Organizational alignment is the degree of fit between your business goals, strategy, culture, and people. It helps you achieve higher performance, engagement, and innovation. But how can you foster alignment through your HR policies and procedures? Here are some tips to consider.
Your HR strategy should support and enable your business strategy, not contradict or ignore it. For example, if your business strategy is to expand into new markets, your HR strategy should include talent acquisition, development, and retention plans that align with that goal. You should also communicate your HR strategy clearly and consistently to your employees, managers, and leaders, and align your HR metrics and rewards with your strategic objectives.
I have a slightly contradicting point of view here. One of the broader and most common business objective is usually cost reduction. In such a scenario, business sense may suggest replacing higher cost resources with low cost resources. But, the HR strategy will look at the vaue being delivered by each employee holistically and then may recommend retaining higher cost resources in multiple instances. So, HR strategy has to aligh with business objectives rather than business strategy.
Your HR policies should reflect and reinforce your organizational culture, not undermine or clash with it. For example, if your organizational culture is collaborative and innovative, your HR policies should encourage teamwork, feedback, and learning, not competition, silos, and punishment. You should also review and update your HR policies regularly to ensure they are relevant, fair, and consistent with your values and expectations.
Your HR procedures should enhance and improve your employee experience, not complicate or frustrate it. For example, if your employee experience is flexible and empowering, your HR procedures should be simple, user-friendly, and adaptable, not rigid, bureaucratic, and inflexible. You should also solicit and act on feedback from your employees, managers, and leaders, and optimize your HR processes and systems to meet their needs and preferences.
Your HR roles and responsibilities should match and support your organizational structure, not conflict or overlap with it. For example, if your organizational structure is flat and agile, your HR roles and responsibilities should be clear, distributed, and collaborative, not vague, centralized, and hierarchical. You should also clarify and communicate your HR roles and responsibilities to your employees, managers, and leaders, and align your HR skills and competencies with your organizational capabilities.
Your HR practices should respond and adapt to your external environment, not ignore or resist it. For example, if your external environment is dynamic and uncertain, your HR practices should be proactive, innovative, and resilient, not reactive, conventional, and rigid. You should also monitor and analyze your external environment regularly, and align your HR practices with the best practices and standards of your industry and market.
I feel in addition to looking at the external environment, we should also look at where we are internally, whether it aligns with out HR strategy and goals or not, and then decide the next course of action. Do not be in a hurry to change just because everyone else is changing.
Your HR functions should work together and complement each other, not operate in isolation or competition with each other. For example, if your HR functions are recruitment, onboarding, training, performance management, compensation, and benefits, they should be integrated, aligned, and coordinated, not fragmented, misaligned, and conflicting. You should also establish and maintain effective communication and collaboration among your HR functions, and align your HR resources and budget with your priorities and goals.