First steps towards strategic HR management in public administration

Anyone who still regards HR work as a purely administrative function forfeits precisely the effect a modern public authority needs today.

In many local authorities and federal state agencies the HR department still runs to a familiar pattern. Posts are advertised when they fall vacant. Requests are dealt with when they come in. Contracts are administered, deadlines monitored, forms checked. This work matters and has to run reliably. But it describes only part of what HR management in public administration can and should deliver today.

Demographic change, the skills shortage and growing competition for qualified staff are altering the starting position fundamentally. Authorities that continue to see their HR work in purely operational terms fall behind. Those that establish the HR department as a strategic partner to the leadership of the administration gain a tangible advantage in the contest for staff, motivation and future viability.

From administering what exists to shaping what is to come

Strategic HR management means aligning workforce decisions consistently with the goals of the organisation. Instead of merely reacting to current vacancies, an HR department set up strategically thinks in cycles and connections. It asks which competencies the administration will need in five years, which age structure will lead to departures in the coming years and which areas are particularly prone to bottlenecks.

This forward-looking perspective presupposes that HR work is understood as a cross-cutting function accompanying every phase of an employee’s working life. From workforce planning through recruitment and induction to development and departure, the individual measures interlock. If one phase is looked at in isolation, friction arises in the others. If the whole cycle is kept in view, bottlenecks can be identified early and resources deployed where they are needed.

It is exactly this holistic view that I describe in my book Personalmanagement in der öffentlichen Verwaltung (HR management in public administration) as the central precondition for HR work that is fit for the future. The employee lifecycle supplies the structure with which tasks can be ordered logically and coordinated with one another. Measures in staff development, for instance, have a direct effect on employee retention, and careful induction often decides how long someone stays in post. Anyone who knows these connections makes better decisions at every single point of the cycle.

What strategic HR work actually consists of

The difference between operational and strategic HR work rarely shows itself in grand announcements. It shows itself in small but consequential shifts in day-to-day work.

An HR department with a strategic orientation sits at the table when specialist areas discuss their medium-term planning of tasks, and raises HR issues early. It collects data on age structure, turnover and qualifications on a regular basis and derives recommended courses of action from it, instead of merely documenting indicators. It develops staff development plans tailored to the future demands on the administration, instead of booking training courses according to availability. And it advises senior managers actively on questions of leadership, motivation and retention, instead of stepping in only when there is a conflict.

This shift succeeds only if the leadership of the administration treats HR work as a strategic matter and gives the HR department the corresponding scope, resources and hearing. Without that backing, every attempt to work more strategically gets stuck in day-to-day business. HR managers who experience exactly this often report good plans that never make it out of the drawer for want of time and support.

Three levers that make the change work

First, a robust base of data is required. Without knowing how many employees will retire over the next few years, or which competencies are missing in which areas, no one can plan ahead. Systematic workforce planning begins with meaningful data, for example from an age structure analysis that is updated regularly.

Second, clear responsibilities for strategic tasks are required. If staff development, succession planning and HR marketing have to be handled on the side, they will inevitably take second place to day-to-day business and its operational pressure. Strategic topics need responsibilities of their own and fixed time budgets in the department’s annual plan.

Third, close alignment with the senior managers in the individual areas is required. HR work does not succeed as the task of a single department. It succeeds when senior managers in the specialist areas see the HR department as a partner and involve it early, instead of contacting it only when problems become acute. Regular formats for exchange between the HR department and the managers responsible for the organisation create the commitment this needs.

The first step is what counts

No administration transforms its HR work overnight. The route usually begins with a concrete occasion: an analysis of the age structure, a first strategy discussion with the leadership of the administration, or a pilot project in a single specialist area. What is decisive is that this first step is actually taken, even if not all the data for a complete picture is available yet.

It often helps to start with a manageable, clearly visible project, for example systematic succession planning for key positions. An entry point of this kind produces tangible results quickly, convinces the sceptics in the building and creates the basis for building up and introducing further elements of strategic HR management step by step. It is important here to make progress visible, for instance through a short interim review for the leadership of the administration after the first six or twelve months. That keeps the topic on the agenda and stops it losing support as soon as day-to-day operations push their way to the fore again.

Administrative leaders who give their HR department this strategic remit are investing in the capacity of their entire organisation to act. They create the precondition for HR work to meet the skills shortage actively instead of merely running after it.