How to Do Human Resources Strategic Planning

As you interact with your organization, it's important to be able to share the strategic goals of your Human Resources department. Otherwise, how will your organization leaders understand what value your department adds? They're definitely asking and need to see the value that you bring to the total organization. Developing a department business plan, with input from your organization, allows you to understand and communicate the HR functions contributions. It allows you to shape the expectations that your organization holds for what you will contribute and when. This transparency adds value to the goals and role of the HR department. Find out how to develop an HR business plan.

Departments are the entity organizations form to organize people, reporting relationships, and work. Departments are organized in a way that best supports the:

• delivery of the department's services,
• attainment of the department's goals,
• accomplishment of the unit's purpose or mission within the organization, and
• achievement of the organization's goals.

Departments are usually organized by functions such as human resources, marketing, administration, and sales. But, a department can be organized in any way that makes sense for the customer.

A department normally has an assigned leader or head with the job title of manager, director, or vice president.

What would you do if you had a Human Resources employee who could improve the company’s profit margins, positively impact the cost of goods sold, lower the day’s sales outstanding, and increase the price/earning ratio while liquidating overhead costs to the business - and still deliver flawless transactional and traditional HR services? You'd know you have an employee who has done effective Human Resources strategic planning and you'd have a dream HR department. Find out how.

Ken Hammonds’ Fast Company article, “Why We Hate HR,” sent shockwaves through the HR community. Among the scathing reviews of the current state of HR, Hammonds quoted a college professor who stated, “The best and the brightest don’t go into HR.” Pretty harsh words, especially when practitioners are trying to reinvent HR. We have all heard that HR needs to be more strategic to gain a seat at the “proverbial” table, and that we need to be more business-oriented. Here are thoughts on how to conduct Human Resources strategic planning.

It is time for Human Resources practitioners to rethink their role and that of the HR department, not only for the purposes of contributing to the organization's bottom line, but also for their own survival.

HR continues to balance the demands of several different roles: business partner, internal consultant, operational and administrative expert and both employee and employer advocate. This may sound like business as usual, roles that aren’t likely to create a mad rush of HR people arming themselves for the future. In reality, however, they are new. Although the questions may be the same, the answers most assuredly are not.

A brand, simply put, is a promise to customers that a specific level of value, quality, and service will be received. Think of a brand as a covenant between a business and its customers. The promise is usually communicated through mass media advertising. And, herein lies the opportunity for Human Resources to get through the fence and into the game, by helping ensure that all of the large and small actions that people take every day, throughout the organization, fall in line with the company's brand strategy.

Sample Human Resource management job descriptions give you a basic template for developing job descriptions in your organization. Sample job descriptions also give you an idea about what other organizations expect from employees doing the featured job. See these sample Human Resource management job descriptions that will support the development and implementation of Human Resources strategic planning.