HR isn't there to do the hiring and firing anymore. To be taken seriously, we've had to become business focused and strategic. People Strategy – not just a boardroom buzzword. Be a credible voice when it comes to talking about people matters.
3. “A word to the wise:
If you are not creating, making, or
selling our products, you had
better have a good reason for
being here.”
(PepsiCo Executive)
4. “Strategy”
strat·e·gy /ˈstratəjē
A plan of action or policy designed to
achieve a
major or overall aim
The art of planning and directing overall
military operations and movements in a
war or battle
5. Why do you want a people strategy?
• Get the most out of your biggest expense
• Support the business aims and objectives
• Ensure that your internal capability fits with the
strategic business goals
• Put HR at the heart of your business – make the
function an integral part of the values and vision
9. Where to start?
• Understand exactly what the business goals and
strategies are;
• What does the business want to deliver?
• What is the business model?
• What does the business need HR to provide?
11. AS IS
Experienced, establishe
d employees with little
knowledge outside the
company
Managers who have
grown up with the
business (limited
management skills)
Performance issues
High absence figures
TO BE
New blood needed–
more of a “cake mix” of
employees in the work
force
Fully capable managers
Highly performing
individuals and teams
A reliable workforce
The workforce…
13. AS IS
Experienced, establishe
d employees with little
knowledge outside the
company
TO BE
New blood needed–
more of a “cake mix” of
employees in the work
force
Resourcing strategy
Graduate recruitment
Apprenticeship schemes
External recruitment
Filling the gaps
14. AS IS
Managers who have
grown up with the
business (limited
management
TO BE
New Fully capable
managers
Management
training scheme
Talent management
Management training
programme
Filling the gaps
15. AS IS
Performance issues
TO BE
Highly performing
individuals and teams
Performance and capability
management policy
Appraisal system
Filling the gaps
16. AS IS
High Absence Figures
TO BE
A reliable work force
force
Absence management
policy
Filling the gaps
17. As an HR department
ask the questions:
• What do we need to START doing, which we
aren’t already?
• What can we STOP doing which isn’t adding
value or helping meet business objectives?
• What do we CONTINUE to offer?
18. AS IS
Tactical HR advice and
support
Lots of reporting
HR team working for the
stakeholders
HR team responsible for
“tea and sympathy”
TO BE
Strategic HR advice and
support
Targeted reporting
HR team working with
the stakeholders
HR team providing
advice and guidance to
line managers
For the HR Department…
19. Consider the priorities:
• Short, medium, long term
• Think about a timescale
Consider the resource needed to
implement the strategy:
• Extra staff or a restructured department?
21. Things to remember:
• Engage the workforce
• Make it relevant
• Challenge yourself
• Don’t be self-indulgent
• Always ask – does the business need this?
• Involve your key stakeholders
• Gain feedback
• Ask for opinions
• But manage the relationship
22. So what next?
• Don’t put off building your people strategy –
anticipate the needs of your business
• Use the Emphasis templates to help you
take the next steps
• And remember…
23. If you are not
creating, making, or selling our
products,
YOU
had better have a good reason
for being here
24. Thank you for listening
For more info or to request the
templates…
andy@emphasis.uk.com
Notes de l'éditeur
Emphasis and Personal Intro.I know you will all have noticed the changing world of HR and the expectations we now face on a daily basis. No longer are we just the ‘tea and sympathy brigade’, the people an employee is sent to if they need disciplining or have a problem with their pay. Businesses expect more from us – our operational colleagues demand a new kind of HR professional – one who can challenge, advise, lead and influence them and their decisions. A senior executive at PepsiCo once said:
Today, I’d like to share my some of my thoughts about making sure you have that good reason! But first, let’s take a minute to consider what Strategy is all about…
We all know the word Strategy has become a business buzz word, used in the board room to beef up proposals, garner support for action and even add a few thousand to a salary because a role is described as “Strategic”– but why is it really important for you and your business to have a people strategy? Well the dictionary definition is clear enough – having a strategy gives you a plan of action to achieve your overall aim. I’m sure you’ve all felt like you are directing a military operation sometimes, but who are you waging war against – a strategy can help make sure you are on the same side as your operational colleagues, aiming for the same targets and demolishing shared enemies.
