HCM 4.0 BUSINESS CENTRIC STRATEGY FROM PLANNING TO EXECUTION

 

CHANGING GEARS- FROM PLANNING TO EXECUTION

WHAT IS YOUR PRESCRIPTION FOR IMPLEMENTATION OF HCM4.0 FROM THEORY AND PLANNING PHASE TO EXECUTION PHASES

 

I will recommend CHROs and their mentors the CEO To simplify and adapt the principles of project management to the HCM4.0 startup or turnaround within the company.

While the science would be to use project management principles judiciously the art of execution is moving hearts and minds of people. An inbuilt factor in every  strategic planning venture  must  be  implementation- it concerns ensuring that the internal structures, practices and procedures enable the organization to achieve its objectives. This task can be achieve if the people factor is nurtured and  managed effectively to work in collaboration with the strategic objectives pursued.

Anticipating  the possible roadblock to the change management process would be the real breakthrough.Unfortunately there   is  a wrong notion : thinking is the privilege of  the higher echelons of the company; leaving  action  plans  to  the operational  level  employees with a fond hope that  they get done. This division  of  planners versus  doers  widens the divide.  Planning and execution have to be intertwined .Execution is a process, not an action or step. Execution is not the result of a single decision. It is a result of a series of integrated decisions emerging  over time. In practice  strategy execution may be termed as the  systematic process of rigorously analyzing  the business situation , questioning every assumption in the planning process  , tenaciously following through bottlenecks and critical path , communicating responsibility  and ensuring accountability . Strategy Execution can often mean a list of things NOT to do. Execution not only ensures efficient use of resources but also provides the feedback loop needed for the business to adjust to changes in the operational process.

 

  

Strategy  Execution, rather than Strategy  Formulation;

Is the ‘missing ingredient’ hindering  good strategy  being translated into value creation outcomes

 

HOW WOULD YOU RECOMMEND TO YOUR CLIENTS   A BLUEPRINT FOR THE “PROJECT MODE” TO MANAGING THE PROCESS OF EXECUTION HOLISTICALLY OF HCM MASTER-PLAN.

The many trials and error have taught  business leaders to  swear that strategy  execution, is the ‘missing ingredient’ to translating good strategy into value creation outcomes.

 

Grinding the point further authors Bossidy, Charan and Burck – in their  best seller book “Execution” (2002)    states “Execution-  is the discipline of getting things done … this is  what differentiated companies that succeeded from those that just muddled through or failed. The heart of execution lies in the three core processes: the people process, the strategy process, and the operations process.”

Prof Robert Kaplan and David Norton Harvard Business School , the developers of Balanced Scorecard concept say that ‘ …strategy without tactics is the surest route without failure… Companies where the  execution is not factored at the planning stage fail to realize the full benefits of a well crafted strategy.  They find the results aren’t anything close to what you’d hoped.  Prof Robert Kaplan and David Norton Harvard Business School , make the point that fewer than 10 per cent of all strategies are actually implemented.

 

 WHY IS HCM BEST SUITED TO BE THE HELMSMAN IN THE HCM PLANNING TO STRATEGY EXECUTION GAMUT

The foremost challenge  for the HCM 4.0   strategist  is creating a capability to dovetail the HCM master-plan with business strategy It is essential for HCM leaders to ensure that there is a clear linkage  between business strategy and HCM masterplan . In implementing HCM masterplan now needs to be fine-tune to this and ask: Are we allocating enough time, energy and money to those things critical to the organization? How best do we correlate the resources used to meta-goals like organization capability building and business performance?

 

 HCM is privileged to be a pivotal position; its work affects and influences every part of an organization, from the highest authorities in the boardroom  to workers on the shop floor; a fact conveniently ignore or discretely discounted by the critics of HCM . At every point it is  the people who make the difference.   In realtity  HCM leaders should  a bigger say because people execute strategy and this has to be factored in to make any plan meaningful.  This is the HCM-led differentiator for success of strategy execution.

 

HCM is in a unique position to communicate and explain to the  rank and file how  and why the business strategy is developed is just as important as what does  the strategy imply for individual and their teams. Likewise HCM professionals can glean inputs of how to tweak the HCM masterplan to the user needs; and even enrich it through the suggestions if they solicit them. The HCM strategy in turn  is re-conditioned by the  process of the implementing the firms business strategy  ….more like a chicken-and-egg syndrome.

HCM interventions must  concurrently  fit with  the company’s unique context and be enmeshed   with day-to-day activities at different organizational levels. This is the pathway to execute the masterplan. When the approach is defined there must be clarity on key roles, responsibilities, performance metrics. HCM  leaders need out-of-the-box  thinking to have tactical implementation plans that take into account the changes that must occur to align the business strategy with HCM master-plan.

FINAL WORD

Most companies it is found have a strategy summit which is across a weekend but do not follow up and follow through on a monthly or quarterly basis the actions and progress achieved The fact is execution of strategy involves more time and complexity than strategy formulation which is a brief event at the beginning of the year. 

 

The HCM strategy  is re-conditioned by the  process of the implementing the firms business strategy

 ….more like a chicken-and-egg syndrome