Having a structured HR strategy in the business aligned to the overall business goals and objectives is a vital part of business planning. The HR strategy focuses on the people goals within the business and ensures employee performance, retention and innovation.
Creating a HR strategy involves looking internally at the business processes and people, as well as incorporating external trends e.g. the labour market, political and financial factors.
The Areas of an Effective HR Strategy
Alignment of the business objectives – this involves looking at what the business is looking to achieve e.g. growth, efficiencies, and then looking at the resources to ensure that the rights skills and people are in place to achieve the objective.
Attraction and retention – a critical part of business success is having the ‘right people in the right roles at the right time’. Attracting new employees in the current labour market is going to be challenging and therefore the recruitment strategy needs to be centred on key messages to promote the business and the benefits of working for the company. Once the talent has been acquired, then the retention strategy will need to focus on what the company can continually offer to the employee e.g. benefits, career growth, development.
Development – having a culture of learning is vital, to stay ahead of competitors and to evolve. Employees will continually learn and grow with the business, and are less likely to leave to work for a competitor. Having a low staff turnover supports a sustained business plan. Fostering a culture of continued learning supports technology developments, and can increase productivity.
Wellbeing – we have seen more focus in recent years on employees valuing their ‘work and life balance’ and therefore to ensure that the HR strategy is in line with this developing culture, providing employees with a supportive environment that allows them flexibility e.g. flexible hours, remote working, is going to be a key factor. Health benefits are also a consideration in line with the salary and benefits package.
The business environment is fast paced and with the addition of employment legislation updates making major changes to employee rights, it is more important than ever to make sure that the business has a HR strategy to support company growth, recognise the contribution that people make to the business, and to incorporate the external factors impacting the workplace.
The HR strategy works with the business objectives in harmony to ensure the longer-term company success.
Our team of HR Consultants work with clients to guide them and design their HR strategy to ensure the company has long term success. For a consultation to design your HR Strategy with our team, please reach out to our HR Consultants on 0345 646 0406 or fill in our online enquiry form and we will be in touch.