HR strategy

Availability on the labour market and the relevance of a function are assessed separately. This yields priorities for recruitment, retention and development. We connect people development with strategy and organisation. We therefore also take into account the working conditions, decision paths and leadership under which people apply their capabilities. A people strategy is more than planning headcount; it describes the contribution of people and their competencies to the task of the future.

The people development audit can additionally show whether needs assessment, goal definition, transfer and evaluation of success are sufficiently connected. Not every gap can be closed with training; sometimes roles, processes or leadership need to change. The results are translated into priorities, responsibilities and review points. Management can thus understand which assumptions underpin the HR decisions and when they need to be re-examined.

Humanverfügbarkeit aus Strategie, Cultributes und Kompetenzen planen: Die Personalstrategie verbindet das Zukunftsbild mit den dafür benötigten Kompetenzen und kulturellen Voraussetzungen. Wir nennen diese Voraussetzungen „Cultributes“. Der Vergleich zwischen heutiger und künftig benötigter Flexibilität, Beobachtungsfähigkeit, Innovation und Führung unterstützt die Ableitung von Anforderungsprofilen und Entwicklungsplänen. Kennzahlen schließen an die strategischen Ziele an.

Arbeitsergebnisse: Strategisch begründete Rollen- und Kompetenzanforderungen; Prioritäten für Gewinnung, Entwicklung und Nachfolge; Geklärte Zusammenarbeit zwischen Führung und HR.

The time horizon, data basis and departments involved are agreed. An HR strategy is adjusted as the company actually develops.

Talent management draws a map from the strategic process to the critical role. On this basis, leadership and HR can ask which capabilities already exist, what development is possible internally and where external recruitment is needed. The answer can be very different for two areas. One function may be strengthened by a development dialogue and a specialist career path; another needs a new requirement profile or a different organisational embedding.

We distinguish competence as available knowledge, motivation and ability, potential as the capacity to learn, and performance as today’s achievement. These terms prevent good current performance from automatically being regarded as evidence for a future role. The HR strategy translates this distinction into decision criteria.

The people development audit adds a review of the existing systems: are needs derived from strategic goals, are development goals formulated concretely and are new capabilities applied at the workplace? If not, another programme alone cannot close the gap. The results are prioritised functions, described requirements, chosen development paths and a routine in which the assumptions are re-examined when the company’s tasks change.

The priorities should also be reviewed after a change in corporate strategy. If a customer segment, a service offering or a critical process changes, a previously suitable competence profile may become outdated. Talent management and the people development audit offer different instruments for this: describing roles and capabilities, reviewing existing development measures and observing the transfer into work. HR alone cannot provide these answers. The responsible managers must explain what performance they will need in future and what conditions their teams will find for it.

We derive an HR strategy via strategic processes, critical functions, job families and competence profiles. This sequence prevents a staff list from already being regarded as a plan for the future. Together with leadership and HR, we first ask which tasks the chosen corporate strategy creates. It is then examined which capabilities already exist and where new requirements arise. The availability of suitable people on the labour market is a further perspective, but not the only one.

For some gaps, recruitment makes sense; for others, development or a different organisation of work. A development dialogue, a skill inventory and career models can help make these paths concrete. The results are well-founded priorities and verifiable assumptions for HR decisions, not a blanket forecast of headcount.