Maximizing HR Strategies for Competitive Advantage

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The workforce has changed dramatically in the past decade. Your HR strategy can be instrumental in helping your business recruit and retain talent in this changing climate, as well as helping to ensure your business can continue to grow.

Here’s how you can take advantage of human resources to help maintain a competitive edge in the marketplace.

Why HR Strategies Matter

Matt Levinson, chief operating officer of O'Connell & Goldberg Public Relations, believes that every business needs an HR strategy because “your business is your people.” Regardless of your industry, employees are the foundation for your business.

“Our whole business is our team,” says Levinson, who oversees human resources at his firm. “And we have to keep our team motivated, collaborative and informed on what’s going on with the company – so we can prosper and do a great job for our clients.”

Cyndi Wenninghoff, director of Employee Success at Quantum Workplace, says another advantage of human resources is to foster a positive culture, which can help the business in several ways.

“From an employer branding standpoint, what your employees say about you to their friends and family is impacted by your managers and your culture,” says Wenninghoff, whose company provides solutions for employee success. “The more HR can help your organization focus on those things, it helps you with hiring, recruiting, and sometimes even bringing in customers.”

The Building Blocks of an Effective HR Strategy

To create an effective HR strategy, consider looking at both your current state and future needs, which can help your business strategy and human resources strategy align closely.

Wenninghoff and her team use what’s called a strategy cascade, which they adapted from the book Playing to Win: How Strategy Really Works by A.G. Lafley and Roger Martin.

“We look at the overarching strategy and then what we need to meet that,” she says. “What capabilities do we need to have? What technology do we need? Who do we need? And we break that down by year, quarter and month.”

Metrics are an important component of the HR strategic plan because they could help identify gaps and opportunities. Wenninghoff, for instance, tracks turnover rates monthly and quarterly for various demographics within the company.

“Ideally, I want to be able to predict what might happen in the future,” she says. “But I might also see a trend that indicates an opportunity to create some sort of strategic initiative based on what I see in the data.”

HR Strategy Framework Template

Transparency

Being transparent can allow employees to better understand company decisions. At Quantum Workplace, which employs 150 people, part of creating transparency entails improving trust in leadership and communication. One initiative that helps achieve that is the all-hands meetings where financial and revenue goals are shared.

“Transparency gives people autonomy to make decisions with the information they have and understand their priorities, making them more engaged with their work and more tied with our mission,” Wenninghoff says.

Culture

Although many businesses view HR as an administrative function, you can also take advantage of human resources to build a strong culture. This includes deciding how you want to treat employees, according to Levinson. O'Connell & Goldberg Public Relations employs about 20 people, and the company promoted an office assistant to the role of people and culture manager.

“She meets individually with employees on a weekly basis to understand their needs and desires and what’s troubling them, and relays that to the executive team,” Levinson says.

Employee Growth

To help improve employee retention and loyalty, consider including personal and professional development opportunities, such as mentorships and cross-training, in your HR strategy. Diane Faulkner, ACC, SPHR, a human resources consultant and owner of Human Resources, Made Easy, says that in her previous role as an HR manager for a credit union, she saw these kinds of opportunities reduce turnover rates drastically in 10 months – from 90% to under 10%. [Disclosure: Ms. Faulkner and I have been friends for six years.]

“We had to find out what the people needed, what the company needed, and how we could mesh those needs together,” she says.

Fostering a Culture of Appreciation

These same types of strategies – including listening to employees – can help create a culture of appreciation where employees feel valued and energized.

By listening to employees, O'Connell & Goldberg Public Relations learned, among other things, that work-life balance can be vital. As a result, the company now offers more flexibility, such as the choice to work remotely three times a week and have a shorter Friday schedule. They’ve also done things like taking employees to yoga sessions and volunteering together on a Monday afternoon at The Humane Society.

“We want to make sure employees feel heard and their opinions are validated,” Levinson says.

“If you have a goal of growing 50% in five years, for example, your HR plan needs to reflect that plan.” [...] “And that may be more than just salaries – it could be office space, training, mentorships, and other things you need to institute.” —Matt Levinson, chief operating officer, O'Connell & Goldberg Public Relations 

Your human resource strategist can also look for opportunities to offer fun perks, whether that’s tickets to family attractions or company swag.

“Find out what motivates employees by developing relationships between them, their supervisors and the HR managers,” Faulkner recommends. “Once you find out what motivates them, offer rewards for meeting specific goals to help get your company to the next step.”

How to Develop an HR Strategy

A SWOT (strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats) analysis can be a good place to start developing your HR strategy. Faulkner recommends interviewing various stakeholders and company leaders at different levels, including managers, directors, and board members.

“Find out what they need from HR and how HR can help build the company,” she says.

Another important step that Wenninghoff recommends is to assess the business from a talent perspective and your current processes.

“Some questions you may want to ask is what are the demographics at the company? What skills are needed for the future? Take a deep dive into the current state and where your business is trying to go,” she says.

As noted earlier, your business strategy and human resources should align. That means the HR strategic plan should mirror your business plan’s long-term outlook.

“If you have a goal of growing 50% in five years, for example, your HR plan needs to reflect that plan,” Levinson says. “And that may be more than just salaries – it could be office space, training, mentorships, and other things you need to institute.”

The Takeaway

Whether you’re expanding your business or just starting out, reevaluate your HR strategy consistently. As the marketplace adopts new technologies, the workplace will continue to change. A happy, motivated team who feels engaged and valued can be essential in giving you the best competitive advantage.

Photo: Getty Images

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