Strategic planning in HR is less about the plan than it is about the process. It's a tool that can allow you to take control of the "story of HR" within your organization.

1. The Power of a Plan
Unlocking the Full Value of an HR Strategic Plan
Jason Lauritsen
March 1, 2012

2. Agenda
1. Paint the Backdrop
2. Why Strategic Planning
3. 3 Phase Strategic Planning Process
4. Lessons I’ve Learned

3. The Rules
1. This is your session, not mine.
2. You are responsible for getting what you
came for.
3. Ask me questions, even if I’m on a roll.
4. Interrupt me, please.
5. Challenge me if you disagree or your
experience is different than mine.

4. Playing the Game
4

5. 1,000 employee 2,600 employee
800 employee
national national
community bank
call center call center
My Role: My Role: My Role:
Talent Management/ VP HR/Recruiting VP Human Resources
Recruiting
Scenario: Scenario: Scenario:
HR not respected Post acquisition Hired as strat. leader
Recruiting failing Merging two teams HR administration
Hostile relationships HR not respected HR underperforming
High turnover Recruiting struggles Lack systems
Immediate impact Very high turnover Low turnover
Strong culture

6. Common Themes
• HR was not connected to the business.
• HR lacked relationships with business leaders.
• Even when HR did perform, results were
discounted.
• HR blamed for a lot.
• HR lacked a plan, so spent most of time in
reactive mode.
Needed a catalyst for change.

7. The Gaps
What was missing:
• Key relationships
• Perception management
• Performance linkage to the business
• Confidence in HR team’s abilities
The Solution: A Strategic Planning Process

8. Why Strategic Planning?
• Strategy is hot.
• Business people will
make time to talk
strategy.
• Created opportunity to
engage the business.
• Just talking about
strategy makes you
appear more strategic.

9. The Approach
Stated
Reasons
Side Benefits

10. The Approach
Strategic Planning
Stated Reason
• Prepare a plan for HR for the next 3-5 years.
Side Benefits
• Build relationships with key decision makers.
• Get to know the business in more depth.

11. 3 Phase Process
1. Discovery
2. Planning
3. Communication
•The Approach
•Overview
•Case Study Examples

12. 3 Phase Process
1. Discovery
2. Planning
3. Communication
•The Approach
•Overview
•Case Study Examples

13. The Approach
Stated Reason
• Gather information to use in planning.
Side Benefits
• Develop relationships.
• Change business perceptions of HR.
• Learn about the business and their needs.

14. Overview
Discovery is all about asking questions and
gathering information.
– What do we do well?
– Where are we broken?
– How can we drive the business forward?
– What is the most important thing we can do to create
value for the business?

15. Overview
Gathering feedback on HR’s performance
– Collect input strengths and weakness first
• What do we do well?
• Where aren’t we meeting your needs?
– Non-personal to get best feedback
• Survey
• Focus Groups

16. Overview
Gather data on business goals and challenges
– Meetings with business leaders
• Communicate purpose of meeting before
scheduling
• Send agenda and questions in advance
• Encourage broad involvement by business units
• In-person meetings are optimal
• Resist email responses

17. Case Study
Focus Group Discussions – Facilitated by an External Facilitator
Internal Customer Groups
• Why do you think HR exists? What is their primary purpose?
• In what ways does HR excel today?
• How has HR changed in the past few years (positively or
negatively)?
• In what areas does HR need to improve?
• What do you believe to be HR’s top 3 goals? What do you think
they should be?
• How would you describe HR’s performance in providing customer
service to you and your associates? Where do they excel? Where
do they struggle?
• What would you like HR to accomplish over the next 3 years?
• What could HR do to add more value to your dept/division?
• How would you rate the overall effectiveness of HR?

18. Case Study
Focus Group Discussions – Facilitated by an External Facilitator
HR Staff
• In what ways does HR excel today?
• How has HR changed in the past few years (positively or
negatively)?
• In what areas does HR need to improve?
• What do you believe to be HR’s top 3 goals? What do you think
they should be?
• In your opinion, what is the most important think HR could
accomplish in the next 3 years?
• How would you rate the overall effectiveness of HR?
• What are the strengths of the team?
• What are the weaknesses of the team?
• What resources or support are lacking that might prevent you from
excelling within your role or as a team?

