All organizations engage in the strategic planning process for deciding the future direction and long-term objectives of the business. In order for a business to be a success, all the departments must align their strategies with the overall strategic business plan and objectives. Even though each business function such as sales, marketing, finance, production, HR etc. has their own respective responsibilities and a possibility of getting stuck in their own silos, each of these functions must align their strategies with the business strategy.
HR is the business function that interacts with and affects each of the other business functions during different stages of its processes. According to research, going forward, the most important skill of an HR leader would be to align HR strategies to business strategies. It has to be understood that HR is not a stand-alone business function and is part of the overall business strategy. Thus, it is very important for the HR strategy to be developed in tandem with the business strategy.
- Involvement in business strategy: For creating an HR strategy aligned with the business goals, it is important that the HR leader is involved in the formulation of the corporate strategy. Not only can he/she enlighten the boardroom with the implications of their decisions on the human capital but can suitably impact decision making for business strategy and instead of simply falling in line with the business strategy, can have an actual understanding of it.
- Play a wider role: The HR leaders must play a bigger part than simply delivering on administrative HR They must create HR strategies that impact the human resource of the company in a positive way and help them achieve their best productivity. It can also look beyond to enhancing employee skills or even engage in programs which may boost employee confidence.
- Development of an aligned HR strategy: The strategy for HR must be built upon the business goals. This means all components of the strategy such as the structure of the organization, employee compensation, development and performance expectations must be derived from them.
- Creation and implementation of an action plan: With the HR strategy working as the umbrella framework, an executable action plan must be developed. In this plan, the budgetary compliance must be taken care of as well. Measurement of these plans must also be part of the plan.
According to a report by Aberdeen, it is found that for more than 50 percent organizations, the HR management is too worked up with administrative tasks to bother about a true alignment strategy. It is important then for the HR managers to have tools to free up their time so that they can focus on things that matter. If the HR leaders are not free and available to work on alignment strategies from the start, that is, the boardroom decisions, the company is likely to miss out on important perspectives.
