Whether big or small, ambitious or simple, you need a plan for the people stuff at your place. The plan is how you get focus for yourself and your team. It is how you communicate to the organisation the work that you will be undertaking. It is how you will measure and demonstrate your success.
There are operational plans, and there are strategic plans. There is activity that sits squarely within HR, and people related activity that is more widely owned.
First things first. The people strategy and the business strategy are not different things. It could even be argued that you don’t need a separate people strategy: you simply take your overall organisational strategy and align your people activities to it.
Everything starts with your overall aim, and your overall aim should be derived from and support the overall business aims and objectives.
The second most important point is ownership. HR will need to own the plan and drive its completion; but people activities are everyone’s responsibility. Whether it is culture, leadership, engagement – these are the things that are the responsibility of every leader and manager, not just the HR team. Labelling is important – you will note that this chapter talks about the people plan, and not the HR plan. There will undoubtedly be some stuff in any people plan that is very HR-specific or very transactional. Maybe it is about updating your policies, reviewing your suppliers or other routine activities. This is a HR operational plan. We suggest your people strategy should be something else.
For all of these reasons, the people plan cannot be written by HR in isolation. HR needs to lead the process, but it needs to involve the views of everyone. Not just to get the all-important buy in, but to make sure that it fits what is required. Otherwise it is nothing more than a list of things that HR think would be good.
Ask yourself this important question to help begin the process. What is our aim for our people? Is it about increasing employee engagement? Is it about being an employer of choice? Is it about gaining an accreditation even, like Investors in People, or being recognised as a great place to work? The answer to these questions should help shape your plan. Once you know where you want to go, make sure you understand where you are today. Then the gap in between becomes your plan.
A good people plan will have some key elements. It will be very clear how it aligns with and supports the wider organisational aims. It will have overall aims and objectives, supported by clear operational supporting activities – a clear ‘how’ this will be achieved. It will include the resources required to deliver it, and the costs too. It will have desired outcomes and measures for success.
Recommendations for devising a people plan:
• If you don’t know where to begin, a straightforward SWOT analysis (listing the Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats) of your current position around people is a good process to get you started.
• Consult and engage widely. Listen lots. Remember that saying about having two ears but only one mouth – HR will have plenty of ideas, but if they are not relevant to your organisation or its challenges then ultimately they will fail.
• Don’t follow what other companies are doing. We worry sometimes that everyone is trying to be Google. Only Google can be Google. Do what is right for you. This is something we will be saying loudly and often. But at the same time, keep looking up and looking out. Do take inspiration from others, just don’t try and become them.
• Communicate the plan widely – and make sure that you include the why so that people understand the point of what you are working on. A simple, straightforward, and jargon free explanation is what is called for – and try to make it no more than a couple of pages. Don’t forget to update people on the progress against it too.
• Get the buy in of your senior team. Consult them, listen to their feedback and then take the plan to them. Get their agreement to proceed and make sure that they know you will look to them to support you visibly where necessary.
• Be realistic. Most people can only work on two or three things at once before they are cognitively overloaded. Depending on the size of your team and resources, four or five priorities or projects are more than enough.
• Having said that, be ambitious too. You don’t know what you can achieve until you try. Being provocative is fine too within reason and depending on your culture. If you do what you have always done, as the saying goes, you will get what you have always got.
• Don’t overpromise or overcomplicate.
Role of Human Resource In Organization. Human Resource Management.Practical guide to Human Resource. Human Resource Definition.Human Resource certification.Human Resource employment
Role of Human Resource In Organization. Human Resource Management.Practical guide to Human Resource. Human Resource Definition.Human Resource certification.Human Resource employment
Role of Human Resource In Organization. Human Resource Management.Practical guide to Human Resource. Human Resource Definition.Human Resource certification.Human Resource employment
Role of Human Resource In Organization. Human Resource Management.Practical guide to Human Resource. Human Resource Definition.Human Resource certification.Human Resource employment
Role of Human Resource In Organization. Human Resource Management.Practical guide to Human Resource. Human Resource Definition.Human Resource certification.Human Resource employment
Role of Human Resource In Organization. Human Resource Management.Practical guide to Human Resource. Human Resource Definition.Human Resource certification.Human Resource employment
Role of Human Resource In Organization. Human Resource Management.Practical guide to Human Resource. Human Resource Definition.Human Resource certification.Human Resource employment
Role of Human Resource In Organization. Human Resource Management.Practical guide to Human Resource. Human Resource Definition.Human Resource certification.Human Resource employment
Role of Human Resource In Organization. Human Resource Management.Practical guide to Human Resource. Human Resource Definition.Human Resource certification.Human Resource employment
Role of Human Resource In Organization. Human Resource Management.Practical guide to Human Resource. Human Resource Definition.Human Resource certification.Human Resource employment
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