Industries across Australia are facing constant challenges and change. Aligning your business objectives with your human resources strategy is now essential for success. HR isn’t just a department; it’s the backbone of organisational alignment, ensuring every aspect of your business moves in harmony toward your goals.
Why Should We Align HR Strategy with the Business Strategy?
Your HR Strategy should be aligned with the overall business strategy as it improves:
Strategic Focus
By narrowing down what your HR initiatives should be, you can align your long-term strategy to reflect the same goals, allowing for better strategic decision-making.
Increased Efficiency
When HR initiatives are in line with business goals and objectives, it ensures resources are efficiently used across time management, budgets and workforce.
Improved Employee Engagement
Aligning your human resource department helps foster a culture that is cohesive and engaged as you can identify any educational gaps.
Adaptability to Change
The benefits of aligning HR strategy with business strategy can also increase your organisation’s adaptability to market shifts or technological advancements as you have a robust system in place.
5 Steps to Aligning HR Strategy with the Business Strategy
Step 1: Understand Business Objectives
A thorough understanding of the company’s mission, vision, values and strategic goals will help you identify how HR alignment practices can support them.
Step 2: Assess HR Capabilities
Take a closer look at the current HR infrastructure in place, this includes policies, procedures, and systems to identify any gaps or needs for improvements to better align them with business objectives.
Step 3: Develop a Strategic HR Plan
Develop a comprehensive HR strategy that directly correlates to your long-term business strategic goals.
Step 4: Implement HR Initiatives
Once you have developed a strategic plan, begin implementing any relevant initiatives or programs that identify any gaps that need to be addressed.
Step 5: Monitor and Adjust
As your HR alignment strategic plan is implemented, it is important to continuously monitor the effectiveness and make adjustments as needed to ensure ongoing alignment.
Examples of HR and Business Strategy Alignment
Organisations will have a different set of short-term and long-term business goals when it comes to aligning its HR strategy. As such, there are several steps you can take depending on what your organisational strategic goal is. Here are our most common organisational goals and the HR strategies we suggest.
Talent Acquisition
If the goal is organisational growth, the HR alignment strategy may involve forecasting recruitment needs and identifying any knowledge gaps within the current workforce.
Training and Development
If your organisation seeks to foster an environment of creativity and critical thinking, the HR alignment strategy may include training programs or workshops.
Performance Management
If your organisation’s goal is to increase customer satisfaction, the HR alignment strategy should implement performance management systems that uphold customer-centric behaviours and needs.
Succession Planning
If your organisation is seeking to prepare for leadership transitions, the HR alignment strategy should include identifying and training high-potential employees to ensure a smooth transition and equip them with the best tools for the continuity of leadership.
How E.L Blue Can Help Your Business with HR AlignmentÂ
At E.L Blue, we offer tailored solutions that are data-driven to align your HR practices with your core business goals. Collaborating closely with your organisation, we help identify knowledge gaps, refine internal HR policies and strategically align HR initiatives. This ensures every HR action is aligned to foster growth, setting your organisation up for success. By partnering with E.L Blue, you are not just hiring an external HR department, but rather an integral component designed to support your business in numerous ways.