Chapter 2: Strategy and Human Resources Planning

Life Planning

This chapter suggested that HRM is closely linked to the strategic plans of the organization. Likewise, your career plans and strategies for achieving them should be closely linked to your life plans. The first step in planning is to work with the senior management team to delineate organizational objectives or goals from which HR goals can be derived. Similarly, the first step in career planning is to delineate life plans from which career plans can be derived.

The purpose of the exercise in this chapter is to start you thinking about your goals in life. So, find a quiet place where you will not be interrupted and allocate 30 minutes to completing the following activities:

In two minutes, write down everything you want to do or accomplish in your lifetime.

In two minutes, write down everything you want to do or accomplish in the next three years.

Now, assume you have a brain tumour and will die within six months. Write down everything you would do with the last six months of your life.

Now, review your responses and assign an "a" to those items that are most important to you, a "b" to those items that come next in significance, and a "c" beside the rest.

Next, consider the items to which you assigned an "a." Choose the most important and write "1" beside it (this is your most important life goal). Assign number rankings to the rest of your "a" items. Repeat this ranking exercise for your "b" and "c" items. You now have a life plan.