HR strategy template with a worked example

HR strategy template

An HR strategy sets out what the business plan requires from the workforce and how the organization will hire, develop, pay and keep the people needed to deliver it. It is owned by the chief people officer and agreed with the chief executive, the finance lead and the operations leaders who manage most of the workforce.

Horizon: 2 years4 priorities · 11 outcomes

Use this template

What this hR strategy template includes

ContextThe situation, the challenges to solve, and what is deliberately left out.
Business alignmentWhat the business plan requires from the workforce.
Workforce todayThe facts about the current workforce.
Employee lifecycleThe main change planned at each stage of employment.
HR operating modelHow the HR function is organized and resourced.
Priorities and measuresThree to five priorities, each with an owner, outcomes with a baseline and target, and the initiatives behind them.

HR strategy example

A complete hR strategy for a fictional organization: casual dining restaurant group with 46 company-owned locations in three states, opening 22 more.

Worked exampleHR strategy

Organization	Casual dining restaurant group with 46 company-owned locations in three states, opening 22 more (2,200 staff)
Ambition	Open 22 restaurants by the end of 2028 with general managers we developed ourselves and hourly teams that stay long enough to become good at the job.
Horizon	2 years

Context

Where we are and what we are choosing

The group runs 46 restaurants with $156 million in sales and plans to reach 68 by the end of 2028. It employs 1,950 hourly team members, 180 salaried restaurant managers and 70 support center staff. Hourly turnover is 118% a year, and 44% of new hourly hires leave within 90 days. Replacing them costs about $5.3 million a year at $2,300 per departure. Manager turnover is 38%. Only 35% of general manager appointments are internal, and three of the last five openings started short-staffed. Schedules are posted five days ahead on average. Labor runs at 32.5% of sales.

Challenges

The opening plan needs about 50 general manager appointments in two years, 22 for new restaurants and the rest to replace leavers, and the bench holds six people who are ready now.
New hourly hires leave before they are trained. The exit data we have points to unpredictable schedules, a rushed first week and the shift manager, ahead of pay.
HR runs on paper and separate systems. New-hire paperwork is still paper in 19 restaurants, and general managers spend 6.5 hours a week on HR administration.

We will focus on

The first 90 days of hourly employment, where most turnover happens and most replacement cost is spent.
An internal path from shift supervisor to general manager, since restaurants led by a general manager with two or more years of tenure have 31 points less hourly turnover.
One HR, scheduling and payroll platform, so restaurant managers get time back and HR can see the workforce.

We will not

Paying above market across the board. Base pay stays at the local median; a $1 an hour premium for all hourly staff would cost about $3 million a year, and schedules and managers drive more departures than pay.
Hiring general managers from competitors to staff the opening plan. External general managers have left at twice the rate of internal ones in their first year.
A dedicated HR person in every restaurant. Regional HR partners cover 15 to 17 restaurants each, and the general manager remains the people leader.

Business alignment

Business goal	People implication
Open 22 restaurants by the end of 2028	22 general managers, 22 kitchen managers and about 950 hourly hires, with each team in place two weeks before opening
Hold labor cost at 32.5% of sales	Pay increases are funded by lower turnover and overtime, not by cutting scheduled hours
Raise guest satisfaction from 4.2 to 4.5 out of 5	Stable teams: restaurants with tenured general managers already score 0.3 higher
Grow same-restaurant sales 4% a year	Peak shifts fully staffed; 9% of weekend shifts currently run short
Enter a fourth state in 2028	A regional HR partner hired six months ahead, and 14-day schedule posting in place before the first opening there

Workforce today

Headcount	2,200 people: 1,950 hourly team members (61% part-time), 180 salaried restaurant managers and 70 in the support center. The plan takes total headcount to about 3,250 by the end of 2028.
Turnover	Hourly turnover is 118% a year, with 44% of new hires gone inside 90 days. Restaurant manager turnover is 38% and general manager turnover is 28%. Kitchen roles turn over faster than front of house.
Engagement	Employee net promoter score is 4, on a 51% survey response rate. The lowest-scoring items are schedule predictability and whether the manager cares about development. Scores vary more between restaurants than between regions.
Critical roles	General manager and kitchen manager. Each restaurant has one of each, both are hard to hire externally, and vacancies in either role show up within weeks in guest scores and hourly turnover.

