“What is strategic human resource management?” is a great question for both HR professionals and business leaders. For more than a decade, HR professionals have attempted to get a “seat at the table” with their business leaders to influence how the business is run and to elevate the importance of the HR function. In most cases, the HR team is not fully integrated with the business. Often, the senior HR professional is not involved in either strategy development or key decisions on how the business is run. This is because some business leaders don’t fully appreciate the strategic importance of the HR function, or in other cases, the HR leaders have not explained how the HR function can be strategic. Both business leaders and HR professionals can benefit from having a common understanding about the basic question, “What is strategic human resource management?” The answer is for both to work together to align the key roles of the HR function to support the overall business strategy. Here is how to do it.

Define a Talent Management strategy: The success of any business regardless of its strategy is primarily dependent upon getting the right people. In his popular business book, Good to Great, business guru Jim Collins emphasizes the importance of “getting the right people on the bus.” Getting the right people on the bus and getting them productive is the realm of human resources. The senior HR leaders who wants to be “strategic” should do the following: