Secrets to success : human capital management strategy

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to detail four elements that drive human capital management (HCM) strategies that get business results. Design/methodology/approach: Analysis of APQC’s Open Standards Benchmarking® data and human capital management best practices case studies reveals how to establish the groundwork and successfully execute an HCM strategy. Findings: A successful HCM strategy requires specific groundwork and execution to support workforce performance. In terms of groundwork, HR must display strategic competence and business insight. Then, HR must establish a solid implementation infrastructure and follow-up with a comprehensive results assessment. Originality/value: Many HR professionals understand what needs to go into an HCM plan for compensation and benefits, long-term workforce strategy, succession, diversity, learning, retention and HR technology updates and upgrades. This paper details how best-practice organizations successfully build and implement such plans and what tangible results an HR function can expect from adopting the four detailed best practices.