Strategic Planning

Involving HR in the strategic planning process will provide The HR team with the information, and input, on the corporate mission and goals. This will allow the HRM team to assess the existing employees for the core requirements needed for meeting the goals. The assessment will provide information on training and development programs and will facilitate a targeted recruiting for staff able to support the direction of the organization (Lawler, 2012, August 15).

The Society for Human Resources Management (2015) explains a few of the benefits achieved when an organization is able to integrate human resources with strategic planning as:

Avoidance of expense and time associated with unplanned HR related events which interfere with achieving
organizational goals.
Supports proactive management of issues to avoid crisis and a detraction from company mission and goals.
Encourages the alignment of employee and organizational success leading to individual and corporate productivity
Enables a shared set of goals for both employees and the company which facilitates a positive environment and improved morale.
Maintains a focus on organizational goals and strategy.
Facilitates a high functioning training and development program.

Fried and Fottler (2011) share that the key steps in integrating HR and strategy are as follows;

Assess the company environment and mission.
Create a business strategy.
Determine the essential HR needs necessary to meet the business goals.
Assess the existing employees to determine current and future HR needs necessary to meet strategic plan.
Develop an HR plan to meet the current and future needs of the company
Ensure the organization creates an environment to support recruitment and retention of people who meet strategic goals.
An example of an organization which creates an environment which aligns mission and employment practices is Saint Jude's Children's Research Hospital. St. Jude is widely reported as a desirable place to work and has put considerable focus on creative ways to engage and communicate their mission and purpose to employees by creating positive interactions and programs for employees. A few key pillars of the organization's HR strategy are as follows:

Facilitate communication and teamwork. St. Jude believes keeping employees connected gives a sense of higher purpose and keeps them attached to their role and overall goals of the organization. One way they do this is by establishing designated work locations for employees to meet and collaborate on shared projects.
Listening to the employees about what they want at work. The organization believes staff will be more engaged and focused on mission if they feel heard and feel considered. St. Jude's has been able to do some things at low cost. For example, they have brought in popular food trucks to offer food the staff want to
purchase.
Encouraging employees to be more than just employees. St. Judes offers services on campus to allow staff to be focused with at home and at work. An example of this is they made accommodations for dry cleaning services and massage therapists on site.

In these small examples, we see an organization which is attempting to create a desirable place to work with the goal to create a place which allows both employees and customers to feel “valued, driven, and purposeful” (Morgan, 2017).

A second example of a healthcare organization working to integrate healthcare HR and strategy is Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center (MSK). On MSK's website, under “Why Choose MSK” they begin with their purpose: “At Memorial Sloan Kettering (MSK), we’re not only changing the way we treat cancer, but also the way the world thinks about it. By working together and pushing forward with innovation and discovery, we’re driving excellence and improving outcomes.”

The implication is clear that they are encourage employees to find solutions to problems which enables staff to be creative, take ownership and become invested in outcomes. They are also establishing a high sense of teamwork and purpose which creates a feeling of pride and engagement in mission. On the Glassdoor website, MSK writes that, when you join MSK, you becomes part of a “team with a purpose”. They further write about a desire to support employee growth and advancement and discuss that each role within MSK supports the mission.

The MSK employee benefit program appears to be designed to encourage education and growth as well as balancing work and life. This is evidenced by a generous tuition reimbursement program as well as a staff, management and leadership development program. In addition to professional development, MSK has the following programs to support employee's personal commitments and needs:

Backup Child Care (at childcare centers or in-home, including mildly ill children)
Backup Adult/Elder Care (in-home only)
Lactation Rooms
Life Care Resource & Referral Service
Nanny Resource Website
Adoption Reimbursement Program
Employee Assistance Program (short-term counseling and referrals)
Carpool Matching
Edu Profile (information about New York City schools )
Work/Life Seminars
Flexible Work Arrangements, including flextime, telecommuting, compressed work weeks, job shares or part-time work, may also be available if appropriate to your position.
Lastly, the desire to engage employees in the current and future mission of MSK appears to be so mission critical that MSK has developed an entire department dedicated to “paint a picture of the future of Memorial Solan Kettering.” The group is the Department of Strategy & Innovation which their website claims collaborates with leadership, clinicians, front-line staff, patients, and caregivers to shape decisions and innovate care delivery.

MSK's success in strategic HR is evidenced by being listed as one of the top 150 places to work in healthcare in 2017 and being named one of the top 50 places to work on Glassdoor for the last five years. Glassdoor is particularly important as it is primarily based on employee
reviews.