human resources business plan

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Management and Human Resources Business Plans

The management portion of your business plan, the hr portion of your business plan, frequently asked questions (faqs).

As a startup, it’s never easy to come up with a business plan, let alone the management and human resources sections of a business plan. Despite that, it’s important that you start your business plan for human resources as soon as possible. Doing so gives your management goals a plan that will guide you and keep your business on track as it grows. 

The key components of your human resources business plan should include your organizational structure, the philosophy and needs of your HR department, the number of employees you want to hire, how you plan to manage them, and all the estimated costs related with personnel.

You’ll want to start your HR business plan by outlining your own managerial experience and skills as well as those of your team. Highlight the roles of each member of your team, and any particular areas of strength or deficiency in your personnel lineup. For example, your HR team may be strong in compliance and conflict resolution but weak in hiring. 

Don't worry if you don’t have a complete team in place when you write your HR business plan. Simply use this section to outline the organizational structure along with job descriptions, how you plan to recruit key team members, and what their responsibilities will be.

This section should look like a pyramid with you at the top and will likely have lateral positions. Be as specific as possible when defining an employee's responsibilities because this is what will drive your business.

Do You Need an HR Manager?

If you’re a solo practitioner, you may not think of including an HR manager in your management business plan. However, if you expect to hire non-managerial employees (such as salespeople or clerical workers), you should consider recruiting a human resources manager.

If hiring a human resources manager can’t be done, consider a human resources consultant. Human resource management requires an immense amount of time and paperwork, and an experienced HR consultant will be able to quickly get your payroll and benefits program up and running, affording you more time to concentrate on growing the business. Human resource responsibilities should include:

• Handling FICA and unemployment taxes and paperwork
• Ensuring compliance with the Family and Medical Leave Act
• Staying on top of IRS filings

There are plenty of companies that offer HR management platforms tailored to each business's needs. Research these companies and be sure to include their estimated cost in your HR business plan.

When you develop the HR portion of your business plan, begin by including a brief overview of your HR strategy. Investors may be curious about how your payroll will be handled and the associated costs of administering it, as well as the type of corporate culture you plan to create. Specific items to highlight in the HR section include:

• Payscale: Show the salaries for managers and non-managers based on the market for those jobs.
• Vacation time: Describe your vacation-time policy. How much time do employees get? How quickly does it accrue? Vacation time is not required by law, but most firms offer vacation time to stay competitive and keep employees refreshed. 
• Insurance: Health insurance is a common staple benefit, although skyrocketing prices have forced many firms to cut back on this benefit. If you can’t afford a health plan, look into subsidizing one with employees paying the rest. Alternatively, inquire if a professional insurance representative can help you get a bulk rate.
• Additional benefits: Other things to consider include life insurance, a 401(k) and matching funds, bereavement leave, religious and floating holidays, and a bonus structure, if applicable.

In addition to the key elements above, it helps to have a framework from which to build your HR business plan. Here’s a basic outline that can help you get started: 

• Figure out what your human resources department would need. 
• Determine a strategy for recruiting talent.
• Formulate your hiring process. 
• Develop a training program for new employees. 
• Determine how much you want to pay your team (this is a good spot for payscale info)
• Create performance standards

It may be overwhelming to contemplate these benefits and their costs in the early stages of setting up your business, but in a competitive labor market, your firm needs to offer enough to entice qualified people and, more importantly, to keep them happy.

Consider revisiting your management and HR business plans every couple of years to see if you need to create action steps to refine your processes.

What should be in an HR business plan?

An HR business plan should include a mix of the steps you plan to take to launch an effective HR department, as well as specifics about how you plan to handle time off, insurance, and other benefits you plan to offer.

How do I write a human resources plan?

It helps to start with a simple framework. Try to break the plan down into sections: HR needs, recruitment, hiring, training, pay, and performance reviews. From there, incorporate other aspects of HR, like benefits and promotions.

U.S. Chamber of Commerce. " Does Your Small Business Need an HR Department? "

 University of Minnesota. “ Human Resources Management: 2.2 Writing the HRM Plan .”

Mecklenburg County, North Carolina. “ FY 2020-2022 Strategic Business Plan: Human Resources .”

HR Business Plan Template: Everything You Need to Know

With an HR business plan template, you can help your company recruit new employees, retain existing employees, and guide the development of the workforce. 4 min read updated on February 01, 2023

With an HR business plan template, you can help your company recruit new employees, retain existing employees, and guide the development of the workforce so that you collectively meet your business objectives, regardless of any changes in the industry or economy.

When creating your HR business plan, you need to perform a needs analysis of your workplace to tailor the plan to your company's requirements. You'll also need to learn about the industry standards for your field to make sure you're competitive.

Without such a plan in place, your workers will feel unprepared and won't know how to work towards your company's overall goals.

Steps for Developing a Human Resources Department Business Plan

There are several steps to creating an HR business plan. They include:

• Clarify the requirements . While you might be tempted to create a detailed plan that encompasses the entire company's next 10 years, hold off. Always talk with your boss to see how much detail he or she would like in the plan. This will save you time and help streamline the process. However, there's no harm in creating your own personalized strategic plan for your specific department.
• Read through the HR job descriptions . The HR department typically has employees such as HR assistants, HR generalists, and an HR director . Read through the job descriptions for each worker in the department and see what kind of duties are missing. Brainstorm additional functions that each job role could provide to the company.
• Curate your list . Take the different functions you've brainstormed and compare them to what each member of the HR department is already doing. Are there functions you could add or subtract from each employee for more productivity? You don't have to go into detail here, but just think about how you could improve each role.
• Schedule a meeting with the executives . Before you make any changes, you'll obviously need to get input and approval from the company's executives. They may have more feedback on how the HR department can provide additional services and support the company's overall goals and mission.
• Create a feedback form . Come up with a list of questions to ask leadership about HR's role in the company and provide it to them in advance of the meeting so they have time to think it over and talk with their staff. You may even want to provide a rating and ranking format for the questions, as this will make their responses easy to understand and implement. Overall, this is a key process to understanding what management and employees want and need from the HR department.
• Look at external resources . While the internal information you're collecting is the most important, it also doesn't hurt to take a look at data from professional organizations and websites, such as the Society for Human Resource Management , The Balance , or HR Magazine . You can also ask colleagues from other local organizations for tips on creating your business plan.
• Use this information to make a plan . With your ideas, feedback from executives, and tips from external resources, you should have a clear idea of what your plan should look like. The things that are missing from the HR department should now be clear, and this should guide you on what to focus on to improve HR's contribution to the company.
• Identify goals for this year and next . While your plan can have long-term goals, keep the majority of them a little bit shorter in scope to see how things work out. This gives you the chance to reorganize and restructure if things aren't going right. Consider creating a list of accomplishments you can reach for the end of this year and into the next.

A Real Life Example

If you're seeking more guidance on how to create a successful HR business plan, look to Starbucks as an example.

As the world's largest coffee chain, Starbucks had $21.3 billion in sales in 2016.

Despite these massive numbers, Starbucks maintains the same approach to their human resources department. All of the HR planning is guided by the company's organizational strategy and brand.

Their strategy is to use specific interview techniques when hiring new employees. This lets them identify potential leaders and place them in a "New Partner Orientation and Immersion" training program. With this system, Starbucks has achieved the lowest employee turnover rate in the quick-service restaurant industry.

Starbucks also offers numerous employee perks and dedicates a lot of time to employee training through an online portal that teaches employees essential job skills.

If you need help with your HR business plan template, you can post your legal need on UpCounsel's marketplace. UpCounsel accepts only the top 5 percent of lawyers to its site. Lawyers on UpCounsel come from law schools such as Harvard Law and Yale Law and average 14 years of legal experience, including work with or on behalf of companies like Google, Menlo Ventures, and Airbnb.

Hire the top business lawyers and save up to 60% on legal fees

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6 Steps to Create a Strategic HR Plan [With Templates]

By Jessie Strongitharm , Aug 25, 2022

The backbone of any successful business is the people and processes behind it — that’s why creating a human resources (HR) plan is key. This strategic document drives your business forward by evaluating where your workforce is at, and comparing it to future needs. 

Without an HR plan, organizations can suffer from issues that would have otherwise been avoided. From productivity pitfalls to costly employee turnover, there’s no shortage of risks you can sidestep if you do human resource planning in advance. 

Not sure where to start? No worries. I’ve outlined six steps you can take to create an effective HR plan that ensures your organization is well-staffed and well-served. You’ll also find a variety of  HR templates  that you can customize in just a few clicks — no design expertise required. 

Click to jump ahead:

What is human resource planning?

• Assess employees’ current skill levels
• Forecast your labor needs based on available information
• Revisit your organizational design
• Outline how you will manage, motivate and retain talent 
• Align your workforce planning with your budget 
• Establish KPIs for your human resource planning objectives

Human resource planning is the process of considering the current and future “people needs” of an organization.

This involves evaluating an organization’s workforce structure and protocols to ensure operational goals are met, productivity stays high and future demands for labor and talent can be fulfilled. 

The result of this process is the creation of an HR plan, which typically takes the form of a written document sometimes autogenerated using HR software . These documents tend to follow a similar structure to most  strategic business plans  and are created on an annual basis, by HR managers or company leaders.

Check out the template below for an example. 

This eye-catching, one-page  HR Strategic Plan Template  offers a concise summary of your human resource planning efforts, so you can easily share info with colleagues. 

Just swap out the text and visual assets for those of your choosing in  Venngage’s editor , and you’re off to the races. 

6 steps to create a strategic HR plan

Ready to create a strategic plan for the human resources that power your business? Here are six steps to help you succeed at the human resource planning process.

1. Assess current employees’ skill levels

The first step to creating a future-forward HR plan is to assess employees’ current skill sets, and compare them to your operational needs moving forward. This will help you identify gaps and inform any hiring of new employees.

Employees’ skill levels can be assessed by reviewing their work history, hard and soft skills and professional growth over time. 

Using a matrix is a great way to understand where the skill gaps in your current workforce exist. Below is an example that describes the skills needed for different marketing roles. 

Don’t need it for marketing specifically? No worries — you can fully customize this template by swapping in your own text to examine any human resource gaps. 

Another way to assess skills is by giving employees a questionnaire they can fill out. This  Employee Competency Assessment Template  does just that.

Based on the information collected, you’ll get a sense of what positions best suit each individual, and whether any upskilling or hiring is required. 

2. Forecast your labor needs based on available information

Next in your strategic strategic HR management plan, you’ll want to consider the future. This involves accounting for any upcoming changes to your workforce, so operations can continue without error.

When forecasting labor needs, the following should be considered: 

• Planned promotions
• Upcoming retirements 
• Layoffs 
• Personnel transfers 
• Extended leaves of absence (i.e. maternity/paternity leave) 

Beyond those, it’s a good idea to assess the impact of external conditions on your labor needs during your human resource planning. For example, new technological developments may decrease the amount of employees you require to operate your business. 

3. Revisit your organizational design

Organizational design is the process of structuring the way a business operates so it can best achieve its goals. This is hugely important when it comes to your human resource planning process! 

With a clear understanding of your organization’s strategic objectives in mind, reviewing your organizational design allows you to understand the staffing requirements you’ll need to succeed at them. This means taking into account your  organizational structure  and chains of command, as well as how work gets done and the way information flows.

 From there, you’ll be able to see which departments need more team members so it can accomplish the organization’s objectives. 

An easy way to get started is by using an organizational flow chart. 

With its color coding and layout, even a new manager can quickly look at this chart to identify the people responsible for leading teams and making decisions. 

And if there are any changes, it’s easy to to reflect them in the chart itself. All you need to do is customize the text and visual assets in  Venngage’s Chart Maker  as desired. 

Not quite your style? There’s plenty of other  organizational chart templates  to choose from. 

Here’s an organizational chart that’s perfect for small businesses that have limited employees. One quick look, and you’re good to go. 

The bottom line is, no matter how big or small your business may be, you should always revisit your organizational design to optimize your workforce management and business operations. 

Related:  Types of Organizational Structure [+ Visualization Tips]

4. Outline how you will manage, motivate and retain talent 

In this day and age, it’s a known fact that companies must provide more than just a paycheque to attract and retain talent, and encourage growth. 

It’s true —  studies have shown  employees are more engaged in their work when they feel it is meaningful, fulfilling and slightly challenging. So your human resource plan should consider how to inspire such feelings, and what actions you can take to motivate employees to stay. (Hint: a strong HR training and development program is key.)  

The  talent management infographic template  below is a great way to begin. 

Using this  process chart , you can detail the steps you’ll take to retain the talent you have. Reference it as needed in your human resource planning.

 Another great way to keep staff motivated and geared towards their professional growth is by coming up with  ideas for employee development . Facilitating a company culture that champions continuous learning guarantees your team will feel supported and challenged in all the right ways.

The two employee development plan templates below will help you do just that. 

Though both templates are geared towards healthcare organizations, it’s easy to customize their content in Venngage to promote the continuous learning and development of employees in any industry.

 As a result, your employees will be able to reach their full potential, while simultaneously supporting the long-term goals of your organization. 

Related:  6 Employee Development Ideas for Efficient Training

5. Align your workforce planning with your budget 

 Let’s face it, human resources ain’t cheap.

 Meaning, if you struggle at organizing and monitoring your HR budget, you’re bound to overspend on your initiatives —and no financially savvy business wants that. 

That’s why I recommend including financial information in your HR planning process, so you can reference your budget and expenses as needed. This ensures you’ll be able to stay within range as you work towards achieving your strategic goals for human capital . 

Plus, you don’t need to use one that contains walls of text and wack-loads numbers. Check out the clean and cheery option below — it’s as easy to fill out as it is to understand. 

And if you’re looking to compare a forecasted budget to previous annual spending when strategizing your HR budget, the  Budget Comparison Infographic Template  below will help. 

The bar graph is a great  data visualization  of annual expenses, organized by category. Just add (or import) any values to Venngage’s editor, swap out the text, and you’re ready to compare with ease. 

Related:  10+ Expense Report Templates You Can Edit Easily

6. Establish KPIs for your human resource planning objectives

Measurable results are important when it comes to your HR planning processes, because they indicate whether your strategy is working or not. 

Keeping those metrics in mind, your company can make adjustments and improve upon any future plans — AKA strategize for future success in business. That’s why your human resource plan should include info re: the specific key performance indicators (KPI) you’ll be measuring. 

KPIs are established to help determine if HR strategies and plans are working. Much like those used for evaluating the performance of  marketing  or  sales plan , KPIs for human resources are measurable results that indicate an organization’s success at achieving predetermined goals.

These may take the form of headcounts, turnover rates, demographic information, time to hire and employee satisfaction scores. 

Here’s one employee satisfaction survey you can use to understand your workforce better. 

When you’re ready to organize those HR KPIs in a document, the  recruiting template  below is perfect for keeping tabs at a glance. 

Related:  10+ Customizable HR Report Templates & Examples

How do I make an HR plan? 

After you’ve collected the data you need, you’ll want to convey this info in an engaging, professional manner for easy referencing and sharing amongst colleagues. Given this, using Venngage is the best route to go. 

Here are the simple steps to help you bring an actionable HR plan to life: 

• Outline the information you would like to include in your strategic hr plan
• Pick the human resource planning templates that best suits your needs 
• Customize the templates’ text and visual assets so they speak to your organization 
• Apply your company’s brand guidelines with a few clicks using Venngage’s automated branding feature,  My Brand Kit
• Download and share as desired

Note: sharing is available free-of-charge. However, the option to download your creations and access features like  My Brand Kit and Team Collaboration  are available with a  Business plan . 

FAQ about HR plans

How long should an hr plan be .

There are no hard and fast rules when it comes to the length of an HR plan. That being said, if you’re going to share it with colleagues, you probably don’t want to create a 20+ page document. One to five pages should suffice. 

Try to be as concise as possible when relaying the facts, and use  data visualizations  wherever possible to save room.

Do I need an HR contingency plan?

In the same way creating an HR plan is a proactive move that helps your organization account for future needs, it’s a good idea to devise an HR contingency plan. This ensures there’s a back-up plan in place should your initiatives not go as expected. 

For example, if you’ve identified that you need five new hires to keep up with consumer demand, but the talent pool is lacking, a contingency plan could house suggestions for restructuring your workforce to mitigate this. 

In other words, it’s best-practice to hope for the best, but prepare for the worst. 

Is an HR plan different from an employee development plan?

Yes. While an HR plan is a strategic document describing how an organization addresses its personnel-related needs at a high-level, an  employee development plan  outlines the processes needed to help an individual achieve their professional goals.

 Even though the human resource planning process may involve outlining some employee development tactics, it is not unique to each employee as in the case of an employee development plan.

Make your HR planning processes effortless 

You don’t need a crystal ball to feel confident about your people moving forward. With a solid HR plan and strategy in place, you’ll prime your workforce — and all business endeavors — to succeed in even the most competitive of markets. 

Just remember this: human resources planning, and creating strategic business plans in general, doesn’t have to be exhausting. 

With Venngage’s huge selection of  professionally-designed templates  and easy-to-use editor, all it takes is a few minutes to produce a polished document perfect for all your needs.  Sign up for free today ! 

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HR Business Plan: What Is It And What Are Its Steps?

Every company that has an HR department needs an HR business plan. Without it, you will have inconsistencies when you deal with your employees.

Human resources manage the relationship between your company and its employees. Due to this, it is only natural for human resources to have their own plan of approach to their tasks.

Key Takeaways:

An HR business plan is the strategic approach of the human resources department.

The HR business plan should clarify responsibilities, organize its processes, and create performance standards in which to gauge its success.

First assess the current HR situation, then establish goals and strategies to enact those goals for the HR department.

Make sure your HR strategies comply with legal requirements.

What Is A HR Business Plan?

An HR business plan is a strategic approach your human resource department will follow to accomplish its goals.

Like all business plans, an HR business plan needs to define its objectives, organize systems of measured success, and incorporate a flexible framework. A robust plan can adapt to new scenarios and still focus on its long-term aims.

Though this will vary by company, in general, every HR business plan will want to:

Clarify roles and responsibilities. Focus on the roles and responsibilities of the department and its members. You want to understand the job descriptions of each member of the human resource department. Then decide what the overall purpose of the department is and connect it back to each member. Be aware of any conflicting or contradictory agendas and seek to streamline.

