Developing a people vision

The vision should set, and describe, the objectives and other targets to be secured by the HR function. The vision should reflect both quantitative and qualitative considerations. For example, it is not sufficient to identify business growth as a business target and expect a simple transition into needs in terms of people.

The areas to be reviewed will include:

§ the skill mix required in the future, particularly if the growth is through the adoption of new technology moving to e-business from more traditional services;

§the extent to which non-core services might be outsourced, or managed through strategic relationships with other businesses;

§the countries in which people will be working;

§whether the current leadership style and management competencies will remain valid.

Review of these areas may challenge:

§the validity of the business plans – for example if it is unlikely that people will be ready to transfer to a new location or if the adoption of different technology will take some time; and/or

§the continuation of existing, or planned, HR initiatives – for example reducing the graduate management intake in one year when the vision demands more people being available in three year’s time.

We have developed a panel of questions to help organizations with the process of developing a people vision for the future (Figure 1). We do not expect organizations to have thought through all of the issues. However, HR Directors have found the questions useful in raising the debate about people and HR strategy at the Board level.