Ahead of the marcus evans HR Strategy & Innovation Summit 2017, Janet Gilmore discusses how HR supports an organization’s mission by helping to advance the operational strategy

1. Interview with: Janet Gilmore, Vice
President, Human Resources
Operations Support and Strategy,
HCA
“It is vital to an organization’s mission
to closely align Human Resources (HR)
with the operational strategies, and the
annual, one to three year, and three to
five year strategic agenda of the entire
organization,” says Janet Gilmore, Vice
President, Human Resources Operations
Support and Strategy, HCA. HR must
also be proactive, not reactive, and
articulate what resources, capabilities or
staff are needed to make the plan a
reality, she adds.
Gilmore is a speaker at the marcus
evans HR Strategy & Innovation
Summit 2017, taking place in Florida,
January 22-24.
What is key to strategic alignment
within HR?
Some companies have a very explicit
and well understood strategic plan,
while others need investigative work.
Certain companies only do plans by
operating group, but it is key that HR
creates a strategy that reflects, aligns
with and enables the company strategy
on an annual, mid- and long-term
perspective. In addition, HR needs to
bring ideas into the agenda that
originate outside the company but are
key to effective workforce management.
Don’t most HR leaders do this
already? What obstacles do they
face?
They try, but some HR leaders are
overburdened with running the day-to-
day functions of the department. This
includes data management, the recruit-
ing machine, employee services and
relations, as well as disaster or business
continuity items. Time and focus is an
obstacle. In some organizations, HR has
to fight for a seat at the table. And
third, fast-moving business changes
either from inside or out, that HR has to
respond to very quickly.
What changes should HR prepare
the organization for?
Some changes are industry-specific. In
the healthcare industry the war for
talent is on a high right now and that
will continue. Economic changes in the
US are affecting all businesses. The
pharmaceuticals and manufacturing
industries are also experiencing many
changes.
Technology is a cross-industry change
that will continue to ramp up in speed.
Social media will expand and we will see
process automation even in our per-
sonal lives, with rules-based logic or
cognitive processing.
What approach is best for strategic
planning? What are the key re-
source enablers?
The first is about competency and
capability within HR, this ability around
continuous improvement, strategic
planning, aligning philosophies to goals
and projects, and driving execution.
This is a relatively new capability within
HR, and we have to devote staff to it.
We need to add people to our HR teams
with process design and project man-
agement capability, some deeper
technology expertise, a systems-
thinking or strategic planning capability,
almost business planning, to elicit needs
from different business areas that HR
supports. This is a good bucket of
resource enablers.
When we fan out to the organization to
discover the strategic road map for the
company, we must articulate what
resources will be needed to make the
plan a reality. Do we need staff, IT,
funding, a capability or a design
change? HR should be proactive, not
reactive. It is better to articulate these
needs on the front end. Technology, the
business and the workforce are all
changing too fast for us to be reactive
like in the old days. We must make sure
HR is forward-looking and coming
forward with tools, resources and
processes that can enable the business
strategy from a workforce standpoint.
HR
should be
proactive,
not
reactive
How HR Must Align with
the Business Strategy

2. T h e H R N e t w o r k –
marcus evans Summits group
delivers peer-to-peer information
on strategic matters, professional
t r e n d s a n d b r e a k t h r o u g h
innovations.
Please note that the Summit is a
closed business event and the
number of participants strictly
limited.
About the HR Strategy & Innovation Summit 2017
The HR Strategy & Innovation Summit is the premium forum bringing elite sellers and
buyers together. The Summit offers solution providers and HR executives from across
North America an intimate environment for a focused discussion of key new drivers
shaping the future of HR. Taking place at the JW Marriott Orlando, Grande Lakes,
Florida, January 22-24, the Summit includes presentations on predictive data
analytics, how to attract and maintain millennials, talent management, and the key
trends reshaping the sector.
www.hrsummit.com
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