Design and organize processes. Human resources helps hire, train, onboard, and terminate staff. There should be well-detailed plans for each process that keeps the human resources department prepared for any scenario.

Address compensation and benefits. Human resources manages the implementation of benefits and compensation. Therefore, the department’s plan must discuss how this will be handled.

Comply with legal requirements. The human resource department needs to be well-versed in the legal requirements and protections of the employees. The plan should provide a clear compliance with the law.

Create performance standards. A business plan is useless unless it can be evaluated against measures of success. It helps to provide metrics with results to be more objective in analysis.

Tie in to overall business plan. The HR business plan needs to complement the overarching business plan of the company. Avoid any policies or procedures that conflict with the overall business plan.

A human resource business plan will develop these points into a coherent strategy.

Steps To Develop A HR Business Plan

Assess current human resource situation. Before a plan is made, the human resources department and the company executives need to know what they have already. Your company should evaluate the roles and responsibilities of its human resource staff. You will want to see if anything is missing or if there is anything that is expendable.

Establish goals for human resource department. Now that you know what you’re working with, it is time now to think about what you want the human resource department to accomplish. Use the roles and responsibilities you just clarified to arrange practical benchmarks you want the department to make. Make sure goals do not interfere with one another but build toward an overall objective.

Create strategies to enact goals. Once you have your goals in place, it is time to build strategies to accomplish those goals. These strategies should work in tandem, so make sure each one has a logical progression. Like the goals, you do not want your strategies to interfere with one another but instead build towards an overall objective.

Evaluate business plan. Once you enact the plan, you need to make sure you accomplish your goals. Have a feedback system put in place where you can measure the success and failures of your plan. Come up with contingency plans in case your initial plans need to be re-evaluated.

Why Have A Human Resource Business Plan

An HR business plan is needed to establish long-term success with your employees.

Your plan gives focuses on the roles and responsibilities of the department. Human resources play a critical role in the hiring, training, and retention of staff. A business plan will clarify these procedures.

A HR business plan also provides consistency in the implementation of benefits and managing the welfare of the employees.

The human resource business plan empowers the department to perform at its best. In turn, it will help employees be equipped and compensated to perform at their best.

Without a HR business plan, your company is at risk conflicted and contradictory procedures that impede growth and success.

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Conor McMahon is a writer for Zippia, with previous experience in the nonprofit, customer service, and technical support industries. He has a degree in Music Industry from Northeastern University and in his free time he plays guitar with his friends. Conor enjoys creative writing between his work doing professional content creation and technical documentation.

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The HR Strategic Plan to Take Your Business to the Next Level

Chances are the past couple of years have meant major changes for your business. That’s why it’s more important than ever to take stock of your business’s changing needs and rethink how HR can contribute to the big picture. The best way to plan for the future? An HR strategic plan.

An HR strategic plan and an Annual HR plan both help you identify your organization’s long-term goals and then chart a path for achieving them . By definition, a good plan will strategically drive intentional decision-making, up employee engagement, and avoid wasted resources.

In this post, we’ll walk you through how to write an HR strategic plan of your own and even give you an  HR strategic plan template to help you get started. Who knows what 2024 may bring— we’ll make sure your HR strategic plan for 2024 covers everything.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Benefits of an HR Strategic Plan Template for HR Strategic Plan Considerations When Designing an HR Strategic Plan How to Implement an HR Strategic Plan Boost your HR strategy with software ✅

Benefits of an HR Strategic Plan

Your HR team is nothing to sneeze at! They’ve done a great job supporting employees at every turn, from recruitment to the exit interview. So, why do you need an HR strategic plan?

A plan can help evaluate current HR and company policies and procedures to see if goals are aligned. Understanding where you are will help you understand where you need to go. This information means you can set specific goals to help your business reach new heights. And a good HR plan will set milestones to let you know you’re on the way.

The HR strategic planning process helps build team cohesion. Your HR staff will be primed to act in accordance with company goals even in situations that aren’t clearly outlined in the plan. Strong HR is vital to the success of any business. A strategic plan keeps everything shipshape and makes sure employees are supported, engaged, and productive.

Template for HR Strategic Plan

You get it; a plan is important. Now, how do you put one together?

There are four steps in our HR strategic plan template which can guide you as you create your own plan. We’ll include some strategic plan examples to show the types of goals to include.

Determine Guiding Principles

The first step is to determine your organization’s values or guiding principles. Ask yourself what is important to the business and be sure to consider the company’s mission statement and employee handbook . That is to say, what values does the HR department work to incorporate or reinforce? During this first step, don’t think about the plan. Just concentrate on what makes your organization great, different, or successful.

Values might include diversity, teamwork, respect, communication, integrity, innovation, leadership, transparency, employee well-being , or work-life balance. If you feel so moved, you can expand on these values with a sentence or two. Make sure to include the whole HR team in this process! It’s sure to be an interesting conversation starter.

Decide on Focus Areas for your HR Strategy

Next, use the guiding principles to zero in on where your organization needs to step up its game. For example, if you listed “diversity” as a guiding principle in the first section, in the second section you may want to list “recruitment” as a key focus area.

It may be time for a little SWOT analysis . SWOT stands for Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats. Think about where your company shines and where it is falling short of the values you listed in the previous section.

Forecast how HR Requirements may change in the year ahead and take a look into change management practices. If your business is growing, focus on building employee engagement to make sure no one feels lost in the fray. If your business is tightening its belt (2020-21 have been tough!), concentrate on talent management to help employees make the most of available resources.

Be creative here! This part of the plan is for thinking big. You can adjust always adjust your goals later.

Set Concrete, Strategic HR Goals

Here is where we get into the nitty-gritty. Guiding principles? Check. Focus areas? Check. You know where you need to go. How will you get there? In this part of the plan, you need to set key objectives. For example, if you listed “diversity” as a core value in section one and “recruitment” as a focus area in section two, now it is time to think about how you can your HR team can build a diverse workforce through recruitment.

How do you reach a more diverse pool of applicants? Perhaps HR can launch a social media campaign or adjust company branding to tap into new demographics. Maybe they can promote alternative work plans, such as fellowships, internships, or flexible work schedules . Some of these questions may take time and research to answer. It can be a part of the HR strategic plan to “create a plan.”

Remember that the goals in your HR strategic plan need to be measurable. How else will you know that you’ve succeeded? For inspiration, you can check out successful HR strategies examples. For example, in 2015, Twitter publicly established “credible and achievable” goals . They wanted to increase the number of women and underrepresented minorities in tech jobs and leadership goals by about 1%. Think about what numbers make sense for your organization.

Communicate your HR Strategic Plan

Considerations When Designing an HR Strategic Plan

Some questions may arise while developing the plan but we are here to help you through them.

Is a strategic plan the same as a business plan; if not, how does it differ?

Business plans are very important for uniting workers toward a common goal when an organization is just getting started. An HR department business plan provides a structure for ideas in order to initially define the business. A strategic plan, however, is used to provide focus, direction, and actionable steps in order to move the organization forward. Use strategic plans in order to unite the major objectives the organization hopes to achieve with the steps it actions it will take to achieve them.

What are some HR Strategic Plan Examples?

Each organization’s HR strategic plan should be specifically tailored to the goals and needs of that business. Although no two plans should look alike, there are some general standards to keep in mind.  Consider statistics like the HR management to HR employee ratio while developing strategic hiring goals. With that said, different industries will have different priorities when it comes to setting goals.

For example, the finance industry regularly undergoes massive transformations as new technologies (“fintech”) reshape the field. An HR team in this sector will need to be agile, ready to manage organizational development or re-train employees to meet the demands of an ever-changing industry.

For retail businesses that see a lot of turnover, HR teams may want to focus on the recruitment of quality candidates. Improving training for new employees and offering strong talent management will ensure the knowledgeable and hard-working employees stick around.

How to Implement an HR Strategic Plan

The key to implementing an HR Strategic plan is communication! Make sure your HR staff gets a say in determining values, priorities, and goals for the coming year. Then, regularly check in to see how things are going. Be sure to set milestones for the coming year so that you can track progress.

If you follow our HR strategic plan template, your HR department will be in an ideal position to support your business in 2024, whatever arises. Though your 2024 HR strategic plan won’t cover all the situations which might arise, it will help your department to better understand and internalize compy goals.

Develop your HR Strategic Plan with the help of real-time people analytics data.

Written by: Valerie Slaughter

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Hi Harsha, I hope some of the rest of our posts on employee engagement can help- https://factorialhr.com/blog/nurturing-employee-experience/

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Use Human Resources Planning to Forecast for (Less) Risky Business

By Becky Simon | October 18, 2017 (updated July 21, 2021)

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No organization can afford the risk of a critical skills shortage. Human resource planning (HRP) helps to ensure that you have the right people on your team - those with the skills to compete, innovate, or grow your company.

How do you anticipate workforce needs in a business environment where the rate of change is increasing while the number of people with the right skills is shrinking? The answer is human resource planning. In this article, five experts share their perspectives on what’s needed to operate comfortably in rapidly changing times. While human resources (HR) forecasting isn’t an exact science, you’ll find ideas and processes, examples, and templates that you can use to forecast more confidently, manage operations, and take control to increase current and future profitability.

What Is the Meaning of Human Resource Planning?

Human resource planning, also known as workforce planning , helps organizations recruit, retain, and optimize the deployment of people needed to meet strategic business objectives and to respond to changes in the external environment. In order to proactively avoid talent shortages or surpluses and achieve a balance of talent based on need, effective human resource planning is an ongoing, systematic process.

Darrin Murriner is the author of Corporate Bravery , a field guide to eliminating fear-based decisions, and the Co-founder of Cloverleaf.me , a technology platform that helps business leaders and managers build thriving teams.

He says, “Human resource planning and organizational strategy connect at the hip. You can't deliver business strategy without making sure you have the right human capital you need in the right places for the task at hand.”

Smart companies get the human capital part right by implementing a tactical human resource plan that connects directly to organizational and human resource strategies.

Starbucks: Serving Up Human Resources Planning Derived from Mission and Strategy

Starbucks, the world’s largest coffee chain, recorded $21.3 billion in sales for 2016, ranking it at 131 on the 2017 Fortune 500. The company projects that it will reach $35 billion in sales by 2021 by opening 12,000 stores over the next five years , the majority of them in China. How do you plan human resources with such a massive growth goal? For Starbucks, their approach remains the same no matter where stores are located. Their human resource planning flows from its organizational strategy and its brand. People are Starbucks’ primary resource, as their mission clearly states: "Our mission: to inspire and nurture the human spirit – one person, one cup, and one neighborhood at a time." 

An important aspect of Starbucks’ human resource planning is its selection process, which uses specific interview techniques to determine if potential employees are ‘on brand’ and evaluate their skill sets. The company identifies capable company leaders and hires them using a program called "New Partner Orientation and Immersion." This human resources planning approach has led to the lowest employee turnover rate among quick-service restaurants. While most quick-serve restaurants range between 150 to 400 percent turnover, Starbucks’ rate is 65 percent . The company is always on the lookout for new employee perks and focuses energy on employee training, which includes an elaborate online portal that offers an instruction program imparting the necessary job knowledge.

The Difference Between Strategic Human Resources Planning and Human Resources Planning

“The war for talent around the world continues to grow.” says Matthew Burr, Moderator of the Upstate HR Podcast and Principal at Burr Consulting, LLC , a human resource consulting firm focused on small and medium organizations. To win the human capital competition, companies should use a strategic human resource plan as a roadmap to achieve three- to five-year goals. Strategic plans influence the development of tactical resource planning (Starbucks being a prime example). For example, a human resources strategic plan may include long-term aims to recruit and retain an excellent staff with a high-level of technical expertise. The tactical plan would include detailed action plans with completion due dates. For the strategic recruitment goals, the tactical program might consist of short-term goals, such as benchmarking salaries via survey data, or creating a social media campaign to identify and recruit technical professionals. The plan may also target filling IT positions through international recruiting.   

Both strategic and tactical human resource plans support the overall organizational strategy. To learn more about strategic human resources management, read Welcome to the HR Revolution: Strategic Human Resources Management .

Why Is It Important to Plan Human Resources?

Our world is increasingly one of swift technological change, constant product innovation, economic globalization, and generational and cultural shifts. Correspondingly, the life cycles of business designs and products are shortening. Companies must adapt. More than physical or financial capital, human capital efficiently adapts to this new reality. Simultaneously, human capital is at most significant risk of depreciation or obsolescence within a business — and that’s a risk that organizations can’t afford if they’re going to survive and thrive. In fact, only 12% of firms that were on the Fortune 500 list in 1955 remain on the list in 2016.

​“Talented people will always have options; Knowing succession plans, training, leadership development will be a tremendous asset to a growing firm,” adds Burr. “HR planning is critical to organizational strategy: We need subject matter experts and leaders to drive the strategy forward in evolving industries. HR planning plays a significant part in supporting strategy, as human resources are the biggest investment for any organization. Evolving laws and regulations also impact strategy internationally.  Staffing levels, recruitment and retention programs support scalability of any firm or organization.” 

Handrick says it’s all about planning for future growth. “Small businesses that are planning to open a physical or second location also need to think through their HR strategy. Most small businesses begin as sole proprietorships. They need to know when it makes sense to bring on staff, where that staff will work, their compensation, and how to offer benefits, perhaps by partnering with a professional employer organization (PEO).” 

• Improving Company Operations: Human capital management and resource planning is a driver for improved company operations and value creation. In July 2017, a group of institutional investors petitioned the Securities and Exchange Commission to disclose policies, practices, and performance of public companies’ human resources management . The petition signifies a move to use workforce analytics to measure the value of an organization’s most valuable asset in a knowledge-based economy .

“You need to work systemically,” says Adler. “Part of the operating plan has to be a workforce plan. HR has to make sure they have a place at the strategy and decision-making table. In my experience, I’ve seen that HR usually doesn’t get involved until it’s late. In this environment, you need to be moving at the speed of light and not the speed of sound.”

• The Talent Shortage and Demographic Change: In its 2016/2017 Talent Shortage Survey , the ManpowerGroup reported the highest worldwide talent shortage since 2007. Forty percent of employers are having difficulty filling positions, up from 38 percent in 2015. The Harvard Business Review article, Employers Aren’t Just Whining - the “Skills Gap” Is Real , states that “New technologies frequently require specific new skills that schools don’t teach and that labor markets don’t supply.”  At the same time, there’s a demographic change. In most developed economies, the ‘silver tsunami’ - the group of aging individuals that results from ebbing birth rates and graying baby boomers - is surging. The percentage of the U.S. workforce between the ages of 55 and 64 is growing faster than any other age group.
• Technological Change and The New Generation: Millennials now make up more than 50 percent of the current workforce — and will be 75 percent of the global workforce by 2020 . Human resources need to ride this rising tide and learn to welcome technological advancements to meet talent’s expectations and business requirements. Talent and workplace analytics will become customary, and organizations using the data will be far more competitive.
• Organizational Change: With technology driving change everywhere, organizations need to be nimble and often make significant changes in the way they do business. They also need to make changes with care. Research shows that change initiatives are more likely to fail because of poor communication, employee resistance, and failure to adequately prepare. Human resources are an integral part of change management , which is a systematic approach that applies tools, knowledge, and resources to deal with business transformation. The primary goal of change management is to successfully implement new processes, products, and business strategies while minimizing adverse outcomes. Effective change management includes and also goes beyond project management and involves leading the "people side" of the change equation. 
• Government/Legislative Changes: Each state has regulations that affect everything from employee criminal records checks, labor relations, records retention, and mileage reimbursements. Additional federal laws impact human resource management, too. Consequently, human resource professionals need to be conversant in dynamic employment law to minimize company liability. Not being on top of legislation can pose a significant risk to companies and expose them to expensive lawsuits or damage their brand, which can also be off-putting for potential hires.

Seven Steps to Human Resource Planning

There are seven different steps in the human resource planning process, but the pivot point is forecasting demand. That means that today’s human resources professionals need to have a well-rounded picture of their own company and a grasp of multiple factors to put together a plan. “Understanding the three- to five-year business strategy provides what HR must have to forecast workforce needs within the firm,” says Burr. “But there’s also a need to understand the global economy and potential growth options, laws, and regulations to add value to any HR strategy and forecast.”  

The seven steps to creating a human resource plan provide a roadmap for companies, but one size does not fit all. The amount of detail and which factors to include are different for every organization. Startup sole proprietorships working in a single geographic area will need to create an entirely different plan than a multinational enterprise. 

Step One: Analyze Organizational Objectives

Aligning HR practices to strategic objectives is fundamental to an effective human resources plan. In a perfect world, human resources management works hand in hand with other top managers so there is a clear understanding of ultimate goals, and then they focus on the human capital needed to meet them. It’s vital that the human resources plan encompasses every part of the company from product development to sales and expansion plans. 

HR Strategic Plan Template

If your company hasn’t written a strategic human resource plan, this template will help you get started. Modify the template to suit your specific needs or to focus on target areas such as benefits or retirement. Stakeholders will appreciate the basic design when they want to review important aspects of your plan.

‌ ‌Download HR Strategic Plan Template

Need more strategic planning templates to clarify goals for your organization? You can find more free strategic planning templates here . 

Step Two: Inventory Current Human Resources

If you have one, use the updated human resource information storage (HRIS) sys­tem to analyze the number of people you currently employ, along with their skills, perfor­mance, and potential. Once you determine which jobs need to be filled based on your forecast, you can then decide whether you have enough internal candidates to fill the job requirements or if you need to go to external sources or strategies to add staff. 

Employee Evaluation Template

If you don’t have an HRIS system, you can use this performance evaluation template for performance reviews and as a first step in referencing your current human resource inventory.  Adapt this easy-to-use form to gain a better understanding of the duties for each position by identifying gaps in performance and staffing when you review information in the aggregate. This template documents performance against set goals, employee evaluation, and professional development plans for the upcoming year.

Download Employee Evaluation Excel Template

Excel | Smartsheet

Step Three: Forecast Demand

Forecasting human resource demand involves estimating the number of future employees of the right quality and quantity, with a view to the company’s strategic plan over a given period of time. Forecasting demand is the most crucial part of human resource planning and the most daunting. It’s challenging for many reasons, and even more so because there are no absolute answers on how to accomplish it. 

