overall picture enables the strategic advisor to formulate quantifiable outcomes for the management and the organization.
In-depth planning can positively affect business performance, especially in finance and resource allocation. Strategic advisors assess the state of a company through performance reports, financial and production data, competitor analysis, and interviews with key players like top management, industry experts, vendors, and customers. The information aids in identifying problems and opportunities for planning.
A strategic advisor undertakes a market analysis to determine possible business improvement areas. Depending on the organization’s niche, the primary focus areas are analyzing market trends, opportunities and threats to the business objectives, and external factors of interest to the business. The latter will likely involve assessing the competitors’ offerings and formulating strategies to compete effectively, including expanding regional, national, or global market reach.
Advisors also assist with human resource management. For example, they may advise the top management on employee motivation, ethics, and conflict resolution. The guidance can benefit a startup with new staff or a company facing potential conflict triggers like reorganization or redundancies. This aspect requires more focus with the human resource department on feasible or industry tools for these purposes, with the support of the executive management, especially for supportive resource authorization like performance incentives for the staff.
In most cases, the advisor’s report should suffice for the company to implement the improvement proposals without guidance. However, some advisors remain on board or return to offer support via monitoring, tracking, and supporting the proposal execution. The duration can also be longer, based on the severity of the company’s issues, or periodical for updates on the business environment or industry trends. The advisor’s experience and industry contacts add value and speed up the implementation of the new initiatives.
Depending on the duration of the advisor’s tenure, the report content varies. One type may contain just the advisor’s observations, recommendations, and expectations, while another report highlights the advisor’s activities and implementations during the stay, the results, and compares the results before arrival. Lastly, the strategic plan can highlight possible action plans based on performance and functional analyses.
