HR’s Roadmap to a Strategic Human Resource Management Plan

Want to create a resilient and future-proof organization? Strategic human resource management (SHRM) is the way to go.?

Instead of traditional HR, which is more focused on day-to-day employee management, SHRM helps align HR practices to the larger needs and goals of the organization. Bridging this gap can help create a more effective, efficient, and overall more aligned workforce.?

A SHRM approach ensures that workers’ output and daily tasks are working toward a greater, organization-wide goal, which can help employees find more value in their work and lead to more motivation.

However, it’s not as simple as it may sound. A strategic approach to HR management takes time and effort to tailor to the specific needs of your workforce.?

Core concepts of strategic human resource management

To create an effective SHRM plan, it’s first important to understand the core concepts and pillars of strategic human resource management.

1. Business strategy alignment: It’s imperative to align the plan with the business's overall strategy. This ensures everyone – from employees to the C-suite – is aligned with the same goals.?
2. Performance and talent management: Talent and performance management are both key pillars of a SHRM approach. Organizational goals should be factored into decisions about talent acquisition, performance evaluations, and employee development.?
3. Data-driven decision-making: Strategic planning and data-driven decision-making are also core pillars of SHRM. Strategic planning for the future – such as succession planning and employee development – can help ensure organizational resilience amidst future changes.
4. Organizational culture: Culture can set the stage for an effective HR approach. If individual employees are aligned with the larger organizational culture – including its mission, values, and objectives – it will be easier to work toward shared goals.
5. Change management: Change management should be baked into your strategy plan and overall culture. It’s up to HR to ensure employees and the organization as a whole are adaptable and ready for whatever’s to come.

HR’s Roadmap to Strategic Human Resource Management

Although a strategic human resource management plan can differ based on organizational needs, company size, industry, and several other factors, some core points can help build a roadmap toward a successful SHRM plan.

1. Define organizational goals and objectives: Consider what goals and objectives the organization is working toward, both as a whole and for individual teams and contributors. Map out how the objectives align and how you can help streamline objectives into one company-wide goal.?
2. Think into the future: For a strategic human resource management strategy to be successful, it’s important to consider what storms lie ahead and how you can keep your organization resilient. Consider looking at market predictions and assessing emerging trends to forecast future organizational needs. Organizational resilience should also be baked into the company culture to emphasize the importance of adaptability and flexibility.?
3. Get your finger on the pulse: HR professionals should ask themselves, “What does my organization look like right now?” to help strategically plan for a successful future. Utilize tools like sentiment analyses, past employee feedback, and existing data like turnover and retention rates or performance metrics.?Once you have a feel for how the organization is right now, you can begin to develop a strategy for how it can evolve to achieve organizational goals.
4. Break it down: A change to HR’s strategy can cause chaos and resistance across the organization and even potentially affect engagement and morale. To help employees and managers adjust to changes, consider breaking the strategy down into different implementation stages.?When implementing change, address employee concerns proactively and reveal the “why” behind the decision to help employees understand what’s going on and why.

Final Thoughts

Although it may seem daunting, strategic human resource management has one core element: aligning organizational goals with HR practices to help drive the organization forward.?

There is no “one size fits all” to a SHRM approach, so it’s essential that HR takes a holistic look at the workforce and adapts the approach to the organization’s unique needs. When building an SHRM plan, HR should analyze their workforce and the organization's future to understand where the organization is going and develop a strategy to stay resilient and adaptable.?

Enroll in the "Strategic HR Business Partner" Certificate Program

The "Strategic HR Business Partners" certificate program is a Master’s Degree level academic program aimed at transforming the role of HR Business Partners into strategic influencers within their organizations. The program covers fundamentals and advanced functional areas such as business language mastery, strategic alignment of HR and business goals, advocacy for people-first agendas, and integrating data-driven decision-making; the curriculum provides a robust foundation for enhancing HR's impact on business success.

The certificate program starts in September. Enrollment is open! Learn more here.

Hacking HR

We are powering the future of HR!

Hacking HR is the fastest-growing global community of people leaders and professionals interested in all things at the intersection of people, organizations, innovation, transformation, workplace and workforce, and more. We deliver value through hundreds of events a year, community engagement opportunities, learning programs, certificate programs, and more.

To join our community platform, the Hacking HR LAB, Click here.

Sponsoring the Hacking HR's Newsletter

Hacking HR is one of the largest HR communities on LinkedIn and the number one global community in terms of engagement.

We have over one million community members across all our platforms. Our LinkedIn page has more than 724k followers; we have more than 60k members in our Hacking HR LAB community platform and almost 500k subscribers to our LinkedIn newsletter (the largest and most engaged HR newsletter in the world!). Our new AI in HR newsletter has over 210k subscribers.

Click here to find out about our sponsoring plans.

The ROI for sponsoring our events is much higher than any other existing HR community, at a much lower price as well. If you are interested in sponsoring this newsletter with content-oriented subject matter expertise and thought leadership, please reach out to us at [email protected]