Why it’s not weird to have a Vision and Mission for your HR System
I’ve often heard leaders talk about a vision for a system then proceeded to layout a detailed 3-year plan of incremental improvements. That’s a roadmap, which is needed to support the vision. The vision is different. It’s broad and often aspirational.
Think for a minute about starting your own company. One of the key parts of business building is defining the vision, mission and values. A few years ago, I did a workshop for a quickly growing small business. The owners felt like things were moving too quickly for them to effectively communicate the vision to their employees. Their employees were frustrated and felt out of touch with the purpose of the company.
We together defined the mission and values for the company, based on the owners’ vision. The team, together with their leaders, defined how they felt they should accomplish the vision. They defined their Mission. Then they defined the characteristics and behaviors that should be used on that journey – the Values. These provided norms for the team to operate so everyone was working towards the same mission.
At the end of the morning, the owners had insightful feedback and discussions with their employees. The employees felt heard and involved in where the company was going and how they could directly support that, beyond just doing their jobs. Everyone walked away energized and engaged.
OK, you’re asking, so how does that translate to an HR system?
The Vision is the ultimate purpose and aspirational guiding star for the system. The Mission is how that Vision is achieved. The Mission is what leads to the roadmap. Let’s look at two examples.
Example 1: HR System Vision & Mission
Vision: Leverage an enterprise-wide technology to effectively manage employee data and reporting; support HR process standardization and efficiencies. This is a concise purpose that will help to clearly define the boundaries and purpose for the system.
If we look at how this breaks down into a Mission:
- Produce accurate HR reports that will support functional headcount and talent planning. This provides clear focus around data integrity and data completeness to drive reporting. It also helps to prioritize decisions around those elements (hopefully) thinking first about how system changes and improvements will impact reporting. Plus, it should provide the reason to secure permanent headcount to manage HR data and reports.
- Leverage a technology platform to support and standardize all HR processes. This is a great guiding principle for organizations who are stuck on the hamster wheel of spreadsheets and email. During implementation, this helps to reinforce that processes should be standardized within the tool and can help ensure compliance for using the tool post-implementation (not slipping back to a spreadsheet because it’s more familiar).
It’s good to note that in this example there is also very little focus on usage and impact for the broader employee base. It should be clear that data and processes may be more rigid than before to ensure the Vision is achieved. This also means that HR is the primary user and utilization should be measured based on HR usage, not overall employee usage.
A utilitarian purpose for an HCM system is not a bad thing. This approach fits for many organizations who are looking for a system that primarily enables and optimizes HR. Especially in these situations, it’s important that the vision and mission are clear and broadly communicated with leadership. Frustration and dissatisfaction most likely result when there are a variety of viewpoints on the purpose of the system.
Example 2: HR System Vision & Mission
Alternatively, the Vision could be broader and more aspirational. The HCM system will: Empower the business to attract, develop and retain the best employees in the industry.
Wow – that’s broad and sounds more like an HR vision than one for a simple HR system, right? Let’s break it down into the Mission. The HR System will:
- Enable data-driven decisions for human capital planning. This gives the same focus on data integrity as well as provides the purpose for why data integrity is important. It also broadens the scope beyond just HR. Functional leaders now have a partnership stake with HR in keeping the system updated to support strategic talent planning.
- Reduce process complexity for employee events (moments that matter). This broadens the usage of the system beyond just HR. This is a system all employees should use for HR events. It also helps set boundaries around what the system should NOT be used for, which is important for a variety of reasons.
- Provide the foundation for automation and real-time integration to other enterprise systems. This is what makes the Vision relevant beyond the first two years after implementation and is the key to achieving the aspirational part of the Vision. For the system to tie into an overall consumer-like experience, focus, funding and headcount must continue to be allocated to an HR Systems program, not just for run-the-business care and feeding, but to further integrate it as a key enterprise-wide foundation. This is Mission statement is what also solidifies the strong partnership required between HR and IT/IS to achieve the Vision.
This may seem way beyond what an HR system should do. But that’s also the beauty of this example. The HR System (and team) should actually not be in the forefront of anything. The purpose of HRIS should be to directly enable the broader HR vision. The broader HR and IS/IT vision should include aspects of Employee Experience.
The moral of the story is to make sure the purpose and objectives, the vision and mission, for the system and the HRIS function is clear. This is critical for driving the approach and decision making within the implementation, for securing the right program support model post-implementation, and for aligning leadership (and employees) around how, when, and why they should use the system.
At the end of the day, most often the system is not the problem. It’s the lack of a clearly defined and communicated purpose that leads to the dissatisfaction. Before investing in switching systems, step back and take a second look at what you really want to do. Whether you decide to move to a new system or not, a clear vision and mission is critical for success.