Overview of Functional Goals and Objectives
Human Resources has several strategic goals and objectives in the organization. As a strategic business partner, it has to contribute to successful delivery of business targets. It has to identify the potential arising from the enterprise vision and mission, and it has to turn it into the actionable plan for Human Resources.
Human Resources should not define just tactical objectives like the recruitment goals, workforce planning objectives or the employee development goals. The tactical objectives never lead to building the strong and strategic HR Management function in the organization. The targets of Human Resources needs to be derived from the business strategy and vision so that they bring the value added. Even the strategic aims need to be measurable. HR KPIs cannot be measuring the effectiveness of HR Processes; it needs to measure the progress of the implementation of the strategic HR projects.
The changing role of Human Resources brings new challenges and initiatives, and changes require an adjustment of general HR goals and objectives. HR topics of the past are about the administrative expertise; the HR issues of the future are about the strategic contribution of Human Resources. The modern HR Management has two primary goals and objectives in the organization:
- productivity and performance;
- HR Visibility.
The most strategic goals of Human Resources are always broadly covered in the HR Strategy that is approved by the Leadership Team of the company. HR has to split the key objectives into smaller yearly goals and put them into the right stream. HR has to make sure that all smaller goals are aligned and linked together.
It has to balance the approach; it cannot choose just one stream to focus on. The HR Department cannot focus just on the visibility of Human Resources in the organization. The goal must be supported by activities and projects from the second stream to make the visibility in the organization a real and sustainable success.
Vice versa, HR cannot focus just on the performance and productivity of the business. The high-performance organization needs the human face. Otherwise, it cannot attract top talents because it has no HR story. It does not advertize positive career opportunities.
HR Goals in Productivity and Performance
The most changes in the organization do not just happen as a business-as-usual. The leadership team always manages and leads internal changes so that the company is ready to accept external and internal challenges. The company plans changes and introduces them through strategic projects. Human Resources has to run strategic projects that improve or kick the performance and productivity of the organization.
The Chief HR Officer needs to convince and engage the leadership team, and they have to support HR initiatives in divisions or departments through the company.
The first strategic goal of Human Resources is the strategic HR project management and strategic HR projects and initiatives. HR Leader has to convince the leadership team to support key HR initiatives during the year. They have to accept risks and manage them during the year. HR has to prepare the list of initiatives, reach status quo among leaders in the organization and communicate with all stakeholders properly.
The other strategic HR objective is affecting the performance positively is the full engagement of employees. Employee engagement is one of key drivers of employees’ creativity and willingness to contribute to business results. Engagement is not important in moments when the company grows. However, it is essential when the organization is stuck in troubles. HR should always design processes that allow employees share ideas freely across the enterprise.
The proper and regular reporting of HR KPIs is another strategic objective for Human Resources. HR cannot measure the progress of changes in the organization and the quality of provided HR services without the regular measurement of HR KPIs. HR has to identify right KPIs for each strategic initiative of the leadership team. It has to present measures and report any issue or the negative trend to the team. This is a real value added.
HR Visibility as the HR Goal
The executive presence of Human Resources is another strategic aim for Human Resources. The successful team is widely visible in the business. The invisible team does not reach the corporate targets. Nobody cares about the team, and the best employees start to leave the company. HR Managers have to be visible in departments, and they need to be well recognized by internal clients. They have to provoke discussions and lead them to actionable outcomes. They have to follow up their promises. This is an extremely strategic HR Objective.
Additionally, HR has to develop the external visibility of the organization. It makes the position of the company on the job market secure. Top talents know the company, its brand, products, and they have no worries to apply for the vacancy.
