Application: After reading the case study about the organization HSS in the module included in this course for this week, do the following:

Write a memo to the CEO of HSS in which you justify HR’s role in drafting a strategic plan. The report should be written using language the CEO will understand and can relate. The document should be complete enough to convince the CEO of the importance of the HR function being part of the strategic plan at HSS.

It is important for you to locate and include academic sources (at least two) that support the content in the memo. You must show the reader that what you assert is accepted practice at other companies or organizations. 

Reference.

Human Resources Planning (See Content below)

Anderson (2013). 

4 Ways To Become A Strategic Business Partner (And Why You Should Want To)

Mohd (2011). 

The Changing Role and Functions of HR

Miller (2016). 

Yes, HR Professionals You Are Consultants

Miller (2014).  

Make HR a True Business Partner

Savage (2012). 

Human Resource Transformation: The Internal Consulting Role

Younger, Younger & Thompson (2011). 

HR: Building a Reputation as a Business Partner

Teena & Sanjay (2014). 

SHRM: Alignment of HR Function with Business Strategy

Heathfield (2019). 

10 Ways an HR Manager can Influence Business Strategy

Recommended Readings:

Lumen Learning (nd). 

The Changing Role of Strategic Human Resource Management

  Retrieved from 

https://courses.lumenlearning.com/principlesmanagement/chapter/16-2-the-changing-role-of-strategic-human-resource-management-in-principles-of-management/

Guide to Strategic Human Resource Planning” (2013) Retrieved from: 

http://www.workinfo.org/index.php/articles/item/699-a-guide-to-strategic-human-resource-planning

 (Using diagrams and narrative to  discuss HR planning)

Ulrich (2010). 

Are We There Yet?  What’s Next for HR?

Heathfield (2019). 

Build a Strategic Framework through Strategic Planning

Heathfield (2019). 

Develop a Successful Human Resources Department Business Plan

Module 1: Linking Human Resources Management to the Strategic

Plan

Your instructor may ask you to respond to one or more the case scenarios below. If your

instructor does not ask you to respond to these case scenarios, you can still respond on your

own to help you study for the course.

Human Solutions Software, Inc.

You have just received exciting news. You have been appointed to be the new human resources

manager for Human Solutions Software, Inc. (HSS).

Located in Maryland, HSS is a fairly new firm that started two years ago when several software

developers and business people got together to develop simplified software for organizations to

keep track of their human resource functions. Initially there were five part-time

employee/owners, but HSS soon secured several government contracts that had a cumulative

worth of over $10 million, and a number of corporate contracts also are pending. By the end of

the first year HSS had 35 employees and in the next year added another 30, plus several

individuals they contract with to do specific tasks during high-demand periods.

During these first two years, the human resource functions have been handled primarily by one

of the original founders, who has a degree in accounting and management. He has consulted at

times about human resource functions with a general-practice attorney whom the company

keeps on retainer to answer legal questions. Almost all of the company’s founders agree that the

company needs a human resource professional to manage their human resource functions.

About half of the company’s employees are computer professionals and about half are clerical,

management, and marketing people. The organization is run by the five founders and is

incorporated with those five comprising the board of directors. Although there is an officially

designated president, management decisions are usually made by consensus of the five

founders.

HSS has been projected to grow quickly in the next few years, with a total of 100 employees in

the next year and more than 200 employees in five years. These figures are not backed up by

anything concrete, however; they are merely guesses. Most of the founders are beginning to

realize that they need a strategic plan and a more formal decision-making structure. Hiring you

as the human resources manager is one of the first steps to a more formally organized company.

In-Depth Scenario 1

There is debate among the founders at HSS as to the role the new HR department should play in

decision-making and in strategic-plan development. The founder who has been taking care of

human resources functions says that HR needs only to keep track of pay and benefits, so there is

no need for HR to be involved in decisions about the future of HSS. Another of the founders says

she thinks that HR should play a big role in future planning for HSS and that HR should also be

providing support for training and motivation of employees as well as a way to evaluate

employees’ performance.

At the end of your first week at HSS, the founder who wants an expanded role for HR comes into
your office and closes the door behind her. She asks you to draft a memo justifying why HR

should be involved in the strategic-planning efforts and outlining the different roles HR can play

in the management of HSS. She also tells you about how the founder who managed HR in the

past fought against hiring you because he thought you were overqualified to manage the

“limited” HR needs of HSS.

Part 1

Write a report in which you justify HR’s role in drafting a strategic plan. The report should be

clear enough so people will read it, but complete enough to convince the founders of the

importance of a professional HR function being part of the strategic plan at HSS.

The founder who wants an expanded role for HR is concerned that the other founders might see

your report as self-serving, so she sees it as important for you to find and use other sources that

support what you say in the memo. You must show the founders that what you say is accepted

practice at other companies.

Part 2

The founder also wants you to make a presentation to the board based on the above report, so

you must prepare PowerPoint slides and any appropriate charts and graphs to support HR’s role

in strategic planning.