3 Tips to Make the Most out of Your Strategic HR Plan

by | Dec 30, 2021 | HR Strategy, Human Resources, Strategic Planning

  • Amy Letke

    Amy Newbanks Letke, SPHR, GPHR, is the Founder of Integrity HR, Inc. Amy provides workplace solutions to improve performance, reduce liability and increase profits. She is passionate about helping other entrepreneurs and business owners achieve success. Contact us for more insights - 502-753-0970 or info@integrityhr.com

3 Tips to Make the Most out of Your Strategic HR Plan

The New Year is quickly approaching…and that means opportunity for planning, changes, and fresh starts! Make the most of the new year with a strategic plan for human resources for your business!

An HR strategic plan gives your company a roadmap of goals to strive towards for the future. Giving your team an outline of where you see your business in the next year (or three or five) can provide focus and, ultimately, set you up for success.

Our consultant team is all too familiar with strategic and annual HR planning to help our clients succeed. Below are some of our tips and tricks to consider when looking into strategic planning for your business:

First: Determine Where You’re Headed

To create a strategic HR plan you must first evaluate where your business is headed by:

  • reviewing headcount/recruiting needs,
  • turnover,
  • planned growth/expansion,
  • compensation competitiveness to retain and incentivize new and existing hires,
  • communication to your employees on changes in policies that need to happen
  • compliance and reporting needs for the year
  • performance reviews and coaching opportunities
  • training and development for new and supervisory staff
  • other critical areas impacting people in your business!

Second: Match Your HR Goals to Your Mission and Vision

Meet with your leadership team to determine what needs and goals your business has right now, and into the future. Make sure these goals and needs align with your company vision and mission statements…these should be your guiding force. Compare goals to Step 1, to make sure plans match the greatest needs of the business.  When HR can translate business operational needs into HR activities that support the operations, it is providing alignment in priorities and accomplishment of “people priorities”.

You may also consider conducting an HR audit to determine what compliance or best practice needs may be outstanding within your HR department that need to be addressed ASAP. Adding this crucial step now can help save you time, money, and frustration in the new year!

Third: Have the Right Team

The best laid plans are only as strong and successful as the team supporting them. From the first step of recruiting, through training and development, it is beyond important to have the right team in place to take your vision and make it a reality.   Your HR partner should be knowledgeable and open minded to help create plans for HR that help support and provide solutions to the operational matters the business is facing.  If you need help with this or evaluating how you structure your HR team, our Integrity HR consulting staff would be happy to offer you a free consultation.

Succession planning may also help you to determine that the right people are moving into leadership positions or reveal goals for your plan to recruit for these positions. Career pathing programs can lead to a strong succession and “people growth plan” to help you in offering career planning and manage the job openings and needs at your business.

Take it One Step at a Time

We love helping clients and potential clients create a comprehensive annual HR plan to outline business and people priorities for the new year. Start your annual plan with an entire year in mind, then break it down into your quarterly list to include the necessary tasks that happen quarterly, monthly, or weekly. There will also be annual compliance requirements or re- trainings or tasks that occur at the same time every year, so be sure to include those within the correct quarter as well!

Finally, determine the priority and necessary time for remaining projects, tasks, and goals. Split these up evenly to fill out your quarterly list and ensure that you can take reasonable steps to accomplish your goals.

Are you interested in developing a strategic HR plan for your company’s future? Contact us!

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