There are two categories of forecasting methods: quantitative and qualitative. You can use both methods to track the work performance of the workforce as a whole, individuals, or business units. Qualitative reports contain anecdotal observations, while quantitative data is statistical or more data-driven. Select the methods that make the most sense in your environment. For example, in a non-manufacturing company, the work-study method which calculates the necessary working hours to produce units may not make sense. By gathering both quantitative and qualitative information, you can identify issues that are impacting your business's productivity, and then develop a well-rounded forecast to increase the company's efficiency, ensure you’re not over or understaffed, and understand future needs.

SWOT Matrix Template

The classic SWOT layout provides a clear view of your compiled findings as they relate to your human resources plan. The template also includes a column for rating the importance of each item by category so you can have a clear understanding of how the analysis elements compare and which will need the most attention. You can add Excel worksheets to hold supporting data and clarify the basis of your findings. 

Download Basic SWOT Matrix Template

If you’re looking for different formats in Excel, PowerPoint, or Word, you can find free SWOT templates here . 

Step Four: Estimate Gaps

With your forecast completed, you’ll have an understanding of future needs and if you will need to fill them with external workers hired full-time, part-time, or as contractors. If you have the right number of employees that don’t have the right skills, you can use training and development to upgrade employee skills to fill the gaps, or you may need to deploy workers in another role.

Employee Training Plan Template

Training is relevant for both employee success and team member retention. Though training takes time and effort, it's essential to have a plan in place to ensure a productive ramp-up period for new employees or existing employees who are learning the tasks and responsibilities of a new role. With this adaptable employee training schedule template, you can create training activities lists, add details about which team members need help to complete each task, track status, and provide a way for the manager and employee to enter feedback.  

Download Employee Training Template

Transition Plan Template

Moving team members to fill different roles can be the ideal solution to filling workforce gaps. When making these changes, ensure that you maintain the information and knowledge the employee had in the initial role. An employee transition plan keeps the information accessible and easy to share. You can also use this transition plan template to assist the person previously in the role train any new team members. Input every aspect of the role that will be useful in the present and future.

Download Transition Plan Excel Template

Step Five: Formulate the Human Resource Action Plan

The human resource plan relies on identifying deficits or surplus in the company. You’ll need to determine if you need to begin recruiting or training, transition, or develop voluntary retirement processes and redeployment in case of a surplus. Include priorities and critical planning issues in your plan.

Action Plan Template

This action plan template provides sections for goals, but you can add more sections to customize it to complete your human resources plan. Goals are translated into actionable steps that you can track to check progress. Assign start and end dates for each action, and take notes about each part of the plan. 

Download Action Plan Template

Word  | Smartsheet

Step Six: Integrating/Implementing the Plan

This is the most challenging aspect of any human resources plan. The organization often invests time and money on plans that are shelved and not utilized. Company executives need to grant buy-in, embrace the plan, and bring the organization on board. Overcome any potential employee resistance to the process by rolling in one aspect of the plan at a time to help employees acclimate to changes.    Staffing or Recruiting Plan Recruitment is one of the top responsibilities of any human resources team. Searching for, vetting, and finding the right talent to join your team are all crucial steps to ensure the success of your organization. Having a staffing plan in place makes your team aware of the available recruitment sources, hiring goals, and budget. Use this staffing plan to organize all staffing details with columns for budgets, hiring goals, status, and comments. 

‌ ‌Download Staffing Plan Excel Template

Candidate Screening Tracker

If you don’t have an automated system, you can track and manage applicants’ cover letters,  resumes, applications, and details about job openings. Tracking this information can be a lot of work depending on the size of the company and current hiring plan. Use this candidate tracker template to organize candidate documentation and details, and ensure that you provide a positive experience for candidates and people involved in the interview process. Track candidate contact information, phone interview questions and answers, status, comments, next steps, and more using this template.

Download Candidate Tracker Excel Template

Onboarding Plan Template

Onboarding ensures proper training and enculturation for new team members, and is also a powerful retention tool for any organization. Develop your own onboarding plan by using this template to plan activities at each stage of the process. Since a full year of onboarding is a best human resources practice, this spreadsheet shows tasks assigned to individual contacts over a twelve-month period. Add or remove columns to create a comprehensive onboarding plan.

Download Onboarding Plan Template

For more best practice information and free templates to support your human resources planning, read Top Excel Templates for Human Resources . 

Step Seven: Monitoring, Control, and Feedback

Strictly monitoring progress helps identify sticking points in your plan and helps you avoid making changes too quickly. It’s essential to compare actions to how the plan is being implemented to ensure fidelity. The human resource plan is an evergreen document that takes changing circumstances into account. Ongoing measurement, reporting, and continuous improvement efforts will keep the company moving towards its stated strategic goals. 

Project Management Dashboard Template

Monitoring all the changes you need to while executing a complicated human resources plan can be time consuming. With this customizable project management dashboard, you can compile every aspect of the process, share status information with management and other team members, and view the big picture at a glance.

‌ Download Excel Project Management Dashboard

Forecasting Is an Ongoing Process

“HRP plans should be reviewed annually, just after the business completes its strategic planning and forecasting for the year,” says Handrick. “For example, if the business plans to open an additional manufacturing location, or offer additional services requiring tech skills not currently in place, then HR will come along and provide estimates as to how many FTEs, what roles, and what kind of skills will be needed. HRP helps with the budgeting for the next fiscal year, and once approved can get to work filling those roles. In a fast-moving environment, HRP may need to be updated with every major change. For example, let's say your organization is project based and you just won a huge contract. Right away your HRP team will need to work with project managers to estimate staffing needs, whether temp or permanent, contract or hire.”

Human Resource Planning Round-Up: Best Practices and Expert Insights

Our experts share their thoughts on some additional issues to keep in mind as you develop your own plan:

• The Importance of Policy Planning: Company policy supports your human resources plan. Policies such as employment classification, benefits, compensation, performance, and improvement are designed to target not only the selection, training, and support of team members, but also to provide guidelines for conduct in and out of the work environment and many other aspects of employment.
• Social Media as Friend and Foe: Social media sites like LinkedIn and Twitter can be powerful recruiting platforms and a friendly, fun way to communicate with team members. However, they can also potentially be an issue when disgruntled employees or competitors get into negative commentary. It’s important to be alert to your company’s social media profile and to take corrective action when the buzz may not be favorable to your goals. 

Sharon Margules, MA, CPC, ACC and CEO of Margules Leadership Consulting says, “The ability of a business to achieve its strategy is largely based on the talent it has to execute. While market and competitive forces can significantly impact the capacity of an organization’s pursuit of its strategy, the explicit capabilities of those doing the work will determine if the result is a success or failure.”

• The “New” Human Resources Professional: “Ultimately, a good HR person is a good business person,” says Adler. “The best HR professionals are system and integration project managers who understand deadlines and highly complex projects. A great candidate has business experience in something other than HR. In my consulting work, I’ve told CEOs that they should look for HR managers with a business background. I think it’s an important consideration, particularly for large firms.”
• More About Markov Predictive Analysis Modeling: One of the most difficult analyses to execute and potentially one of the most valuable tools in forecasting is the Markov model. It’s not a quick fix, but for most mid-to-large companies, it’s worth the time investment to learn how to execute it. For a detailed explanation, read A Markov Model for Human Resources Supply Forecast Dividing the HR System into Subgroups . 
• Leadership and Succession Planning: “HR plays a critical role in enabling leadership, in mature or scaling organizations, to anticipate and understand the talent capabilities that will be necessary to meet their strategic objectives,” says Margules. She lists four items: 
• HR should have a seat at the table when the strategy is being conceived to align on what capabilities are needed, and by when, to realize the strategy.
• HR needs to influence progressive and aggressive budgeting for resource acquisition, training, coaching, and development every year.
• HR must institutionalize effective succession and talent planning practices at all levels, and build an adaptive organization that can flex its structure to optimize performance.
• HR must use far-reaching ideas to retain its key talent and sustain a highly-engaged workforce in a diverse and driven culture. 
• Plan Implementation: “HR plans should align with business strategy and annual plans and should be adaptive to a volatile and uncertain business climate,” says Margules. “While many organizations take a reactive, in-service approach to HR planning and determine their priorities and plans largely in support of annual plans, the most effective organizations are proactive: They anticipate needs and build plans that achieve short term and long term objectives. They adopt progressive practices such as allocating a portion of the staffing budget and resources to recruit and hire key talent for future-focused work. And, they have enough foresight to invest in high potential programs at multiple levels, entry-level accelerated development programs and coaching to build pools of qualified talent for future growth plans.”
• Buy HR Planning Tools or Do It Yourself? “The problem with traditional human resource planning is that it often hasn't supported the scalability of a growing business,” says Burr. “This is precisely why we have to consider new models for talent management, organizational design, and learning and development to ensure that our human resource planning processes can be flexible to meet the scaling needs of the business. This is part of the reason why you have seen an explosion of people analytics tools in the HR marketplace. It is to fill the demand for flexible and scalable models that provide the needed tools for business leaders to plan their people needs as the business grows.”  Adler concurs and says: “I think a spreadsheet can often do a better job. Workforce planning has been around a long time. I think the main point is to be proactive and less reactive in the planning process.”

Five Challenges to Human Resources Planning and Implementation

“People are naturally change- and-risk-averse. Planning and proper support by HR and the people they hire need to happen 100 percent of the time,” says Adler. More often than not, there are some challenges involved in human resources planning and implementation. Here are the five main hurdles:

• Forecasting Is an Imperfect Art: Human resource planning relies on forecasting and supply, which can never be a 100 percent accurate process. 
• Resistant Workforce: Employees may feel that their workload will increase, so they resist the process, or they may be uncomfortable altering familiar patterns in their work life and tasks.
• Ambiguity and Rapid Change: Uncertainties such as labor absenteeism, employee turnover, seasonal employment, technological changes and market fluctuations all affect planning.
• Inefficient Information Systems: Human resource information systems need to be reliable, comprehensive, and up to date. It makes it difficult to plan without good data about current employees.
• Cost and Time Factors: With all of the work hours involved in completing and repeating the seven steps, human resource planning is a time consuming and expensive process, so companies sometimes avoid it altogether, despite the benefits. 

A Look to the Future of Human Resources Planning

Here are some of the themes experts think will influence human resources professionals, their companies, and the people they hire in the near future:

• Going Global: Globalization, the export of U.S. jobs and the import of non-U.S. employees are already underway, as is offshoring (basing services or processes in different countries). “Globally planning can be complex for any HR professional,” says Burr. “It can be a stressful situation for offshoring and outsourcing of jobs within a firm. HR planning should involve a detailed assessment of the new location globally, the workforce demographics, industry competitors, laws and regulations and the potential impact on U.S. jobs. How do we communicate? How do we train? This will all vary by organization, but a strategic HR plan that communicates the information can lessen the impact. With a sound and detailed HR plan, recruiting, retaining and growing talent within the organization will be much easier.”   “Expect more offshore jobs, outsourcing and contract hiring because frankly they’re cheaper, and in many disciplines like finance, IT, marketing, can do the same work for less,” says Handrick. “Other than providing training for supervisors to manage off-site work teams, there's really no difference for HRP except where the line item goes on the plan. For instance, if you know you'll need 12 FTEs next year, and can get four of them offshore, that line item goes to 'expenses' rather than to 'salary' for the remaining eight.”
• More Technology: Social media will likely be in higher use to reach potential workers, particularly millennials who use Twitter, LinkedIn, and Facebook in their job hunts. Telecommuting and the use of social collaboration tools and video conferencing apps will keep people working and in touch with company culture. Emerging platforms will further streamline basic human resources functions to make onboarding and professional development more cost-effective and accessible from anywhere in the world for a virtual workforce.
• Big Data: Metrics and in-depth analysis of processes and people will become increasingly important in human resources as they are in other functional areas. Data- driven decision making is the future, as are metrics to show ROI in people and technology.  
• Security Issues: All this new technology brings up security concerns for employers and employee. Data breaches are a fact of life, and the threat to personal data security, company security, and supply chain risks will likely continue. 
• Health Care Costs: Costs are likely to continue increasing, since they have been rising steadily in the last several decades. New legislation will perhaps slow the costs of health care. In the meantime, strategies to lower employee healthcare costs will likely take the form of initiatives to improve employee health, and taking advantage of health reimbursement accounts (HRAs) that are consumer-driven or health savings accounts (HSAs).

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Human Resources Consulting Business Plan

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Human Capital Maximizers

Executive summary executive summary is a brief introduction to your business plan. it describes your business, the problem that it solves, your target market, and financial highlights.">.

Human Capital Maximizers (HCM) is a human resource consulting company located in Portland, Oregon.  HCM has expertise in a wide range of HR areas and is targeting the emerging company market.  HCM will offer this market the ability to compensate client’s employees with stock options from their company.  This will be especially appealing to many start-up companies that find capital scarce. 

Major Adversity, the founder and owner will be leveraging his past and current personal/professional relationships to generate business for Human Capital Maximizers.  Major will be the sole employee until month six when he will be hiring a human resource specialist/manager to help out with the consulting.  Human Capital Maximizers will show increasing profitability over the next three years.

1.1 Keys to Success

The keys to success are to provide a needed service while providing a flexible means of compensation.

1.2 Mission

Human Capital Maximizers’ mission is to provide human resource consulting for emerging companies.  We exist to attract and maintain customers.  When we adhere to this maxim, everything else will fall into place.  Our services will exceed the expectations of our customers.

1.3 Objectives

The objectives for the first three years of operation include:

• To create a service-based company whose primary goal is to exceed customer’s expectations.
• To increase our number of clients served by 20% per year through superior performance and word-of-mouth referrals.
• To develop a sustainable start-up consultancy firm that can survive off its own cash flow and has significant equity holdings in emerging companies.

Company Summary company overview ) is an overview of the most important points about your company—your history, management team, location, mission statement and legal structure.">

Human Capital Maximizers is a HR consultancy firm serving the Portland area market. HCM will be set up as an Oregon Corporation owned by Major Adversity and will focus on emerging companies.

2.1 Company Ownership

Human Capital Maximizers is a privately held Oregon corporation founded and owned by Major Adversity.

2.2 Start-up Summary

Human Capital Maximizers will incur the following start-up expenses:

• Two desks, two chairs, and two lockable file cabinets.
• Two computer systems including a CD-RW, printer and a third computer to serve as a server.
• DSL router and DSL connections.
• Two telephones, fax machine, and copier.

Please note that the following items which are considered assets to be used for more than a year will labeled long-term assets and will be depreciated using G.A.A.P. approved straight-line depreciation method.

Human Capital Maximizers provides human resource consulting to emerging companies in the Portland/Vancouver market.   Human Capital Maximizers will charge a below market rate and take stock options in the company.  Human Capital Maximizers will  provide consulting for the following service areas:

• Human resource management.
• Organizational management.
• Professional development.
• Employee relations.
• Labor relations.
• Benefits and compensation.
• HR policy and procedure.
• Executive search.
• Sexual harassment.
• Position classification.
• Personnel management systems.
• Performance evaluations.

The pricing structure will either be an hourly rate or a per project fee.  These options will be settled on in negotiation with the client.  In general, Human Capital Maximizers is willing to be as flexible as possible.

Market Analysis Summary how to do a market analysis for your business plan.">

Emerging companies will be the target market for several reasons:

• They are in need of HR services as they are growing rapidly.
• They often do not have a large enough in-house solution as they are increasing in size.
• Capital is a scarce resource for emerging companies so the ability to accept stock options in replace of cash is appealing.

The emerging company market can be further broken down into two categories, technology and non-technology.  The significance of the breakdown is not that significant because many of the networking activities are occurring in settings that do not differentiate between technology and non-technology.

4.1 Market Segmentation

Human Capital Maximizers market can be segmented into two different groups, emerging high-tech companies and emerging non-high tech companies.  The emerging high-tech companies are going to be the larger of the two segments.  Even with the Internet bubble bursting within the last year, there are still many different emerging high-tech companies proliferating.  This is evidenced by the Business Journal of Portland which in their annual list of fastest growing companies for this year, 18 of the top 25 were technology companies.

There are also non-technology companies that are emerging in the Portland area and Human Capital Maximizers will be able to serve them as well.

4.2 Target Market Segment Strategy

Human Capital Maximizers’ two markets will be primarily targeted through networking activities.  Some networking will be conducted through the Oregon Entrepreneur Association, an association that supports entrepreneurial ventures in the local area.   This organization has monthly meetings that are in round-table format, allowing members to socialize.

Human Capital Maximizers will also be networking from personal/professional contacts that Major has developed professionally in the last five years in the HR/start-up industry.  HCM will also be relying on word of mouth to grow its customer base.

Strategy and Implementation Summary

Human Capital Maximizers will use their competitive edge of compensation flexibility to attract emerging companies.  This competitive advantage is especially valuable to emerging companies who are typically struggling to find enough capital to grow their business.  Accepting stock options as compensation is useful because equity is one thing these companies have lots of (that is of course if they haven’t given it all away to the Venture Capitalists).

5.1 Milestones

Human Capital Maximizers will have several milestones early on:

• Business plan completion.  This will be done as a roadmap for the organization.  This will be an indispensable tool for the ongoing performance and improvement of the company.
• Set up office.
• HCM’s first five customers.
• Profitability.

5.2 Sales Strategy

As stated earlier, the marketing and sales will be done primarily through networking.  This means the bulk of the leads will have been developed through a personal/professional relationship that Major has developed either in his previous professional work or through his activities with the Oregon Entrepreneurs Association and other similar associations.  The sales spiel will be based on Human Capital Maximizers experience in the field as well as their flexibility for compensation.  Major will be able to explain to the prospective client the areas that he has experience in and the solutions that he can offer. 

Major will also be able to speak about Human Capital Maximizers ability to accept options in lieu of cash.  This will be appealing to companies, particularly in the current capital market which is quite scarce.  Since capital is more difficult to come by now than in the last few years, emerging companies will be excited about this option.

5.2.1 Sales Forecast

The first month will be used to set up the office.  Additionally, during the first month Major will be working hard on developing contracts. The second month will see some activity, but it will not be until month six when business will be picking up at a higher rate.  Sales will continue to grow through year three.

