How to Build an HR Strategy

If you’re involved in Human Resources (HR) in any measure, you’ve probably heard of the 5 P’s of HR strategy: purpose, principles, process, people, and performance. These categories are important when building and maintaining HR strategies, but what does it look like to create a competent HR strategy? What are some important things to include, and how should they be outlined and implemented?

All this will be covered below as we learn how to create an HR strategy.

What is an HR Strategy?

Your HR strategy will set up the guideposts for how your business will manage and empower employees. It identifies current and future needs that may arise within the organization and bridges the space between the HR department and the overall organization.

The Impact and Importance of HR Strategy

Without an HR strategy, you are likely to find yourself surrounded by confused or frustrated coworkers, high turnover rates, little to no creativity, and no job security.

A strategic HR plan will keep your processes in line with overall business goals and long-term plans. Your HR practices can make or break your organization’s:

• Employee retention

• Productivity

• Performance

• Overall health

The way an organization manages human capital is one of the most important factors. Needless to say, it’s important to think ahead and create a strategic human resource plan.

Conduct a SWOT Analysis

Before you start changing everything up and drafting your new HR strategy, take time to collect information. You’ll want to learn about your organization’s strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats.

These four categories make up what is called a SWOT analysis. It’ll give you a better idea of what the organization is currently facing and what it might need. Be smart about building your HR department by learning what your organization needs and what it expects.

Conducting a SWOT analysis is a science in and of itself. However, it’s only one aspect of human resource management. Learn more about Human Resource Management by enrolling in our on-demand online certificate course.

What to Include in an HR Strategy

Your HR department covers a lot of ground. Contrary to popular belief, it does a lot more than settle internal disputes—most importantly, it oversees how the entire organization handles its people.

After you’ve collected your data it’s time to plan. There are several ways to go about creating an HR strategy, but all of them should address things like:

• Recruiting

• Employee Engagement

• Upskilling

• Diversity and Inclusion

• Employee Care

• Succession Planning

• Onboarding

• Complaints channel

Recruiting Strategies

Don’t think about recruiting only when you need it. Planning on how you will reach new talent will make hiring easier when the time comes.

If your company is often looking for new young talent, create a plan to be involved with local education centers to promote your business. Dedicate time to career fairs and educating people about what your hiring process looks like.

Employee Engagement Strategies

Maintaining your employee’s attention is much more important than you might realize. Quiet quitting is a growing problem, but it’s often the business’s fault. A bored employee is not likely to produce quality work, and is more likely to look for new opportunities.

You can engage your employees by including occasional pulse and performance checks. Include quick anonymous surveys asking workers how motivated they are to work.

Keeping a close eye on how your workers are doing and feeling will be helpful across departments, so include it in your HR strategy.

Upskilling Strategies

While running pulse and performance checks, you may notice some skill gaps. Skill gaps occur when an employee’s skills do not match the business’s expectations. There is a lot you can do to close skill gaps, and upskilling is one of them.

Hiring new talent takes a lot more effort than teaching current workers. As an HR department, you should create strategies on the front end on how to upskill current talent.

This can include offering online courses or professional development days. If done well, training days can be moral boosters that increase your worker’s skills and enjoyment of work.

Whichever way you choose to make your workforce better, the Regional Economic Development Center (REDC) at Yavapai College can help. Partner with us and learn how our online courses or professional development classes can improve your organization.

Diversity and Inclusion Strategy

When you bring together people from different backgrounds, experiences, and approaches to problems, you’ll find a hotbed of creativity and innovative problem-solving. Your HR strategy is responsible for nourishing an inclusive and diverse working environment.

Inclusion means everyone is heard. It improves group dynamics and gives workers the ability to offer insight and feedback.

Some businesses use affinity groups to do this. These groups meet to discuss ways the organization could be better at inclusion, diversity, and offering services. They act as go-between for employees and the HR department.

Whether or not you are able to assemble groups like this, find ways to cultivate inclusion and diversity and build them into your strategy.

Employee Care Strategies

The COVID-19 pandemic showed many people that their office can be anywhere they want it to be. Now, flexible working locations and health-focused policies are more important than ever before. The workforce is changing, and people expect to work for a company that values them.

More and more companies are realizing they can offer employee benefits beyond simple healthcare. This can include discounts to gyms, free healthy snacks in the office, or even seasonal care packages.

Intentional employee care strategies will give workers an incentive to stay while also keeping them healthy and happy.

When building your care strategy, gather information about what employees at your company value most. Every workplace is going to see things a little differently.

Succession Planning

Change of leadership can be a stressful process for an organization. When done wrong, employees will feel stressed and concerned. What if the new leader isn’t a good fit? What if they decide they want to change everything we’ve been working on?

You can avoid these stressful situations by identifying key roles in your organization and developing ways for others to step into those roles when the time is right.

This process naturally ties into upskilling. Except in this case you’re looking for ways to develop workers into leaders. Succession planning would include:

• Mentorships

• Leadership training

• Cross-department projects

Instead of looking for outside help when a team lead leaves, plan for someone within the team to assume the position. It’s easier, cheaper, and will make the transition smoother.

Onboarding Strategies

Onboarding sets the stage for what is ahead for a new hire. It’s not just filling out paperwork, it’s acclimating new workers to the culture and expectations of the business.

Without a clear onboarding strategy, new hires will struggle to fit into their roles. It might seem like they’re falling behind but in reality, they might just be confused about what’s required of them.

With a meaningful onboarding checklist, your HR team will be able to get new hires up to speed quickly.

Complaints Channel

Finally, your HR strategy needs to include complaint channels.

Having an open-door policy is important for any organization. Without it, leaders and workers are not held accountable. Your HR strategy needs to include a no-retaliation clause that gives employees the ability to bring up issues without being punished.

Policies like this have been proven to increase morale and decrease turnover. They also help organizations find areas, or people, that are acting irresponsibly, disrespectfully, or offensively.

Get A Better Understanding

Human capital is the most important form of capital your business will manage. Yes, you need finance to keep the lights on, but without human capital, there’s no one to turn the lights on.

People are complex, and managing them is even more complex. If you’re interested in learning more specifics about human resources and ways your business can improve its productivity and turnover rate, the REDC at Yavapai College has several courses on this subject.

Don’t let your greatest asset go to waste and start improving your employee’s lives today.