When organization’s sit down for their strategic planning session, there’s usually a lot on the agenda. Everyone is bringing something to the table that they feel is urgent. The reality is, only a few different strategic priorities will be settled upon by the time the meeting participants are packed up and headed home. In order for a strategy to be effective, this is the way it has to be.
In many strategy sessions, the areas of focus usually involve some kind of organizational change like a merger, acquisition or management shuffle. Revenue is another common focus, as organizations ask themselves ‘How will we continue to grow?’. The purpose of this article is to consider the importance of honing in on a human resources strategy, and to focus on the actual people that make up your organization.
If it isn’t clear already, employees are attracted to workplaces where they feel respected and like they’re making a difference, where they receive fair pay and benefits, and where they’re given flexibility. A 2017 study revealed that 37% of employees would quit to work somewhere else that allowed them to work remotely part of the time. To attract the best employees, it makes sense that you have to be the best place to work. By coming a desirable place to work, employees will want to stay, and the organization will be able to make real strides towards achieving the vision and mission.
Besides having appealing HR policies that attract the best workers, having a clear HR strategy that your employees can get behind can also provide a real competitive advantage. Employees that are motivated and care about the direction of the company will be able to produce the best goods and services, while actively trying to cut costs and boost the bottom line.
By incorporating an HR strategy as a subsection of your overall strategy plan, a natural link between HR and strategy takes form. With HR measuring your employees and the strategy measuring the success of HR, it becomes easier to update and make changes to each strategy. With an effective HR strategy, employees will be motivated to push themselves and each other toward reaching their organizational goals.
Get started on your own HR strategy here:
Being able to measure the success or failure of your HR strategy is crucial just like any other strategic priority. However, HR isn’t as easily quantifiable as measuring revenue and profits. This article explains the many different HR metrics that can help you use data to track and measure your HR strategy: 21 HR Metrics.
This infographic is from Fundera.