5.3 Competitive Edge

Human Capital Maximizers competitive edge is their flexibility for compensation.  Most or all other companies require compensation to be in the form of cash, for them cash is king.  Human Capital Maximizers is able to take stock options in lieu of some cash.  While Human Capital Maximizers needs some cash to float the business, it can take up to 75% of its fees in equity.  Human Capital Maximizers is able to do this because they have secured an office space that is low in cost, helping them reduce their overhead.  In addition, Major’s wife contributes a significant portion of money to the household so Major is not in need of a lot of monthly compensation.  This allows him to accept options as payment in hopes of an upside to come several years for now. (Please note the the HR industry, unlike law firms and accounting firms do not run into conflict of interests situations regarding receiving equity as compensation.)

Web Plan Summary

The website will be used as a resource that prospective companies can view to gain more information about the company.  In essence it is Human Capital Maximizers’ brochure.  On the site there will be information about the management of the company and corresponding bios indicating all of their experience.  Also on the website will be a list of present and past clients and information regarding Human Capital Maximizers’ fee structure and willingness to accept stakes of option.

6.1 Website Marketing Strategy

The marketing of the website will consist of submitting it to the popular search engines.  The website will be used more as a information tool that prospective companies can be sent to for more information about Human Capital Maximizers as opposed to marketing the website in order for the website to develop new leads.

6.2 Development Requirements

The development requirements will entail hiring an individual (preferably a student for cost saving purposes) to develop and produce the site.

Management Summary management summary will include information about who's on your team and why they're the right people for the job, as well as your future hiring plans.">

Major Adversity, the founder and owner received his undergraduate degree in marketing from Reed College.  After completing college Major recognized that he would eventually need to go to graduate school but was not ready to yet. 

Major worked in a large bicycle store for four years after college.  Major started out as a mechanic but quickly moved up to manager where he was responsible for much of the operation.  Some of the new responsibilities that Major enjoyed was the interviewing, selection & hiring, compensation, and employee relations.  After fours years in the bike shop Major was looking for a new challenge so he entered the University of Portland to pursue his MBA. 

Major received his MBA within two years and went to work for Nike out of school in their HR department.  After a year and half Major left Nike to work for a HR consultancy boutique that worked primarily with technology companies, many of them start ups.  Major enjoyed this thoroughly because of the dynamic environment that his clients worked in.  Major stayed with this firm for a total of four years.  

Toward the end of Major’s four years he got married and his wife, as a professional, was contributing large amounts of salary to the household.  This led Major to consider opening his own HR consultancy because he would be able to undertake some risk since the household was supported to a large degree by his wife.  Additionally, Major was could consider taking equity as compensation because a monthly salary was not a necessity.

7.1 Personnel Plan

Major will work full time for Human Capital Maximizers.  By month six Major will have developed more work than he will be able to manage himself and he will hire an additional HR consultant to help him out.  The employee will receive a straight salary and will have no future equity options in the client’s companies.  This employee will be given HR projects and will do the research and sometimes present the findings to the client, other times will allow Major to present to the client.

Financial Plan investor-ready personnel plan .">

The following sections will outline important financial information. Please note that the stock options granted in lieu of compensation are not entered into the financial plan as they are not yet of value.  Upon exercising the options there will be tax consequences (because one of the realizing events has occurred) as well as assets to be accounted for.

8.1 Important Assumptions

The following table details important financial assumptions.

8.2 Break-even Analysis

The Break-even Analysis is shown below.

8.3 Projected Profit and Loss

The following table will indicate projected profit and loss.

8.4 Projected Cash Flow

The following chart and table will indicate projected cash flow.

8.5 Projected Balance Sheet

The following table will indicate the projected balance sheet.

8.6 Business Ratios

The following table outlines some of the more important ratios from the Management Consulting Resources industry. The final column, Industry Profile, details specific ratios based on the industry as it is classified by the Standard Industry Classification (SIC) code, 8742.

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• Human Resource Planning (HRP)
• Understanding HRP

What Is the Goal of Human Resource Planning (HRP)?

• Human Resource Planning FAQs

The Bottom Line

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Human Resource Planning (HRP) Meaning, Process, and Examples

Adam Hayes, Ph.D., CFA, is a financial writer with 15+ years Wall Street experience as a derivatives trader. Besides his extensive derivative trading expertise, Adam is an expert in economics and behavioral finance. Adam received his master's in economics from The New School for Social Research and his Ph.D. from the University of Wisconsin-Madison in sociology. He is a CFA charterholder as well as holding FINRA Series 7, 55 & 63 licenses. He currently researches and teaches economic sociology and the social studies of finance at the Hebrew University in Jerusalem.

What Is Human Resource Planning (HRP)?

Human resource planning (HRP) is the continuous process of systematic planning to achieve optimum use of an organization's most valuable asset—quality employees. Human resources planning ensures the best fit between employees and jobs while avoiding manpower shortages or surpluses.

There are four key steps to the HRP process. They include analyzing present labor supply, forecasting labor demand, balancing projected labor demand with supply, and supporting organizational goals. HRP is an important investment for any business as it allows companies to remain both productive and profitable.

Key Takeaways

• Human resource planning (HRP) is a strategy used by a company to maintain a steady stream of skilled employees while avoiding employee shortages or surpluses.
• Having a good HRP strategy in place can mean productivity and profitability for a company.
• There are four general steps in the HRP process: identifying the current supply of employees, determining the future of the workforce, balancing between labor supply and demand, and developing plans that support the company's goals.

Michela Buttignol

What Is Human Resource Planning (HRP) Used For?

Human resource planning allows companies to plan ahead so they can maintain a steady supply of skilled employees. The process is used to help companies evaluate their needs and to plan ahead to meet those needs.

Human resource planning needs to be flexible enough to meet short-term staffing challenges while adapting to changing conditions in the business environment over the longer term. HRP starts by assessing and auditing the current capacity of human resources.

Here, identifying a company's skill set and targeting the skills a company needs enables it to strategically reach business goals and be equipped for future challenges. To remain competitive, businesses may need advanced skills or to upskill their employees as the market environment evolves and changes.

To retain employees and remain competitive, HRP often looks at organizational design, employee motivation, succession planning, and increasing return on investment overall.

Challenges of Human Resource Planning (HRP)

The challenges to HRP include forces that are always changing. These include employees getting sick, getting promoted, going on vacation, or leaving for another job. HRP ensures there is the best fit between workers and jobs, avoiding shortages and surpluses in the employee pool.

To help prevent future roadblocks and satisfy their objectives, HR managers have to make plans to do the following:

• Find and attract skilled employees.
• Select, train, and reward the best candidates.
• Cope with absences and deal with conflicts.
• Promote employees or let some of them go.

Investing in HRP is one of the most important decisions a company can make. After all, a company is only as good as its employees, and a high level of employee engagement can be essential for a company's success. If a company has the best employees and the best practices in place, it can mean the difference between sluggishness and productivity, helping to lead a company to profitability.

What Are the Four Steps to Human Resource Planning (HRP)?

There are four general, broad steps involved in the human resource planning process. Each step needs to be taken in sequence in order to arrive at the end goal, which is to develop a strategy that enables the company to successfully find and retain enough qualified employees to meet the company's needs.

Analyzing labor supply

The first step of human resource planning is to identify the company's current human resources supply. In this step, the HR department studies the strength of the organization based on the number of employees, their skills, qualifications, positions, benefits, and performance levels.

Forecasting labor demand

The second step requires the company to outline the future of its workforce. Here, the HR department can consider certain issues like promotions, retirements, layoffs, and transfers—anything that factors into the future needs of a company. The HR department can also look at external conditions impacting labor demand , such as new technology that might increase or decrease the need for workers.

Balancing labor demand with supply

The third step in the HRP process is forecasting the employment demand. HR creates a gap analysis that lays out specific needs to narrow the supply of the company's labor versus future demand. This analysis will often generate a series of questions, such as:

• Should employees learn new skills?
• Does the company need more managers?
• Do all employees play to their strengths in their current roles?

Developing and implementing a plan

The answers to questions from the gap analysis help HR determine how to proceed, which is the final phase of the HRP process. HR must now take practical steps to integrate its plan with the rest of the company. The department needs a budget , the ability to implement the plan, and a collaborative effort with all departments to execute that plan.

Common HR policies put in place after this fourth step may include policies regarding vacation, holidays, sick days, overtime compensation, and termination.

The goal of HR planning is to have the optimal number of staff to make the most money for the company. Because the goals and strategies of a company change over time, human resource planning must adapt accordingly. Additionally, as globalization increases, HR departments will face the need to implement new practices to accommodate government labor regulations that vary from country to country.

The increased use of remote workers by many corporations will also impact human resource planning and will require HR departments to use new methods and tools to recruit, train, and retain workers.

Why Is Human Resource Planning Important?

Human resource planning (HRP) allows a business to better maintain and target the right kind of talent to employ—having the right technical and soft skills to optimize their function within the company. It also allows managers to better train the workforce and help them develop the required skills.

What Is "Hard" vs. "Soft" Human Resource Planning?

Hard HRP evaluates various quantitative metrics to ensure that the right number of the right sort of people are available when needed by the company. Soft HRP focuses more on finding employees with the right corporate culture, motivation, and attitude. Often these are used in tandem.

What Are the Basic Steps in HRP?

HRP begins with an analysis of the available labor pool from which a company can draw. It then evaluates the firm's present and future demand for various types of labor and attempts to match that demand with the supply of job applicants.

Quality employees are a company's most valuable asset. Human resource planning involves the development of strategies to ensure that a business has an adequate supply of employees to meet its needs and can avoid either a surplus or a lack of workers.

There are four general steps in developing such a strategy: first, analyzing the company's current labor supply; second, determining the company's future labor needs; third, balancing the company's labor needs with its supply of employees; and fourth, developing and implementing the HR plan throughout the organization.

A solid HRP strategy can help a company be both productive and profitable.

International Journal of Business and Management Invention. " Human Resource Planning-An Analytical Study ," Page 64.

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2.2 Writing the HRM Plan

Learning objective.

• Describe the steps in the development of an HRM plan.

As addressed in Section 2.1 “Strategic Planning” , the writing of an HRM strategic plan should be based on the strategic plans of the organization and of the department. Once the strategic plan is written, the HR professional can begin work on the HR plan. This is different from the strategic plan in that it is more detailed and more focused on the short term. The six parts described here are addressed in more detail in Chapter 4 “Recruitment” , Chapter 5 “Selection” , Chapter 6 “Compensation and Benefits” , Chapter 7 “Retention and Motivation” , Chapter 8 “Training and Development” , Chapter 9 “Successful Employee Communication” , Chapter 10 “Managing Employee Performance” , and Chapter 11 “Employee Assessment” .

How Would You Handle This?

Compensation Is a Touchy Subject

As the HR manager, you have access to sensitive data, such as pay information. As you are looking at pay for each employee in the marketing department, you notice that two employees with the same job title and performing the same job are earning different amounts of money. As you dig deeper, you notice the employee who has been with the company for the least amount of time is actually getting paid more than the person with longer tenure. A brief look at the performance evaluations shows they are both star performers. You determine that two different managers hired the employees, and one manager is no longer with the organization. How would you handle this?

As you can see from this figure, the company strategic plan ties into the HRM strategic plan, and from the HRM strategic plan, the HR plan can be developed.

The six parts of the HRM plan include the following:

• Determine human resource needs. This part is heavily involved with the strategic plan. What growth or decline is expected in the organization? How will this impact your workforce? What is the economic situation? What are your forecasted sales for next year?
• Determine recruiting strategy. Once you have a plan in place, it’s necessary to write down a strategy addressing how you will recruit the right people at the right time.
• Select employees. The selection process consists of the interviewing and hiring process.
• Develop training. Based on the strategic plan, what training needs are arising? Is there new software that everyone must learn? Are there problems in handling conflict? Whatever the training topics are, the HR manager should address plans to offer training in the HRM plan.
• Determine compensation. In this aspect of the HRM plan, the manager must determine pay scales and other compensation such as health care, bonuses, and other perks.
• Appraise performance. Sets of standards need to be developed so you know how to rate the performance of your employees and continue with their development.

Each chapter of this text addresses one area of the HR plan, but the next sections provide some basic knowledge of planning for each area.

Determine Human Resource Needs

The first part of an HR plan will consist of determining how many people are needed. This step involves looking at company operations over the last year and asking a lot of questions:

• Were enough people hired?
• Did you have to scramble to hire people at the last minute?
• What are the skills your current employees possess?
• What skills do your employees need to gain to keep up with technology?
• Who is retiring soon? Do you have someone to replace them?
• What are the sales forecasts? How might this affect your hiring?

These are the questions to answer in this first step of the HR plan process. As you can imagine, this cannot be done alone. Involvement of other departments, managers, and executives should take place to obtain an accurate estimate of staffing needs for now and in the future. We discuss staffing in greater detail in Chapter 4 “Recruitment” .

Many HR managers will prepare an inventory of all current employees, which includes their educational level and abilities. This gives the HR manager the big picture on what current employees can do. It can serve as a tool to develop employees’ skills and abilities, if you know where they are currently in their development. For example, by taking an inventory, you may find out that Richard is going to retire next year, but no one in his department has been identified or trained to take over his role. Keeping the inventory helps you know where gaps might exist and allows you to plan for these gaps. This topic is addressed further in Chapter 4 “Recruitment” .

HR managers will also look closely at all job components and will analyze each job. By doing this analysis, they can get a better picture of what kinds of skills are needed to perform a job successfully. Once the HR manager has performed the needs assessment and knows exactly how many people, and in what positions and time frame they need to be hired, he or she can get to work on recruiting, which is also called a staffing plan . This is addressed further in Chapter 4 “Recruitment” .

Recruitment is an important job of the HR manager. More detail is provided in Chapter 4 “Recruitment” . Knowing how many people to hire, what skills they should possess, and hiring them when the time is right are major challenges in the area of recruiting. Hiring individuals who have not only the skills to do the job but also the attitude, personality, and fit can be the biggest challenge in recruiting. Depending on the type of job you are hiring for, you might place traditional advertisements on the web or use social networking sites as an avenue. Some companies offer bonuses to employees who refer friends. No matter where you decide to recruit, it is important to keep in mind that the recruiting process should be fair and equitable and diversity should be considered. We discuss diversity in greater detail in Chapter 3 “Diversity and Multiculturalism” .

Depending on availability and time, some companies may choose to outsource their recruiting processes. For some types of high-level positions, a head hunter will be used to recruit people nationally and internationally. A head hunter is a person who specializes in matching jobs with people, and they usually work only with high-level positions. Another option is to use an agency that specializes in hiring people for a variety of positions, including temporary and permanent positions. Some companies decide to hire temporary employees because they anticipate only a short-term need, and it can be less expensive to hire someone for only a specified period of time.

No matter how it is done, recruitment is the process of obtaining résumés of people interested in the job. In our next step, we review those résumés, interview, and select the best person for the job.

After you have reviewed résumés for a position, now is the time to work toward selecting the right person for the job. Although we discuss selection in great detail in Chapter 6 “Compensation and Benefits” , it is worth a discussion here as well. Numerous studies have been done, and while they have various results, the majority of studies say it costs an average of $45,000 to hire a new manager (Herman, 1993). While this may seem exaggerated, consider the following items that contribute to the cost:

• Time to review résumés
• Time to interview candidates
• Interview expenses for candidates
• Possible travel expenses for new hire or recruiter
• Possible relocation expenses for new hire
• Additional bookkeeping, payroll, 401(k), and so forth
• Additional record keeping for government agencies
• Increased unemployment insurance costs
• Costs related to lack of productivity while new employee gets up to speed

Because it is so expensive to hire, it is important to do it right. First, résumés are reviewed and people who closely match the right skills are selected for interviews. Many organizations perform phone interviews first so they can further narrow the field. The HR manager is generally responsible for setting up the interviews and determining the interview schedule for a particular candidate. Usually, the more senior the position is, the longer the interview process takes, even up to eight weeks (Crant, 2009). After the interviews are conducted, there may be reference checks, background checks, or testing that will need to be performed before an offer is made to the new employee. HR managers are generally responsible for this aspect. Once the applicant has met all criteria, the HR manager will offer the selected person the position. At this point, salary, benefits, and vacation time may be negotiated. Compensation is the next step in HR management.

Determine Compensation

What you decide to pay people is much more difficult than it seems. This issue is covered in greater detail in Chapter 6 “Compensation and Benefits” . Pay systems must be developed that motivate employees and embody fairness to everyone working at the organization. However, organizations cannot offer every benefit and perk because budgets always have constraints. Even governmental agencies need to be concerned with compensation as part of their HR plan. For example, in 2011, Illinois State University gave salary increases of 3 percent to all faculty, despite state budget cuts in other areas. They reasoned that the pay increase was needed because of the competitive nature of hiring and retaining faculty and staff. The university president said, “Our employees have had a very good year and hopefully this is a good shot in the arm that will keep our morale high” (Pawlowski, 2011).

Determination of compensation systems is a balancing act. Compensation should be high enough to motivate current employees and attract new ones but not so high that it breaks the budget.

Nathan Rupert – Venice Beach Tightrope Walker – CC BY-NC-ND 2.0.

The process in determining the right pay for the right job can have many variables, in addition to keeping morale high. First, as we have already discussed, the organization life cycle can determine the pay strategy for the organization. The supply and demand of those skills in the market, economy, region, or area in which the business is located is a determining factor in compensation strategy. For example, a company operating in Seattle may pay higher for the same job than their division in Missoula, Montana, because the cost of living is higher in Seattle. The HR manager is always researching to ensure the pay is fair and at market value. In Chapter 6 “Compensation and Benefits” , we get into greater detail about the variety of pay systems, perks, and bonuses that can be offered. For many organizations, training is a perk. Employees can develop their skills while getting paid for it. Training is the next step in the HR planning process.

Develop Training

Once we have planned our staffing, recruited people, selected employees, and then compensated them, we want to make sure our new employees are successful. Training is covered in more detail in Chapter 8. One way we can ensure success is by training our employees in three main areas:

• Company culture. A company culture is the organization’s way of doing things. Every company does things a bit differently, and by understanding the corporate culture, the employee will be set up for success. Usually this type of training is performed at an orientation, when an employee is first hired. Topics might include how to request time off, dress codes, and processes.
• Skills needed for the job. If you work for a retail store, your employees need to know how to use the register. If you have sales staff, they need to have product knowledge to do the job. If your company uses particular software, training is needed in this area.
• Human relations skills. These are non-job-specific skills your employees need not only to do their jobs but also to make them all-around successful employees. Skills needed include communication skills and interviewing potential employees.