Employee lifecycle

Stage	Today	Planned change
Hiring	Each general manager recruits alone from walk-ins and job boards; 19 days to fill an hourly role	Mobile apply, interview scheduling by text, and a shared recruiting team for openings
Onboarding	Paper forms; training depends on who is on shift	Paperwork done by phone before day one; a five-shift training plan with a certified trainer
Scheduling and pay	Schedules posted five days ahead; wage rates vary by restaurant for the same role	Schedules posted 14 days ahead; one pay structure with steps at 6 and 12 months
Development	No defined path; promotion depends on the general manager	Four-step path from team member to general manager, with a skills sign-off and a pay step at each
Performance	Annual review for managers only, often late	Quarterly check-ins for managers; a restaurant people scorecard reviewed with operations each period
Exit	Exit reasons recorded for 20% of departures	A three-question text survey for every departure and stay interviews at 30 and 60 days

HR operating model

Structure	A team of 11 today: chief people officer, three regional HR partners, a talent acquisition lead with two recruiters, two payroll and benefits specialists, a learning and development lead and an HR operations lead. It grows to 17 by the end of 2028, adding a fourth HR partner, two opening recruiters, two field trainers and an employee relations specialist.
Technology	Payroll, scheduling and applicant tracking are separate systems today, and the applicant system is used for managers only. They are replaced by one HR, payroll and scheduling platform with a mobile app for team members, live in all restaurants by Q1 2028.
HR to employee ratio	1 to 200 today, moving to about 1 to 190 at 3,250 employees. That is lean, and it holds only if general managers stay the first point of contact and routine transactions move to self-service.

Priorities and measures

Priority 1Owner: Chief People Officer

Keep hourly team members past their first 90 days

Nearly half of new hourly hires leave within 90 days, before they are productive. Each point of annual turnover removed is worth roughly $45,000 at current headcount.

Outcome	Baseline	Target	Due
Annual hourly turnoverMilestones: 104% by Q4 2027	118%	88%	Q4 2028
New hourly hires who leave within 90 daysMilestones: 36% by Q4 2027	44%	28%	Q4 2028
Employee net promoter scoreMilestones: 14 points by Q4 2027	4 points	25 points	Q4 2028

Initiatives

Introduce a five-shift training plan with a certified trainer in every restaurant
Run stay interviews at 30 and 60 days for every new hourly hire
Move to one pay structure with steps at 6 and 12 months of tenure
Add 90-day retention to the general manager bonus scorecard

Targets are illustrative. Adapt them to your baseline before you start.

Priority 2Owner: Learning and Development Lead

Grow general managers from within

The plan needs about 50 general manager appointments in two years and the bench holds six. Internal general managers stay longer and run restaurants with lower turnover.

Outcome	Baseline	Target	Due
General manager appointments filled internallyMilestones: 50% by Q4 2027	35%	70%	Q4 2028
Managers assessed as ready now for a general manager roleMilestones: 15 managers by Q4 2027	6 managers	24 managers	Q4 2028
Annual restaurant manager turnoverMilestones: 31% by Q4 2027	38%	25%	Q4 2028

Initiatives

Define the four-step path from team member to general manager with skills sign-offs
Run a nine-month general manager readiness program in cohorts of 12
Hold talent reviews with each regional director twice a year
Designate eight training restaurants where future general managers complete a rotation

Targets are illustrative. Adapt them to your baseline before you start.

Priority 3Owner: Talent Acquisition Lead

Staff every opening before the doors open

Three of the last five restaurants opened short-staffed and took four months to reach sales targets. Twenty-two openings need about 950 hourly hires on a fixed timetable.

Outcome	Baseline	Target	Due
New restaurants fully staffed two weeks before openingMilestones: 75% by Q4 2027	40%	95%	Q4 2028
Average time to fill an hourly roleMilestones: 13 days by Q4 2027	19 days	10 days	Q4 2028

Initiatives

Create a two-person opening recruiting team that starts 12 weeks before each opening
Introduce mobile apply and interview scheduling by text for all hourly roles
Name the general manager and kitchen manager for each new restaurant 16 weeks ahead
Pay a referral bonus in two parts, at 30 and 90 days

Targets are illustrative. Adapt them to your baseline before you start.

