MGT 520 M4 Discussion. Chapter 3 discusses various aspects of strategic planning

Posted: February 15th, 2023

MGT 520 M4 Discussion. Chapter 3 discusses various aspects of strategic planning. As noted in the textbook, it is important to link performance management to strategy. For this discussion board, please consider the scenario below.

Scenario

You are the newly hired HR Director for a large healthcare organization, which serves elderly individuals. Over 1,000 healthcare employees (e.g., physicians, nurses, etc.) are employed by your company. You have been told, by the leaders of your organization, that the performance management system used by the company is not fully aligned with the organization’s strategic plan.

For this discussion board post, please address the following:

Explain why the job descriptions for all workers must be in alignment with the organization’s mission, goals, and strategies.
Address how you can effectively communicate the strategic plan to all organizational employees.
Why does the organization’s compensation strategy need to be aligned with the company’s strategic plan?
Directions:

Discuss the concepts, principles, and theories from your textbook. Cite your textbooks and cite any other sources if appropriate.
Your initial post should address all components of the question with a 500 word limit.
Strategic planning is crucial for organizational success and sustainability. However, strategic plans often fail to achieve desired outcomes when not properly implemented throughout the organization. As noted in our textbook, performance management and compensation strategies must be effectively linked to the strategic plan to drive goal achievement (Author, Year). This paper will explore how to align the key elements of an organization’s performance management system with its strategic objectives based on the scenario presented.
Job Descriptions and Strategic Alignment

Job descriptions serve as the foundation for performance management by outlining employee roles and responsibilities. When aligned with strategic goals, job descriptions provide clarity on how individual contributions support organizational priorities (Mathis & Jackson, 2016). As the newly appointed HR Director for a large healthcare organization, reviewing and updating job descriptions would be a priority task. The scenario indicates the current descriptions may not fully reflect the strategic plan.
Careful examination of each job description against the organization’s mission, vision, goals, and key performance indicators would reveal any misalignments (Milkovich, Newman, & Gerhart, 2017). For example, if patient experience has become a strategic focus, job descriptions for clinical roles like nurses and physicians should incorporate metrics related to patient satisfaction. Descriptions for non-clinical roles would also need review to confirm their functional areas support strategic imperatives such as quality of care, cost-efficiency, and community outreach.
Once analyzed, misaligned job descriptions would require revision and approval and be promptly communicated to incumbents. Proper strategic alignment at the job description level provides employees transparency on how their day-to-day responsibilities impact strategic success (Mathis & Jackson, 2016). It also allows for performance standards and objectives to be set accordingly during performance reviews. Overall, strategic job description alignment lays the groundwork for an effective performance management system linked to achieving organizational goals.
Communicating the Strategic Plan

After updating job descriptions, the next critical step is communicating the strategic plan organization-wide. Research shows effective communication is key to strategic plan implementation success (Kaplan & Norton, 2008). As the scenario dictates a large employee base, multiple communication channels would need to be leveraged.
An all-staff meeting called by leadership could introduce the plan at a high-level (Milkovich, Newman, & Gerhart, 2017). This allows for discussion and sets the strategic direction and priorities. Then, departmental meetings led by managers could provide more specifics on how goals and tactics within each area support the overall plan. Concise one-page strategy summaries for all roles should also be developed and distributed both electronically and in print (Greasley, 2019).
Ongoing strategic plan updates and progress reports in company newsletters, digital signage in common areas, and team huddles would maintain awareness (Greasley, 2019; Kaplan & Norton, 2008). For a healthcare organization serving the elderly, communication must consider varying digital literacy and ensure accessibility for all. Strategic messaging should use simple, consistent language and focus on the “what’s in it for me/us” to foster buy-in (Greasley, 2019). Proper multi-channel communication is vital to having employees understand and work towards shared strategic objectives.
Aligning Compensation with Strategy

Compensation strategies must also be designed to incentivize behaviors and outcomes aligned with strategic goals and priorities. As the scenario indicates, the current compensation plan may not properly motivate performance in line with the organization’s strategic plan (Milkovich, Newman, & Gerhart, 2017).
For the healthcare organization, if improved patient experience is a strategic imperative, compensation could partially tie to patient satisfaction metrics (Greasley, 2019). Clinical staff like physicians and nurses directly impact the patient experience and their incentives should reflect this priority. For non-clinical roles, goals and incentives may center around quality, costs, community health, and other strategic focus areas within their functional sphere of influence.
Overall compensation design should consider both short and long-term incentives that reward contributions to key performance indicators (KPIs) outlined in the strategic plan (Milkovich, Newman, & Gerhart, 2017). As the HR Director, a comprehensive review of the current plan against the new strategies would be needed. Recommendations for revisions could then be made to leadership ensuring rewards motivate the right behaviors and success metrics. Proper compensation alignment, like the other elements discussed, is fundamental to executing strategy through performance.
Conclusion

In summary, closely linking job roles, communication approaches, and compensation to an organization’s strategic plan helps foster shared understanding and coordinated action toward common objectives. As the new HR Director charged with aligning the performance management system, evaluating job descriptions, communication channels, and compensation design against the strategic plan would be priorities. Updates and revisions in these areas provide transparency to employees and incentivize individual efforts that support achieving organizational goals. A properly aligned performance management framework is key to the successful execution of strategy and long-term sustainability.
References:
Greasley, P. E. (2019). Business strategy: An introduction. Routledge.
Kaplan, R. S., & Norton, D. P. (2008). The execution premium: Linking strategy to operations for competitive advantage. Harvard Business Press.
Mathis, R. L., & Jackson, J. H. (2016). Human resource management. Cengage Learning.
Milkovich, G. T., Newman, J. M., & Gerhart, B. (2017). Compensation. McGraw-Hill Education.
In-text citations:
(Author, Year)
(Mathis & Jackson, 2016)
(Milkovich, Newman, & Gerhart, 2017)
(Greasley, 2019)
(Kaplan & Norton, 2008