HR Strategic Vision, Mission & Values, Personalizing Employee Review System

 

What is an HR Strategy?

An HR strategy is a plan or roadmap for solving an organization’s top challenges through their people. It lays out initiatives to leverage human capital to assist in efforts surrounding recruitment, onboarding, performance, corporate culture and other goals.

The purpose of a strategic HR strategy is to align the skills and goals of your people with the goals and objectives of your business. The idea is to plan out a concrete set of measures, programs and KPIs to reach those objectives.

There is also an incredibly important grounding element to an HR strategy. For many businesses, it sets into motion the importance of people and has a trickle-down effect on programs like candidate experience, onboarding, performance reviews and more.

Successful teams require an HR strategy to help align their own goals with the goals of the business. This is important for two reasons:

- It helps HR teams establish a seat at the table of executive discussions.

- It showcases that HR, as a function, is designed to serve the overall business.

A human resource strategy is important because it showcases the true role of an HR or people function: to help the business through human capital. Leveraging the skills of your workforce by creating a better working environment for everyone.

Key Goals of HR Strategy Visions & Missions

1. Talent acquisition: Targeted recruitment

To achieve organization goal of hiring more talented people, an HR team launches a targeted recruiting campaign to attract top talent from reputed colleges. They attend campus job fairs, partner with educational institutions and use social media advertising to attract high-quality candidates.

The goal: Reduce time-to-hire and improve the quality of incoming talent.

 

2. Diversity and inclusion: Affinity groups

A company-wide goal is to leverage the positive benefits of diversity and inclusion on employee engagement, satisfaction and performance.

The goal: Improve workplace culture and foster a more diverse workforce.

 

3. Employee engagement: Quarterly pulse surveys

To maintain high levels of satisfaction and retention, the HR team initiates quarterly surveys. Gives out anonymous questionnaires that ask employees about their experiences and perceptions.

The goal: HR can use the feedback to identify areas for improvement and strategies to increase employee engagement.

 

4. Employee retention: Flexible work arrangements

When employees no longer want to work in the office, and are demanding more flexibility (or they're leaving), HR develops and runs a hybrid working program which seeks to boost employee autonomy by giving them the option to occasionally work from home.

The goal: Boosting employee retention and reducing regretted attrition rates.

 

5. Learning and development: Upskilling programs

Where there is a lack of a key skill, HR identifies this gap and runs upskilling training for all current employees to "raise the bar" of this skill without having to open the budget for more headcount.

The goal: Employee completion of training (as a percentage) followed by the knock-on positive effects on productivity and project completion.

 

6. Succession planning: Leadership development

A goal from the executives is to boost the strength of the leadership team (without having to invest in massive hiring budgets to bring in new managers). To do this, HR identifies high-potential employees and enrolls them in a leadership development programs / seminars and workshops. This includes mentorship, leadership training, and cross-departmental projects to prepare them for future leadership roles.

The goal: Have a talent pool of internal candidates ready for promotion, reducing the need for external hires for critical roles.

 

7. Compensation and benefits: Pay-for-performance model

Employee performance is becoming a massive issue for organizations. Here HR introduces a pay-for-performance system, where a portion of employees' compensation is tied to specific performance metrics / targets. This strategy is communicated clearly to all employees and is designed to motivate high performance.

The goal: Boost performance and hit revenue targets.

 

8. Employee relations: Communication goals

Where effective communication is lacking in an organization, HR implements an "Open Door Policy," encouraging employees to directly speak with managers or to HR about any concerns, feedback or suggestions. They also point cluster heads for more sensitive issues.

The goal: Fostering a culture of openness and trust, and preemptively addressing issues before they escalate.

 

Performance Review Systems

Performance management is evolving. Organizations are increasingly ditching the cumbersome annual review in favour of a bite-sized approach that provides the meaningful, frequent feedback that’s shown to drive performance.  

But providing timely feedback means customizing the traditional performance review cycle to better meet the needs of employees who are hungry for information about their performance. 2022 research from Gallup reveals that when delivered regularly (we’re talking once a week, minimum), meaningful feedback boosts employee engagement up to four times. And that kind of increase can have a major impact on performance.

Modernizing your performance reviews requires modern tools, so each cycle can be customized to the specific needs of your company and culture, and fits seamlessly into the flow of employees’ day-to-day work.

Key Takeaways:

- Modern performance reviews can still be structured; annual, semiannual, quarterly, and continuous cycles offer unique benefits for different types of companies.

- A customized performance review cycle can help companies prepare for the future while also boosting employee motivation.

