strategichrplan_141

7/27/2019 strategichrplan_141

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STRATEGIC HR PLAN DOCUMENT

Strategic HR Plan necessarily originates from companys Business or Corporate Strategy.

Strategic HR Planning means linking human resources to clearly defined strategic goals andobjectives.

Strategic HR Planning is devising specific course of HR actions that fully support and are in linewith organizations business objectives.

Strategic HR planning is possible if HR is able to participate in companys business strategy andis looked upon as valuable contributor to the organization. In other words, management shouldhave faith and confidence in its HR team that understands business environment very well andallow them to partner with the top management.

STRATEGIC HR ISSUES

Strategy essential means what we want to do and how we are going to do. These are alsocalled Strategic Goals to be achieved.

Identify Fundamental HR Plans, Strategies & Issues that needs to be addressed immediately1. Manpower Planning, Acquisition & Placement2. Succession Planning3. Skill availability and development4. Motivation Issues5. Compensation Design & Structure6. Employee Grading, Alignment,7. Pay & Remuneration System with low degree of disparities8. Consistent & Stable Performance Management System9. Career Development Framework (Skills development, job rotations, succession planning,

trainings, etc.)10. Competency Frameworks for assessment, evaluation, mapping and development of

competencies

6-STEPS STRATEGIC-HR PLANNING MODEL

1. HR Direction & Strategic Outcomes Desired2. Designing HRM System based on HR Direction & Outcomes set above3. Manpower Planning4. Acquiring & Building Up Human Resources5. Human Resource Development & Performance Management6. Assessment, Measurement & Evaluation

HR Direction & Strategic Outcomes Desired

This can be done with two approaches in mind, 1. Focusing on Vision, Mission, Values of theorganizations in which direction HR should move. 2. Plan HR outcomes so that the set goals,visions, missions are achieved.

HR must fully understand the direction in which the organization is moving and be able to supportby using competent HR tools. Setting the direction is the first move to planning strategic HR.Further specific HR outcomes should be planned which are in line with organizations businessgoals. Certain HR outcomes can be discussed with reference to following points.


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If organization is moving towards expansion of its business across wider geographical regionsthen there is a possibility of acquiring diverse manpower and exposure to global business and HRenvironment. Here specific HR outcomes can be creating an organization culture, which iscapable to absorb diversified manpower with strong learning attitude.

If an organization is new and needs to stabilize in the competitive environment, then strategic HRdirection would be more focused on effective manpower acquisition and placement objectivessince, new organizations are highly driven by employee turnover both from recruitment andattrition point of view till the time it stabilizes. Here desired outcomes could be creating moreinformal environment that would help building up close nit teams with strong bonding betweenthem would help address attrition issues. Because new organizations may not be able to pay highsalaries or rewards to retain manpower, rather building manpower with strong interpersonalrelationships can make them stay together for a longer period of time. Team building, EmployeeWelfare initiatives and creating knowledge sharing environment could be essential strategic HRgoals.

In relatively stable and large sized organizations not very vulnerable to small competition threatscan afford to spend more time on employee development, competency buildings and creatingmore efficient manpower in the organization. In such organizations strategic HR goals could bedeveloping and implementing robust performance assessment framework, competency

development and mapping mechanisms, strong training, development and learning systems andattractive reward mechanisms. The strategic HR outcomes desired could be utilizing anddeveloping organizations core and distinctive competencies in comparison to its internal strengthsvis a vis external threats and make an organization more capable to handle stiff competition withefficiency.

Designing HRM System focused on HR Direction/Outcomes set above.

HRM system essentially means designing HR policies, procedures and rules that are in line withHR direction or goals set. New and emerging HR policies in modern world can be Outsourcing,Flexible Work Practices and Automation. Other policies can be intelligent reward/awards policies,HR administrative policies, Code of Conduct & Employee Rule Book, Disciplinary policies etc.However the cost benefit analysis must be made before implementing advanced or modern HR

practices.

It would be important to identify which policies suit the organization and HR strategic needs, plansand goals. It is be possible if there is a detailed survey done on best HR practices available in theindustry, so that you can pick and choose the best and cost effective one.

Manpower Planning

Two things to be kept in mind while planning your workforce, i.e. Organization Design or Structureand Job Design/Description

Forecasting business & manpower requirements, skills & competencies required, right mix offresh and skilled or experienced manpower along with time gaps predefined i.e. when and how

many and where they are required, sources to be used internal or external, succession & careerplans, quality of manpower that supports organization structure and Job Descriptions, Groupingand Organizing manpower with provisions of attritions, back up and buffer manpower etc.

Acquiring & Building up Human Resources

Recruiting, Hiring, Classifying, Inducting & Training and Placement of employees as perOrganizations Manpower Plan

Establish cost and time effective Recruitment & Selection Practices & Processes


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Design good Induction & Orientation Processes coupled with Technical, Functional & On-the-job, and Off-the-job training & skill development programs till the time an employee is readyto be productive.

Introduce learning practices, knowledge sharing activities, create Knowledge Dashboardsand promote sharing information between teams, departments and in the entire organization.

Establish clear and transparent employee classifications & occupational levels so that roles

and responsibilities are clearly defined. This is possible if you have a robust Grading &Designation system, which is not only as per current size of manpower but also futuristic, andcapable to take care of additional manpower expected to be recruited in near future.

Human Resource Development & Performance Management

Review and Re-align existing Performance Assessment, Job Definitions, Career Planning andRewards Management with current organization goals and HR objectives. The PerformanceManagement & Appraisal Framework should be able to produce performance required by theorganizations in line with its business strategy.

