This year has brought with it many lessons, but the need for a strong HR playbook is a theme that rang true in tackling many of 2021’s biggest business challenges, from employee burnout and a global skills shortage, to the great resignation employers are currently navigating.
It doesn’t matter what you call it, the core function responsible for looking after your people is a necessary upfront investment in the success of your business long-term.
Included in any HR strategy are a mix of policies and practices that look different for every business, but there are a handful of truths that are undeniable in executing an effective strategy that will scale and grow with your business and its people.
1. HR should be well-informed on your business goals, and use these as foundational pieces in your larger HR strategy.
At the end of the day, the HR function is about making sure you attract (and retain) the right people in the right roles to help propel your business forward. Your organizational goals should be the foundation of your HR strategy, inform decision making, and act as benchmarks for measuring success.
2. Making decisions after the fact comes at a higher cost.
Strategic HR anticipates problems and builds solutions before issues arise, and if you aren’t anticipating the future needs of the business, you’re practicing reactive HR. Reactive HR can be linked to uninformed decision making, poor hiring choices, higher turnover, weak organizational culture, and employee burnout – all issues that impact the bottom line of your business.
3. Culture, compensation and the employee experience should be key pieces of your workforce planning.
Considering the impact the great resignation has had on workplaces over the past 6 months, it’s mission critical that culture, compensation and the employee experience are core pillars of your people strategy to help foster positive relationships with existing employees, and attract potential candidates.
4. Leveraging workplace data impacts decision making for the better.
Organizational strengths, weaknesses, and areas for improvement are all highlighted within company data. Tap into what’s available to you via employee surveys, executive interviews, and HR software that helps uncover where you’re seeing wins, and where attention is needed.
5. Defining your employer value prop isn’t fluff, it’s an advantage in the talent acquisition arena.
The internal work is necessary, but how you present yourself to potential candidates, stakeholders and the public will become a massive part of strategy in 2022.
