Haven’t built a strategic HR plan yet? Not even sure what it is? Whatever happens, once you want to effectively manage your workforce through this time of COVID-19, you should have this plan in hand.
Think of the strategic HR plan as your GPS, which guides you to the final destination –building a great place to work, maximizing your workforce abilities, or cutting operating expenses. It ensures you won’t get lost. It saves your time, efforts, and money.
Sounds cool enough to learn about it, right?
First, what is a Strategic HR Plan exactly?
A strategic HR plan is a detailed roadmap that is built on your business strategy, core value, mission, and vision. It clarifies how the HR function will support to achieve the organization’s financial objectives, possibly by providing training on new and required skills, recruiting more positions for certain teams, or restructuring your entire workforce.
You’ll need lots of time and research to build a sound strategic HR plan. But overall, you’ll go through these primary steps.
Investigate your present HR capabilities
Just start right where you are.
First, learn about business-oriented factors that will impact your plan - as we mentioned above. Then study your current personnel status.
Your self-assessment can include some questions such as:
- Are you well-demonstrated your values?
- What are our workforce strengths and weaknesses?
- Which processes are running well, and which need improvement?
- Does the software make you more efficient?
- Is there any time drains?
- Is your staff’s workload well-managed?
- What skills are your employees primarily good at?
- How satisfied are you with our key HR metrics?
- Are you using the HR budget appropriately?
Forecast your future demand
Well, we know the second wave of COVID-19 makes the future seems like a mist. But without the intended direction, you aren’t likely to stay afloat, even in business or recruitment.
So, update the latest trends in the labor market first, then consider these questions for your future:
- How will your market change after this pandemic?
- Will you ready to implement working flexible policies if quarantine returns?
- Will you need to hire more or laying off your people, and in which functions?
- Do you want to improve any metrics?
- What skills needed for your future works?
- Are there any risks associate with the future?
Fill the gap
Make a comparison of your current status and what you’re heading to. Will your current workforce succeed with the coming changes? If they don’t, then what’s missing here?
That’s the gap you need to work on!
That’s to say, if you’re about to double your workforce, ensure your system won’t break down, or else you’ll need new vendors.
Or if you want to raise the engagement rate, even in this uncertain time, then roll out an employee engagement survey using these questions.
Work from home failed last time? Well, our advice to manage a physical distancing workforce here will get you ready from this day on.
Implement & Review
To smooth your way, communicate transparently with all stakeholders before the execution. Let people know why things will change, and how these changes will benefit them - also the bottom line. That’s how you quickly wipe out office gossips.
After a while, you can put your strategies into practice. But it doesn’t mean your job is done.
You still need to keep your eyes open for the constant changes in the business environment, so that you can promptly adapt to the movement. Plus, you’ll need a review timeline, quarterly or semi-annually. The main purpose is to re-evaluate the outcomes and listen to feedback. Then decide if you’ll stick to the original plan or make revisions.
Keep calm. Be patient. Great things take time!
Even you’ve drawn up a superb strategic HR plan, you won’t see results just in a few weeks. It might take from 3 to 6 months to reap the first fruits. So just give your people a little time to sense the innovations. And always ready to respond to new challenges posed by COVID-19
But what if the whole grandiose plan overloads your HR department?
Know that you can always find support from us! With diverse experiences in the HR industry, we helped thousands of businesses manage their workforce effectively and stress-free. Check out our services and how our clients said about us, then let us know what you’re looking for by filling the form below!