Perform a Performance Appraisal

The last thing an HR manager should plan is the performance appraisal. While we discuss performance appraisals in greater detail in Chapter 11 “Employee Assessment” , it is definitely worth a mention here, since it is part of the strategic plan. A performance appraisal is a method by which job performance is measured. The performance appraisal can be called many different things, such as the following:

• Employee appraisal
• Performance review
• Career development review

No matter what the name, these appraisals can be very beneficial in motivating and rewarding employees. The performance evaluation includes metrics on which the employee is measured. These metrics should be based on the job description, both of which the HR manager develops. Various types of rating systems can be used, and it’s usually up to the HR manager to develop these as well as employee evaluation forms. The HR manager also usually ensures that every manager in the organization is trained on how to fill out the evaluation forms, but more importantly, how to discuss job performance with the employee. Then the HR manager tracks the due dates of performance appraisals and sends out e-mails to those managers letting them know it is almost time to write an evaluation.

Human Resource Recall

Have you ever been given a performance evaluation? What was the process and the outcome?

Communication Is Key in Performance Evaluations

(click to see video)

Communication is imperative in any workplace, but especially when giving and receiving a performance evaluation.

Key Takeaways

• Human resource planning is a process that is part of the strategic plan. It involves addressing specific needs within the organization, based on the company’s strategic direction.
• The first step in HR planning is determining current and future human resource needs. In this step, current employees, available employees in the market, and future needs are all analyzed and developed.
• In the second step of the process, once we know how many people we will need to hire, we can begin to determine the best methods for recruiting the people we need. Sometimes an organization will use head hunters to find the best person for the job.
• After the recruiting process is finished, the HR manager will begin the selection process. This involves setting up interviews and selecting the right person for the job. This can be an expensive process, so we always want to hire the right person from the beginning.
• HR managers also need to work through compensation plans, including salary, bonus, and other benefits, such as health care. This aspect is important, since most organizations want to use compensation to attract and retain the best employees.
• The HR manager also develops training programs to ensure the people hired have the tools to be able to do their jobs successfully.
• Of the parts of HR planning, which do you think is most difficult, and why? Which would you enjoy the most, and why?
• Why is it important to plan your staffing before you start to hire people?
• What is the significance of training? Why do we need it in organizations?

Crant, J., “How Long Does an Interview Process Take?” Jobsinminneapolis.com, December 2, 2009, accessed October 28, 2010, http://www.jobsinminneapolis.com/articles/title/How-Long-Does-an-Interview-Process-Take/3500/422 .

Herman, S., Hiring Right: A Practical Guide (Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage, 1993), xv.

Pawlowski, S., “Illinois State University to Get Salary Bump,” WJBC Radio, July 11, 2011, accessed July 11, 2011, http://wjbc.com/illinois-state-university-faculty-to-get-salary-bump .

Human Resource Management Copyright © 2016 by University of Minnesota is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License , except where otherwise noted.

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Strategic Human Resource Planning (SHRM): Guide to Human Resources & Management

Lucija Bakić

April 5, 2024

Strategic human resource planning (SHRM) is a proactive process that aligns human resource capabilities with long-term business goals.

In this guide, we’ll go through the basics of why this foward-thinking approach is so important for resource planning success . This includes its definition, the main steps, and best business practices. Key Takeaways

• Strategic HR management (SHRM) is a key step to ensuring that businesses are resilient and sustainable in the long run.
• Key steps of the process include: analyzing current capacity, forecasting needs, gap analysis, HR strategy implementation and monitoring.
• Many of the challenges of SHRM, such as resistance to change or tracking KPIs, can be addressed by implementing a modern ERP software solution .

What Is Strategic Human Resource Planning?

Strategic human resource planning is part of the broader human resource plan ning (HRP) strategy. This process targets long-term objectives, spanning from one to five years, and ensures that businesses have enough capacity to meet future needs. Strategic HR planning must be aligned with short-term resource planning, which handles daily concerns, such as employee schedules and workloads. Long-term strategies should also be aligned across departments, such as the finances or management, to ensure that initiatives contribute to shared organizational goals. See more : What Is Human Resource Planning ?

Why Businesses Need Strategic HRP

Some of the critical business questions that strategic HRP addresses can include:

• Will you have enough human resources for future needs?
• Which type of talent will you need (regarding skills, seniority, etc.)
• Which conflicts or gaps could appear in your business workflows ?
• Do you have contingency plans for various risk factors?

Additionally, it can cover broader concerns, such as the need for organizational flexibility or continuous improvement. As an ongoing process, strategic management provides the perfect answer for businesses to tackle and address complex issues.

5 Main Steps of the Strategic HR Planning Process

The four main steps of strategic HRM include analyzing current capacity, needs forecasting, gap analysis, and strategy development and implementation.

1. Analyzing Current Capacity

This step involves analyzing both internal and external business circumstances that are important for future demand. Internal factors usually include details about your current employees, including their productivity, specific skills, availability, and engagement levels. External factors encompass market trends, economic conditions, and industry-specific demands that could influence future resource requirements.

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2. Needs Forecasting

Accurate needs forecasting is one of the most challenging parts of the developing workforce plans . It involves predicting the skills, overall capacity, and roles needed to keep a business relevant during changing market conditions and technological advancements. Therefore, it requires a thorough understanding of your human capital and the industry. Needs forecasting includes:

• Supply forecasting: Assesses the current workforce and external labor market trends to identify whether there will be an excess or shortage of talent in the future.
• Demand forecasting: Focuses more on demand, i.e., quantifying future labor requirements to ensure that business goals will be met.

3. Gap Analysis

Gap analysis takes the first two steps of the human resource management process to pinpoint specific areas of improvement — it compares the current workforce capabilities with future needs to identify conflicts or discrepancies. For example, a retail chain looking to expand its online presence might consider its current capacity, and realize that it has enough technical roles to go into e-commerce. However, by conducting needs forecasting of the competitors, it may recognize the need for marketing professionals skilled in SEO or digital marketing to drive more of their customer base to their website.

4. Strategy Development

The next step involves developing specific strategies to address resource conflicts and help your business reach its goals. Some of these may include:

• Talent management strategies can be developed to address issues with workforce management. It can include processes such as recruiting, retaining, and developing employees.
• Employee engagement strategies are usually developed to tackle low morale and productivity. Organizational strategies might include improving collaboration, manager-to-employee feedback, or capacity building initiatives .
• Development programs are a specific part of talent management, aimed to address skill gaps through upskilling or reskilling employees. Strategies may include mentoring by senior employees, workshops, or other training opportunities.
• Succession planning is utilized to mitigate the risk of key positions becoming vacant unexpectedly. It usually involves identifying high-risk positions and then selecting and preparing potential employees to fill them in the future.

5. Implementation and Monitoring

To ensure that your strategies are effective across time, it’s necessary to closely monitor progress, usually by analyzing various key capacity performance indicators (KPIs). Setting desired targets can be a good way of determining if you’re on the right track — for example, an agency with low productivity might set its desired utilization rates at 80%.

Manage and visualize your employee productivity with Productive

However, it’s equally important to keep in mind that some benefits of successful ERP can be difficult to quantify or determine in a short amount of time. This can include better workplace culture or increased employee satisfaction. See more: ERP benefits for businesses

Documenting Your Strategic HR Plan

The strategic HR document should include an outline of the organization’s human resource objectives, the strategies for achieving them, and the steps for implementation. Putting your initiatives into writing can help drive alignment across various teams and ensure that everything is progressing according to plan.

How and Where to Create Documentation?

According to research by Forrester, 97% of organizations have minimal or no digitally documented processes. While traditional documentation can be better than no documentation, consider the benefits of automating information gathering and sharing with ERP software solutions .

We used to have a project management tool, a time tracking tool, a support tool, a way we handled opportunities and sales-driven processes. Those were all separate tools that we had, and it wasn’t good. It also meant that all that data was being lost every time we switched between tools , or we had to find a way to normalize the data between them. And now, the fact that it’s all in one, it’s really a game changer.

BRYAN CASLER, VICE PRESIDENT OF DIGITAL STRATEGY AT 4SITE INTERACTIVE STUDIOS

For example, the resource and agency management tool Productive can help you automate the work scheduling process with its resource planning model template, provide real-time reporting on utilization rates, manage employee availability and time off, and more. Another great feature you can consider is collaborative documentation with AI content creation. This can help you keep all essential project data on a single platform.  

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Challenges & Best Practices for Strategic HRP

Some of the main challenges of strategic HRP include ensuring buy-in at all organizational levels, handling resistance to change, efficiently monitoring performance, and fostering continuous improvement.

Getting Business-Wide Buy-In

Organizational changes need to be effected from the top to the ground-level staff. Getting buy-in for new initiatives from leaders and other key stakeholders is essential to get the most out of your HRP initiatives. Silos can cause issues for adoption and cause miscommunications across teams, where one part of the company may not be aware of the changes or understand their role in implementation.

Overcoming Resistance to Change

According to Deloitte, some of the biggest roadblocks to new initiatives include resistance to change (82%) and inadequate sponsorship (72%). Both can be addressed with clear communication and transparency, so that all employees understand why and how initiatives are being implemented. Asigning change ambassadors within teams can facilitate a smoother transition. Learn more: Efficient resource management for multiple projects

Reviewing and Analyzing Progress

Good initiatives can stumble and fall if there’s no way to measure actual performance. Selecting the right key performance indicators and implementing a way to analyze them is important for the success of HRP initiatives. For example, a consulting firm that has issues with turnover might implement additional benefits or hire more staff to balance workloads — the KPIs to be monitored would be employee satisfaction, the utilization rate , and the attrition rate.

Productive can forecast KPIs for professional services agencies, like revenue and profit margins

Incremental Changes and Continuous Innovation

Another reason why monitoring KPIs is so important is that incremental but timely improvements are always better than extensive changes. Smaller adjustments allow businesses to remain flexible and agile to adapt to market demands and internal changes without causing disruptions.

The Role of Analytics & HRP Software

Finally, most, if not all challenges mentioned above can be streamlined with the right tools for resource planning and HR management. The benefits of using such tools include:

• Improved timeline estimation (60%)
• More effective use of resources (55%)
• Enhanced team communication (49%)
• More accurate metrics (38%)

There are many potential options on the market, but consider using a comprehensive software for your strategic planning. These types of solutions can give you a competitive advantage with benefits such as centralized workflows, unified data, and reduced costs for tech stacks.

Get the most out of your agency’s resources with Productive

As an all-in-one solution tailored to agencies of all shapes and sizes, Productive can help you manage both day-to-day resource management and create strategic plans. Key features include: resource allocation, employee performance management, real-time reporting, project budgeting, workflow automations, and much more. Learn more about Productive by booking a demo today.

What are the 4 HR strategies?

The 4 HR strategies include talent acquisition and retention, learning and development, performance management, and workforce planning and forecasting. Each strategy addresses a part of the human resource planning process and contributes to achieving organizational success.

What is strategic resource planning?

Strategic resource planning is a part of human resource management that examines the capacity and needs of your future workforce for sustainable business growth. It’s focused on ensuring that your business has the critical skills for meeting business goals over a long period of time.

What are the 5 steps in human resource planning?

The 5 main steps in human resource planning include: analyzing current HR availability, forecasting future needs, gap analysis, developing strategies for human resource management, and implementing and monitoring your initiatives.

What is SHRM and its importance?

SHRM or strategic human resources management is a forward-looking approach to managing human resources and aligning HR practices with organizational goals. It allows businesses to remain competitive, sustainable, and flexible in dynamic market conditions.

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HR Consulting Business plan Template

Written by Dave Lavinsky

HR Consulting Business Plan

You’ve come to the right place to create your Human Resources Consulting business plan.

We have helped over 1,000 entrepreneurs and business owners create business plans and many have used them to start or grow their HR Consulting businesses.

Below is a template to help you create each section of your Human Resource business plan.

Executive Summary

Business overview.

HR Solutions is a startup human resources company located in Spokane, Washington. The company is founded by Tremaine Jackson, a former human resources manager in a large retail company. Tremaine led a team of twenty human resources employees in overseeing all aspects of human resources for the employer and developed a unique application that he has decided to introduce in his new company, HR Solutions.

HR Solutions will be the comprehensive leader in human resource training, management, negotiations, and solutions-finding company in the state of Washington. They will provide everything human resource personnel need to hire and effectively onboard new employees, as well as everything needed to maintain proper records, effectively cover communication and employee relations, and become proactive about potential conflicts.

Product Offering

The following are the services that HR Solutions will provide:

• Proprietary app that creates comprehensive HR management plans
• Training to maximize personnel potential
• Assistance in compliance with laws and regulations
• Curated HR solutions to solve employee issues
• Assistance in establishing productive work environments
• Onboarding from A to Z
• “Support Cadre” for HR management personnel
• Recruitment and talent acquisition training
• Organizational process-and-procedure manual

Customer Focus

HR Solutions will target small-to-large businesses in the Spokane, Washington region. HR Solutions will also target Washington state with select online training programs and sales of the proprietary HR app. HR Solutions will target C-suite executives in Spokane.

Management Team

HR Solutions will be owned and operated by Tremaine Jackson. He recruited his former administrative assistant, Sharlene Harris, to be his Administrative Manager in HR Solutions, where she will provide oversight of all personnel and HR responsibilities within the company itself. He also recruited Mason Wright, a former associate and HR manager, to be the Senior HR Advisor within the startup; he will lead the other HR managers in their roles as client-focused solution providers.

Tremaine Jackson is a graduate of the University of Washington in Seattle, where he majored in Human Resource Development. He has been a human resources manager in a large retail company, where he led a team of twenty human resources employees in overseeing all aspects of human resources for his employer and he developed a unique application that he has decided to introduce in his new company, HR Solutions. Former clients and associates have indicated they will follow him when he establishes HR Solutions.

Sharlene Harris holds a bachelor’s degree in Business Administration from Spokane College. She has been Tremaine’s administrative assistant for ten years and her new role will be the Administrative Manager in HR Solutions. She will provide oversight of all personnel and HR responsibilities within the company itself.

Mason Wright, a former associate and HR manager, developed a large following of loyal clients. He will be the Senior HR Advisor within the startup; he will lead the other HR managers in their roles as client-focused solution providers. His clients have indicated that they will follow him into the startup business.

Success Factors

HR Solutions will be able to achieve success by offering the following competitive advantages:

• Friendly, knowledgeable, and highly-qualified team of HR Solutions

Financial Highlights

HR Solutions is seeking $200,000 in debt financing to launch HR Solutions. The funding will be dedicated toward securing the office space and purchasing office equipment and supplies. Funding will also be dedicated toward three months of overhead costs to include payroll of the staff, rent, and marketing costs for the print ads and marketing costs. The breakout of the funding is below:

• Office space build-out: $20,000
• Office equipment, supplies, and materials: $10,000
• Three months of overhead expenses (payroll, rent, utilities): $150,000
• Marketing costs: $10,000
• Working capital: $10,000

The following graph outlines the financial projections for HR Solutions.

Company Overview

Who is hr solutions.

HR Solutions is a newly established, full-service human resource company in Spokane, Washington. HR Solutions will be the most reliable, cost-effective, and effective choice for HR managers and leaders in Spokane. Certain online programs and the proprietary app will also be the most effective and productive options for HR personnel throughout the state of Washington. HR Solutions will provide a comprehensive menu of training, recruitment, personnel, solution-finding services for any company to utilize. Their full-service approach includes a comprehensive set of training, management, and solution options.

  HR Solutions will be able to provide superior HR support and solutions to every business. The team of professionals are highly qualified and experienced in onboarding, training and creating solutions for every human resource quandary. HR Solutions removes all headaches and issues of the human resource personnel and ensures clients find the best answers to all their HR needs with the outstanding customer service found at HR Solutions.

HR Solutions History

HR Solutions is owned and operated by Tremaine Jackson. Tremaine Jackson is a graduate of the University of Washington in Seattle, where he majored in Human Resource Development. He has been a human resources manager in a large retail company, where he led a team of twenty human resources employees in overseeing all aspects of human resources for his employer and he developed a unique application that he has decided to introduce in his new company, HR Solutions. Former clients and associates have indicated they will follow him when he establishes HR Solutions.

Since incorporation, HR Solutions has achieved the following milestones:

• Registered HR Solutions, LLC to transact business in the state of Washington.
• Has a contract in place for a 20,000 square foot office space within a downtown Spokane building.
• Reached out to numerous former clients and contacts to include those who will refer and recommend HR Solutions.
• Began recruiting a staff of ten HR managers and three office personnel to work at HR Solutions.

HR Solutions Services

The following will be the services HR Solutions will provide:

Industry Analysis

The human resources industry is expected to grow during the next five years to over $35 billion. The growth will be driven by an increased number of young employees who require extensive training and onboarding. The growth will be driven by an increased need for employees as the older demographic employee retires. The growth will be driven by an increase in the number of employees who are new to the U.S. and require assistance in onboarding and training. The growth will be driven by new technological advances that are not yet known. Costs will likely be reduced as new applications, such as the one created by HR Solutions, are created and introduced into the industry.

Customer Analysis

Demographic profile of target market, customer segmentation.

HR Solutions will primarily target the following customer profiles:

• Small-to-large businesses in the Spokane region
• Small-to-large businesses throughout Washington (select programs/app)
• C-suite executives in Spokane

Competitive Analysis

Direct and indirect competitors.

HR Solutions will face competition from other companies with similar business profiles. A description of each competitor company is below.

Human Resource RX

Human Resource RX was founded in 2005 by Reme and Janette Choux. As former human resource negotiators within a large firm, they developed distinctive programs that can help HR managers reduce conflicts in the workplace. In addition, the programs assist personnel in recuperating from workplace trauma and other difficulties or issues that arise in the office.

