Each organization or business needs to have a process of developing and implementing its HR strategies. The purpose of these programs should be to solve business problems and help organizations achieve their long-term objectives. In the past, HR management used to be an administrative function that focused on daily responsibilities like talent acquisition and employee benefits management. However, with time, there have been a lot of changes in the labor market. This has created the need for businesses to recruit and train the right people and provide ethical and cultural leadership.
What is Strategic HR?
Strategic HR refers to the link between an organization's human resources and its strategies, objectives, and goals. Strategic HR seeks to advance flexibility and innovation within an organization. It also aims to give companies a competitive advantage. Apart from this, strategic HR can also enable organizations and businesses to develop a fit-for-purpose organizational culture and boost business performance.
If strategic HR is to be effective, an organization's human resources team needs to stand in as a strategic partner during the creation and implementation of company policies. This ensures that company policies promote activities like hiring, training, and rewarding employees. The fundamental purpose of strategic HR is to find ways that human resources can contribute to the growth of an organization. For instance, HR personnel can adopt strategic approaches to hiring, training, and retaining employees that meet the needs of an organization's long-term goals.
The Importance of Strategic HR
Strategic HR planning is critical for the retention and development of quality staff. Your organization will have a better chance of retaining employees if they feel valued. However, retaining employees is only part of the puzzle. There are several other benefits to having a strategic HR plan.
For a company to succeed, all teams need to work towards similar objectives. The role of strategic HR planning is to analyze employees and determine what each team needs to do to increase its value to the company. The results of this analysis are then used to come up with human resources techniques that can be used to address the weaknesses of employees.
Here are some of the benefits of strategic human resources management:
- Improved work culture
- Better job satisfaction.
- Improved rates of customer satisfaction.
- Proper resource management.
- Boost in productivity
Strategic HR planning can also help you steer clear of costly and disruptive surprises that can get in the way of achieving organizational goals. You will also be able to address critical issues before they turn into complicated problems. A good HR plan helps to provide a sense of direction, which will positively affect how work gets done.
Developing a Strategic HR Plan
It is the HR department's role to develop a strategic HR process that can be used to achieve and promote behaviors, culture, and competencies that are needed to achieve organizational goals. To create an effective HR plan, the HR team needs to develop a list of results-oriented goals. These include the following:
- Assessment of staffing and skills needs
- Keeping training up-to-date
- Maintaining competitive salaries and benefits.
- Finding ways to keep employees motivated
- Competitor analysis with a focus on recruitment and retaining of talent
- Reinforcing corporate values through ethics and training
To come up with an effective strategic HR plan, you need to ask yourself the following questions:
- What is the current situation?
- What is the desired future, or where do we want to be?
- What are the strategic objectives to get to the desired future?
- How are we going to evaluate our progress?
These questions will enable you to come up with a sound strategic HR plan. You need to ensure a close association between the HR plan and the company's overall business strategy. This will improve the company's ability to anticipate and meet customer needs. As a result, the company will easily maintain a competitive advantage. To come up with an effective strategic HR plan, you also need to research thoroughly. You can look at an HR strategic plan example if you don't know where to start.
Monitoring and Evaluating
Once a strategic HR plan has been created and implemented, you must establish a mechanism to monitor and evaluate the plan's success. Most organizations conduct annual or quarterly strategic reviews to find out where their strategic objectives are being achieved. During these reviews, organizations also try to implement significant internal or external adjustments to improve the strategic plan. Some tools that are useful when it comes to monitoring results include balanced scorecards, benchmarking, and dashboards.
Strategic HR Planning and Business Performance
There has been a lot of research done to determine the impact of employee management practices on business performance. Much emphasis has been put on the importance of 'fit.' This is why it's crucial to ensure that HR strategies align with other organizational processes. The key HR areas that were found to have maximum impact on business performance are job design and skills development.
Researchers also found that isolated HR practices cannot drive improved business performance. For instance, it's not enough to have a lot of highly skilled individuals. For the company to benefit from these individuals, they need to have positive relationships with their managers. It's also crucial to ensure that all teams and employees work in a supportive environment with strong values. These are the factors that were found to promote 'discretionary behavior' or the willingness of team members to give extra effort. This is why strategic HR planning also needs to factor in things like employee engagement, motivation, and commitment. All these factors strongly contribute to better organizational performance.
Summing Up
There's a lot that goes into strategic HR management. For instance, HR should align its practices with the business strategy. However, for the strategic HR plan to be truly strategic, the HR team needs to connect with the various stakeholders that the strategy is made for. This is how HR can add significant value to the organization. If you are not sure how to develop a strategic HR plan, hiring a strategic HR company that can help you out is advisable. Strategic HR consulting can give you better results than if you try to go at it alone.
