Aligning Human Capital in Achieving Business Goals and

Strategic Objectives 

By Stephen J. Brewer, MBA, SPHR

Introduction

More than ever, the HR professional is being looked to as the internal expert and advisor on
both technical employment regulations and general management concepts. Indeed, advising
managers on organizational development and strategic planning has become an essential
function of a successful HR leader.

As the HR practitioner's role continues to evolve, top leadership is further recognizing the
value of HR in facilitating organizational change. This increasingly means the proper
alignment of limited resources towards achieving business goals and strategic objectives.
The focus of this White Paper is to illustrate how, as agents of managerial leadership and
organizational development, HR practitioners are uniquely positioned to facilitate the
alignment of a company's human capital with overall business objectives. Example
templates are included to assist the HR professional and managers in applying these
concepts within their own organizations.

Unique Positioning

HR professionals, as part of their role as advisor and confidant, often are ideally positioned
to understand and facilitate the alignment of human resources with the company's strategic
objectives. Indeed, the very nature of HR is to work with all levels of an organization to
understand and facilitate the balancing of both the business realities and the personal needs
of employees. This is in contrast to other types of managers such as accounting, marketing
or production, who usually are focused on their functional responsibilities rather than
assessing how employees throughout the organization are prepared to optimally perform
jobs.

Human Capital Defined

Human capital goes way beyond the simple number of employees. It is commonly referred
to as the knowledge, skills and abilities (KSAs) staff possesses that enables them to function
effectively within the scope of their jobs. How these resources are shaped and focused can
greatly impact an organization's ability to be successful. In facilitating the alignment of
these traits, it is critical to have a broad perspective of the many facets of a company. The
most successful leaders have a keen sense of this reality and continuously apply critical
thinking and improvement strategies to obtain this goal. The following list further illustrates
examples of human capital that may impact organizational effectiveness.

Knowledge.

Skills.

Abilities.

Attitude.
Motivation.

Behavior.

Six Key Steps to Aligning Human Capital with Business Objectives and Goals

First - Establish Business Objectives and Strategic Goals

The first step in aligning the employee's human capital with business objectives is to
understand the objectives and goals. This may sound overly simple; however, many times
an organization may lose its sense of purpose and overall mission as it attends to day-to-
day business activities. Indeed, it is not uncommon for managers within a business to one
day wake up and ask, "What is the company purpose or mission?" This is true even though
they may have been in business for decades. Business is very dynamic, and aligning the
employees' capacity to perform requires the constant asking of these types of questions to
ensure that the organization has a clear identity and purpose on which to base strategic
directions.

Companies that lack a unified sense of purpose or identity often experience a great deal of
anxiety and internal conflict. The lack of purpose and direction affects decisions on staffing,
space, technology and other operational considerations. For example, a company that has
not clearly determined to venture into business development strategies to stay current with
market trends may struggle to accept any growth initiatives while being bypassed by a
more focused competitor.

Second Effectively Communicate Business Objectives and Strategic Goals

Again, this may seem overly simple. However, many top executives and managers who set
strategic objectives often fail to clearly communicate their goals to those whose daily efforts
will ultimately lead to success. To effectively communicate business objectives and strategic
goals requires a conscious effort from leaders to ensure the message is clearly understood
and tangibly meaningful. That is, the objectives can be translated into specific functional
tasks that employees can understand and accept as reasonable and necessary to achieve
business needs.

Third Assess Structure Alignment with Business Objectives and Goals

Once the business objectives and strategic goals have been established, leaders should
assess the organizational structure to assure its proper alignment. For example, is the
organizational structure conducive to achieving the expressed goals? Are departments
properly staffed and coordinated for optimal efficiency? This level of assessment also
includes the number and type of positions (jobs) that are appropriately established. This
stage can become difficult for supervisors and employees as it raises questions as to who is
doing what and is it the right thing to be doing. Here again, the HR leaders are ideally
suited to facilitate this assessment due to their broad insight as to the effectiveness of
current structures and staff. (Organizational leaders should have some sense of the proper
alignment prior to announcing a "reorganization" which is often interpreted as downsizing
by employees.)

