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Strategic HR vs Operational HR

Pros and Cons

By James HatcherPublished 3 years ago 2 min read
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Strategic Focus vs Operational Focus

Strategic HR vs Operational HR

As Human Resource Professionals know, HR has evolved from the day-to-day, tactical operations into more of a strategic business partnership role for organisations, with a focus on planning for long-term benefits for the company.

Possessing an ability for forecasting the needs of an organisation definitely adds extra value to the roles of HR Managers, however what happens to the organisation if there is only a focus on strategy and the operational responsibilities are neglected?

Let’s talk about Employee Relations. A strategic HR Professionals role in employee relations is to collaborate with executives, coordinating recruitment strategies with business goals, to ensure the organisation has staff with the right skills, knowledge and attributes required to achieve the businesses goals. Now strategists can plan and strategise until they are blue in the face, however, what happens to employee relations if the operational processors are neglected? Too often have I seen HR Professionals, let their ego and inflated sense of self-worth, cloud their vision to see the damage that is caused to a culture of an organisation when they fail to meet their operational responsibilities, because they think themselves above the day-to-day tactics of HR. They pair themselves up with the executives for personal growth reasons, which has a damning effect on the culture of the business.

An operational role in employee relations focus on legislated compliancy, records and policy maintenance, managing grievances, disputes and complaints, coordinate strategies to not only engage and motivate employees, but earntheir trust and respect. If these areas of HR are neglected, how can employees be expected to trust their HR Manager, when all they see from them is someone who is a suck-up to the executives? Shouldn’t the operational side to HR employee relations be met first, in order to create better strategies that are in sync with the businesses current resources (it’s employees)?

That leads me to Recruiting. Recruiting is an expensive ordeal for any organisation. Operational HR focus on hiring for the short-term benefits of the company, induct and on-board, as opposed to strategic HR that focuses on hiring top talent to eventually take over executive positions. One would think that focusing on the operational side to recruitment and then implementing a good succession plan would kill two birds with one stone? As well as save the company on wasted capital.

Next I’ll talk about Training. The responsibilities of operational HR in relation to training includes; training employees on policies and procedures, holding workshops, identifying gaps in performance through assessments, create training materials that meet the needs of their employees and also, teach and coordinate professional development courses. Strategic HR focuses on assisting employees define their career goals and syncing that to the business strategic plan. Shouldn’t training be one of the best engagement solutions for employees? Where is the engagement apart from a one off chat from strategists?

Strategic HR that uses Talent management systems with an Exclusive People-Position approach (about high-potential employees, identifies start performers and devotes special attention to them and less attention to other staff) as opposed to an Inclusive Practices approach (about all employees, connecting key HR practices used to attract, recruit and retain star employees, as well as identifying high-potential employees, manages leadership succession plans and develops and delivers performance through effective Performance Management) will sabotage their own culture to the business they work so hard at “strategising” to improve. People crave belonging, people need to feel special and valued, if employees feel special, valued and like they belong in an organisation, the talent will speak for itself.

By James Hatcher

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