H
aving the right people in the right positions at
the right time is essential for achieving business success.
Yet all too often business plans don’t incorporate headcount figures and the associated investment needed to properly
build small to mid-sized businesses.
By performing a strategic HR review, as a fiscal planner, you
can incorporate performance information and retention risks,
along with other important factors, to better plan recruiting
activities and shape the organization’s human infrastructure. You
can be proactive, not reactive, in finding the right people at the
right time.
Define Your Goals
To perform a successful strategic HR review, you need a clear
understanding of the business’s goals for the year. (You should
already have a good understanding of what these goals are
and whether they are related to revenue growth, expense
management or market share growth.) Next, determine where the
business is right now, based on an objective measure, and then
set a target for that measure within a specific time frame. Thus,
figuring out how to fill the gap between the business’s current
state and a desired goal within a certain time span becomes the
focus of planning and strategic evaluation. Because resources in a
small to mid-sized business are sometimes limited, it is important
not only to focus on what you want to achieve but also to ensure
that resources are available.
How to get started
What do you want to achieve?
Provide HR Insights
Once you have clearly identified specific long-term goals,
evaluate the people and business components that can help your
organization achieve these goals. For the organization as a whole,
consider what new technologies and processes to implement or
what new materials and products to acquire.
From a strategic HR perspective, evaluate each of these
areas to determine the required people resources, such as new
knowledge, expertise and behaviors. Organizations vary, so
such an evaluation should guide you in answering fundamental
questions about different HR aspects, either explicitly or
implicitly.
Here are some fundamental questions.
Organizational structure:
• What is your current organizational structure? How does
it currently support your business? What do you need to
add, delete or modify? (Qualify the business impact of these
changes by rating them on a scale of 1 to 5, with 1 having
the most impact.) Consider what you need to start, stop or
change within your business to support growth. In building
an international business, learn how business is done in
other countries. Build a three-year plan and then review and
build contingencies for the unexpected.
Existing positions:
• What changes should you make to existing positions?
Should positions be added, deleted or modified? (Qualify the
business impact of these changes by rating them on a scale
of 1 to 5, with 1 having the most impact.)
STEP 1
Identify your key business goals.
• These are the ؚ