The importance of an HR plan

December 13, 2022 Alan Pettersen

Imagine how your business would thrive if every employee was a top performer, motivated and committed to doing their best, and an ideal fit with the culture you aspire to. This is not an impossible dream; with some insight and careful planning, it can become a reality.

 

A pillar of any successful business is the professional management of its employees. Winging it or doing the compliance minimum with your HR initiatives really does cut off your chances of success at the knees. Getting top performance from each of your team requires a good understanding of their motivators – which things in your workplace press their buttons, what do they want from you and what environment will allow them to flourish? So how do you obtain that understanding?

 

Enhance the employee experience

From the moment a potential employee casts their eye over the job advertisement, their experience begins. From the application process to receiving communication about the role, the interview, the remuneration and conditions negotiations, the offer, the discussion about the start date, the onboarding process and the induction, then the day-to-day working, their employee experience is being established. It will also establish your true employment brand, indicating to an employee if working for you will really give them what they want. Review all your systems, processes and people initiatives to see if they truly enhance the employee experience. You may have to introduce new or fine-tune current systems or make some big changes.

 

Lift engagement

Engagement is a key priority for any employer. Not only is it about providing meaningful work that is understood and enjoyed by every employee, it also embraces the whole culture of your organisation and how it feels to be part of it.

 

Create an environment where employees want to be involved and are committed

Find out what your employees want from their workplace and what they feel about working for you. Do this through a combination of short, sharp engagement surveys and discussion. Embrace their suggestions, apply fixes to address their concerns, then evaluate their feelings again.

It’s easy to understand what needs to be done, but in the hustle and bustle of everyday business, the actions required are often buried beneath everyday operational crises. The only way to cut through this and complete your quest to make your team the best it can be is to have an HR plan.

 

The all-essential HR plan

A clear and communicable HR plan is essential to enhancing the employee experience. It lifts morale and motivation and assures your staff you value them – all key to retaining good people. It also gives direction and allows for all aspects of HR impacting your business to be effectively managed. Setting out how you will improve your organisational culture in a straightforward and practical way gives you targets, deadlines and a way of measuring your progress.

 

An HR plan will usually include:

• Key business goals
• An overall HR strategy
• Identification of the key HR areas in your business that will support the achievement of your business goals. For example, HR strategy, recruitment, communication, engagement, training and leadership development, performance management, culture, HR policies, HR documentation, resource planning, remuneration
• An objective associated with each of the identified areas
• Prioritised actions to take
• Assigned responsibilities
• Deadlines worked into a schedule
• HR plan communication

A successful HR plan is one which is incorporated into your monthly review of key business success indicators. This way, key HR action items become monitored, measured and fine-tuned. They also become part of your business culture by being connected to other key success indicators, being one of the normal topics at management meetings and being top-of-mind action items. This elevated focus on HR will not be lost on your employees, and the culture you envisage will gain traction.

 

With a solid HR plan you will be prepared to meet all HR challenges and ensure your business’ success. With 2023 beckoning, what better time to develop your HR plan than now?

 

 

Alan Pettersen is the founder and director at Positive People HR Consultancy, a firm with over 25 years’ HR experience guiding and supporting businesses. If you need assistance with anything HR related, please contact Alan on 021 184 5661 or alan@positivepeople.co.nz. Watch the Positive People video at www.positivepeople.co.nz and see how Positive People can help.