• SHRM is the process by which HR supports company objectives through specific strategies and practices, such as talent management, leadership development, and performance management.
• The biggest difference between regular HR and SHRM is that the latter is proactive, deeply aligned with company objectives, and has measurable goals instead of tasks.
• At Impact-PEO, we strive to exceed your expectations and change the game’s rules to help you on your path to success and growth. Contact Us!

Human Resources is an indispensable department for any company. Until a few years ago, it was a team that organizational leaders saw as an expense rather than a contribution to their growth. However, in the past few years, the relationship between companies and their HR teams has become part of their improvement and growth strategies.

Today, employee management is considered an integral part of a company’s overall growth strategy, known as Strategic Human Resource Management (SHRM). It involves the HR department contributing to the company’s growth and achieving its business goals.

In this blog, you will find a complete guide on how to implement SHRM in your company, providing you with step-by-step instructions to enable your HR department to play a vital role in your company’s growth.

To have a good Strategic Human Resource Management plan, the way business is understood must change. Realistic and measurable long-term plans and a good relationship between managers and employees are the cornerstones of growth.

Strategic Human Resource Definition & Goals

Traditionally, HR is considered an administrative team only necessary to comply with labor laws. However, this vision has had to change with the arrival of Strategic Human Resource Management.

The main differences are HR’s relationship with the company and employees.

SHRM is a concept and a methodology developed in the 1990s through the work of different authors. SHRM is the process through which a company’s HR team supports general objectives with strategies and practices specific to its area.

These strategies aim to optimize internal functions, including strategic planning, talent management, leadership development, organizational design and performance management, building and maintaining a high-performance work culture, and organizational design to add value and achieve a competitive advantage.

The objective of SHRM is to support business goals through practices specific to the human resources area. Here are some examples.

• Connecting employees to organizational goals: Effective SHRM management inspires employees to achieve company objectives and feel invested in the company’s success, resulting in improved motivation and performance.
• Gain a competitive advantage: Clear organizational goals help HR identify necessary skills. SHRM improves the workforce with better talent management, training, and development policies.
• Adapt to change: SHRM allows organizations to adapt quickly to technological advances, market changes, or new workforce demographics.

HR Strategic Planning Benefits

HR Strategic Planning has many benefits for companies, both from the point of view of growth and achievement of objectives and from the efficiency of the HR area. These are some of the benefits of having a strategic HR plan.

• Talent Acquisition and Retention: A strategic plan allows the company to improve its recruitment. This does not mean hiring more people. It means hiring the best people and ensuring they contribute to the objectives by providing experiences and/or knowledge.
• Skill Development and Training: A good SHRM strategy needs training. Companies only grow with new hires. Employees must also update themselves and gain new knowledge. This also improves talent retention thanks to opportunities for growth and learning.
• Adaptability to Change: SHRM usually has plans A, B, C, and even Z, but there is always the possibility that something unforeseen happens or the plan must change. The strategic approach to HR allows the HR team to better adapt to changes and manage the rest of the staff.
• Data-Driven Decision Making: All strategies are data-driven. A strategic approach to HR is driven by the need for different data from different areas of the company, to process it, and be able to make informed decisions based on it.

Strategic Human Resource Management Best Practices

Creating a Strategic Human Resource Management plan is more complicated than you think and requires the presence and collaboration of other areas. However, we will consider some of the best practices when creating this plan.

1. Know Your Company’s Goals and Abilities:

 A good way to start is to make a SWOT analysis. When you are clear about the current state of your company, you can start asking yourself other questions:

• What are the long-term objectives of the organization?
• What are your current resources?
• What skills does your workforce currently have? Are there gaps?

 Use the answers to articulate the objectives in the form of OKR or Objectives and Key Results, which you must divide into KPIs or Key Performance Indicators. This will allow you to measure whether you are achieving the set objective.

2. Align HR Activities with the Strategy

Include your HR team in making the strategy so they can also plan around it. For example, if you identify a skill gap, you should look for that skill in your new hires and train your current employees; this way, you can make up for the lack of that skill quicker and align your entire workforce.

3. Execute Your Plan

Start executing your SHRM plan. Remember that you should monitor the results to see if they progress as they should. Plans are not written in stone and can change at any time. Be ready for that possibility.

