Strategic HR Blueprint: 6 Key Concepts for Success

A successful business requires motivation, dedication and a clearly defined plan. Without an effective business plan, translating your mission into a measurable goal can be challenging for even the most dedicated team. Successful companies begin their strategic planning with detailed summaries that include key business goals, products and services, marketing strategies, financial planning, and measurements to evaluate success. While creating a business plan is an essential part of starting your business, it can only be effective if it is aligned with your human resources strategy.

The human resources department is the powerhouse of a company. This team helps maximize employee productivity, improve employee experience, and increase employee engagement while mitigating risk and protecting the company from compliance issues. HR responsibilities range from talent acquisition and onboarding to compensation, access to benefits, talent management, DEI issues and succession planning. They include advice, skills development and a level of expertise to help you get the most out of your business plans.

While many larger companies have in-house teams to handle their HR matters, small and medium-sized businesses don't always have the resources to employ a full team of HR professionals. Partnering with a professional employer organization (PEO) leverages the collective strength of thousands of small and medium-sized businesses to provide access to world-class HR benefits, advisors and strategies. As your business evolves, you should ensure you stay up to date with the best HR practices to further your development. By creating a strategic workforce plan and hiring a professional to implement and support it, you can get the most out of your efforts and increase the likelihood of achieving your short- and long-term goals.

Concepts for leveraging comprehensive HR plans

When planning for continued success, companies must be prepared for future situations and plan for the unexpected. This allows employers to strengthen their current workforce and create actionable plans with a people strategy that will have the greatest impact on company success. To create a strategic workforce plan that continues to support your company's future, consider the following six key concepts.

1.The atmosphere in your office

While the pandemic has brought workplace safety to the forefront with mask requirements, barriers, and social distancing, it's now even more important to consider how your employees perceive your workplace overall. Think about how the space looks and feels to the people who are there every day. In the past, you may have had a very strong employee presence, but with the changes caused by the pandemic, more employees are working remotely.

Your strategic planning should address the balance between your current workplace and your future goals, as the way your employees interact with each other and customers has likely changed. Consider how these changing relationships will continue to evolve over time. Are there plans to update the workplaces to reflect the differences? Are your competitors facing similar changes, and if so, how are they dealing with the situation? You need to ensure that your employees continue to feel comfortable in their work environment.

2.General workplace culture

Take a close look at your current workplace culture. The atmosphere in your office could be a factor, but you should also check whether your overall company values are changing. Company culture can be dynamic and evolves as your company progresses. To be proactive and positively shape your company culture, partner with HR experts to gain a better understanding of communication methods and how you can improve the overall employee experience at your company.

Think about what your employees value about your company. You may want to include employee engagement surveys, pulse checks, or other interactions to identify areas of strength and opportunities for updates. Mentorship and sponsorship programs can also promote engagement and provide additional opportunities for connections outside of an employee's immediate work group.

One thing to consider in your ongoing workforce plan is how to improve talent acquisition, hiring, and onboarding while integrating company culture. It is important for new employees to start out knowing exactly how your company works, what training they can expect and what benefits they will receive. By clearly communicating these points, you will create a stronger workforce committed to your continued success.

3.Changes in Employment Requirements

There are many different laws and regulations that govern the relationship between employer and employee. Not only is it important to stay informed and up to date on these requirements, but you should also develop strategic plans for how you can comply with any necessary changes without impacting your workforce. For example, the COVID-19 pandemic led to short- and long-term changes to labor law. These changes affected various standards, including those required under the Occupational Safety and Health Act (OSHA). As the situation continues to evolve, employment laws and requirements are continually being added to and updated by state and local government agencies.

Understanding these changes to employment laws and regulations is important for your company's ongoing strategic planning. As changes occur, you can provide your employees with the necessary updates and optimized processes in a timely manner to reduce the risk of compliance issues. It also gives your team more time to familiarize themselves with the new policies and procedures and understand how the changes affect them. To better engage employees, work with your managers to discuss different ways to improve communication about these updates.

4.Personnel analysis

The role of HR professionals has expanded to include a concept called people analytics. This has become an increasingly important factor when it comes to HR analytics. People analytics is the process of collecting data from HR teams and comparing that data with the company's data to create concrete opportunities to improve your business model. It allows you to better understand your employees and how their skills relate to company goals. Workforce analytics can provide insight into areas such as employee turnover, retention and attrition.

When analyzing these factors, you should collect data about your employees' current experience. This also includes retention rates and all information about fluctuation. You should also consider analyzing performance reviews and employee productivity to better understand how each employee in your company performs. It's important to view this data from an objective perspective so you can effectively incorporate it into your long-term strategic workforce plan.

5.Ongoing institutional knowledge

Institutional knowledge leakage occurs when companies lose employees faster than they hire new talent. This creates a knowledge gap and a learning curve for the company as a whole. If experienced employees leave the company before you have time to properly train new employees, productivity can decrease and the time it takes to achieve your goals can increase. This may also be the case if there is high turnover in your company due to the increasing desire to telecommute or better performance from competitors.

Try to be proactive about maintaining institutional knowledge. You should develop a succession plan for your managers and key employees to identify successors and better prepare for the transition. Another way to strengthen transition periods is to create strong internal processes to support cross-training and capture of your current institutional knowledge and provide ongoing professional development opportunities.

6.Employee experience and feedback

Employee experience is the driving force behind productivity and high retention rates. Make sure you communicate with your employees and show interest in their opinions and recommendations. When employees know that their efforts matter to the company, they feel valued by their leaders. And when employees feel valued, they perform better and are more productive. Gathering feedback in the form of surveys or focus groups will give you a better understanding of how everyone views their role and help you prioritize potential issues. When you combine this feedback with measurable analytics, you can use the data as a strategic tool for creating a successful long-term workforce plan.

IceHrm empowers businesses to navigate strategic HR planning effectively. Prioritize these concepts to foster a thriving workplace.