What is Strategic HR? A Guide to Doing HR the Strategic Way

“Strategic HR”. It’s a buzzword in the HR industry that has been around for some time, and I anticipate it will be around for a while longer. This concept of strategic HR is floated frequently, and it’s quite possible that, like many other business owners, you find yourself asking, “What is strategic Human Resources and how can it help my business?”

What is meant by strategic HR?

A strategic human resources department has evolved beyond the traditional approach of solely transactional and operational support of the employee life cycle. This means a more strategic approach to areas such as recruiting and onboarding, performance management, employee relations, benefits, and separations, among others.

Strategic HR is aligned with senior management to execute on the overall mission, vision, and business objectives of an organization, with a keen focus on people and performance. In doing so, the HR department has integrated the operational components of the employee life cycle with the organization’s initiatives. The result is a fully aligned approach for talent management that takes the HR function beyond the day-to-day of a status quo human resources department to help deliver organizational success.

Strategic HR programs are unique by nature and will vary based on business needs, mission, values, culture, and overall strategy for growth, renewal, maintenance, whatever phase of the business lifecycle they are in.

What does an HR strategist do?

A strategic human resource management consultant will play a key role in all aspects of high-level HR strategy. This includes areas such as:

• Change Management: Offering solid recommendations and informed insights into the impact change will have on your work environment and how employees may respond. Helping to develop a detailed plan for execution, including managing communications, employee reactions, and resistance.

• Workforce Planning & Development: Assisting leadership in identifying the talent needed to advance your business goals by providing skill gap analysis. Working on an employee development roadmap while identifying external resources you may need.

• Employee engagement & Communication: Developing programs and strategies designed to engage employees in a way that makes them excited about their role in your organization’s success, and supporting that momentum through strong organizational communication.

• Business Planning Alignment: Supporting your business planning initiatives with key insights around compliance and expert considerations on the impact of staffing decisions. Backing up decisions with HR metrics and key performance indicators that track progress towards long-term goals

By augmenting the human capital program, businesses see increases in engagement and retention of employees who help drive the overall mission of the organization. After all, without a great team, how would your business reach its goals?

How Can Businesses Benefit from HR Strategic Planning?

Now that you have a basic understanding of the concept of a strategic HR management approach, it’s time to determine if you’re ready to make the jump; and it is a jump. Focusing on the people within your organization is an investment that will cost your business time and money. It is important to first assess your readiness for transition or determine what you may need to do to get your business ready.

Below are four questions to ask yourself to help determine if you may be ready to elevate your HR department to a strategic level:

1. Does your HR department have a strong foundation? This means you have the operational components described above functioning in a way that keeps the day-to-day moving smoothly.

2. Do you have the full support of the leadership team to elevate your HR function? This means your leadership team is ready to commit executive time and energy to your human resource initiatives and to champion these efforts.

3. Is there is a willingness to accept that significant changes may have to occur within your business? This may mean major changes in HR practices, including new tactics in talent acquisition, employee performance management, and decision making.

4. Are you prepared for your human resources function to integrate itself with other departments of your organization that have typically not been involved with HR in the past? This means involving the human resources function with business initiatives to elevate your company’s goals and overall business strategy.

With this information in mind, you are now more equipped to determine if your business is ready to invest in the development of a strategic HR function. Perhaps you’re close, and need to make small adjustments to your tactical and operational HR processes or work to ensure you have buy-in from stakeholders before launching major HR initiatives. No matter where you are as an organization, it is critical to reflect on where you are today so you can best decide how strategic HR planning can become a competitive advantage.

Ready to work with a strategic HR business partner?

All HR leaders would like to be strategic partners to the rest of the business, but that isn’t always possible. Limited resources often mean that the HR team has to focus on today’s issues, with no time to focus on the bigger picture.

Working with the right partner can help. Helios HR’s team of experienced HR professionals can offer insight, establish processes, and help your leadership team achieve your organization’s goals.

Want to learn more? Book a call with a Helios HR consultant today!