As HR leaders look to the next year and beyond, it’s important to have an eye toward the future when planning successful strategies. While business trends will continue to evolve over time, cultivating a framework based on solid HR practices can help create environments that bring out the best in employees while also positioning your organization for success.
To help with this process, let’s take a look at 11 of the most effective HR strategy examples from around the world and analyze what elements could be incorporated into your own strategies moving forward.
A human resources (HR) strategy is a comprehensive plan to effectively manage its people assets in alignment with its overall business objectives. The HR strategy framework outlines the principles, goals, and actions that the HR department will undertake to attract, retain, develop, and engage employees to contribute to the company’s success. It includes policies for hiring, performance appraisals, development, and compensation.
We’ve outlined 7 key steps based on Deloitte’s HR Strategy Framework to help you design an HR strategy:
1. Consider the market and trends: Analyze the external market and trends that are impacting your industry.
2. Understand the business strategy: Know the business strategy and be clear on the must-win battles for the business, the key value drivers, main priorities, and strategic initiatives. Importantly, be clear on the success criteria and how impact will be measured for the business.
3. Define HR strategy: Develop a blueprint for establishing a distinctive competitive edge by articulating how the company will utilize its human resources to tackle business challenges and fulfill business goals. By translating the company’s strategy into a practical HR strategy, you can set priorities and form a business plan. The HR strategy, in turn, should be translated into key initiatives and programs, with a focus on how to attract, motivate, and retain different workforce segments effectively.
The key elements of a good HR strategy1. Where will we focus as HR and why?
2. What will we do in these areas, and why does it contribute to the business?
3. What are our must-win battles?
4. How will we measure progress and success?
5. What are the key milestones to achieve these goals?
Once these are in place, the strategy needs to be visualized into a coherent story that shows how HR will drive impact and deliver value.
4. Ensure the HR Operating Model can deliver the strategy: Assess whether the current HR Operating Model can deliver the strategy. Assess the current HR Operating model to gauge whether it aligns with the objectives and focus areas of the strategy. It’s crucial to reevaluate and, if necessary, reshape the HR function to ensure it can adequately support the business and execute the defined corporate strategy.
5. Prioritize HR investments: Determine priorities for HR investments by thoroughly assessing all HR projects, understanding their associated costs, benefits, and primary focus, and then allocating resources judiciously. Your goal is to ensure that HR activities add value and align with the broader business objectives. This step helps you identify where to allocate resources most effectively, taking into account cost-benefit analysis and the activities to strengthen, initiate, scale back, or eliminate.
A well-crafted strategy is an excellent negotiation tool when discussing expectations with your business. As much as the strategy needs to show where you will focus as HR, it also needs to be clear on what you will not be doing. Often, these unspoken expectations derail strategy execution or lead to us having to spread our resources too thin in delivery.
Dr. Dieter Veldsman, AIHR Chief Scientist HR & OD
6. Establish the right HR capabilities: Identify and develop the skills, competencies, and capacities necessary for HR to fulfill its role and add value. Pinpoint the specific skills and competencies needed to implement the HR strategy, conduct a skills assessment, and formulate training and recruitment plans to address any critical gaps.
7. Measure the impact of HR products and services: Establish connections between the corporate strategy, strategic HR priorities, and the key performance indicators relevant to HR and the workforce. Identify appropriate key performance metrics, ensuring a suitable balance between measures related to value and cost. Develop and put into practice an HR Scorecard to monitor HR’s influence, value, and expenditures.
Google’s emphasis on data and metrics in people management sets it apart. The company revamped its HR policies for a more efficient and effective workforce, adopting a data-driven approach with people analytics to address organizational challenges.
It prioritizes employee wellbeing and offers fitness centers, healthy food options, and mindfulness programs to its employees. Transparency and communication are key, with open access to company information and feedback opportunities.
By creating a culture of psychological safety, Google’s HR strategy encourages risk-taking and innovation and has led to a more agile and resilient workforce. This supports Google’s HR successes: high employee satisfaction, impressive retention rates, improved manager effectiveness, and high job seeker interest.
Ohana is a Hawaiian word that means “family”. At Salesforce, Ohana represents a sense of family and community within the organization’s ecosystem. It embodies a deep-seated support system that extends beyond employees to include customers, partners, developers, and communities.
The concept is underpinned by Salesforce values, including trust, customer success, innovation, giving back, equality for all, wellness, transportation, and fun.
Facebook’s success, despite its massive growth, is driven by its company culture. It’s one that places a strong focus on Meta’s mission, which is connecting people globally. When Meta hires new people, it emphasizes this culture and mission as a big part of what makes the organization special.
The HR strategy helps employees understand their strengths and encourages them to take pride in their work. Employees know it’s important to learn from mistakes and keep improving. Meta also supports employees in their personal lives with extra time off for personal events like family emergencies or having a baby. The company even built a new headquarters with a grocery store and more.
By empowering employees to take charge and figure out how to achieve the company’s goals on their own, Meta makes them feel valued and a part of a strong company culture.
IBM’s HR management team plays a central role in the organization’s Globally Integrated Enterprise (GIE) strategy, focusing on talent development, motivation, and strategic placement.