Human Resource RX, headquartered in Spokane, claims to be the “Best HR Prescription” for companies that require assistance in the form of management and oversight in trauma or difficulty. Human Resource RX also assists in compliance issues within the state of Washington, bringing expert advice into thorny issues that can potentially lead to litigation. The company has three offices throughout Washington, each with a staff of twelve “HR managers” who service local businesses. The company has maintained a good standing within the state of Washington, although there have been two separate issues of incorrect legal advice offered to clients. The matters were both brought by former clients to the court system and eventually resolved.

Premier Human Resource Associates

Premier Human Resource Associates is owned and operated by Tami Watson, an HR executive with over thirty years of experience. She is joined in the company by her daughter, Reyna Watson, a recent graduate of Spokane College, where she earned a bachelor’s degree in Communication. Premier Human Resource Associates is located in Spokane and offers an extensive onboarding and training program to support HR managers within local hospitals and medical clinics.

The bulk of services provided to HR managers includes various specific onboarding and training needs of nurses, LVNs, and other care providers. Attention is given in particular to the processes of sanitation and hygienic practices, along with the methods of communication used within these specific businesses. To date, the company has assisted in successfully onboarding over 5,000 nurses and other caregivers.

Transport HR Training

Transport HR Training was started in 1997 as a result of multiple difficult issues within the truck driving industry in Washington. In the decades since, Transport HR Training has established the full spectrum of services and products for HR associates in the long-haul and short-transport businesses. Specific practices and procedures relating to, in particular, medical issues of drivers, have been developed to smooth the HR process and align truck drivers with services they need. Transport HR Training offers a comprehensive package of services that includes negotiation in conflict, onboarding specifics, driver training, legal procedures and processes, and other truck driver-specific conditions.

Competitive Advantage

HR Solutions will be able to offer the following advantages over their competition:

Marketing Plan

Brand & value proposition.

HR Solutions will offer the unique value proposition to its clientele:

Promotions Strategy

The promotions strategy for HR Solutions is as follows:

Word of Mouth/Referrals

HR Solutions has built up an extensive list of clients and contacts over the years by providing exceptional service and expertise to their clients. Associates will follow them to their new company and help spread the word of HR Solutions.

Professional Associations and Networking

HR Solutions will extensively network throughout HR association and industry events. They will take an active role in leadership wherever invited to do so and will work to support the efforts of all associates or members.

Website/SEO Marketing

HR Solutions will fully utilize their website. The website will be well organized, informative, and list all the services that HR Solutions provides. The website will also list their contact information and list their available times to make reservations during the week. This will allow HR managers to speak with HR Solutions when most beneficial to the client. The website presence will engage SEO marketing tactics so that anytime someone types in the Google or Bing search engine “Human Resources company” or “HR near me”, HR Solutions will be listed at the top of the search results.

The pricing of HR Solutions will be moderate and on par with competitors so customers feel they receive excellent value when purchasing their services.

Operations Plan

The following will be the operations plan for HR Solutions. Operation Functions:

• Tremaine Jackson will be the Owner and President of the company. He will oversee all staff and manage client relations. He has spent the past year recruiting the following staff:

Milestones:

HR Solutions will have the following milestones completed in the next six months.

• 5/1/202X – Finalize contract to lease office space
• 5/15/202X – Finalize personnel and staff employment contracts for the HR Solutions
• 6/1/202X – Finalize contracts for new HR Solutions clients
• 6/15/202X – Begin networking at industry events
• 6/22/202X – Begin moving into HR Solutions office
• 7/1/202X – HR Solutions opens its office for business

Financial Plan

Key revenue & costs.

The revenue drivers for HR Solutions are the fees they will charge to clients for their services, online training and proprietary app.

The cost drivers will be the overhead costs required in order to staff HR Solutions. The expenses will be the payroll cost, rent, utilities, office supplies, and marketing materials.

Funding Requirements and Use of Funds

HR Solutions is seeking $200,000 in debt financing to launch its human resources company. The funding will be dedicated toward securing the office space and purchasing office equipment and supplies. Funding will also be dedicated toward three months of overhead costs to include payroll of the staff, rent, and marketing costs for the print ads and association memberships. The breakout of the funding is below:

Key Assumptions

The following outlines the key assumptions required in order to achieve the revenue and cost numbers in the financials and in order to pay off the startup business loan.

• Number of Clients Per Month: 40
• Average Revenue per Month: $80,000
• Office Lease per Year: $100,000

Financial Projections

Income statement, balance sheet, cash flow statement, human resource business plan faqs, what is a human resource business plan.

A human resource business plan is a plan to start and/or grow your human resource business. Among other things, it outlines your business concept, identifies your target customers, presents your marketing plan and details your financial projections.

You can easily complete your Human Resource business plan using our Human Resource Business Plan Template here .

What are the Main Types of Human Resource Businesses? 

There are a number of different kinds of human resource businesses , some examples include: Human Capital Strategy, Compensation & Benefits, Talent Management, and Professional Development.

How Do You Get Funding for Your Human Resource Business Plan?

Human Resource businesses are often funded through small business loans. Personal savings, credit card financing and angel investors are also popular forms of funding.

What are the Steps To Start a Human Resource Business?

Starting a human resource business can be an exciting endeavor. Having a clear roadmap of the steps to start a business will help you stay focused on your goals and get started faster.

1. Develop A Human Resource Business Plan - The first step in starting a business is to create a detailed human resource business plan that outlines all aspects of the venture. This should include potential market size and target customers, the services or products you will offer, pricing strategies and a detailed financial forecast. 

2. Choose Your Legal Structure - It's important to select an appropriate legal entity for your human resource business. This could be a limited liability company (LLC), corporation, partnership, or sole proprietorship. Each type has its own benefits and drawbacks so it’s important to do research and choose wisely so that your human resource business is in compliance with local laws.

3. Register Your Human Resource Business - Once you have chosen a legal structure, the next step is to register your human resource business with the government or state where you’re operating from. This includes obtaining licenses and permits as required by federal, state, and local laws.

4. Identify Financing Options - It’s likely that you’ll need some capital to start your human resource business, so take some time to identify what financing options are available such as bank loans, investor funding, grants, or crowdfunding platforms.

5. Choose a Location - Whether you plan on operating out of a physical location or not, you should always have an idea of where you’ll be based should it become necessary in the future as well as what kind of space would be suitable for your operations.

6. Hire Employees - There are several ways to find qualified employees including job boards like LinkedIn or Indeed as well as hiring agencies if needed – depending on what type of employees you need it might also be more effective to reach out directly through networking events.

7. Acquire Necessary Human Resource Equipment & Supplies - In order to start your human resource business, you'll need to purchase all of the necessary equipment and supplies to run a successful operation.

8. Market & Promote Your Business - Once you have all the necessary pieces in place, it’s time to start promoting and marketing your human resource business. This includes creating a website, utilizing social media platforms like Facebook or Twitter, and having an effective Search Engine Optimization (SEO) strategy. You should also consider traditional marketing techniques such as radio or print advertising. 

HR Consulting Business Plan Template

Written by Dave Lavinsky

Human Resources Consulting Business Plan

Over the past 20+ years, we have helped over 1,000 entrepreneurs and business owners create business plans to start and grow their human resources consulting businesses. On this page, we will first give you some background information with regards to the importance of business planning. We will then go through an HR consulting business plan template step-by-step so you can create your plan today.

Download our Ultimate Business Plan Template here >

What Is a Business Plan?

A business plan provides a snapshot of your human resources consulting business as it stands today, and lays out your growth plan for the next five years. It explains your business goals and your strategy for reaching them. It also includes market research to support your plans.

Why You Need a Business Plan

If you’re looking to start an HR consulting business or grow your existing business, you need to write your own business plan. A business plan will help you raise funding, if needed, and plan out the growth of your HR consulting business in order to improve your chances of success. Your business plan is a living document that should be updated annually as your company grows and changes.

Sources of Funding for Human Resources Consulting Businesses

With regards to funding, the main sources of funding for a human resources consulting business are personal savings, credit cards, bank loans and angel investors. With regards to bank loans, banks will want to review your business plan and gain confidence that you will be able to repay your loan and interest. To acquire this confidence, the lender will not only want to confirm that your financials are reasonable, but they will also want to see a professional plan. Such a plan will give them the confidence that you can successfully and professionally operate a business. Personal savings is the most common form of funding for a human resources consulting business. Personal savings and bank loans are the most common funding paths for HR consulting businesses.

Finish Your Business Plan Today!

If you want to start an HR consulting business or expand your current one, you need a business plan. Below we detail what should be included in your own business plan for an HR consulting firm.

Executive Summary

Your executive summary provides an introduction to your own business plan, but it is normally the last section you write because it provides a summary of each key section of your plan.

The goal of your Executive Summary is to quickly engage the reader. Explain to them the type of HR consulting business you are operating and its status. For example, are you a startup, do you have an HR consulting firm that you would like to grow, or are you operating human resources consulting firms in multiple markets?

Next, provide an overview of each of the subsequent sections of your plan. For example, give a brief overview of the HR consulting industry. Discuss the type of HR consulting business you are operating. Detail your direct competitors. Give an overview of your target customers. Provide a snapshot of your marketing plan. Identify the key members of your team. And offer an overview of your financial plan.  

Company Analysis

In your company analysis, you will detail the type of HR consulting business you are operating.

For example, you might operate one of the following types of human resources consulting businesses:

• Human Capital Strategy : this type of business focuses on strategic matters such as corporate culture, diversity, and organization design.
• Compensation & Benefits: this type of business involves analyzing and consulting on all aspects of employee compensation, from base pay to secondary benefits, as well as pension and retirement.
• Talent Management: this type of business focuses primarily on recruitment and retention of talent, as well as on talent development.
• Professional Development: this type of business offers services ranging from leadership coaching and development to developing learning management systems.

In addition to explaining the type of HR consulting business you will operate, the Company Analysis section of your business plan needs to provide background on the business.

Include answers to questions such as:

• When and why did you start the business?
• What milestones have you achieved to date? Milestones could include the number of websites launched, the types of sites developed, etc.
• Your legal structure. Are you incorporated as an S-Corp? An LLC? A sole proprietorship? Explain your legal structure here.

Industry Analysis

In your industry analysis, you need to provide an overview of the HR industry.

While this may seem unnecessary, it serves multiple purposes.

First, researching the HR industry educates you. It helps you understand the market in which you are operating.

Secondly, market research can improve your strategy, particularly if your research identifies market trends.

The third reason for market research is to prove to readers that you are an expert in your industry. By conducting the research and presenting it in your plan, you achieve just that.

The following questions should be answered in the industry analysis section of your HR consulting business plan:

• How big is the human resources industry (in dollars)?
• Is the market declining or increasing?
• Who are the key competitors in the market?
• Who are the key suppliers in the market?
• What trends are affecting the industry?
• What is the industry’s growth forecast over the next 5 – 10 years?
• What is the relevant market size? That is, how big is the potential market for your human resources consulting business? You can extrapolate such a figure by assessing the size of the market in the entire country and then applying that figure to your local population.

Customer Analysis

The customer analysis section of your HR consulting business plan must detail the customers you serve and/or expect to serve.

The following are examples of customer segments: financial services companies, government entities, healthcare institutions, and technology companies.

As you can imagine, the customer segment(s) you choose will have a great impact on the type of human resource consulting business you operate. Clearly, government entities would respond to different marketing promotions than technology companies, for example.

Try to break out your target customers in terms of their demographic and psychographic profiles. With regards to demographics, include a discussion of the ages, genders, locations, and income levels of the customers you seek to serve. Because most HR consulting businesses primarily serve customers living in the same city or town, such demographic information is easy to find on government websites.

Psychographic profiles explain the wants and needs of your target customers. The more you can understand and define these needs, the better you will do in attracting and retaining your customers.  

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Competitive Analysis

Your competitive analysis should identify the indirect and direct competitors your business faces and then focus on the latter.

Direct competitors are other human resource consulting firms.

Indirect competitors are other options that customers have to purchase from that aren’t direct competitors. This includes more generalized management consultants or dedicated in-house HR teams.

With regards to direct competition, you want to describe the other HR consulting businesses with which you compete. Most likely, your direct competitors will be human resource consulting businesses located very close to your location.

For each such competitor, provide an overview of their businesses and document their strengths and weaknesses. Unless you once worked at your competitors’ businesses, it will be impossible to know everything about them. But you should be able to find out key things about them such as:

• What types of customers do they serve?
• Do they specialize in specific industries (i.e. healthcare, technology, etc.)?
• What is their pricing (premium, low, etc.)?
• What are they good at?
• What are their weaknesses?

With regards to the last two questions, think about your answers from the customers’ perspective. And don’t be afraid to ask your competitors’ customers what they like most and least about them.

The final part of your competitive analysis section is to document your areas of competitive advantage. For example:

• Will you provide either a wider range or more specialized range of services?
• Will you offer virtual service options?
• Will you provide superior customer service?
• Will you offer better pricing?

Think about ways you will outperform your competition and document them in this section of your plan.  

Marketing Plan

Traditionally, a marketing plan includes the four P’s: Product, Price, Place, and Promotion. For an human resource consulting business, your marketing plan should include the following:

Product : In the product section, you should reiterate the type of HR consulting company that you documented in your Company Analysis. Then, detail the specific products you will be offering. For example, in addition to strategic consulting, will your HR consulting business provide compliance consulting?

Price : Document the prices you will offer and how they compare to your competitors. Essentially in the product and price sub-sections of your marketing plan, you are presenting the services you offer and their prices.

Place : Place refers to the location of your company. Document your location and mention how the location will impact your success. For example, will you operate from a physical office, or will you primarily interact with clients online and/or at their place of business? In this section, discuss how your location will affect the demand for your services.

Promotions : The final part of your marketing plan is the promotions section. Here you will document how you will drive customers to your location(s). The following are some promotional methods you might consider:

• Advertising in local papers and magazines
• Reaching out to local websites
• Signs and billboards
• Social media marketing
• Local radio advertising

Operations Plan

While the earlier sections of your business plan explained your goals, your operations plan describes how you will meet them. Your operations plan should have two distinct sections as follows.

Everyday short-term processes include all of the tasks involved in running your HR consulting business, including marketing, providing consultations, building analytics processes, developing and presenting recommendations, etc.

Long-term goals are the milestones you hope to achieve. These could include the dates when you expect to sign your 50 th consulting contract, or when you hope to reach $X in revenue. It could also be when you expect to open an HR consulting business in a new location.  

Management Team

To demonstrate your HR consulting business’ ability to succeed, a strong management team is essential. Highlight your key players’ backgrounds, emphasizing those skills and experiences that prove their ability to grow your business.

Ideally you and/or your team members have direct experience in human resources and/or managing HR consulting businesses. If so, highlight this experience and expertise. But also highlight any experience that you think will help your business succeed.

If your team is lacking, consider assembling an advisory board. An advisory board would include 2 to 8 individuals who would act like mentors to your business. They would help answer questions and provide strategic guidance. If needed, look for advisory board members with experience in Human Resources, or successfully running small businesses.  

Financial Plan

Your financial plan should include your 5-year financial statement broken out both monthly or quarterly for the first year and then annually. Your financial statements include your income statement, balance sheet and cash flow statements.

Income Statement : an income statement is more commonly called a Profit and Loss statement or P&L. It shows your revenues and then subtracts your costs to show whether you turned a profit or not.

In developing your income statement, you need to devise assumptions. For example, will you focus on one client at a time, or will you have teams working on multiple projects at once? And will sales grow by 2% or 10% per year? As you can imagine, your choice of assumptions will greatly impact the financial forecasts for your business. As much as possible, conduct research to try to root your assumptions in reality.

Balance Sheets : Balance sheets show your assets and liabilities. While balance sheets can include much information, try to simplify them to the key items you need to know about. For instance, if you spend $50,000 on building out your business, this will not give you immediate profits. Rather it is an asset that will hopefully help you generate profits for years to come. Likewise, if a bank writes you a check for $50,000, you don’t need to pay it back immediately. Rather, that is a liability you will pay back over time.

Cash Flow Statement : Your cash flow statement will help determine how much money you need to start or grow your business, and make sure you never run out of money. What most entrepreneurs and business owners don’t realize is that you can turn a profit but run out of money and go bankrupt.

In developing your Income Statement and Balance Sheets be sure to include several of the key costs needed in starting or growing an hr consulting business:

• Office build-out
• Cost of buying or leasing a company vehicle
• Cost of office supplies such as computers and software
• Payroll or salaries paid to staff
• Business insurance
• Taxes and permits
• Legal expenses

Attach your full financial projections in the appendix of your plan along with any supporting documents that make your plan more compelling. For example, you might include your office lease, any notable clients you’ve served, or an overview of the services you offer.  

Putting together a business plan for your HR consulting business is a worthwhile endeavor. If you follow the template above, by the time you are done, you will have an expert HR consulting business plan; download it to PDF to show banks and investors. You will really understand the HR industry, your competition, and your customers. You will have developed a marketing plan and will really understand what it takes to launch and grow a successful HR consulting business.  

HR Consulting Business Plan FAQs

What is the easiest way to complete my hr consulting business plan.

Growthink's Ultimate Business Plan Template allows you to quickly and easily complete your HR Consulting Business Plan.

What is the Goal of a Business Plan's Executive Summary?

The goal of your Executive Summary is to quickly engage the reader. Explain to them the type of HR consulting business you are operating and the status; for example, are you a startup, do you have an HR consulting business that you would like to grow, or are you operating a chain of HR consulting businesses?

Don’t you wish there was a faster, easier way to finish your HR Consulting business plan?

OR, Let Us Develop Your Plan For You

Since 1999, Growthink has developed business plans for thousands of companies who have gone on to achieve tremendous success.   Click here to learn about Growthink’s business plan writing service .

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Own the Future: How HR Can Add Value to the Succession Planning Process

The HR leader for one of Amazon Web Services’ divisions highlights how CHROs can influence leaders to prioritize succession planning.

When I spoke to an audience of senior HR leaders last fall, I asked them this question: “How many of you are in a role that was created for you through a succession plan?”   While I know that succession planning is an “out of sight, out of mind” topic at many organizations, I expected to see at least several raised hands. The actual result: Only one hand was raised, in an audience of approximately 300 senior HR leaders.

This was a clear message that more work needs to be done to prioritize building and supporting upward mobility within organizations, especially within the HR function.