HR is a support function, to make sure the company workforce is able to deliver the business aims and objectives. Our sole purpose is to help our operational colleagues bring in the bottom line by giving them the tools to recruit, engage, train, develop and manage their people. Quite simply we are there to provide the line with the right people, in the right place at the right time.
HR is a support function, to make sure the company workforce is able to deliver the business aims and objectives. Our sole purpose is to help our operational colleagues bring in the bottom line by giving them the tools to recruit, engage, train, develop and manage their people. Quite simply we are there to provide the line with the right people, in the right place at the right time.
But before you can develop a fit for purpose HR strategy, you need to build the best possible relationships you can with your key stakeholders. Promote yourself as their “trusted advisor” – the person they can turn to with their issues, the person they can talk to in confidence about what’s keeping them up at night. Get to know them personally and share your own views, not just on HR issues, but on any business related matter where you feel strongly – ask questions and show interest. However, warn them you are going to do this…
Consider the four quadrants of a business balanced scorecard – People, Process, Customer and Finance, each area will be driven or impacted by your workforce in some way, which makes HR a crucial force in helping to shape and influence the business agendas – so make sure you know where your stakeholders thoughts are in each area, and have some opinions yourself
Let’s start at the beginning – we need to be very clear in understanding what the business is all about. We need to understand: What the business wants to deliver? – are there clear objectives, or do you need to influence your stakeholders and help them shape exactly what they are aiming for. What’s the business model in place or more simply, how does your business aim to make moneyAnd, perhaps most importantly, what the business wants and expects from us as an HR function
This is your analysis stage. Once we know what the expectations are, we need to do some naval gazing – what does your workforce currently look like, and what does it need to look like to deliver the business objectives? Questions - OE, L&D, Reward, Qualifications, Longevity, clarity of roles required, culture fit for purpose? Start with a blank sheet of paper – be honest and don’t hold punches – if you’re doing it with your team, ask them to be brave. This is probably the most difficult stage when you are looking at your own business – consider whether you need an external consultant with no emotional or historical ties to help you here.
Think about what you currently have, and what you need to have - then list what you need to fill the gaps! These will be the building blocks of your People Strategy
Now you need to do a similar job with your current HR offering to make sure it’s fit for purpose. Again, be honest! Are you and your team doing things because you like them, or because they need to be done?
When I’ve gone into HR departments in the past I often find the same things:Firstly, it’s all too easy to get stuck in a comfort zone of providing a tactical HR service, reactionary rather than proactive. Some HR professionals feel they have to hold onto their knowledge and experience, rather than devolving this down to the line managers. But if you can lose some of the tactical work it frees you up to do more of the much more rewarding strategic work. Imagine a world where your HR team sit side by side with their operational colleagues helping to shape the business, instead of spending their days issuing warnings and calculating the Bradford Factor…Other HR functions demonstrate their worth through the amount of reports and statistics created, rather than by taking action and negating the need for the reports in the first place. Often I’ve seen HR professionals become a PA to their stakeholder, taking minutes at meetings, rather than contributing to the content. Raise the bar, share opinions and make yourself a credible voice at the table, working alongside your colleagues.A strategic HR department has no room for offering tea and sympathy when it should be devolving this to the line managers, supporting them and enabling them to grow and develop.
If you have a huge list of things to change or start doing you will need to think about how long the strategy will be delivered over – is this a 5 year strategy. If so, break it down into Year One, Year Two and so onResource – do you have the people you need to implement the strategy? Again, it’s about having the right people, in the right place, at the right time. It might be useful for you to think about your department as if it’s your own HR consultancy.
Using all of your research and analysis, start to plan your strategy