Fourth Assess Employees' Capacity to Achieve Business Objectives and Goals

In consideration of the business objectives and organizational structure, evaluate the
employees' readiness to meet the assigned job functions. While this will be more difficult to
assess than what might first be apparent, the following broad questions will help frame an
insight into an organization's human capacity to achieve business goals:

 Do employees possess the appropriate how and why knowledge (awareness,

understanding, etc.) to do their jobs?
 Do employees have the skills (proficiency, expertness, talent, etc.) necessary to
effectively perform their jobs?
 Do employees have the ability (authority, discretion, motivation, etc.) to complete
their tasks?
 Do employees have other traits needed to most effectively address the business
needs?

Fifth Fill in the Gaps Between Capacity and Business Objectives and Goals

Stemming from the first four steps illustrated above, what are the gaps that need to be
filled to ensure the successful business strategy? That is, what additional KSAs are needed
for employees to be ideally aligned with meeting business objectives? The answers to these
questions provide the data needed to construct a development plan for obtaining the
needed KSAs within the organization.

How to fill capacity gaps will have profound implications. For example, capacity gaps can be
addressed by a simple training program for increasing staff skill levels or it can mean
eliminating some staff in search of others who possess the KSAs needed for the overall
strategies to be implemented.

All development plans should include who, what, when, where, why and how statements to
assure a focused and clearly defined plan. All too often, once the areas for development
have been agreed to, managers and staff alike return to the "real work" and fail to
implement the identified plan. As a result, optimal success is missed as employees continue
to have a misaligned capacity to meet the business objectives and strategic goals.

Sixth Implement, Measure, Modify

This last point brings us to the crux of any successful business strategy, the implementation
stage. To be successfully implemented, development plans need to be regularly assessed for
both consistent actions and relative effectiveness. That is, are development plans being
executed and are they achieving expected results? If not, why not, and what should be done
differently to assure proper actions and employee capacity?

Building the above process and questions into periodic assessment sessions between
managers and employees will help to assure those who are charged with conducting the
day-to-day efforts will be properly prepared to achieve goals.

Summary

Business texts on leadership and management are filled with examples of how organizations
often fall short in the area of successfully aligning employees with the company's overall
mission. Increasingly, the HR leader is functioning as the conduit in connecting employee's
KSAs with the overall business objectives and strategies. To be effective, the HR leader
should strive to understand and logically connect the company's human capacities to the
business goals.

By sequentially aligning staff's roles and corresponding development plans as described in

this process assures both properly aligned employee capacity and tangible evidence that
managers are clearly committed to achieving the business objectives and strategic goals.

The following templates have been developed to assist organizations to identify, assess and
align their organization's resources.

Organizational Structure

What is the structure of the organization as it relates to formal and adjunct reporting lines
of responsibility and communications? This includes individual positions (jobs) that are
properly coordinated with other department resources for optimal efficiency and
effectiveness.

Key Questions

Is the structure of the department as it relates to formal and adjunct reporting lines of
responsibility and communications clearly delineated and understood?

Are individual positions (jobs) properly coordinated with other department resources for
optimal efficiency and effectiveness?

Structure Outline

What are the functional positions that have been established to achieve the missions and
objectives?

Key Functions and Line Responsibility

What are the key functions that have been established in support of the mission and
objectives?

Are there clear reporting lines established in accordance with the departmental structure
and functional assignments?

What are the accountability mechanisms that have been established for the key functions
and responsibilities?

Employee Capacity Assessment

Employee capacity is not only the people needed to complete jobs and tasks within an
organization, but also the respective knowledge, skills, abilities and other traits (KSAOs)
that are needed for effectively achieving the organizational goals.

Employee Name: ______________________________

Date ____________
Title: _________________________________________

Position Summary and Functions (Job Description Review & Updated as Needed)

Are the position description and functions properly matched with the Organizational
Structure, which is aligned with the department's mission and objectives?

Evaluate the employees current readiness in meeting the assigned job functions according
to the following subject areas:

Knowledge:

Skills:

Abilities:

Other Traits:

Development Plan

For those areas identified above, what are the areas where the employee either needs, or
would otherwise increase the employees ability to complete their job tasks more efficiently
or effectively?