The world has changed! The pandemic has transformed the way we work and think. The word uncertainty has now gained a different meaning. This means survival and growth depend on changing the way we lead our teams.
Every company, even organisations that grew during the pandemic, must implement in place a robust HR strategy to ensure building high-performing teams; attracting, retaining and developing top talents that work collaboratively and take the organisation to its next level.
The Build & Break Strategy
The Build & Break strategy is based on analysing
- Current situation = where we are at includes a through diagnosis of both organisational performance and the current HR practices
- Company Goals = where we would like to be is the new strategic direction the Board and executives decide on
- HR Strategy = How we are going to get there is breaking the HR practices and rebuilding them to ensure they are lean and focus on supporting the organisation in achieving its strategic goals.
The Build & Break strategy is focused on ensuring that the culture, talent pool, processes and leadership teams are focused on the new strategy. It is a build and break process, because by embracing the strategy, we acknowledge that every new strategic direction requires unique HR infrastructure- dropping some policies, processes and practices that are no longer required, amending others and implementing new initiatives .
Similarly to scale-ups, every organisation that wants to successfully move forward and recover from a crisis needs to acknowledge that the HR infrastructure must be agile to allow innovation and growth. Some HR practices that worked before the pandemic, might not support success post-COVID.
The fact that a certain process or tool was of great help in the past, doesn’t mean that it will work for the next stage as well. The build & break strategy is one that allows us to analyse and change each of the HR elements to ensure the company continues to grow. It is hence the force multiplier of every company!
Treating HR as transactional, without a solid strategy is a waste of time and money- two of the most critical resources every organisation so critically needs, especially during a global crisis.
So, what should the HR Strategy include?
- Culture– Culture is the basis for success. You need to get it right! The good DNA, the areas for change and how do you maintain the culture with limited office interactions?
- Workforce redesign
- Workforce planning- the stages of growth, positions, where, when
- Design- team structure and reporting
- Selection – finding the right talent in the right time
- On boarding – ensuring new employees are set for success (especially when working home)
- Talent Management-acquisition, development, succession planning and retention
- Compensation & Benefits– competitive, realistic and fair
- Organisational Diagnosis– assessing the organisational strengths and weaknesses (people, culture, leadership and processes) and implementing changes in a timely manner.
The HR strategy is based on these elements, which are interrelated. For example: you can have a great induction program, but if the new employees are not the right fit for the culture- it’s not going to work…