The company uses AI-powered tools to monitor employee experiences, address pay inequities, assess candidates for jobs and promotions, and ensure underrepresented groups have pathways to senior leadership roles. IBM also created a new role, senior vice president of transformation and culture, to manage the task of measuring and maintaining culture.
IBM is reimagining work design by deconstructing how work is done, considering factors like whether meetings should be in the office or virtual, and the company is melding successful pre-pandemic people strategies with those developed during the pandemic to shape the future of work and business.
Most HR strategies don’t fail when we write them – but during execution. As such, it is important to always do a sanity check during the HR strategy process. What will it take realistically to deliver this promise? How does this change what we do today? How will we capacitate the team to deliver? Strategies need to be aspirational, but also realistic in their ability to execute. I prefer to have a narrower focus on the things that matter, as opposed to trying to be everything to everyone.
Dr. Dieter Veldsman, AIHR Chief Scientist HR & OD
Microsoft’s culture transformation journey involved honoring its past, defining its future, and transitioning from a “know-it-all” to a “learn-it-all” company. This means valuing continuous learning and adaptation.
HR emphasized the importance of authentic leadership, with even the CEO playing a crucial role in driving this cultural shift. Recognizing that a strong culture should be aligned with a purpose-driven mission has given employees a clear sense of direction and meaning in their work. Symbolic and practical measures include revising how employee performance is assessed and introducing training programs to promote diversity and inclusion.
Effective communication is a vital component in maintaining the new culture. Consistency and regular messaging keep everyone aligned. The company also applies technology to accelerate cultural change, using data and tools to measure employee sentiment, dispel misconceptions, and offer learning resources.
HR highlights the importance of remaining humble, celebrating achievements, and maintaining consistency to sustain the transformed culture over time.
Netflix’s HR strategy is built on hiring top-tier talent, even during challenging times. When having to downsize, Netflix stuck to its strategy of retaining only A-level employees. This increased employee satisfaction and productivity, as those remaining preferred working with high-performing colleagues.
The company also recognized that as it grew, some once-invaluable employees no longer aligned with its A-player philosophy and let go of those whose skills no longer matched the company’s needs.
Rather than implementing formal leave policies, Netflix lets employees take as much time off as they want in consultation with their supervisors, emphasizing trust and individual responsibility.
J&J believes that strong leadership is essential to its success. The company offers a variety of leadership development programs to help employees grow and develop their skills.
Its HR strategy is to attract, nurture, and retain top-tier talent worldwide while staying true to its guiding principles outlined in the company’s Credo.
Key components of this strategy include investing in leadership development through various programs, nurturing an inclusive and diverse workplace culture, providing competitive compensation and benefits packages, and actively supporting employee well-being through assistance programs and initiatives.
Nissan is renowned for blending Japanese manufacturing methods with British productivity principles, resulting in the concept of “kaizen.”
Kaizen is a core philosophy that encourages continuous improvement in job performance. The company applies this philosophy when selecting production workers, assembling teams composed of top-tier talent who are dedicated to enhancing their skills. Nissan’s HR practices embrace transparent salary structures and give leaders full autonomy in recruiting and assembling their teams, a unique approach within the automotive industry.
Ford has a long history of innovative hiring practices and leadership. The company maintains a culture of exceptional discipline, accentuating accountability and efficiency throughout the organization.
A strong emphasis on providing employees with exceptional training and skill development opportunities enables them to excel in their roles.
Ford’s HR strategy prioritizes communication driven by data and discipline, placing these factors ahead of emotion. Through this approach, Ford has successfully cultivated a healthy work environment. The company’s excellence in HR practice has earned it consistent recognition as a leader in the field.
Globally recognized retail brand Marks & Spencer owes its success not just to marketing but also to its exceptional HR strategies. The company emphasizes employee engagement, which plays a pivotal role in its business achievements.
Marks & Spencer has built a valuable reputation in employee relations, earning recognition for its treatment of employees throughout the supply chain. Communication stands as the foundation of its success model, as demonstrated by annual staff surveys. This effective communication is held in the highest regard, from regular management conference calls to daily staff interactions.
Mayo Clinic consistently earns a place among Fortune’s 100 Best Companies to Work For. The organization cultivates a teamwork-oriented environment by inspiring trust and confidence among employees.
Transparent internal communication ensures that employees are well-informed and engaged, contributing to the positive team dynamic. Extensive on-the-job training ensures that employees feel well-prepared to handle various situations. This investment in training also includes recognition for their efforts.
Flexible compensation and benefits packages are in line with employees’ advancing careers. Benefits include options for various types of medical insurance, flexible spending accounts for medical expenses, life insurance, short-term and long-term disability coverage, and a generous time-off program for work-life balance.
HR strategy, in essence, is a comprehensive plan for managing a company’s workforce to align with its broader business goals. Key elements of HR strategy include data-driven decision-making, annual revisions, alignment with the company’s overall strategy, and an emphasis on specific behaviors.
If you’re looking to refine your HR strategy or explore new approaches for your organization, remember that aligning your HR strategy with your company’s broader goals and fostering a positive work environment are key drivers of success. Effective HR strategies lead to specific behaviors, drive engagement, and enhance the overall work environment. They serve as a roadmap for managing the workforce, ensuring that HR practices contribute to achieving the organization’s goals.