It’s estimated that about 10,000 Baby Boomers are now retiring each day in the U.S. Yet somehow, data suggests that succession planning still isn’t on the radar for more than half of U.S. organizations. According to a SHRM survey, 56 percent of HR professionals said their organization didn’t have a succession plan in place. Only 21 percent reported having a formal plan, while 24 percent said their organization had an informal plan. The main reason for the apathy was a lack of time and resources to create the plan.

Leadership transitions can happen quickly. Therefore, having a successor in mind for senior and critical roles is imperative to business success. HR leaders know the importance of recognizing that every employee is a whole being and has the potential to be great. Just the same, we often face the challenge of influencing other leaders to think the same way—and to have them focus on developing future leaders in the organization.

A deliberate approach to identify and develop future leaders has been proven to help preserve an organization’s continuity and secure its future. However, many company leaders still need convincing to spend the time needed to prioritize succession planning. This is a challenge that HR leaders can overcome by knowing and addressing the most common barriers to succession planning and common mistakes in the process.

One initial mistake to avoid is combining both your succession plan and your business continuity plan. While the latter is important, combining those conversations—or combining both plans—could result in either one (or both) of them failing to gain the support and attention needed to be effective. Another challenge is the possible lack of enthusiasm that HR leaders are faced with, due to succession planning being a topic that is not always welcomed by other leaders.

Though there are clear challenges and the potential for the succession planning process to be a lengthy one, it is a key part of business functionality, and there are proven ways that HR leaders can have a meaningful and measurable impact.

HR leaders should first conduct research (internally or externally) and use metrics to tell the story of how succession planning has benefited organizations. Second, a key way to gain succession planning buy-in from your executive team is to ensure your plan is developed specifically for and aligned with the organization. Finally, it is imperative that HR leaders identify successors to ensure that other leaders can visualize the plan coming to life and provide feedback on the current bench strength in the organization.

Succession Planning: How to Overcome Objections from Leaders and Managers

As vital as succession planning is to an organization, some of your leaders may not see it as a high priority. It’s important to understand why some leaders don’t embrace succession planning. Here are some of the main reasons for leaders’ resistance and ways to get past that pushback:

They’re reluctant to leave the organization and want to control their legacy. Some leaders are not ready to let go of what they’ve built or the role they’ve come to love. They have put their stamp on the organization, and giving up control is hard to imagine. They may believe they are the only ones capable of maintaining the success that’s been achieved so far.

The solution:  Include leaders in the succession plan as key mentors. This will help alleviate some of these concerns and give leaders more input and control over the succession.

They’re preoccupied with day-to-day business priorities. For many business leaders, the demands of daily responsibilities can be all-consuming. Even if they understand on an academic level the need for succession planning, they have a difficult time slowing down long enough to take action.

The solution:  HR can take the lead in charting the timeline, time commitment and support for leaders to help with this process. This will help leaders recognize that they aren’t handling it alone.

They’re concerned the transition will be immediate. Leaders may assume that the succession conversation is being held with an exit date already in mind. When an HR leader approaches a leader about succession planning, what they may be hearing is, “We want you out!”

The solution:  Share the fact that most succession plans take years to come to life and that most next-level leaders need significant mentorship and exposure to be ready for more-senior roles.

They’re concerned about bench strength and how to fill the skills gap. Leaders may also recognize that they’ve failed to prioritize development of the next generation of leaders and are unsure how to get successors ready.

The solution:  Share performance and potential data for the extended leadership team, and also share the profiles of external leaders that have the necessary skills for senior roles. Highlight the internal resources available to address skills gaps of internal and external talent.

Note: Many leaders are afraid to develop someone and then have them leave. However, when employees recognize that their personal career path is important to their leader and they can see a track to success in the organization, they tend to stay longer, feel more committed and are a little bit more afraid to leave because they don’t know what the future holds elsewhere.  –  P.P. 

Generate Buy-In with Data and Storytelling               

I still remember the first time I needed to influence a board that a succession plan was needed for a CFO, who we knew would be transitioning within two years. While it was such a necessary process, I was surprised by the pushback and lack of interest from the board. The board believed two years was a long time and that “the team” could pick up the slack if there was a gap in CFO coverage once the current leader moved on and before their replacement was named.

I quickly realized that I needed data to help make the case for why a succession plan was necessary and how, through that plan, we could either identify an internal successor or determine the profile needed to attract external candidates.

Through my HR network, I collected data on succession plan success stories, as well as data on the lack of succession planning conversations. The data had to capture the attention of the leaders I needed to influence. This data included industry trends on retention, leadership tenure and the impact on business metrics when leadership transitions take place. I also was able to point to advice from my bookshelf. Jack Welch’s book Winning includes a relevant and detailed succession planning strategy that can help build buy-in.

I also highlighted for the executive team examples within our own company of situations in which employee satisfaction and business results took a hit when a leadership transition resulted in a key role being left unfilled for a long time.

The important part is the blend. When you have both external and internal data to add to storytelling, that really helps generate buy-in with leaders.

Align with Your Business Plan

Part of the process of ensuring that a succession plan conversation is well received is having a plan that is designed specifically for the organization and aligned with its business plan.

When should you propose a new or updated succession plan? I’ve found that the best time is right after an organization has paused to review and adjust its business plan. This timing allows HR leaders to include business concerns and make succession recommendations based on the company’s future business plans. Including these relevant and recent points will help the leadership team appreciate the relevance of the plan as created.

The best succession plans include a clear assessment of the capabilities of the current leadership team and how they have been performing over the past two years. They also include publicly available data for similar leaders in other organizations (in the same or similar industries).

To ensure the succession planning conversation is a smooth one, it’s important to highlight the key roles of the positions. This is an opportunity to ensure the successor of a leader is identified as having the skills needed to fill the current role. It also allows you to pinpoint any areas in which the current leader could be performing at a higher level. For that reason, it’s crucial to gather performance data for the leader who is being succeeded.

Remember, succession planning is not a one-size-fits-all process. Reviewing external case studies and data on how other organizations have been able to seamlessly transition leadership capabilities is a good starting point. But resist the urge to copy and paste any other succession plan. Your plan will be hard to own and embrace if it’s not tailored to your organization’s specific needs.

Succession planning is not a one-size-fits-all process. ... Resist the urge to copy and paste any other plan. Your plan will be hard to own and embrace if it’s not tailored to your organization’s specific needs."

Build support by pinpointing roi.

HR leaders gain the most support for their succession plans when they’re able to identify a specific return on investment for their efforts. This can be done by showing ways the HR processes are built to support succession and by highlighting internal and external succession plan success stories (and horror stories).  

In addition, the performance management process should be designed to capture data that helps identify future leaders based on their current and past performance—and their potential. An extension of the performance management plan should then outline the resources available to develop leaders and bridge any leadership skills gaps.

HR leaders should drive the succession planning process and ensure that it is free of bias. Every opportunity that HR has to call out bias, it should.

HR should also lead a deliberate conversation about diversity in the planning process and discuss ways the organization can be more diverse at its most senior levels, even if that means focusing on external candidates or developing leaders below the extended leadership team in a longer-term process. If you often promote from within, take a look at the future leaders in your organization. If your bench is not diverse, you will likely not be improving diversity anytime soon.

Start Narrow and Scale

While it is tempting to have a succession plan for every leadership role in the organization, such plans are difficult to track and measure. For that reason, it’s best to identify key roles as a starting point and stagger the rollout of the leadership development process. That way, you can ensure that successes can be realized before scaling the program across all of your leadership roles.

Depending on the size of the organization, it could be best to identify one role to focus on for succession planning and use that role and the identified succession candidates as the center of the conversation to obtain alignment from the rest of the business leaders.

When skills gaps are realized in an organization, it is important to have a process to bridge them. As part of creating the process, a plan to develop leaders should be in place, and the plan should be aligned to the business and designed to allow for learning to happen in a meaningful and measurable way.

Once the succession plan is accepted by the leadership team and the process begins, it is important to not let it be forgotten. The success of the plan should be assessed by tracking and measuring the outputs to determine what changes are needed, if any.

The succession planning process is not easy. However, it has the potential to be one of the most rewarding areas that an HR leader owns.

Having the right leaders in an organization ensures its success, and having successors to keep it moving forward after those leaders exit is an essential step in maintaining a strong organization.

Prudence Pitter  is the global head of HR for Amazon Web Services’ Auto/Manufacturing and Healthcare & Life Sciences division.

Succession Planning: 5 Common Mistakes to Avoid

While your situation may not reach the level of mayhem on HBO’s hit drama “Succession,” a sloppy transition can severely damage a company—and an HR leader’s career. According to a 2023 SHRM Executive Network report,  Succession Planning Pitfalls , organizations need to avoid these common mistakes with their succession plans:

Mistake 1: Thinking about replacing the current job holder, not the job.  Many organizations mistakenly think about replacing a particular person and not what that person does. It’s critical to not think about the individuals in the current roles. Instead, think about the goals of that role, the remit and the expected outcomes. Plus, if you think about planning for the role versus the individual, you open your mind to different types of people being able to do the same job. And that’s how you harness the power of diversity and drive inclusion.

Mistake 2: Seeing succession planning as set in stone.  Succession planning can’t be a “set it and forget it” exercise. Successful succession plans must also be revisited, reviewed, adjusted and restarted. They should be “live” documents, meaning the scope and plan should be able to change to mirror the volatility within your organization. A role that is crucial now—and the person earmarked for that role now—may not be the same in six months or one year, and that is very important for making sure you always act according to the reality of your business needs.

Mistake 3: Not telling successors that they’re successors.  Once there is alignment with leaders about your high-potential employees as successors, it is important to share this great news with the envisioned successors. When you do, you may find they were thinking differently about their trajectory in the company—or they don’t want that job at all. Alternatively, it could help to solidify their future with the organization and help them reconsider an exit strategy, if they had one.

Mistake 4: Skipping performance planning.  Preparing and developing successors is integral to a solid succession plan, and it builds a culture that encourages growth. One way to put this into practice is to assess a successor’s level of readiness when you let them know they are a successor (e.g., if they’re ready now, in six months or in two years). With this readiness assessment, you can set better expectations for the successor and create a plan to fill in any gaps. You will also ensure that the performance plan stays alive, because the successor will be keen to continue to develop and learn what they need to know.

Mistake 5: Not making your plans inclusive.  It’s vital that your succession planning is inclusive and doesn’t directly or indirectly leave qualified people out of the process. Historically, succession plans have tried to fill a role by looking for someone similar to the incumbent. That’s why it’s wise to take a strengths-based approach to succession planning, rather than focusing solely on experience. Look at those who maybe haven’t done the role before but have the motivation and skills to build on. This will mean a more diverse group of employees will be earmarked for leadership roles.

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Onboarding New Employees — Without Overwhelming Them

• Julia Phelan

Give people the space and time they need to thrive in their new job.

A great onboarding experience can keep new hires engaged and committed, and increase their learning and preparedness for their new role. In trying to ensure new employees feel supported and properly prepared, some organizations flood new hires with far too much information. Even if managers have the best intentions, bombarding new hires with tasks  — such as asking them to read every single page of the employee manual or requiring them to get set-up on Slack, email, Box, and all the other platforms all at once — will backfire. Three strategies can help organizations mitigate this overload and ensure employees have the space, time, and mental resources available to learn and thrive in their new job.

We know that effectively onboarding new employees has huge value. A good onboarding process — with clear information on job requirements, organizational norms, and performance expectations — not only enhances employee productivity but helps increase loyalty and engagement, and decrease s turnover .

• JP Julia Phelan , Ph.D. is a learning design consultant and expert in applying learning science principles to create effective learning experiences. She works with organizations to help build a strong workplace learning culture by improving training design, implementation, and outcomes. She is the co-founder of To Eleven , and a former UCLA education research scientist. Connect with her on LinkedIn .

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I was put on an unfair PIP by my toxic manager. Here's how I fought it and went on to get promoted.

• When this store manager at L'Oreal was asked to meet with her manager and HR, alarm bells went off.
• She was put on a performance improvement plan she thought was unfair by a manager she found toxic.
• She said keeping receipts and not being afraid to stand up for yourself were key to surviving PIP. 

This as-told-to essay is based on a transcribed conversation with a former employee at L'Oreal who spoke on the condition of anonymity to protect their career. Business Insider has verified their employment at L'Oreal and their performance improvement plan. The conversation has been edited for length and clarity.

I'd been working at L'Oreal for about two and a half years when I got an alarming text from my manager.

She said she was meeting with HR and asked me to come to a café to speak with her afterward. I was a store manager at the time. When I arrived at the café, the HR person was still sitting at the table. Alarm bells started going off.

I sat down, feeling confused. They pulled out this piece of paper and told me: "Here are all the things you've done wrong, and if you don't get your act together, we're going to let you go in 30 days."

I was shocked. I had always received good reviews and had been promoted to retail store manager three months before. It was bizarre.

The PIP felt unwarranted

The whole performance improvement plan felt like a reach. They couldn't tell me anything I was doing wrong that I needed to change.

It wasn't that the things on the PIP were made up. They just didn't feel worthy of being on a performance plan.

One of the reasons I was given my PIP was because I hadn't trained the team for our store's reopening after recent renovations. My manager hadn't told me when the store was reopening, so I had yet to start the training. I had the receipts to prove all of this.

Another reason for the PIP was I had misspoken at an event. When the global president of L'Oreal asked me a question about sales I said the wrong figure in my jetlagged state. In the same moment, I checked my binder, where I had the correct figure written down, and quickly corrected myself. Having this instance as a reason for being put on PIP was ridiculous to me. I thought, "I'm only human. Can I not make one mistake?"

Related stories

On the PIP, it said I need to retrain the team and give weekly status updates to my manager and my manager's boss.

A PIP should be a last resort, not a first warning

As a manager at L'Oreal, I was told that a PIP should never be the first step. You should speak to the employee first and try to rectify the situation. If that doesn't work, the manager should pull in their manager to talk to the employee. If that still doesn't correct the behavior, you can start to think about a PIP. But in my case, it was the first step.

I decided during the meeting not to try to justify myself to my manager. This felt more personal than performance-based: I would speak to HR.

I reached out to HR after the PIP meeting, and started to send her all the receipts. Evidence that my boss and I had had meetings about the store reopening, where I updated her on progress. I also showed HR a document I'd made in preparation for the training before I'd known about the PIP.

The main issue highlighted in the PIP was I hadn't retrained staff in time for the store reopening. I wanted HR to understand I'd never been formally asked.

For the first two weeks of the PIP, it was checking boxes. Doing the weekly status updates and whatever they had asked me to do.

The PIP faded away once HR had the full story

Once HR had all the context and was made aware that this was the first time my boss had critiqued me, it just dissolved. I was on the PIP for the rest of the month technically, but my plan wasn't spoken about again after the first two weeks.

L'Oreal had a strict culture of "Don't tell anybody anything, ever." I only told some of my closest work friends, and they were horrified. They thought I was going to be fired.

Maybe I was naive, but I never really took it as a death sentence because I knew it was unwarranted. I took it as, "If I don't do these performative check-ins, then I was at risk of being fired."

The PIP made me realize that I needed to move departments away from my toxic manager.

I was promoted 5 times after my PIP and left as a global head of department

Less than a year after this PIP happened, I was promoted out of the store into a corporate-level role. I was then working directly below my old manager's boss, whose boss is the president of L'Oreal, the same person I misquoted the sales number to. It became a joke between us about when they "tried to fire me."

I didn't get upset about this because it seemed so absurd. Years later, I discovered that my then-boss was under pressure from her boss.

I went on to be promoted another four times over six years. I left the company as the global head of my department. My salary had tripled since I was on PIP.

I advise anyone worried about being put on PIP to document everything. Have all your receipts and emails so you can stand up for yourself if you're put on PIP unfairly. Don't be afraid to take matters into your own hands — and remember that PIP doesn't have to be a death sentence.

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Trains Moscow to Elektrostal: Times, Prices and Tickets

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Moscow to Elektrostal by train

The journey from Moscow to Elektrostal by train is 32.44 mi and takes 2 hr 7 min. There are 71 connections per day, with the first departure at 12:15 AM and the last at 11:46 PM. It is possible to travel from Moscow to Elektrostal by train for as little as or as much as . The best price for this journey is .

Get from Moscow to Elektrostal with Virail

Virail's search tool will provide you with the options you need when you want to go from Moscow to Elektrostal. All you need to do is enter the dates of your planned journey, and let us take care of everything else. Our engine does the hard work, searching through thousands of routes offered by our trusted travel partners to show you options for traveling by train, bus, plane, or carpool. You can filter the results to suit your needs. There are a number of filtering options, including price, one-way or round trip, departure or arrival time, duration of journey, or number of connections. Soon you'll find the best choice for your journey. When you're ready, Virail will transfer you to the provider's website to complete the booking. No matter where you're going, get there with Virail.

How can I find the cheapest train tickets to get from Moscow to Elektrostal?

Prices will vary when you travel from Moscow to Elektrostal. On average, though, you'll pay about for a train ticket. You can find train tickets for prices as low as , but it may require some flexibility with your travel plans. If you're looking for a low price, you may need to prepare to spend more time in transit. You can also often find cheaper train tickets at particular times of day, or on certain days of the week. Of course, ticket prices often change during the year, too; expect to pay more in peak season. For the lowest prices, it's usually best to make your reservation in advance. Be careful, though, as many providers do not offer refunds or exchanges on their cheapest train tickets. Unfortunately, no price was found for your trip from Moscow to Elektrostal. Selecting a new departure or arrival city, without dramatically changing your itinerary could help you find price results. Prices will vary when you travel from Moscow to Elektrostal. On average, though, you'll pay about for a train ticket. If you're looking for a low price, you may need to prepare to spend more time in transit. You can also often find cheaper train tickets at particular times of day, or on certain days of the week. Of course, ticket prices often change during the year, too; expect to pay more in peak season. For the lowest prices, it's usually best to make your reservation in advance. Be careful, though, as many providers do not offer refunds or exchanges on their cheapest train tickets.

How long does it take to get from Moscow to Elektrostal by train?

