An organization’s most valuable asset is its people, and the human resource department plays a leading role in strategically managing and developing this asset. Serving as the architects of a company’s human resource planning strategy, HR leaders must balance an intricate blend of talent acquisition, retention, development, and adaptation, all aligned with the organization’s strategic goals.
In this context, HR leaders not only shape the present but also chart the course for future success, ensuring that the right individuals are in the right positions at the right time in the lifecycle of an organization.
Definition of Human Resource Planning (HRP)
To successfully accomplish this mission, Human Resource Planning (HRP) offers a systematic process of forecasting an organization’s future workforce needs and ensuring that it has both the defined roles and the required human capital to achieve its strategic objectives.
A critical component of effective human resource management is the strategic plan. The strategic plan enables organizations to proactively address staffing issues, adapt to changing business environments, and align their workforce with their long-term goals. These pieces ultimately promote efficiency and competitiveness.
Factors of Developing the HR Strategic Plan
Human resource planning encompasses activities such as taking inventory of your human capital while considering future economic changes. The process often begins with a meticulous analysis of both internal and external factors, including business objectives, market trends, and the current workforce. This helps identify key success factors to set clear and measurable HR goals that can then align with the broader company strategy.
Company surveys are another step in developing a strategic HR plan that identifies concrete talent action items tailored to your current workforce, including those that support training, performance management, and talent retention. Developing key performance indicators (KPIs) then allows for continuously monitoring progress and adapting the HR strategy to changing circumstances, ensuring it remains agile and responsive.
Take Inventory of Human Capital
According to Indeed.com, analyzing a company’s current offerings, staff skills, and business goals is essential to planning, helping you understand what you might need to improve or what works well. To efficiently evaluate your company’s employees and their relevance to the company, consider factors such as:
- Total number of employees company-wide
- Total number of employees in each department
- Total number of employees in each job title
- Benefits packages offered at each level of employment
- Ages of each employee (Older employees may be close to retirement)
- Performance evaluation data for each employee
- Skills, qualifications, and education level for each employee
Armed with this data, HR leaders can begin to understand if a company’s current situation has the skills and resources needed to meet future business goals.
Consider Future Economic Changes
Considering future economic factors is not just advisable but essential for the success of an HR strategy. That’s because economic conditions impact both an organization’s financial health and its ability to invest in talent. While there is no crystal ball, monitoring and analyzing economic indicators such as GDP growth, inflation rates, and labor market trends can help to anticipate potential challenges and opportunities.
This positions HR to proactively adapt its strategies to align with the prevailing economic landscape, including adjusting recruitment efforts, compensation structures, and workforce planning.
Determine HR Goals that Align with Company Strategy
When HR objectives are tightly integrated with the broader organizational strategy, it ensures that the workforce becomes a driving force in achieving business success. This alignment fosters a more productive and engaged workforce as employees see a clear connection between their daily efforts and the company’s overarching goals.
It also streamlines resource allocation, enabling HR to focus on initiatives that have the most significant impact on the organization’s bottom line. Ultimately, this alignment fosters a culture of shared purpose, driving innovation and contributing to a company’s competitive advantage and long-term success.
Use Company Surveys to Identify Human Resource Needs
Deploying regular company surveys allows organizations to accurately identify and address the wants and needs of their most important asset, their people. Focused on employee engagement, satisfaction and desires, they provide valuable insights into the current state of a workforce.
By analyzing survey results, HR leaders can identify areas for improvement, gauge employee sentiment, and identify skill gaps. It offers a data-driven approach for the precise development of targeted HR strategies, including training programs, recruitment initiatives, and retention strategies that align with evolving organizational needs and employee expectations.
Develop HR KPI’s to Measure Progress
Developing Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) for HR provides a quantifiable and measurable way to track the progress and effectiveness of HR strategies and initiatives. Think of them as a compass by which HR leaders can navigate their efforts, ensuring they stay aligned with organizational goals and use resources effectively.
By establishing and measuring KPIs, HR leaders can assess the impact of their actions on areas such as recruitment, employee retention, talent development, and more. They are pivotal in demonstrating the value of HR efforts to the broader organization, enabling HR leaders to make informed decisions and fine-tune strategies.
Enhance Your HR Strategy with People Element
Embarking on and maintaining a comprehensive HR strategy is critical to the success of any organization. Breaking it down into manageable steps can ease the process, allowing HR leaders to focus on what’s important.
People Element’s comprehensive and customizable employee survey platform makes it easy and accessible to build a strategy based on facts and figures. Request your free demo today.