Impact Professional Employment: Freedom to Focus

Pursue your Passion. Measure the IMPACT! This is an excellent summary of what you can achieve by implementing a Strategic Human Resource Management plan. To do this, look for the best ally, Impact Professional Employment.

Our core principles shape our efforts. We are dedicated to our clients and benefit from our shared success. We can take on your day-to-day HR needs and turn them into solutions that support the growth of your company and its strategic objectives.

At Impact-PEO, we strive to exceed your expectations by breaking barriers and changing the game. Contact us if you need help with hiring, payroll, compliance, or benefits administration. We’re available to help you.

Related Links

• 8 HR Best Practices You Need to Embrace This Year
• What We Do at Impact Professional Employment
• About Our Company: High Touch and High Tech

• HR best practices are techniques and strategies that can be applied to any business, regardless of size or industry. They guide HR professionals in handling daily challenges and making business decisions.
• Creating an inclusive work environment is more than just good HR practice. It’s a commitment that organizations should stand for every day.
• At Impact Professional Employment, we strive to exceed your expectations by breaking barriers and changing the game. Let’s talk!

As workplace dynamics change, HR best practices evolve and must be redefined to become better and more efficient.

Implementing human resources practices is not a simple task. To help you, we have compiled a list of 8 HR best practices that you should keep in mind when planning and implementing your HR strategy.

Shall we? Let’s go!

What Are HR Best Practices?

HR best practices encompass techniques and strategies that can be applied to any business, regardless of size or industry. These guide human resources professionals as they handle daily challenges and make decisions. They must be in sync with the needs and desires of employees, as attracting and retaining the best talent is the primary objective of any organization.

However, adjusting existing best practices and incorporating new ones is necessary as employee expectations evolve.

Selective Hiring: Find the Right Candidates for Your Company

Acquiring the best-fit employees for your organization is a critical task. Selective hiring is a more strategic and meticulous approach to talent acquisition. It means assessing skills and considering cultural fit while seeking candidates with the potential for long-term growth within the organization.

HR professionals should consider certain factors, such as:

• Promote your company culture in job offers. When advertising job openings, ensure your ads describe and reflect your company’s values and culture well. That way, you can attract applicants that fit your organization right from the start.
• Save time with pre-recorded video interviews. Using pre-screening methods can be an effective way of filtering the most qualified candidates and ensuring that they advance to interviews for the specific role. It is also an excellent opportunity to evaluate candidates’ motivation, as it requires additional effort.

“HR should be every company’s killer app. What could possibly be more important than who gets hired?”
– Jack Welch, Ex-CEO of General Electric

Have an Effective Onboarding Program in Place

A well-crafted onboarding experience is crucial to set new employees on a positive and engaging path. Making a great first impression can have a long-lasting impact on employee satisfaction, bolstering retention rates and fostering a sense of commitment and loyalty towards the company.

If you feel that your onboarding process needs some rethinking, here are a few best practices to consider:

• Set clear and specific objectives. Use your desired outcomes and competencies to map your onboarding program and evaluate results.
• Leverage e-learning. Online training allows new hires to learn at their own pace and helps managers track their progress.
• Make it personal. Customize onboarding experiences based on the unique needs of each new hire’s role, department, or location.

Provide Continuous Opportunities for Skills Development

Candidates now prioritize working for companies that offer opportunities to enhance their skills and progress in their careers. In fact, a recent study shows that 74% of Millennials and Gen Z are likely to leave their companies due to a lack of skills development opportunities.

To favor retention, here are a few ideas for your training programs:

• Use data and technology to identify relevant skills. Analyze market trends, identify skill gaps, and provide targeted opportunities for your workers, using data to plan training and development programs.
• Combine different learning methods. There are multiple approaches to training that you should try, including e-learning courses, live webinars, and mentoring.
• Include soft skills training. Soft skills are as important as technical and role-specific skills. Training in communication, empathetic leadership, and problem-solving can help improve soft skills.

Build an Inclusive Work Environment

Creating an inclusive work environment is more than just a good HR practice. It’s a commitment that organizations should stand for every day. It is observed that inclusive workplaces not only make employees feel valued and heard but also enhance creativity and improve decision-making. Additionally, it builds trust and improves employee retention.

