Question

Using at least two examples, illustrate why strategic plans are more effective when HR plays a role in creating them. Support your examples with reasons.

Answer 1

In any given Organization, Strategic Planning Process is that planning process of the Company which is long-term in nature that is created in order to ensure that the Organization can avail the competitive advantage in the industry by striking a balance between its internal resources with that of the external ones, including various weaknesses and threats. In this regard, there are various levels of strategies that form together an Organization’s strategic plan such as an Organization’s Corporate-level strategy that takes care of the overall portfolio of the Organization’s businesses, a business-level strategy that involves adding more strength to the long term business positions of the Organization that is particularly competitive in nature as well as Departmental or Functional strategy that would include undertaking of such strategies that are essential from the view of the basic course of action that could cater to all such departments in order to help achieve the business goals in the line of the overall Businesses’ competitive strategy.

In this regard, the Human Resource function needs to be aligned with Organization’s strategic plan owing to the kind of role it plays in order to ensure that there is a successful implementation of an Organization’s strategic plan. It has been observed that the basic strategic trends world-wide involves Globalization, the nature of work force and technological advances. With the advent of more and more advanced technology, there has been a need for the Human resource to ensure that the Organization’s workforce is well-acquainted with the Technology in order to be competitive in the business. Human Resource function also becomes essential in an Organization which is dealing or planning to expand its horizon to Knowledge intensive jobs’ space such as telecommunications, aerospace or biotechnology, which are now the trendsetters in place of the traditional factory jobs, auto or textiles. Further, the diversity in the workforce itself adds more advantages of bringing such employees to the Organization that have a scope of challenging the old school of thoughts and have a varied view and life experiences in different kinds of work, with respect to their wide range of talents or skills. In this regard, the role of Human resource becomes essential to be aligned with the Strategic plans to retain a good diverse work force by offering them job-sharing, flexible timings, telecommuting and by creation of such programs that could take care of the children and the elderly dependents of the employees, thereby ensuring a strong workforce in order to cherish the Organizational goals with a competitive advantage in the industry.

Hence to conclude, the Human Resource function needs to be aligned with the Strategic plan so as to ensure that an Organization’s functional strategies are backing its competitive strategies or to support in various manner as to how to ensure the strategic implementation. Further, it helps supporting the Value-chain analysis, outsourcing activities and also in new Strategy formulation.

HR’s Role in Executing Strategy Execution has traditionally been the heart of HR’s strategic role, and that makes sense. A firm’s functional strategies should support its competitive strategies. For example, FedEx’s competitive strategy is to differentiate itself from its competitors by offering superior customer service and guaranteed on-time deliveries. This requires highly committed employees— ones who’ll “go the extra mile” to do their best.

HR supports strategy implementation in other ways. For example, HR handles the execution of most firms’ downsizing and restructuring strategies—by outplacing employees, instituting pay-for-performance plans, reducing health care costs,

and retraining employees.

HR and Value Chain Analysis Strategy execution usually involves identifying and reducing costs, and therefore value chain analysis. A company’s value chain “identifies the primary activities that create value for customers and the related support activities.”

Outsourcing—letting outside vendors provide services—is another option.

HR’s Role in Formulating Strategy Formulating a strategic plan requires identifying, analyzing, and balancing the company’s external opportunities and threats, and its internal strengths and weaknesses. HR plays a role here, too.