How to Understand the Big Picture

This quick post is really for those HR professionals who are not at the VP, EVP, or CHRO level. 


Make sure you see the big picture in your organization and not be fixated on the lower level HR issues you deal with on a daily basis. To do this you need to understand the "Big Picture" and understand the cornerstones of the strategy, technology corridors your company plays in and the frontiers your organization will play in and blaze new trails. 


So how do you do this when you are confronted with the day-to-day issues and projects you have to deal with to meet your VPHR's or CHRO's objectives. I found that the best way is to make sure you and your fellow HR staffers understand the strategy from a grass roots basis. What do I mean from that, here is what and how to do it:

• make sure you staff meetings have on the agenda the overall strategy of the business,
• ensure that your head of HR also provides a detailed map of how the company intends to address each strategy component, and how that effects your direct HR responsibility,
• understand completely what the competitive issues are and how the organization will address them,
• make sure that the cornerstones of the organizational strategy is linked to your division or line of sight responsibility, and 
• make sure that the managers and superiors you manage have the same understanding.

I have found though my many years of HR experience that the "Big Picture" is only understood by a choice few and the information does not always flow down stream the way it should. I have also found that if you are not excited about what you do and the company you work for your interest is not where it should be and for that reason, you should move on or get lost in the maze. 


A quick word to the wise - be aggressive, assertive, and intelligent on how you get the information without making waves along the way.