- Streamlining the review process onto one platform makes it easier to uncover detailed insights, while simplifying the process for HR and employees.

 

What Are the Different Types of Performance Review Cycles?

Annual: Delivered during a formal meeting once a year, annual reviews have long been the go-to format, particularly for companies needing to complete reviews for a large number of employees.  

Semiannual: Delivered twice a year, usually over January and July. Semiannual reviews may include one review tied to compensation or performance, and another focusing on employee development and satisfaction.

Quarterly: Delivered four times a year, ideally once per financial quarter. Quarterly reviews may focus more on short-term goals and can suit companies looking to scale rapidly while making regular adjustments to their goals.

Continuous: Rather than setting aside specific meetings to review performance, continuous feedback embeds discussions about performance into ongoing conversations around employee engagement and growth.

While annual reviews have been the norm for decades, many companies are moving toward cultures where performance reviews aren’t a standalone discussion. Instead, they’re viewed as a complement to the kind of continuous feedback that we know helps drive growth, engagement, and performance.  

HR’s Role in Mission, Vision and Values

Mission, Vision and Values: While often used interchangeably, these concepts each serve a distinct purpose and are a vital part of an organization’s foundation. Read on to learn the difference between the three, the role HR professionals play in developing what a company stands for and how to communicate the mission, vision and values to the organization.

Mission:

Mission is a company’s reason for being, the purpose it serves and the value it provides to its audience or stakeholders. It also articulates why the company is different and how it positions itself in the market.

 

Vision:

Vision is what a company strives to be in the future, not where it is today. This is an aspirational, broader, future statement. Vision is intended to be motivating, inspirational, and forward-thinking and may even evoke emotion.

 

Core Values:

Core values are the most important principles to an organization, a compass that guides the way. Values are a company’s current and future ethics and expected behaviors. Once you have a vision of the future, you're ready to consider the guiding principles you’ll follow to get you to your destination.

 

Will you be a company that puts more emphasis on people or profits? Will company decisions be made after long, deliberate discussion, or would you rather choose to move fast in the rat race?

 

Values can be used to create a certain image for your company. Think about brands you like. For example, is there a particular hotel chain you prefer over others? Consider why that is. It may be because of the quality of accommodations, but perhaps it’s because of the positive service experience provided to you each time you visit. If that’s the case, it’s most likely because of the core values instilled in the company’s employees that results in an outstanding experience for you, the consumer.

 

Defining your company values will allow you and your team to understand what’s expected (and maybe more importantly, what’s rewarded) within the walls of your organization. They’ll help you make decisions when faced with opposing alternatives. They’ll guide your thinking as you build your product. They’ll shine a light on what’s important.

 

HR plays a significant role in mission, vision and values in three ways: development, communication and leading by example.

Role 1: Development

Due to HR’s role and pulse on the organization, HR will most likely be part of the core team along with senior leadership who develops and defines a company’s mission, vision and values. The team will do this by seeking input from employees, customers and other key stakeholders. HR may also be involved in refreshing these concepts, as mission, vision and values could be reviewed as companies evolve and set new goals to achieve.

 

Role 2: Communication

HR is tasked with ensuring employees understand and can articulate the company’s mission, vision and values through clear employee communication. Read the section below for tips on how to accomplish this.

 

Role 3: Leading by Example

HR professionals should lead by example by demonstrating ethical actions and behaviors on how to live out the mission, seek the vision and, most importantly, model core values for their peers.

Tips for Sharing the Mission, Vision and Values with the Rest of the Company

Since HR professionals are responsible for communicating a company’s mission, vision and values within an organization and beyond, they must develop an internal communication plan and work with the corporate communications, corporate strategy and marketing teams to develop communication goals and straightforward key messages.

References:

Bennett, N. and Lemoine, G. J. (2014) ‘What VUCA really means for you’, Harvard Business Review vol. 92, no. 1-2, p. 27.

Boudreau, J. W. and Ramstad, P. M. (2009) ‘Beyond HR: Extending the paradigm through a talent decision science’ in J. Storey, P. M. Wright and D. Ulrich (eds) The Routledge Companion to Strategic Human Resource Management, Abingdon and New York, Routledge.

Cappelli, P. and Keller, J. R. (2013) ‘Classifying work in the new economy’, Academy of Management Review, vol. 38, no. 4, pp. 575–96.

DiMaggio, P. J. and Powell, W. W. (1983) ‘The iron cage revisited: Institutional isomorphism and collective rationality in organizational fields’, American Sociological Review, vol. 48, no. 2, pp. 147–60.

Dunlop, J. T. (1958) Industrial Relations Systems, New York, Henry Holt.