Strategic Human Resource Management Examples & Tools‌

By: Kelly Dinneen

For too long, human resources has been known chiefly as the department that “puts out the fires” around the organization; if there’s an issue, call in HR to help you clean it up. Unfortunately, this limited view of HR’s abilities leaves many organizations bereft of what their organization has the potential to become. When executed strategically, human resources has the potential to be a transformational force within your company—helping all departments improve and move the needle toward achievement of company goals.

For too long, human resources has been known chiefly as the department that “puts out the fires” around the organization. This limited view of HR leaves many organizations bereft of what their organization has the potential to become. Share on X

What is strategic human resource management?

The concept of strategic human resource management means managing HR in a way that supports your company’s long-term business goals and outcomes. With strategic HR management, companies focus on applying HR principles and practices to overall business strategy instead of sticking with just the administrative duties HR has been known for. Strategic HR moves human resources “out of the box” of one siloed department, instead applying HR concepts holistically to the “big picture” of the organization.

Moving from reactive to strategic can seem like an overwhelming task. Download our free guide to learn how partnering with a Professional Employer Organization (PEO) can walk alongside you through the process, and the benefits you’ll realize in the process.

Strategic Human Resource Management Examples

What does strategic HR look like when implemented in an organization? Here are a few testimonials from GenesisHR’s clients:

• “When you’re a small organization, you can’t afford to have an HR department. GenesisHR gives me that department and then some. A simple call and I have expertise on insurance, payroll, and HR issues. It’s an intangible asset to us.”
• “GenesisHR is in the business of providing benefits, so they are in a sense forced—and they do it well—to have the latest technology to support me so that my high-tech employees get what they expect. We’ve run the numbers, and we couldn’t afford to do this without GenesisHR.”
• “For us to be effective with our customers, we want to make sure our employees are supported, happy, and getting the right services. I’m very confident in what GenesisHR does and how they do it.”

Outcomes Of Strategic HR

When companies become strategic about giving HR a seat at the leadership table, incredible results can occur in terms of organizational outcomes, financial outcomes, and HR outcomes. We’ve seen the following outcomes:

• Lower turnover rates
• Reduced absenteeism
• Increased employee commitment, and more

6 Tools For Strategic Human Resource Management

While the exact tools needed for implementing your HR strategy will vary depending on your company’s goals, it should at minimum include the following:

• An HR strategy plan. You can get all of the details on what HR resource planning entails here; it includes an evaluation of existing company goals, an assessment of your current employees and company structure, and development of action steps to take to fill gaps & forecast future needs. If you don’t know any of these questions, you won’t be able to move forward.

Once your HR plan is in place, you’ll need several tools to execute it and review it consistently. Those tools include the following:

• Customized onboarding for new hires.
• Ongoing training opportunities for all employees.
• Ongoing meetings to review the HR strategy.
• Formal and informal employee surveys. At least twice a year, your HR team and managers should be talking to employees to find out how they are feeling and what needs/ areas for growth exist.
• Performance reviews for cross training and growth, so you can develop employees within your organization instead of losing them to competitors or to burnout.

Our Best Suggestion For Moving Toward Strategic HR

If the idea of moving to strategic HR from what you’re currently doing—putting out fires, ad hoc solutions, and HR admin just to “keep the wheels on”—feels overwhelming, we understand, and we can help you.

At GenesisHR, our team of experts works with companies just like yours: We’ve helped them plan, develop, and execute strategic human resource management organization-wide. We work with HR departments to communicate the benefits of strategic HR organization-wide. Specifically, we help our partners do this by:

• Creating demographic reports to provide leadership insight into what needs to change organization-wide
• Assessing existing goals and objectives
• Policy rewrites

If any of this sounds like something you’d be interested in, we’d love to share more about how our PEO might be able to help your company be strategic about reaching its goals. Just give us a call today.