ABSTRACT
A great human resources (HR) strategy responds to the business strategy by encouraging beliefs, capabilities and behaviours that are consonant with that business strategy, while minimising or extinguishing those beliefs, capabilities and behaviours that are dissonant with the strategy. This is a 'best-fit' approach. The skill of a great HR professional is helping people navigate the tensions and contradictions between these principles to come up with ones that best fit the context of a given enterprise. At an everyday level, HR operations are about an alignment of business and HR strategy with the so-called 'HR Six Pack', in other words Recruitment and selection, Assessment and appraisal, Reward and recognition, Training and development, Career management, Succession management. All good HR strategies are tied to the ground by HR practices that reflect the broad vision down to the last small detail. HR can act as a huge enabler of a company culture that multiplies its collective intelligence or a massive obstacle to such things.