Performance Management is Futuristic activity where future performance is planned and actionsare devised to achieve it. For example, the organizational, divisional, team level and individualperformance objectives should be made crystal clear so that employees can clearly visualizewhat they have to achieve.

Performance Appraisal is Historic activity where what ever happened in the past is evaluated,rated and remarked. But you cannot change the performance once it is already happened.

Hence focus on Performance Management rather than Appraisals and try your best to extractperformance objectives of the organization. This should be primary goal of HR and if you do it, itsa great achievement.

A great performance management practice should be introduced with relevant PerformanceRewards & Awards System. Do not devise glossy and glamorous rewards awards policy. Thefundamental rule of Rewards Mechanism is you should know What kind of achievements,behaviors, milestones should be rewarded in line with Organizations Performance Goals and

Business Strategy and How to reward them, in what way, cash, non-cash, recognitions,promotions, job enrichments, job rotations, higher designations, high compensation, publicrewards, individualistic rewards etc. Please also remember every employee has his owndistinctive need of getting rewarded, in cash or kind or appreciations etc; some people love to bepraised in public, while some dont.

Human Resource Development essentially focuses on Trainings & Skill development (technical,functional, motor skills etc.) Competency Development (attitude, behavior, capabilities etc.)Career Planning & Succession Planning (promotions) etc.

Continuous assessment of organizations current skill levels of employees by way of maintainingskill matrix with reference to current and future skills required and gaps between the current andfuture skill needs; formulates the base for devising efficient training programs on various key skills

required by the organization.

Competency Development is a Herculean task. Competencies essentially may or may not directlyor indirectly contribute towards employees performance; it just gives additional muscle power tohelp perform. It is the Job Skill that drives performance. But competencies are surely required todeliver strong performance along with key job skills. Also understand competencies are more todo with Behaviors and Attitudes, which cannot be altered easily. Hence either you have a certaincompetencies or you dont. Do not force competencies on employees, they should feel the needto develop certain competencies then only they will generate necessary positive attitude towardsimproving their competencies. Because competencies essentially consist of attitude, behavior,


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value systems which have shaped since childhood depending upon the social circles anindividual has been brought up. Remember ICE BERG model of competencies. Iceberg shows20% tip above the water but 80% is below the water, which is hidden or not exposed easily. 20%portion represents employees knowledge, skills and experience, which is clearly visible to theentire world and can be easily changed or improved. The rest 80% portion represents individualsbehavior, attitude, value system etc., which cannot be altered or changed.

The best way to assess competencies is through Behavioral Interviews to be conducted byexperts only, where employees responses are recorded and noted down carefully, his attitude,thinking, values are understood and necessary remarks are noted. Further this information isclassified according to performance ratings of employees and a classification may be made withreference to what kind of specific behaviors or attitudes or values displayed by Poor, Average,Good, Excellent or Outstanding rated employees. This classifications can be used asbenchmarks both in Performance Evaluations and Selection / Hiring Processes. This is veryhelpful essentially while recruiting, since we already know what kind of behaviors or attitudesrepresent poor, good or excellent performers. Recruiting people with right behavioral attributesand positive attitudes will ensure that we hire people already possessing strong competenciesand a strong potential of star performance. Half the battle is won there itself. Further we also getclear understanding about what are specific behaviors, attitudes required to create excellent andoutstanding rated employees, these benchmarks can also be used to train, develop and groom

good or average rated employees to elevate them to excellent or outstanding level. Customizedtraining and development programs can be devised based on outstanding competenciesdisplayed by other employees.

Competency development can be done in following phases.

Understand the key competencies required by the entire organization in order to achieve itsperformance objectives in line with business strategy and goals. Scale down these competenciesfrom organization level to department and individual level. Group these key competencies andfocus on them for development.

Assess the current level of proficiencies of organization, department and individual competencies.Please note that competency ratings or rankings can never be absolute, they always fall between

certain ranges because competencies cannot be constant (since they are behaviors or attitudes)Hence competency ratings can only be stated as between 1.00 to 1.50 or between 2.50 to 3.25etc. Not as absolute 1, 2 or 3 etc.

Benchmarks the competency levels you are targeting to achieve. For example if an individual or adepartment shows Customer Orientation competency rating of 1.50 to 2.00 then you can plan toelevate it at least to 1.75 to 2.25 level. Please remember, competency development is very slowand gradual process, it cannot be improved drastically in short period. It takes time to grow.

Conduct a detailed gap analysis between current competency levels and desired levels by theorganization as per performance goals or business objectives.

Key employee identification

Then identify and prioritize key employees who need to be focused for competency development.Do not undertake competency development of entire manpower at one go. It is a slow and timeconsuming process hence focus on creating more star performance. For example, selectExcellent Rating people and focus on them to reach to outstanding level. Select Good ratedpeople and make them Excellent-rating performers. Average and Poor can be considered laterunless they show attitude to reach to Good rating level and work hard for it.

Based on the Gap analysis and identified key employees, you can plan phased competenciesdevelopment programs at organization level and execute them.


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Further to promote or motivate employees to develop competencies and create right positiveattitude with relevant behaviors, Competency based Reward mechanism can also be a goodoption. Like Performance Reward you can also have Competency Rewards where you candevise special rewards, awards, incentives for certain employees who have displayed high levelof proficiencies in certain key organization competencies. This way you can also motivateemployees to take interest to develop their own competency levels.

Assessment of competence and performance

It involves measurement of organizations progress towards achieving its desired outcomes andadjusting HR strategy and system accordingly.

Implementing clear quantifiable measures, identifying milestones in the achievement of specificorganizational goals and using Balance Scorecards will articulate results of HR Strategic plan inmeasurable terms. Regular evaluation and review of strategic plan is also essential to fine-tunethe strategic HR plan itself.

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