Aligning HR goals to the business’s goals is no easy task. So, here are a few tips to make it a little bit easier.
Collaborate
At the outset, it is important for you to understand that aligning your HR strategy with your business goals involves a collaborative approach. If you use this process in a dictatorial fashion without the input of your employees, you will receive very little commitment.
You will need to collect a number of documents and plenty of information before you start the alignment process. Regardless of the type of business you run, there are generally four driving factors for businesses: making a profit, being efficient, saving time, and giving back (community involvement, donating time, material or money to the community). These should be the basis for the alignment of the business’s goals to each employee’s individual performance plan or objectives.
Understand the role of each employee
In order to align your team’s goals with those of the business, you need everyone’s job descriptions to hand. Make sure the job descriptions are up-to-date and cover all key tasks. It is also worth identifying the skills and experience necessary for the employee to be successful in a particular job. It is probably best to review the job description of each employee before setting goals for the business.
Setting objectives for the business
The management team needs to create short- and long- term business objectives for the firm. These should be SMART objectives – Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Realistic and Timely.
Develop employee objectives
You can now cascade the objectives of the business down to employees. The goals for each employee need to be quantifiable, have a quality aspect to them and should be challenging, but doable.
Training and development
Finally, you need a training plan or development plan for your team. This essentially paves the way to achieving your business goals. These plans should focus on equipping your team with the skills to accomplish their objectives and the objectives of the business.
For each of the above steps it’s important that your employees collaborate in the process. Aligning staff objectives to the goals of the business can help you to manage the expectations of your team and make it easier to build stronger business relationships across the whole firm.