Human Capital Strategy – Part 2

So what does strategic planning have to do with human capital?

What I like about having a formal human capital strategy is the ability to see how human resources fits together. When we first met with our Insperity recruiters they asked, what is your culture?  What kind of behaviors are successful at GrowthForce? I hadn’t ever considered defining the “culture” or the “behaviors” that were successful for us. Before Insperity, if you could communicate well, were presentable, had QuickBooks experience and would work for the salary I was paying, and could fog a mirror, you were hired.

Now we’re smarter. The first step to a human capital strategy is defining the strategic plan. For most small businesses there is a company strategic plan – In the Owners Head. I knew where I wanted to take GrowthForce, but like most CEOs who are blowing and going that vision was not communicated clearly. If your staff tell you they need ESP to read your mind, read “Start with WHY?” by Simon Sinek and take the time to answer these questions to start your strategic plan.

1. Why do you exist?
2. Why do clients hire you?
3. Why would people want to work for you?

Take the “Why do you exist?” answer and lay out the vision for your company and define the initiatives to get there.

Then you can define the mission, vision and values.

Doing a strategic plan does two important things to a human capital strategy:

1. Helps force the CEO or management team agree and articulate the vision and plan to get there so the entire business can get aligned behind it. The key word here is alignment. Without this clarity of who you want  to be and how you get there, you can’t pull the horses in the same direction – which is what a human capital strategy is all about.

2. It also provides a rallying point for everyone in the company which gives a reason for being. We all look for a higher purpose in life. Why am I here?  If its just to come in and process accounts payable for my clients, its hard to get motivated to give that extra discretionary effort. But if its to be part of a team that is “reinventing the world of small business accounting in ways so profound the business owner will never go back”, that’s a completely different purpose, a different reason to wake up each day to do your job.

We hired Kris Kwalik, of Rodin Consulting to help us with our strategic plan. Insperity helped us take that strategic plan and use that to define: Mission, Vision, Core Values. In addition to the vision of reinventing the world of small business accounting, here’s what we came up with:

Mission

GrowthForce’s mission is to help high-performing small businesses grow by providing financial intelligence as a trusted service partner.

We exist to help small business grow by enabling owners to focus on their core competencies. They do this by leveraging our investment in technology & training which combines best practices in business automation with sound financial concepts.

Our mission will be accomplished by building a great place to work supported by well-trained, talented employees who build their careers while working close to their homes.

Core Values

GrowthForce operates and makes decisions based on six core values:

1. Integrity without compromise (we have open, honest communication and full transparency, especially with tough issues)
2. Delight clients (we proactively solve problems)
3. Take care of our employees (we laugh often and enjoy the journey)
4. Innovate & improve (ours is an environment that constantly learns from mistakes)
5. Own the outcome (each person is accountable for their goals or escalates any issues)
6. We work to live, not live to work

Now we have a starting point for HR.  Who are we?  What’s important?