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How would you evaluate and assess the HR requirements of a business?
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4 Answers
The three previous contributors have, in my opinion, addressed the operational and tactical elements of HR evaluation and assessment. The real starting points are in Customer (the entity who buys your products and services) Requirements and the Value Discipline of the organization. HR must be structured to enable the organization to deliver on the company's brand promise to it's customers, in a way that is aligned with its' value discipline.
One measure of HR that is rarely used, but carries significant importance, is Customer Satisfaction. Customer satisfaction determines your competitive advantage and in the long run, organization performance.
Let me provide an example. Retailer One decided that their value discipline would be based on Operational Excellence. They decided to offer brand named products, at the lowest possible price, through a retail distribution channel that was exactly the same in all markets and locations. This lead them to take an approach that focused on selling the customer, which meant hiring employees with great selling skills and paying them a commission on their sales.
Retailer Two decided on a value discipline of Customer Focus. They competed on price, selection, but more importantly, service. They hired people who could learn the products, educate the customer, and provide answers to customers questions. They were paid an hourly wage with bonuses for store performance.
Retailer One went out of business. Retailer Two continues to grow, has significant competitive advantage, and is seen as an employer of choice.
In both cases, HR designed effective Talent Management Processes, deployed HR best practices, and worked to understand the needs of their internal customers.
The factor that ultimately determined success was HR's alignment around the Brand, its attributes, and the execution of the organization's Value Discipline.
After Customer Satisfaction, the next set of measures that should be used to assess HR effectiveness and efficiency are employee engagement and HR service delivery. These represent the operational and tactical successes of HR. These 3 measurement systems, Customer Satisfaction, Employee Engagement, and HR Service Delivery, will provide all an HR leader will need to address the HR business requirements of the organization.
This question is ridiculously broad, but essentially it boils down to the business plan.
Get the business plan, work out where HR can make significant contributions to its delivery and then you plan around that. Unless you have no HR in place at all...
I won't be quite as pointed as Nik, but I agree with him in pronciple. Your HR strategy is an embedded part of your overall business strategy.
Your business strategy should tell you what skills are necessary now and looking forward, what the gaps are and the timing you will need to address them in.
Your business strategy should also drive your performance management, compensation and other strategies.
Really progressive companies/organizations have employment brand strategies. The HR strategy is so deeply embedded in the business strategy you can't separate them.
Some further context would be helpful Brenda,
I have consulted with organizations to "answer" this question anywhere from start ups to mergers and acquisitions of large companies (Fortune 100).
The "funnel" is always the business strategy, but the tactics might differ greatly.
I've participated in a similar discussion, I'll take a different path or strategy.
First you start by understanding what your key internal client (leadership) is trying to accomplish and their perspective on the organization. From their you go to your next most important internal customer, the employees and gather information that will help you understand their perspective on the business. Typically there will be a misalignment.
Now that you have two perspectives you look at your HR systems and see how well they are aligned to meet both customers needs. The systems will help you get both parties to where they need to go. Once you've identified or assessed the systems, you then look at your team and determine if they have the capacity, talent or competence to manage these systems effectively.
When all this is complete, you move to developing your strategy, not before. I'm also going to make the assumption that you understand the companies culture and the systems that are used in the company to generate revenue and EBITDA, if not, that's a priority and critical step.
Progressive organizations have a very clear and concise idea of what they want their culture to be, this of course is the reason that Zappos has been so successful, you have to start with culture first.
The reason that so many HR departments fail is:
*Not aligned with their key internal customer
*Poorly designed systems
*Lack of competence in their department
*Shotgun approach to strategy
Brenda, I hope this helps.
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