Priority 4Owner: HR Operations Lead

Run people operations on one platform

Paper onboarding and separate payroll and scheduling systems cost general managers 6.5 hours a week and hide basic workforce data. Predictable schedules also depend on it.

Outcome	Baseline	Target	Due
Shifts posted at least 14 days aheadMilestones: 65% by Q4 2027	22%	95%	Q2 2028
Payroll corrections per 1,000 paychecksMilestones: 9 corrections by Q4 2027	14 corrections	4 corrections	Q4 2028
Weekly general manager time spent on HR administrationMilestones: 5 hours by Q4 2027	6.5 hours	3 hours	Q4 2028

Initiatives

Select and roll out one HR, payroll and scheduling platform, region by region
Move new-hire paperwork to mobile completion before the first shift
Set a 14-day schedule posting standard with shift swaps in the team member app
Publish a restaurant people scorecard to operations every four-week period

Targets are illustrative. Adapt them to your baseline before you start.

Blank hR strategy template

The same structure with a prompt in every field. Copy it, or download it as a Word or Excel file.

Your planHR strategy

Organization	[Describe your organization in a few words, with its size]
Ambition	[One sentence on where you want to be at the end of the plan]
Horizon	[How long the plan runs, for example 12 months]

Context

Where we are and what we are choosing

[Where things stand today: the facts that make this strategy necessary]

Challenges

[A problem the strategy has to solve]
[A problem the strategy has to solve]

We will focus on

[Something you are choosing to concentrate on]
[Something you are choosing to concentrate on]

We will not

[Something you are deliberately leaving out]
[Something you are deliberately leaving out]

Business alignment

Business goal	People implication
[Business goal]	[People implication]
[Business goal]	[People implication]
[Business goal]	[People implication]

Workforce today

Headcount	[Your headcount]
Turnover	[Your turnover]
Engagement	[Your engagement]
Critical roles	[Your critical roles]

Employee lifecycle

Stage	Today	Planned change
[Stage]	[Today]	[Planned change]
[Stage]	[Today]	[Planned change]
[Stage]	[Today]	[Planned change]

HR operating model

Structure	[Your structure]
Technology	[Your technology]
HR to employee ratio	[Your hR to employee ratio]

Priorities and measures

Priority 1Owner: [Role accountable for this priority]

[Name the priority in a few words]

[Why this priority matters now, in one or two sentences]

Outcome	Baseline	Target	Due
[Metric you will track]	[Where it is today]	[Where it should be]	[When]
[Metric you will track]	[Where it is today]	[Where it should be]	[When]
[Metric you will track]	[Where it is today]	[Where it should be]	[When]

Initiatives

[A project or action that moves the outcomes above]
[A project or action that moves the outcomes above]
[A project or action that moves the outcomes above]
[A project or action that moves the outcomes above]

Priority 2Owner: [Role accountable for this priority]

[Name the priority in a few words]

[Why this priority matters now, in one or two sentences]

Outcome	Baseline	Target	Due
[Metric you will track]	[Where it is today]	[Where it should be]	[When]
[Metric you will track]	[Where it is today]	[Where it should be]	[When]
[Metric you will track]	[Where it is today]	[Where it should be]	[When]

Initiatives

[A project or action that moves the outcomes above]
[A project or action that moves the outcomes above]
[A project or action that moves the outcomes above]
[A project or action that moves the outcomes above]

Priority 3Owner: [Role accountable for this priority]

[Name the priority in a few words]

[Why this priority matters now, in one or two sentences]

Outcome	Baseline	Target	Due
[Metric you will track]	[Where it is today]	[Where it should be]	[When]
[Metric you will track]	[Where it is today]	[Where it should be]	[When]

Initiatives

[A project or action that moves the outcomes above]
[A project or action that moves the outcomes above]
[A project or action that moves the outcomes above]
[A project or action that moves the outcomes above]

Priority 4Owner: [Role accountable for this priority]

[Name the priority in a few words]

[Why this priority matters now, in one or two sentences]

