Business Fundamentals

Developing a human resource mission statement sample from scratch? It could be a great opportunity to flex your strategic HR muscles.

Earlier this week I talked about understanding the business as a part of theÂ strategic HR planning process. Then I ran into something else that made me think of another area where we can align our HR practices with those of the business.

human resource mission statement sample One of my friends is going through school to get his MBA right now, and he using upstartHR as his “model” to develop. That basically means that we’ll have to do forecasting, develop a business plan, etc. as part of that. I thought it would be a fun exercise to get some outside insight into the business, but even the most basic piece (a mission statement) challenged me to step back and look at things from the 30,000 foot view.

That’s a good thing, by the way.

My human resource mission statement sample

So we walked through the process of developing a mission statement, and here’s what I boiled the entire purpose of upstartHR down to:

Provide human resource products and services that improve the human resources field, one professional at a time.

I don’t know about you, but that feels pretty powerful to me! It inspires me to think about the higher calling I have beyond just “write another blog post for Friday.” Each of you really matter to me, and I think of the interactions in person and via email that I have with you all every time I sit down to write.

So that’s my little piece of the world, but what about you in your role as an HR professional?

Now, let’s jump back into the business and look at how to develop a human resource mission statement sample from an existing organization-wide mission.

Creating your own human resource mission statement

Here’s a snippet from the textbook on what a mission statement is for:

YourÂ mission statementÂ is meant to be a simple, internal message for you and your employees: What is the core value and purpose of the company? What is the vision, which will guide company decisions, now and in the future? Think of it as the rally cry for you and your employees; this is the reason why you do what you do, every day. All other goals should support this mission.

Makes sense, right? Now, let’s update that to reflect the process of human resource mission statement sample development:

Your HR mission statementÂ is meant to be aÂ simple, internal message for you, your leaders, and your employees: What is the core value and purpose of the HR function in this company? What is the vision, which will guide talent management decisions, now and in the future? Think of it as the rally cry for you and your HR staff; this is the reason why you do what you do, every day. All other goals should support this mission.

If we have to break it down into bullets, here’s what I have:

Simple
Depict core purpose of HR
Rallying cry

Don’t make it complex and confusing. If you can’t share it with your employees without a two page explanation, it’s not worth developing in the first place.

Show/share the core purpose of the HR function within your specific organization. Don’t make people wonder what you do everyday–it should be pretty darn obvious.

Finally (the fun one!) it should be a rallying cry. You should be able to use your human resource mission statement sample to lift your spirits when the going gets tough. It needs to be inspirational if at all possible.

Based on my company’s core values and culture, my view of HR is this:

Deliver HR support that enables our staff to meet customer needs on time, every time.

Short and sweet, but it covers about everything I run into in the course of a week. It includes our #1 core value (on time, every time). It focuses on our staff, not my own preferences. And it doesn’t stick to any specific area of HR, it includes recruiting the right people, locking in great benefits for our team, communicating changes to ensure operations are not interrupted, etc.

All that said, does anyone have a human resource mission statement sample to share? I’d love to see some examples.Â

In an effort to try and keep a handle on the products and services my company provides (hint: great HR pros have a solid understanding of the business side of the organization), I picked up a defense industry magazine the other day. The main article focused on what great program managers know about product support. However, it was an easy leap of the imagination to see how the points in the article could apply to my profession as well.

I’m the life cycle manager: the product support buck stops with me-I translated this to “I’m the people manager; the employee support buck stops with me.” Sometimes organizations lose sight of how easy routine, noncritical tasks should be for employees. Changing an address or asking a benefits question shouldn’t take a dozen steps or an unwieldy process. If your company is doing this, put your foot down. Support your people however you can (use an employee HR portal if you have to) and help remove the obstacles that are keeping them from doing their best work.
Everything that really matters can be summed up in a single page-good luck shrinking that 957 page employee handbook; you know, the one that people have to sign on day 1 saying they’ve read and understand? Get what really matters on a page and use it extensively. One of my favorite quotes is “your values statement should be the most tattered piece of paper in your organization.” Use it so often that you memorize it word for word, and then start living it. Continue reading →