“To win in the marketplace, you must first win the workplace.”
– Douglas Conant, Former President and CEO of the Campbell Soup Company

If you aim to promote a more inclusive workplace this year, here are some technical details to keep in mind:

• Encourage collaboration between teams. Enabling teams and departments to share knowledge and ideas can lead to better outcomes. Propose activities, whether live or online, where employees can interact and socialize in a way they wouldn’t on a regular workday.
• Offer multiple feedback options. To ensure employees feel safe and comfortable expressing their opinions, keep various communication channels open.
• Revise hiring practices. Ensure fair processes are in place and eliminate biased language from job ads. This will promote inclusion and diversity in your organization.

Offer Attractive Compensation Packages & Benefits

Offering a competitive compensation package is an effective way to attract and retain the best talent. However, employees do not just consider salary when evaluating a job offer. Benefits can also be a decisive factor.

Compensation and benefits demonstrate how much you value your employees and their work and your commitment to keeping them happy and motivated.

So, what are the best HR practices for compensation and benefits?

• Provide diverse types of compensation. Besides salary, you can discuss additional compensation such as bonuses based on performance, stock options, or even profit-sharing.
• Understand your employees’ needs and wants. When it comes to benefits, it is not necessary to get too creative. A recent study show that healthcare, life insurance, and pension and retirement plans are the three benefits that employees value the most. The same survey found that remote workers, on the other hand, preferred other types of benefits, such as flexible hours or work-provided equipment.

Design a Solid Work-From-Home Policy

Flexible work models like remote and hybrid work are becoming more common. These models allow employees to achieve a better work-life balance, which is now an expectation for many workers.

This means crafting solid work-from-home policies for HR departments to support remote workers and avoid hybrid work mistakes. The main goal of these policies is to set up ground rules for things like security protocols, expenses, working hours, and online meeting etiquette.

If you still don’t have a work-from-home policy, here’s what to focus on:

• Working hours. Do your employees have a specific work schedule, or will they be free to choose their hours? It’s important to understand how availability will be communicated clearly. Will you be using calendars or a chat-based collaboration tool to indicate availability?
• Security protocols. Keeping all critical data from your organization, clients, and employees safe is essential. If remote workers need to handle sensitive information, such as customer payments, using a private network is recommended.

Stay Up to Date with Regulatory Changes and Requirements

Compliance is a crucial responsibility for any HR team. To avoid potential penalties or lawsuits, it is mandatory to keep up with all federal, state, and local laws and regulations that may affect your employees. Here are a few recommendations to manage compliance effectively this year:

• Bring technology in. Utilize HR compliance management software to ensure proper hiring practices following applicable laws and regulations and stay updated on regulatory changes through document collection and notification alerts.
• Partner with an expert team. Access Point offers comprehensive risk management and compliance services to safeguard your business. With our partnership with a leading Professional Employer Organization (PEO), you can offload the burden of keeping pace with complex and frequently evolving regulations. Our seasoned experts will manage your compliance requirements, from HR and payroll to workers’ compensation and benefits administration. This will enable you to focus on your core business activities and drive growth without worrying about compliance issues.

Invest in an HR Cloud-Based Software to Streamline Daily Tasks

HR systems are designed to help manage the entire HR lifecycle while centralizing and organizing employee data. Since each company has unique needs, carefully considering which software to use is essential.

Here are a few things to keep in mind when choosing HR software:

• Employee self-service (ESS): HR systems now allow employees and clients to access employee information. Employee self-service portals enable employees to upload and manage their employment information, saving valuable time. Employees can also use these systems to submit time-off requests and wait for approval.
• Applicant tracking system: This tool helps you manage the hiring process, from posting job offers to screening applicants and generating data-driven reports.

Understand and Start Applying HR Best Practices

HR best practices are the foundation of your daily processes and decisions. Even though these practices tend to remain the same over time, they can change as our conception of the workplace evolves, and we need to face new scenarios.

At Impact Professional Employment, we can take on your day-to-day HR needs —from outsourcing to payroll and risk management—.