Developing the HR strategy

What's next?

You’ve picked the right battles and emerged from your first couple of months with some quick wins safely tucked under your belt. In doing so, you’ve set your stall out, gained credibility and earned the trust you’ll need in order to implement your long-term vision.

So far, so good. But, by the time your first 90 days is up, you should already be making strides towards that longer term goal, sharing your HR strategy with key stakeholders and clearly identifying, through a more detailed plan, exactly how you’re going to deliver it.

Your superiors will expect you to come out of your honeymoon period with a strategic ‘people plan’ as precise and measurable as possible.

Asking the right questions

Fundamentally, the key question behind your HR strategy is ‘Does the business have the internal capability to achieve its goals?' Where the answer is no, this could be due to a failure of essential systems, processes or simply a product of unrealistic aims - but more often than not, the weakness is in the workforce.

Whether that weakness lies in a lack of skill and talent, or in poor motivation and engagement, it’s a challenge your HR strategy needs to address.

Once you’ve identified the unique capabilities required to drive improved performance, you need to consider whether you’ll train existing teams or hire those capabilities afresh. For example:

Can the business even attract the right calibre of people?
Has the right structure in place to scale up while remaining agile? Does the organisation need to restructure before it can grow?
As for your current star performers, are they sufficiently recognised and rewarded to stay along for the ride?

Measuring the success

A key part of any HR strategy is knowing what success will look like for your business.

How will you monitor and measure the specific impact of your strategy, and quantify an uplift in HR performance?

Always, your strategy should come with a commitment to measuring real, tangible outcomes right across the business – be that a percentage reduction in employee churn, reduced cost to hire or increased productivity levels due to better employee engagement.

Without tying your strategy to clear goals and KPIs, your impact as HR Leader will be difficult to judge.