The journey between Moscow and Elektrostal by train is approximately 32.44 mi. It will take you more or less 2 hr 7 min to complete this journey. This average figure does not take into account any delays that might arise on your route in exceptional circumstances. If you are planning to make a connection or operating on a tight schedule, give yourself plenty of time. The distance between Moscow and Elektrostal is around 32.44 mi. Depending on the exact route and provider you travel with, your journey time can vary. On average, this journey will take approximately 2 hr 7 min. However, the fastest routes between Moscow and Elektrostal take 1 hr 3 min. If a fast journey is a priority for you when traveling, look out for express services that may get you there faster. Some flexibility may be necessary when booking. Often, these services only leave at particular times of day - or even on certain days of the week. You may also find a faster journey by taking an indirect route and connecting in another station along the way.

How many journeys from Moscow to Elektrostal are there every day?

On average, there are 71 daily departures from Moscow to Elektrostal. However, there may be more or less on different days. Providers' timetables can change on certain days of the week or public holidays, and many also vary at particular times of year. Some providers change their schedules during the summer season, for example. At very busy times, there may be up to departures each day. The providers that travel along this route include , and each operates according to their own specific schedules. As a traveler, you may prefer a direct journey, or you may not mind making changes and connections. If you have heavy suitcases, a direct journey could be best; otherwise, you might be able to save money and enjoy more flexibility by making a change along the way. Every day, there are an average of 18 departures from Moscow which travel directly to Elektrostal. There are 53 journeys with one change or more. Unfortunately, no connection was found for your trip from Moscow to Elektrostal. Selecting a new departure or arrival city, without dramatically changing your itinerary could help you find connections.

Book in advance and save

If you're looking for the best deal for your trip from Moscow to Elektrostal, booking train tickets in advance is a great way to save money, but keep in mind that advance tickets are usually not available until 3 months before your travel date.

Stay flexible with your travel time and explore off-peak journeys

Planning your trips around off-peak travel times not only means that you'll be able to avoid the crowds, but can also end up saving you money. Being flexible with your schedule and considering alternative routes or times will significantly impact the amount of money you spend on getting from Moscow to Elektrostal.

Always check special offers

Checking on the latest deals can help save a lot of money, making it worth taking the time to browse and compare prices. So make sure you get the best deal on your ticket and take advantage of special fares for children, youth and seniors as well as discounts for groups.

Unlock the potential of slower trains or connecting trains

If you're planning a trip with some flexible time, why not opt for the scenic route? Taking slower trains or connecting trains that make more stops may save you money on your ticket – definitely worth considering if it fits in your schedule.

Best time to book cheap train tickets from Moscow to Elektrostal

The cheapest Moscow - Elektrostal train tickets can be found for as low as $35.01 if you’re lucky, or $54.00 on average. The most expensive ticket can cost as much as $77.49.

Find the best day to travel to Elektrostal by train

When travelling to Elektrostal by train, if you want to avoid crowds you can check how frequently our customers are travelling in the next 30-days using the graph below. On average, the peak hours to travel are between 6:30am and 9am in the morning, or between 4pm and 7pm in the evening. Please keep this in mind when travelling to your point of departure as you may need some extra time to arrive, particularly in big cities!

Moscow to Elektrostal CO2 Emissions by Train

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Gusto Review 2024 (Pricing, Pros and Cons)

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Running payroll for your business can be daunting, and doing payroll yourself can be time-consuming. This is why entire departments at large companies are dedicated to running payroll, reimbursements and keeping employees happy with their salaries. However, small businesses may not have the same amount of resources as large companies and need more professional, efficient and effective solutions than a simple DIY payroll using a spreadsheet and a checkbook.

Luckily, there are automated payroll solutions out there that streamline your business’s payroll process. Payroll software automates employee pay and maintains human resource (HR) records, saving you time and ensuring accuracy and compliance.

Gusto is one of these automated solutions. Gusto is an online payroll and HR administration platform for startups and small businesses that handles payroll processing and benefits administration. With competitive pricing, a good selection of features and a user-friendly approach to payroll management, Gusto is an excellent choice for a payroll software solution. In this review, we at the MarketWatch Guides team will look at Gusto’s features and prices, then compare its offerings to other top-rated solutions.

What Is Gusto?

Gusto is a cloud-based, full-service payroll and HR software designed for evolving and growing U.S.-based startups and small businesses. Key features of all Gusto payroll accounts include the choice of automated or manual payroll for employees and contractors, self-service profiles, software integrations, tax filing, onboarding of new employees, time tracking and benefits administration. 

Running regular payroll on Gusto is easy and flexible. Once you set a salary or hourly rate in an employee’s profile, Gusto will automatically run payroll for you on your schedule. Deductions, payroll taxes and direct deposit are all automated.

With Gusto, employees can manage their personal information in their individual profile accounts. They can view pay stubs and tax documents, edit tax information, see available PTO and clock in and out. Employees can also view and enroll in or out of benefits.

Gusto also syncs with third-party software solutions. It integrates with various accounting, time tracking, performance and expense management, point-of-sale and many other business software applications. Integrations include popular apps, such as Xero, QuickBooks, Slack and Shopify. 

Gusto files W-4s and W-9s as part of their employee profile setup. It also provides employees their verified W-2s and 1099s every January for tax season. 

Hiring and onboarding new employees is a quick and efficient process with Gusto. Features include application tracking, background checks, offer letter templates, onboarding checklists and self-onboarding with e-signatures of new-hire paperwork and tax documents. 

Gusto time tools include time tracking and PTO management. It suggests common PTO policies to choose from, but you can always create your own policy. With time tracking, team members can clock in and out, you can approve hours and from there, payroll is automatically prepared. Note that Gusto’s Simple plan only supports time tracking via third-party integrations, while built-in time tracking is available to Plus and Premium members.

Gusto helps you with robust employee benefits offerings. These include:

• Health benefits: Purchase health, dental and vision insurance plans and administer benefits to employees on the platform. If you already offer health insurance, you can sync your existing plans and add your broker to Gusto. Health savings accounts and flexible spending accounts are also available.
• Commuter benefits: This helps employees pay for qualified commuting expenses. You must have health insurance through Gusto if you want to take advantage of their commuter benefits.
• Life and disability insurance: Buy employee life, short-term disability and long-term disability insurance plans, and administer them on the platform.
• Retirement benefits: Choose a budget-friendly 401(k) plan or sync with your current provider. 
• Workers compensation: Workers comp enrollment is fast and easy, and it covers team member medical expenses and wage replacement if injured on the job.

Regardless of what features you use, you will always have access to trained professionals to provide you with support. Gusto customers can contact customer support via live chat, email or phone. The top-tier plan includes certified HR professionals and a priority support team. 

Why Gusto Stands Out

As a full-service payroll solution, Gusto provides several ways to automate payroll and HR tasks, saving you time. Once set up, you can run payroll automatically and as often as you need at no additional cost, unlike some of its competitors. In addition, Gusto integrates with hundreds of business software. This ability to sync data means less time spent on manual entry.

Gusto’s employee portal access is a step above many of its competitors and is available at all subscription levels. It allows for easy and fast self-onboarding for new employees. Once they’re in the system, they can manage their important information through the employee portal or the Gusto Wallet app, which includes financial wellness tools. Plus, employees have lifetime access to Gusto as long as they still use the email associated with the account. So, if an employee leaves the company and needs access to their pay stubs years later, they can still view and download them on Gusto. Employees still have access even if their former company no longer uses Gusto.

Gusto has a strong customer support system available to you regardless of your plan level. You can contact customer support via phone, live chat or email, and you will get a response from an actual human. This is especially helpful when you are setting up payroll and benefits for the first time. However, note that support is not available during weekends.

Many key features crucial to running a small business are available with the lowest-tier Simple plan, making Gusto an affordable choice. Health benefits administration and standard hiring and onboarding tools are also available at the Simple level for no additional cost. Plus, Gusto has transparent pricing with no hidden fees. 

Gusto Pricing and Plans

Different businesses will have different levels of resources at their disposal for necessary business expenses, including payroll. Luckily, Gusto has flexibility for their customers who are at various stages of growth.

Gusto offers three pricing models — Simple, Plus and Premium — for businesses that need to manage payroll for full-time employees and contractors. As your business grows, you can upgrade your plan at any time or downgrade if you find you aren’t utilizing the more advanced features. Plus, with no long-term contracts, you can cancel anytime. 

Gusto works with a flat monthly payment that is based on available features. On top of that, you pay an additional fee per employee a month. Take a look at our breakdown of each of Gusto’s plans.

For those employers who only manage contractors, Gusto has a Contractor Only plan that is currently $0 a month for the first six months, plus $6 a month per contractor. After six months, the flat monthly price increases to $35. Features include:

• Unlimited contractor payments in all 50 states
• Four-day direct deposit
• New hire reporting

Note that aside from international contractor payments, the Contractor Only plan does not allow any add-ons. Also not included is backup withholding or other contractor withholding required by state agencies.

Gusto Simple Plan

If you are a startup or small business with 10 or fewer employees, Gusto’s Simple plan, which covers basic HR functions, is for you. This plan covers single-state, full-service payroll, including W-2s and 1099s. Direct deposit is available; however, for this plan, payroll takes two to four days to process. The plan also includes simple hiring and onboarding tools, and integrations with time tracking and accounting software, expense management and more. 

Employees will have lifetime access to their Gusto account, where they can view pay stubs and tax forms. They will also be able to e-sign I-9 and W-4 forms from their profile. In addition, employees can manage their paycheck and tax documents as well as track their hours from the free Gusto Wallet app.  

This plan does come with limitations, as you would expect from the least expensive option. You will not have access to certain hiring and onboarding tools, time tracking (which some companies need for running payroll, especially if they employ hourly or contract freelancers), project tracking and much more. If dedicated HR professionals and customer support are crucial for your business, then the Simple plan might not be right for you.

Gusto Plus Plan

Gusto’s Plus plan is best for businesses that hire in more than one state, have twenty or more employees and need more dedicated support. This plan includes everything in the Simple plan, plus next-day direct deposit and PTO management. Time tracking tools are available as well as project tracking tools, advanced hiring and onboarding tools, workforce cost reports and team management tools. 

The Plus plan does not include dedicated team support or performance reviews, which might be very important to certain businesses.

Gusto Premium Plan

Finally, Gusto’s Premium plan is great for small to mid-sized businesses with 30 or more employees. This option offers everything in the Simple and Plus plans as well as the most support and automation for all your payroll needs. To help you meet the needs of your growing team, you will have access to certified HR professionals and to a dedicated support manager. 

With custom pricing, this tier also provides a complete HR resource center, compliance alerts, full-service payroll migration and account setup and health insurance broker integration. 

While this powerful plan includes it all, the price point might be prohibitive for companies that are still in early growth mode.

Gusto Add-Ons

You can customize any of the Gusto plans with their helpful add-ons. Premium plan members receive discounts and waived fees for features like R&D tax services, broker integration, Guideline 401(k)s and more. Here are some of Gusto’s additional features:

• International contractor payments
• State tax registration (pricing varies by state)
• R&D tax credits (pay 15% of identified tax credits)
• Workers’ compensation (pay only for premiums, no administration fees)
• Health, life and disability insurance (pay only for premiums, no administration fees)
• Health insurance broker integration ($6/month per eligible employee)
• 401(k) retirement savings (pricing varies by 401(k) integration)

Customers believe that Gusto is affordable compared to other solutions. Since many competitors aren’t forthcoming with their pricing models,  customers praise Gusto’s transparent pricing, which can easily be found on their website. On top of that, Gusto’s pricing model is flexible for the changing needs of its customers.

In addition, customers have found that Gusto is simple to use and easy to navigate. Payroll setup is intuitive. The Gusto interface walks you through every step, and running payroll will be automatic after setup. Once everything is set up, it is easy to edit employee information or add new employees. Plus, all the available integrations that pair well with payroll services further aid in saving time.

Here is a quick breakdown of Gusto’s pros:

• Simple and intuitive interface
• Streamlined onboarding
• Automated tax filings and payments
• Unlimited payroll runs
• Transparent pricing
• Ability to upgrade, downgrade or cancel at any time
• Flexible payroll schedules
• Benefits and insurance options
• Wide range of top software integrations
• HR tools for managing time off and compliance
• Lifetime employee portal access

While Gusto has a lot of positives, there are some limitations and downsides to the platform. While the company aims to address inquiries as quickly as possible and the support staff is friendly and helpful, their responses can be slow at peak times, and sometimes their response time can take multiple days. In addition, they don’t offer 24/7 support and are unavailable to help outside of their business hours. Priority support and HR support are only available at the top-tier plan or as an add-on.

Another downside is the scaling issues for businesses experiencing significant growth. Gusto won’t scale well above 100+ employees, which is why they’re preferred for small to medium-sized companies. Also, the per-person pricing gets costly as you hire more employees.

Here is a quick breakdown of Gusto’s cons:

• No free trial
• Limited payroll customization in lower-tier plans
• Won’t scale well for larger companies
• Slow response time from support
• No international employee payroll
• Additional fees for advanced features
• Limited mobile app functionality
• No time tracking or PTO management in lower-tier plan
• No same-day direct deposit

Top Gusto Alternatives

It’s important to compare and review other top-rated solutions before you choose a payroll service that fits your business requirements. To help you make an informed decision, we will look at these other top solutions — SurePayroll, ADP Run, Rippling, QuickBooks Payroll and Paychex.

While SurePayroll isn’t as upfront with their prices like Gusto, SurePayroll offers full-service and self-service plans that are budget-friendly. Both plans have no set-up fees, no extra fees for unlimited payroll runs and flexible payroll options. While SurePayroll doesn’t have Gusto’s robust suite of third-party integrations, SurePayroll includes HR library access, built-in benefits administration, time-tracking options and a mobile app for running payroll.

Both Gusto and ADP Run are cloud-based payroll systems for smaller businesses that can calculate hours and payroll, pay taxes, maintain compliance and sync with third-party business software. However, Gusto’s pricing and packages are far more transparent and accessible. That being said, ADP Run has the edge over Gusto regarding scalability. Since ADP Run integrates with the main ADP platform, transferring payroll services with them is simple if your business expands.

Like Gusto, Rippling allows for unlimited payroll runs, remits state and federal taxes, and offers health benefits and built-in benefit administration. However, Rippling is more scalable and works better for companies of all sizes. Also, while Gusto’s focus is on payroll with some HR features, Rippling consolidates payroll with HR, expense tracking, IT management and financial forecasting.

QuickBooks Payroll is like the other services mentioned here with automated payroll features for small businesses, but QuickBooks Payroll works great for those that already use QuickBooks for accounting. Beyond that, Gusto and QuickBooks Payroll are quite similar with their unlimited payroll runs, automated tax filings, reporting capabilities, modern user interfaces, ease of use and price transparency.

Paychex offers a lot in their all-in-one payroll and HR solution. Every plan offers standard payroll services and solid HR tools, such as easy employee onboarding. Higher-tier plans include human capital management (HCM) features, such as performance management. However, some HR and payroll features that are included in Gusto’s lower-tier plans — benefits administration, e-document management and more — are charged as add-on features in Paychex, which might not work for small businesses with a limited payroll budget. 

Here’s a breakdown of how Gusto measures up to the other top payroll solutions:

Gusto Mobile App

Gusto Wallet is a free, employee-facing mobile app that enables your employees to keep track of payment history, hours worked, tax documents and more. Access to this app is available to all pricing plans, but available features are dependent on the plan you choose. Employees will have access to their pay stubs and can split their paychecks between different bank accounts. In addition, they can manage time-off requests and, if you have Plus or Premium, clock in and clock out and view hours worked.

Gusto Wallet also offers a high-yield savings account to aid in earnings growth. You can set up to five personalized savings goals, and there is also the option to get a Gusto debit card you can use to withdraw cash and make purchases.

However, Gusto does not offer a mobile app in terms of running payroll. You can run payroll through Gusto on a mobile web browser, but with a somewhat clunky user interface, it isn’t as convenient as the desktop version.

Paychex, SurePay and ADP Run all have employer-facing mobile apps that allow you to run and manage payroll on the go so that you never miss running a payroll. You can also add new employees, update current employee information and manage taxes and benefits. Detailed reports of employee and company earnings are available for you to review as well. Plus, all of these apps are guaranteed to be secure and protected by industry-leading encryption.

Security and Compliance

Protecting sensitive data, maintaining trust with employees and customers and preventing financial loss are all crucial for any business, and any payroll software you consider should have security and compliance as a deep concern.

Luckily, Gusto takes data security and privacy very seriously. Their tech teams regularly test the software to prevent problems and service outages. They scan for vulnerabilities and have a bug bounty program for any bugs that are reported. In addition, Gusto’s production systems and data are backed up and encrypted regularly.

Gusto uses industry-standard encryption to keep data secure, and they have a dedicated security team that enforces secure practices and quickly responds to any security incidents. They will alert you if any fraudulent activity is suspected or occurs. In terms of account security, users are required to have configurable passwords with strong requirements. Plus, Gusto has multi-factor authentication and single sign-on options available.

In terms of benefits administration, Gusto has built-in ACA, COBRA, HIPAA and ERISA compliance. 

The Bottom Line

Gusto is an excellent choice for dynamic startups and small- to medium-sized businesses looking for a wide variety of features and affordable, transparent pricing. Even Gusto’s most affordable plan offers higher-level features, such as unlimited payroll and wage garnishments, not found in competitor plans unless you pay for the add-ons. Plus, with Gusto there are no annual contracts, so you can cancel at any time if you find Gusto is not a good fit for your company.

Keep in mind, however, that Gusto does not scale well with companies experiencing significant growth or those with over 100 employees. In addition, Gusto’s HR features aren’t as robust as some competitors and don’t include things like training and labor law posters. Ultimately, choosing a payroll service comes down to the specific features you will need. As always, reach out to multiple companies and get quotes to find the best service and pricing.

Frequently Asked Questions About Gusto

Can gusto be trusted.

Yes, with industry-standard data encryption and monitoring, Gusto can be trusted to keep your private information and data safe.

Which is better, ADP or Gusto?

For small to medium-sized businesses, Gusto is likely the better choice because of its ease of use, upfront, affordable pricing and array of features. ADP Run is a better choice for larger-sized small businesses or businesses that will grow significantly in the future.

Does Gusto have hidden fees?

Gusto’s pricing is transparent with no hidden fees. You don’t pay anything until you start the payroll process.

Who is Gusto best for?

Gusto is best for small to medium-sized businesses and startups looking to streamline their payroll process.

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