I think most companies recognise that people are their best asset and of course they invest in them, but is your people strategy as good as it can be? I wanted to share my thoughts on what a strategy should cover.
Writing a people strategy is a big job but your employees will respect you for trying to improve this area and results can increase if the communication is right in terms of what you are trying to achieve. As with any strategy, where are we now? Is the starting point – what do we currently have in place and what standard is this. The correct vision of what you want and more important need to get out of the strategy – it should fit in with regard to company objectives and direction
The people strategy should encompass the following areas – this list is not exhaustive however I believe these are 4 of the most important areas –
Resourcing
Do you have the right people in the right role, do you have enough people to deliver the results and growth in business you are after. The ‘right people in the right role’ sounds like a bit of a cliché however it deserves high priority as you may not need to recruit the skill required – they maybe working for you right now. Recruitment processes need to be robust to make sure you are not making do at the end of the interview process and you end up with the strongest candidates. I have recently read articles on Google and Microsoft recruitment where they look for personality and other soft skills rather than “can they do the job?” – a refreshing attitude and longer term strategy.
Effective Leadership Culture
This is a vital cog in the people strategy. The company vision and values need to be represented and “lived” on the front line. I think we have all seen and experienced service delivery when the front line employees deliver a poor service and this could mean the company values and behaviours are not delivered to the front line effectively. Processes and systems are a part of a company which can be changed easily with experience but behaviours take a little longer to change and align to the direction you are heading.
Communication
What and How? What information do I need to pass on and how am I going to do this? Seems an easy enough question but really this is a key element. There should be provisions for emergency communications, regular communications and all this needs to filter into an efficient programme of meetings, emails, and presentations. Then do I need formal or informal and how will employees communicate with me? Too many times I see a company thinking they are doing a great job on this subject but employees are not saying the same. It is important that this is reviewed to make sure all communication channels are working efficiently both from your point of view and the employees.
Contingencies
What if? Is a great question and contingencies are vital to show you are in control and have plans for whatever is thrown at you as a leader. If someone is off long term sick, someone hands in their notice or a key employee wants career progression when there are no opportunities. It shows great leadership to stand in front of a group or individual who are worried about a situation and calmly say “I realised this could happen however I have a plan and this is what we will do about it.”Plans should be made in consultation with key people within the team to seek their expertise and also could be delegated to encourage personal development.
Rewards
As your company grows larger it is more and more difficult to keep incentives and rewards relevant. It’s only because you have more people to keep happy and motivated. As a team grows larger it can get tricky to understand what keeps each individual motivated. It could be financial or something as simple as hitting high standards consistently and getting praise for this. Some companies I know are starting to get creative with incentives and I believe this clouds the issue and makes it more complicated. KPI’s and micromanagement have taken over and “overachieving” targets are in the way of “well done” here is a reward as you have done your job to the highest of standards. I agree that KPI’s are vital to the work of a team but not so many so it confuses and de-motivates.
A lack of direction and strategy in this area and the impact can be far reaching. You can be spending time recruiting more than you would ideally like or results and motivation can be lower than expected. Making sure that behaviours within your company are positive and supported can take longer to put right in the long run than actually putting together and managing a people strategy. Of course the above is a small part of a strategy however all organisations are different and priorities change throughout certain periods of time. We support and assist companies in making sure the strategy they have for their people is delivered consistently and within a structure to aid the delivery of set targets.