Article contributed by Allison Ebner
I used to go to a personal trainer many moons ago (still working on that goal by the way!) and the sign on his wall read ‘If nothing changes, nothing changes.’ During many rounds of squats, lunges and push-ups, I had lots of time to think about that phrase because I was staring right at it. At first, I thought it seemed kind of silly. But after a while, I realized the beauty of its simplicity – it’s really true! And it’s true about HR as well.
Literally everything in our organizations has changed over the past couple of years. How we work, where we work, who is working…it’s all different. And it continues to evolve. So we, as HR professionals, have to evolve with the times. Our role in our organizations needs to transform from a strictly tactically focused structure to a blend of tactical AND strategic initiatives. Clearly, building a foundation of strong infrastructure is important. Tasks, such as the ones below, help create the foundation of a solid HR system that allows you to start building a better culture:
- Payroll and Onboarding
- Managing Employee Benefits
- Handling Employee Paperwork
- Monitoring compliance issues and implementing policies
These are all important to our organizations and help us keep the doors open. But is that all we want to do is just survive and get by? Or do we want to set bigger goals to THRIVE? I am fortunate that I’ve met a lot of you, our HR main contacts, and you are thrivers for sure! So how do we transform our roles in HR to ‘meet the moment’ in 2023?
We start by looking forward. It’s not necessarily about today. Yes, we keep payroll going and we keep the tactical things moving in the right direction. But in tandem with that, we look ahead. What is happening in our organization over the next three to five years? Operationally, workforce related, customer based – What new targets will we need to hit in order to thrive? Here are a few strategic priorities to get you thinking:
- Conducting a workforce assessment – How will our jobs get done? What changes do we need to make?
- Building a pipeline of high-quality candidates (where will they come from?) to fill these jobs
- Creating and managing training and potentially certification pathways for employees
- Analyzing ways to improve employee productivity through a modification of your total rewards strategy
- Building succession planning strategies to ensure that the flow of work and knowledge keeps moving ahead
When we combine our tactical efforts with our strategic functions, we can create workplaces that are resilient, will weather economic disturbances and most importantly, be a place where people want to work. It’s not easy! Especially if you’re an HR department of 1, even 2! And sometimes you have to sell this philosophy up the ladder to your leadership team! We get it!
Want to take a deeper dive into blending the tactical and strategic priorities for HR in your organization? Join us at our Exceptional Workplace Series webinar on April 13th where I’ll lead us through a presentation and conversation around mapping the blueprint for your success this year! Hope to see you there!
Turning HR From a Compliance Center To The Heartbeat Of The Organization (Webinar) – EANE