Strategic HR can play a pivotal role in aligning with business goals, much like how pro sports teams adjust their rosters based on their competitive cycle. Just as NHL teams rebuild, strive for playoffs, or aim for championships by acquiring the right talent, organizations should align their HR and talent management strategies with their business cycle to meet evolving goals. This involves workforce planning, succession strategies, and attracting the necessary capabilities to execute new business plans. By leveraging these HR processes, companies can ensure they have the talent to achieve long-term success and effectively execute their strategic vision.
With more years of experience than I care to admit analyzing statistics for the Ottawa Senators and the NHL, I've often found parallels between the strategies used in professional sports and the principles that drive effective management and HR consulting.
In my view, the methods professional sports teams use to pursue championships offer valuable lessons for organizations aiming to leverage strategic HR to achieve their business goals.
Aligning HR Strategy with Business Cycles
Sports teams move through various cycles of being a championship contender. In the NHL it is not hard to identify the teams that are true Stanley Cup contenders, those that are playoff calibre teams or trying to be one, and those that are in rebuilding mode.
Based on where they are in this competitive cycle, teams will take differing approaches to constructing their rosters. Contenders might trade away prospects or draft picks at the trade deadline to address roster gaps that may be holding them back from winning a championship. Teams trying to make the playoffs might make strategic adds through trades or free agency to try to get over that hump. Meanwhile, those that are years away from truly being in contention will focus on acquiring draft picks, prospects, and moving out veterans that will no longer be in their prime when the team is ready to contend.
These approaches are not unlike how strategic HR and workforce planning can support a business in its strategy execution. Aligning HR strategies with business goals is much like an NHL GM identifying how to construct the team’s roster and prospect pool based on where they are in their contending cycle.
Building a Talent Pipeline for Long-Term Success
Let's think about your Corporate Strategy as the NHL team’s contending cycle. Your strategy is updated, refreshed, and requires different employee capabilities at different times in your business cycle.
One of the first steps an organization should take after updating their strategic plan is to make a corresponding update to their HR or Talent Management Strategy. The HR strategy should be focusing on what needs to be accomplished to ensure the organization has the necessary capabilities to execute their strategy. This could mean new roles, a revised organization structure, different skills and competencies, or changes in leadership to move things forward.
A Stanley Cup contender may identify that they need to bring in that one key veteran or clutch goal scorer to try to win it all. A company looking to scale to the next level may identify that they need to bring in ‘been there, done that’ leadership in critical roles – maybe even a CEO – to get to the next level.
A team ready to move from rebuilding to playoff team often makes trades or free agent signings to build on the young core they have grown internally. A company executing a strategic pivot, or challenging strategy aspirations, may need to fill gaps with new capabilities in some functions or business units to support their updated strategic direction.
A rebuilding team is focused on putting in place the next wave of stars and leaders through drafting and trading for prospects. This is much like being strategic and proactive with succession planning in the corporate environment.
It is a workforce plan that is being proactive to address the future requirements of the organization. It is about having those players ready to move up to a leadership role when some of your ‘veterans’ are ready to move on or need to be replaced. It is having organizational bench-strength that de-risks attrition which could impact strategy execution.
Executing Strategy with the Right Capabilities
When a company completes a new Strategic Plan they have only just begun the journey of realizing the fruits of that plan. One of the very next steps should be utilizing strategic HR processes to identify the capability requirements to execute that strategy.
A new Talent Management strategy should address how the required organizational capability will be achieved. This includes gap analysis, attraction and retention programs, development programs, and an employee value proposition that will be attractive to the types of employees needed by the organization.
Just like the General Manager of a professional sports team needs to focus on roster construction, player development and managing through a salary cap to build a championship team, strategic HR processes can ensure an organization has the necessary organizational capabilities to execute on its strategy in both the short and longer term.
Processes like workforce planning, succession planning, leadership and employee development, talent acquisition, and employee value proposition are all critical to helping organizations compete successfully in the business world.
Getting these HR strategies and processes in place can help your organization be a champion at strategy execution.
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