Assignment: Identifying Gaps
For this Assignment, refer to the organization you selected in Week 1, and identify the organization’s strategies and business goals by examining the associated 10-K Form or, if not readily identified, by using deductive logic (i.e., to deduce what they are based on information that is available). In addition, consider the organization’s HR activities and how they align with the long-term strategies and business goals of the organization.
By Day 7
Write a 2- to 3-page academic paper with an Appendix addressing and integrating the following content:
First, using the required template, conduct an HR SWOT analysis for your organization’s HR, identifying their internal strengths and weaknesses, along with the external opportunities and threats (Note: Assumptions may need to be made based on company background available).
Next, identify your organization’s top 3–5 business strategies (*assumptions and critical thinking/deductive logic, often used in planning, will need to be used) to be used in the HR Gap Analysis.
Using the required template, conduct an HR Gap Analysis and identify what HR strategies* are in place to support the key 3–5 strategies of your chosen organization. In contrasting current HR strategies against the key strategies of that organization, gaps will likely be identified.
These gaps in HR strategies—missing now but needed for the year ahead—must support the company’s planned direction as depicted in their key strategies, and together with the findings of the SWOT analysis, will become the new HR strategies in the next Annual HR Operating Plan.
This will be part of your Final HR Operating Plan, as an Appendix and will serve as the basis for the new HR strategies you will develop in the AHROP.
Analyze the HR SWOT and Gap analyses within the paper, referring to the findings as presented in each Matrix in the Appendix. Compare and contrast potential reasons for the gaps and provide potential solutions (1–2 sentences per solution) moving forward.
*Note: It is key to recognize that strategies are rarely made public because competitors would find that very helpful to them, you will need to make assumptions or use deductive logic and critical thinking skills to determine what they are. You can do this based on the company’s website and their 10-K Form (http://investing.businessweek.com/research/common/symbollookup/symbollookup.asp).
