Much of what I read these days about human resources laments the lack of a strategic focus for the function. HR leaders bemoan their inability to get a seat at the strategic table. And, yet, surely with the coming talent shortage organizations need a people strategy. What’s the problem?

Earlier this month, I spoke to an HR student conference on the topic of employee retention and engagement. At lunch I asked my table mates what in their HR studies had surprised them. They told me that they were surprised at how strategic HR is.

It’s good to know that there’s some emphasis on human resources strategy in what they’re learning. But their surprise suggests that whatever it was that attracted them to concentrate on HR, it wasn’t strategy. This pretty much replicates our workplaces. HR is not seen as having a strategic role to play.

How come? I think there are several reasons.

1. Most HR specialists aren’t strategic.

Most people who work in human resources are focused on compliance, on transactions, and/or on administering programs.

2. Most employee encounters with HR are transactional.

A transaction is a one-off event. It’s filling in a dental claim form, completing a vacation schedule, or getting performance appraisals into files. If that’s my experience with HR, I’m not likely to see it as strategic.

3. The HR police.

Many managers use their human resources colleagues as enforcers. The last thing they want their ‘muscle’ to be is strategic. They want them to do what they’re told.

4. The HR smorgasbord.

There’s an enormous variety of responsibilities and activities that get tossed at HR functions. If there’s something to do that seems to relate to employees in some way, HR gets it. This results in issues that are transactional competing with other issues that may have a strategic element. But strategy is rarely urgent, while transactions and compliance frequently are. So the succession plan competes for resources (mostly management time and attention) with a dental claim, and the dental claim wins. If, in the next breath, HR sends out an e-mail reminding employees about the upcoming company picnic, you can see how far removed from strategy the function is perceived to be.

5. HR doesn’t speak ‘Executive’.

Most senior executives got their positions in part because of their comfort and fluency with the language of numbers and its dialects: the chart, the graph, and the table. HR leaders may have some ability with this language, but they’ll never be as good as the finance head, or the operations chief, or the IT director. Besides, some of the input that HR can bring to strategy cannot, or should not, be communicated with numbers only.

Once in my career I rolled out an employee satisfaction survey. When I presented the results to the Executive, they had a lively discussion about the medians, the means, the comparisons with other industries, all the numerical data. When I asked if there was any reaction to the verbatims (the written comments that employees can add in at the end of the survey) they said they didn’t have time to read them.

You can see the missed opportunity here. When employees take the time to write down some thoughts at the end of a survey, what they’re saying is this: “Okay, I’ve filled in your survey. Now, here’s what I really want you to know.” It’s the most valuable data point on that particular survey form. But it’s in the wrong language.

What to do?

Much depends on the size of the human resources function, but here are some suggestions about increasing HR’s strategic contribution.

1. Stop using the phrase ‘HR Policies and Programs’.

There is really no such thing as an HR program or an HR policy. There are company programs and company policies that have been delegated to HR for administration. In a small way, this will move HR a little closer to the executive suite.

Some HR people are guilty of believing that the more programs they administer, the bigger their strategic contribution. It’s just not true

2. Review administrative responsibilities and tasks in the light of their strategic contributions.

Does HR always have to organize the company picnic? Could that responsibility be shared or rotated? If HR takes on all non-strategic activities that come its way, it’s allowing the spotlight to shine on transactions and compliance.

3. Staff the HR function with people who understand strategy.

Maybe the students I spoke with will have the knowledge to make HR strategic.

4. Don’t force strategy to compete with administration for management time and attention.

Here are the HR areas that are, or have the potential to be strategic.

1. Organizational development (onboarding, succession planning, mentoring, mission, vision, etc.).

2. The ‘development’ part of training and development.

3. Recruiting. Not replacing someone who’s left, but recruiting for a brand new position that’s been created to help execute the strategic plan.

4. Talent management. Identifying talent and developing it. Creating and sustaining engaging employment experiences for talent, so they’ll be less likely to be poached away. The days of formulating strategic plans with no thought to where the people to carry them out are going to come from are over.

Consider placing these functions in a separate department with its own leader. This is the person who plays the HR strategic role. If your HR function is too small for that, set priorities so as to reflect an emphasis on supporting the strategic plan with HR expertise.

To submit a question for a future column, or to comment on a previous one, please contact editor@charityvillage.com. No identifying information will appear in this column. For paid professional advice about an urgent or complex situation, contact Tim directly.

Tim Rutledge, Ph.D., is a veteran human resources consultant and publisher of Mattanie Press. You can contact him at tim_rutledge@sympatico.ca or visit www.gettingengaged.ca.

Disclaimer: Advice and recommendations are based on limited information provided and should be used as a guideline only. Neither the author nor CharityVillage.com make any warranty, express or implied, or assume any legal liability for accuracy, completeness, or usefulness of any information provided in whole or in part within this article.