During the 1970s, however, perceptions began to shift. Globalisation, deregulation, and the introduction of technology allowed personnel administrators to become more strategic. Over time, the field became known as HRM – or, Human Resource Management.

Today, Human Resources is recognised as a strategic part of business. Yet in many companies, HR professionals are still stuck dealing mainly with the manual and transactional sides of HR, instead of taking on a strategic HR role which can help support business growth by attracting and retaining high quality talent.

If this sounds familiar, here are seven strategies you can use to start shifting from transactional HR to strategic HR. Use these to position yourself as a strategic advisor in your business and start to make a positive impact on your organisation’s success.

1. Introduce employee self-service

One of the first things you can do to unburden yourself from the chains of transactional HR is to introduce employee self-service. This means giving your employees the tools to manage their own employee records. For example, giving them a tool to request holidays or allowing them to edit and maintain their personal details, such as contact information; or to access payslips when they need them.

As well as freeing up valuable time, you’ll also be creating a stronger culture, by empowering your workforce. Most cloud-based HR systems now offer employee self-service, so if you are still using spreadsheets or paper forms, now is the time to make the switch.

2. Automate your most basic processes

Transactional HR is all about moving things from one place to another. In many cases a machine can handle this, so why are you still doing it yourself? Most modern HR software will let you automate processes like sending documents and contracts, and notifying departments of changes to employee records. By automating basic processes, you free yourself up to work on the more complex, strategic tasks you were hired to do.

3. Align business goals with a people strategy

Once you have more time to think strategically, you need to think about how you will manage your workforce in a way that supports your company’s goals. If possible, speak to the senior leaders in your organisation. Find out what they want to achieve, and then work out how you can manage your people differently to help them achieve this.

4. Delegate repetitive tasks

Technology is getting more and more sophisticated and it seems machines today are doing so much more than we ever imagined was possible. All you need do is look at the recent rise of AI technology, like CHatGPT, to see how impactful this technology can be.

But not everything can be automated (just yet anyway). There might still be day-to-day administration tasks to deal with and if you can’t automate them, then you need to manually process them. And when it comes to people management, automation is not always the answer.

However, if you’re spending too much time doing manual tasks yourself, you’re clogging up your valuable schedule with tasks that don’t make a meaningful impact. This leaves little time to focus on developing your people strategy.

If possible, delegate these transactional tasks to somebody who will do them accurately and efficiently. Note down all your tasks and separate the transactional tasks that can’t be automated, from the strategic areas that need your attention. Delegating these transactional tasks means you can spend your time applying your knowledge and skills to your company’s long-term goals.

5. Start thinking three steps ahead

As HR professionals, it seems we have a thousand fires to put out on a daily basis. But you won’t get very far strategically if you’re only thinking short term.

Short-term thinking is extinguishing flames. Mid-term thinking is finding the source of the fire. But the point you want to be at is fireproofing your whole building! If you start thinking three steps ahead, you’ll soon be aligning HR with your business’s bigger strategy and working towards becoming a strategic business partner.

6. Report on meaningful workforce metrics

Depending on the people who run your company, you might have a hard time sharing your insights with the senior leaders in your organisation. This isn’t a reason to quit – you simply need to be proactive and find a way to get the message across!

With time and practice, you’ll start to learn which statistics matter, and which metrics should be measured. To help you get started, here are five HR metrics to focus your attention on:

• Cost per hire
• Turnover
• Absence
• Job satisfaction and/or engagement
• Performance

If you still use spreadsheets, you can generate basic reports on the data you store. But if you want an easier way to discover insights and generate powerful reports, it might be time to consider cloud-based HR software.

7. Stay ahead of the trends

Beyond supporting specific business goals, it pays to stay ahead of the curve. The world of HR is changing constantly, and if you’re aware of what’s happening, you’re in the best position to help your organisation adapt and evolve.

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