19. Case Study
Business Leader Meetings – In-Person Discussions
• What are the three most important goals for your division to
achieve over the next 3-5 years?
• What are the most significant threats to your division's
performance in the next 3-5 years?
• How will these goals and threats impact what you expect from
your people?
• What is our competitive advantage in the market? What do our
people do better than anyone else?
• What are the major trends in your business/industry that you
expect to most significantly impact how you do business in the
future? What does that mean for your workforce?

20. Case Study
Business Leader Meetings – In-Person Discussions - continued
• In what other ways do you expect that your people need to
perform their jobs differently in the future than they do today?
• What people issues in your business are the most concerning to
you?
• What will be the single biggest people issue that you expect to
confront in your division in the next 3-5 years?
• What makes your area a great place to work?
• If someone in your area were to leave for another job, why might
they leave?

21. 3 Phase Process
1. Discovery
2. Planning
3. Communication
•The Approach
•Overview
•Case Study Examples

22. The Approach
Stated Reason
• Create a strategic plan for the development of
HR over the next 3-5 years.
Side Benefits
• Validate that you understand the business.
• State how HR should be measured and held
accountable.
• Galvanize the HR team around key objectives.

23. Overview
Planning is the process of extracting the themes
and highest payoff actions from discovery data.
• Where can we create the most value?
• How do we make it happen?
– What specific steps must we take?
– Where do we start?
• What does success look like?

24. Overview
Analysis and Summary Process
• Broad involvement of HR staff promotes ownership and
buy-in
• Leverage your analytical resources and talent
• Off-site, facilitated process accelerates the process
• Define what success looks like to the business

25. Overview
The Plan
• There is no single right format or structure of a strategic
plan. It has to work for your org.
• Components
– Themes -- Objectives
– Highest Impact Strategies within each theme
– Specific actions and outcomes related to each

26. Case Study
Human Resources Strategic Plan
Vision Purpose
Company is a thriving, healthy organization because To deliver resources, tools, and solutions that ensure
of our thriving, healthy people. the organization has the talent needed to succeed.
Values
Service
We go above and beyond to help our associates succeed. We strive to solve problems before they happen.
Performance
HR gets the job done, every time. We use our expertise and passion to produce great results.
Team
We succeed and fail together as one. We help each other grow.
Innovation
We solve problems in creative ways and continually find new ways to create value.
Strategic Objectives
1. HR is recognized as providing excellent service and solutions.
2. HR’s people, processes, and technologies are efficient and effective.
3. Associates are continually developed and provided advancement opportunities.
4. Our total compensation program drives associate performance and retention.
5. Associates are measurably healthier because of our culture of wellness.

27. Case Study
Strategic Roadmap
Completion
Strategic Objective Strategy Action Step Owner Date
Outline process for systematic development of management skill level in the
operation for executive review and buy-in Wade 2/13/2008
Identify skill profile for key management roles within operations Wade 3/15/2008
Outline management development priority list with ops key leaders Wade 3/15/2008
Operations
Assess management skill for locations based on priority established and
Management
deliver management training plan Wade 7/1/2008
Management Skill Development Process
Define process for identification of "supervisor potentials" among current
Development
collector staff Wade 7/1/2008
Develop training process for "supervisor potentials" Wade 8/1/2008
Launch "supervisor potentials" program Wade 9/1/2008
Design Individual Development Planning tool for managers to use in creating
Individual Development
development plans for their direct reports Kelly 2/29/2008
Planning Process
Provide tool and training to all managers within WAM Kelly 2/29/2008
Utilize retention studies to determine turnover root causes Kelly 12/31/2008
Retention Studies and
Planning
Develop retention plans with ops management to address root cause issues Kelly 12/31/2008
Collector Retention
Develop training/development program for managers that instill a retention
Training Retention Skills
mindset and build skills needed to retain employees Jason 2/29/2008
to Management
Deliver training to management based on operational priority TM Team 12/31/2008
Conduct through recruitment process audit production recruiting processes
recommend process improvements based on audit Kelly 2/29/2008
Recruitment Process Conduct through recruitment process audit staff recruiting processes
Audit recommend process improvements based on audit Kelly 3/31/2008
Participate in and/or facilitate process documentation and redesign with
Enhanced Talent
Talent Acquisition team Kelly 6/1/2008
Selection
Design pre-screening processes for production employee selection Kelly 3/31/2008
Design pre-screening processes based on audit recommendation and
Improve Selection
customer needs Kelly 7/1/2008
Process
Identify and recommend selection tools where appropriate Kelly 7/1/2008
Train managers and talent acquisition staff on best practice techniques Kelly 12/31/2008

28. Case Study
HR Strategic Plan
HR STRATEGIC PLAN 2006-2008
Company Strategic Cornerstones
People Professional Culture Performance Growth
Human Resources Strategic Objectives
Ensure workforce
Foster Culture of
Deliver strong ROI Commit to process Lead the Capitalize on readiness to
Respect and
on human capital discipline transformation technology execute on
Engagement
corporate strategy
Strategy
Maximize OWI’s Utilize HR processes to Prepare the business to Develop HR strategies Maximize all systems to Build a workforce with the
investment in human facilitate engagement manage through systems that drive corporate their full utilization capacity to support
capital Create an environment and processes business results Invest in technology for existing business, new
that fosters meaningful Manage HR through Partner with the business the future services, and new
communication systems and processes to create value ventures
Create a culture that Deliver flawlessly on HR Ensure HR readiness
values and encourages processes
recognition
Provide employees with
great managers
2006-2007 Tactics
ETM process HR Policy Manual Define & document ETM Restructure HR to better Fully deploy talent builder Define strategic job
Complete talent redesign processes support business & Automate staffing families & associate
assessments Define benefit & Define Human Capital corporate strategy requisition processes competencies
Align HR processes to compensation strategy scorecard Clearly define HR roles & E-Time Build flex staffing plan
competencies & brand and redesign plan responsibility Computer Based Training Contract with recruitment

29. 3 Phase Process
1. Discovery
2. Planning
3. Communication
•The Approach
•Overview
•Case Study Examples

30. The Approach
Stated Reason
• To communicate HR’s strategy to the
organization.
Side Benefits
• Promote HR’s image as a strategic player.
• Gain buy-in and support for HR initiatives.
• Control the story of how HR is performing.

31. Overview
Communication is how HR ensures that the plan is
accepted and supported for execution.
• Does this plan address the needs of the business?
• How does the plan create value for the business?
• How will HR be different?
• How will we know if HR is successfully executing the
plan?

32. Overview
Feedback on the plan
• Return to those involved in discovery to ensure the plan
resonates with them.
Share with the Organization
• Simplify the plan for broad sharing.
• Presentation is important.
• Frequently update on progress—particularly to the HR
team.

33. Overview
What to communicate:
• That you are going to plan
• That you are planning
• That you have a plan and here it is
• That you are working your plan
• That you are making progress (many times)
• That you have finished the plan
• That you are going to plan (repeat)

34. Overview
Where to communicate:
• Email
• Intranet
• Meetings
• One on one
• Retreats
• Social media
• Conference calls
• Webinars

35. Case Study
Enterprise Talent Management
Assimilate culturally and
Training and Orientation
prepare to perform
Human Performanceon what’s
Execute Management
expected today Results
Capital
Compensation motivate
Reward, and Incentives
and align behavior
Build competence to
Talent Management
execute tomorrow

36. Case Study
Style
Matters

37. Our Purpose
To create sustainable competitive
advantage for the company through
the attraction, selection, and retention
of great talent.

38. HR Strategic Planning
1.Discovery
2.Planning
3.Communication

39. Lessons Learned
Pay attention to culture. Don’t fight the current
when you don’t have to.
Use external help where appropriate, but never
outsource one on one interaction with business
leaders.
Keep it simple. It’s always okay to do more than
you promise.
Communicate, communicate, communicate.

40. “Plans are worthless.
But planning is
everything.”
-Dwight Eisenhower

41. Let’s Connect
Jason Lauritsen
402.651.4148
Jason@BulletproofTalent.com
www.JasonLauritsen.com
www.BulletproofTalent.com