Wasting Money
During the last 10 years, many companies have invested historically large sums of money in human resource activities with little real evidence of a return on the investment. In response to the war for talent, leadership and retention became the mantras of the 90's. Stock options, rapid promotion and a myriad of growth experiences were made available to executives and managers. A few companies took a strategic approach to human resources and mapped out a plan that tightly linked their HR initiatives to the goals of the organization. Each new HR program was carefully evaluated for its impact on organizational objectives and for synergy with other HR activities. These companies spent their money wisely and will continue to reap the rewards even in difficult economic periods.
Conversely, most organizations have engaged in a fad approach (programs du jour) and accumulated, over time, a collection of HR programs that have done little to advance the strategic goals of the company. In fact, you can make a convincing argument that these collected HR activities were detrimental because they absorbed scarce capital and corporate energy. In addition, since new initiatives were not integrated with current programs, companies failed to present a focused culture where each program supported the other and thereby sent an inconsistent message about performance expectations. One Sr. HR executive was surprised when our consulting firm did not want to design a new management selection system without reviewing their corporate strategy and linking selection to HR initiatives. His need for speed had overwhelmed his strategic thinking. However, once he was shown the logic and the benefits, he immediately agreed to slow down to design a more integrated HR foundation.
It Is Never Too Late
HR issues will never go away and typically increase in intensity in difficult times as companies struggle with a critical need for greater productivity. Staying competitive in an economic downturn depends heavily on maximizing the effectiveness of human resources from the CEO to the line employee. While the task is difficult, some companies far exceed others in having a culture of peak performance that propels productivity. At BHI, we believe that companies with superior longterm results have built solid fundamentals that align all their resources to achieving the business plan. These peak performance companies have focused and eliminated many of the tangential activities that create distractions from the goal. A well-developed strategic HR plan is a key ingredient in their success.
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