Human Resources departments have traditionally been islands within a company.  Make sure payroll is done, benefits are handled, interviews scheduled and handbooks developed.  While most of the time, the “business” aspect was only brought up as it applied to finding employees to fill open positions and to make sure payroll was done.

Today, businesses that keep their HR department on an island are falling behind.  Many companies today have HR departments that are involved in the planning of company goals and direction.  Many companies use their HR department to help them make decision on new products or development of new services based on the amount of available talent within the area.  HR departments are developing training programs that ensure employees are growing their core competencies in step with the goals and direction of the company.  HR departments today are using social media to develop a pipeline of new talent that is in step with company needs.

In a recent worldwide study, SHL (an HR Assessment Company) found that in countries with an established economy, the top five HR priorities were definitely business-centric based.  Those five priorities include:

1)       Increase the development of company leaders.

2)      Employment engagement and retention.

3)      Employee performance management.

4)      Succession planning for the organization.

5)      Workforce planning and developing talent analytics.

The report also lists four things that HR departments can do to keep their plans consistent with the business of their organization.  Those four things include using big data to help make decisions, using the right data that will drive the synergy between HR and the rest of your company, embracing innovations that help recruit new and more aligned talent, and mobile technology should be used to create a competitive advantage (using mobile to differentiate, not because others do).

You can read the whole assessment by SHL here. 

Managepoint does Human Resources, and understands your business.  We have the best solutions for payroll, benefits, recruiting, training and retention in the business. Let us do HR for you, so you can concentrate on your business.