Strategy & Tactics of Human Resource Development
Although human resource strategy and tactics are two distinctly different domains, both should work together to move a business forward in the marketplace or enable an organization such as a nonprofit to make a positive impact on society. A strategic plan is focused on developing skills and expertise, while a tactical plan is focused on the planning and procedural activities that enable your organization to develop and implement overall human resource strategy.
When an organization undertakes the task of developing an HR strategy, several factors must be taken into consideration. They include the ability of workers to use the latest technology, competitive forces and the dynamics of the marketplace. You should begin by identifying the qualifications of your current employees and what training must be provided to overcome qualification shortfalls. If you determine there are jobs your current employees are unable to fulfill, you must consider what steps you must take to recruit new talented employees. It is important to remember that the pool of qualified employees may be limited.
Your organization's success will depend on your ability to recruit and retain qualified individuals. This includes ensuring that employees view their positions as the best possible employment value for them and their families. This value may be measured in competitive wages, high-quality health care benefits and liberal policies on vacation and personal time off. The most important issue for some workers is the development of a sense of belonging and confidence that the company values each person's contributions.
As a military term, tactics can be defined as moving your forces around the battlefield in a manner that will give you the ability to gain the upper hand over your enemy. In the business world, human resource tactics are those actions that will provide you with a competitive advantage over your competitors. HR tactics include opening the channels of communication within your organization, making sure that all retention and recruitment policies are carried out in an open, fair and consistent manner and establishing clear lines of authority. Most importantly, your employees expect your human resource department to provide well-designed job descriptions so they know exactly what is expected of them.
Issues that your employees feel are critical to their success can be identified and addressed through a well-developed human resource strategy. It is important that your human resource department listen to workers during annual reviews and through employee surveys. This is the point where strategy and tactics begin to work together to help you build your organization. As employees and the HR department interact, management learns which benefit programs are important to employees, which professional development programs are building loyalty to the company, and how job descriptions need to be adjusted to keep pace with the changes and advances technology is bringing to the workplace.