A great deal of ink has been devoted
to establishing Mission Statements, Vision Statements, and Strategic
Objectives for Human Resource Departments across the country. Then,
the plans are put into a lovely binder and thrown in a desk drawer, never to
see the light of day. In this article, I want to move past the planning
stage and address the most important component of strategic planning:
implementation. No matter how reasonable and sound a strategic plan
is, it’s only useful when the objectives are actually realized.
In a high performance organization employees across all departments and
levels clearly understand the organization’s core values. That’s why I
recommend that, for each objective the HR planning team establishes,
discussion occurs around which core value those objectives support. If
a proposed objective does not support one of the organization’s articulated
core values, either promote additional core values to the top leadership or
drop the proposed objective. The employees in your department have to
carry out the strategic plan. In order for them to do this
effectively, they must internalize the organization’s values and long-term
objectives and understand their specific, day-by-day role in meeting those
objectives.
During HR’s strategic planning process, I recommend that HR staff are
involved in brainstorming about the resources required to carry out
objectives and how to acquire those resources. If people are brought
into the process early, they’re more likely to feel ownership in plan
implementation and can identify potential barriers to success.
If strategic objectives are to be carried out, I think that specific goals
must be set – for each objective – in order to stay on course. For
example, if an objective is to provide time management workshops for first
line supervisors, a supporting goal might be: By 12/31/04, research vendors
that provide time management workshops that cover setting priorities,
juggling multiple tasks, managing projects, and time management techniques.
But you’re not finished yet.
The point at which I observe most strategic plan meltdowns occurs here.
If there’s no discussion on tactics, or methods to achieve goals, it’s very
likely the goals won’t be met. If a goal is to develop a new service
to offer clients in the health care industry, for example, an appropriate
tactic might be, “A consumer focus group will be established by John and
Mary to brainstorm community needs for home health care. ”If goal
setting is focused towards achieving each established objective, then
tactics can follow to ensure that barriers for meeting these goals are
minimized. I don’t believe any strategic planning session is complete
until and unless there’s this discussion on tactics, or “who does what and
when”, to promote accountability.
As a follow-up to setting tactics, I recommend process checkpoints be
established so that a brief discussion of progress can occur at regular
intervals. I like to see the HR Department get together three or four
times a year to perform a status check. Are we on target to meet
goals? If not, do we need more resources? What needs to happen
to ensure success? If you wait until two weeks prior to year-end for
this discussion, there’s not going to be sufficient time to get back on
course.
Over the years that I’ve assisted HR Departments in their strategic planning
process, I’ve observed a few pitfalls, or ways the best laid strategic plans
can go astray. I want to touch on those so you can be aware…and
prevent them from occurring with your plan’s implementation. The
pitfalls are:
-
No alignment with the organization’s
strategic plan
-
Missing pieces
-
No integration across Human Resources
-
No champions in place
In order to acquire resources to implement
HR’s objectives, you’ll need to be able to convince the CEO or CFO that your
planned actions support the organization’s strategic objectives. For
example, it’s hard to say “no” to HR’s request to research labor practices
in Europe (maybe by going there!) when the organization wants to grow the
business in various European countries within the next year.
All components of a strategic plan must be developed to ensure success.
These are: Mission Statement, Vision Statement, Core Values, Potential
Barriers and Supports, Objectives, Goals, Tactics, and Process Checkpoints.
Without a comprehensive, cohesive plan that contains each of these parts,
your HR staff can get pulled into many (and conflicting) directions.
You’ll also need to consider system-wide integration within Human Resources.
If you establish goals that focus solely on recruiting, you may defeat your
intention of finding and keeping quality employees. If you establish
goals that focus solely on training, you may let your recruiting standards
slide.
Lastly, you’ll need a champion (or champions) who have position power within
your organization…..who are privy to the company’s “big picture” needs. The
Champion’s role is to help remove internal obstacles to successful strategic
plan implementation.
If you would like to inquire about the services Gravett and Associates
provides to help HR Departments conduct strategic planning, please don’t
hesitate to contact me at
Linda@gravett.com.
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