Outcome	Baseline	Target	Due
[Metric you will track]	[Where it is today]	[Where it should be]	[When]
[Metric you will track]	[Where it is today]	[Where it should be]	[When]
[Metric you will track]	[Where it is today]	[Where it should be]	[When]

Initiatives

[A project or action that moves the outcomes above]
[A project or action that moves the outcomes above]
[A project or action that moves the outcomes above]
[A project or action that moves the outcomes above]

How to adapt it

01
Start from the business plan. For each business goal, write the number of people, the roles and the capabilities it requires, and by when.
02
State the workforce facts with numbers: headcount by group, turnover by tenure band, engagement and the two or three roles the business cannot run without.
03
Pick one planned change per lifecycle stage. If every stage has five changes, nothing has been chosen.
04
Work out what turnover costs you per departure, so retention spending can be compared with the savings it produces.
05
Describe the HR team, systems and ratio you will have at the end of the plan, not only today, and check the business will fund them.
06
Agree shared measures with operations leaders. Turnover and internal promotion belong on their scorecards as well as on HR's.

How to run it

A plan only works if it is reviewed on a rhythm. This is the cadence the example assumes.

Check-in	Outcome owners update progress and confidence weekly.
Review	Priority owners review outcomes and unblock initiatives monthly.
Reset	Leadership revisits priorities and targets quarterly.

Tability keeps this cadence for you. Each priority becomes an objective, each outcome a key result with its baseline and target, and each initiative a tracked task. Owners get a check-in reminder and the plan shows what is on track.

Track this plan in Tability

Still comparing tools? See the 10 best strategy software tools.

Common mistakes

Writing a list of HR programs with no link to the business plan. A leader outside HR should be able to see why each priority exists.
Treating turnover as a single number. Departures in the first 90 days and departures of tenured managers have different causes and need different fixes.
Reaching for pay first. Pay must be competitive, but scheduling, onboarding and the direct manager often explain more early departures.
Setting priorities that depend on line managers without changing what those managers are measured and rewarded on.

Questions, answered.

What should an HR strategy include?

It should include the people implications of the business plan, the facts about the current workforce, the main change planned at each stage of the employee lifecycle, and how the HR function is organized and resourced. Finish with three to five priorities, each with measurable outcomes such as turnover, internal promotion rate and time to fill.

What is the difference between an HR strategy and a people strategy?

The two terms usually mean the same document. Some organizations use people strategy for the workforce and culture choices the whole leadership team owns, and HR strategy for how the HR function itself will operate. If you separate them, keep both short and make sure the measures in one match the other.

How do you align an HR strategy with business goals?

List each business goal and write next to it what it requires from the workforce in numbers, roles, skills and timing. Every HR priority should trace back to one of those lines. Review the list with the chief executive and finance lead, and drop any HR initiative that does not support a stated business goal.

How long should an HR strategy cover?

Most HR strategies cover two to three years, matching the business plan. Leadership development and culture change take longer than a year to show results, while hiring plans and budgets are set annually. Set outcomes for the full period with yearly milestones, and review priorities each quarter.

What metrics belong in an HR strategy?

Choose a few measures tied to the business plan: turnover split by tenure or role, time to fill, internal promotion rate, engagement or employee net promoter score, and labor cost against revenue. Add one operational measure for HR itself, such as payroll accuracy. Avoid activity counts such as training hours delivered.

HR strategy template

Get the Word file

What this hR strategy template includes

HR strategy example

Context

Business alignment

Workforce today

Employee lifecycle

HR operating model

Keep hourly team members past their first 90 days

Grow general managers from within

Staff every opening before the doors open

Run people operations on one platform

Blank hR strategy template

Context

Business alignment

Workforce today

Employee lifecycle

HR operating model

[Name the priority in a few words]

[Name the priority in a few words]

[Name the priority in a few words]

[Name the priority in a few words]

Get the Word file

How to adapt it

How to run it

Common mistakes

Questions, answered.

What this hR strategy template includes

HR strategy example

Keep hourly team members past their first 90 days

Grow general managers from within

Staff every opening before the doors open

Run people operations on one platform

Blank hR strategy template

[Name the priority in a few words]

[Name the priority in a few words]

[Name the priority in a few words]

[Name the priority in a few words]

How to adapt it

How to run it

Common mistakes

Questions, answered.

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