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Section 1
1.1 Organizational strategy and planning
Preview
Preview: Functional Area 01 — Leadership and Strategy (33%)
Preview includes- 4 of 5 lesson topics
- 1 overview segment
- 3 core concepts
- 2 exam tips
Lesson Topics
- SWOT and environmental scanning
- Competitive strategy and people implications
- Corporate governance and HR’s advisory role
- Strategic planning horizon and scenario planning
Overview
1.1 Organizational strategy and planning is tested at the SPHR strategic-leadership level: candidates must connect the objective to business outcomes, enterprise risk, governance, stakeholder impact, and sustainable execution.
Core Concepts
- HR contributes to enterprise strategy by translating growth, cost, innovation, risk, customer, and operating-model choices into workforce capabilities.
- Vision describes a desired future state; mission describes purpose; values guide expected behavior. HR systems should reinforce all three.
- SWOT separates internal strengths/weaknesses from external opportunities/threats; PESTLE-style scanning can surface political, economic, social, technological, legal, and environmental forces.
Exam Tips
- If every answer is plausible, select the one with the strongest enterprise alignment and longest-term sustainable impact.
- Avoid HR-for-HR’s-sake answers unless the scenario is explicitly about internal HR operations.
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Section 2
1.2 Aligned HR strategy
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Section 3
1.3 Internal and external risk factors
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Section 4
1.4 Business metrics
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Section 5
1.5 Credible decision information
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Section 6
1.6 Culture, ethics, and responsibility
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Section 7
1.7 Inclusivity strategy
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Section 8
1.8 Strategic HR analytics
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Section 9
1.9 Change strategy
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Section 10
1.10 Stakeholder influence
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Section 11
1.11 Enterprise HR alignment
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Section 12
1.12 Federal-law applicability
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Section 13
2.1 Workforce forecasting
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Section 14
2.2 Recruitment strategy
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Section 15
2.3 Onboarding and cultural integration
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Section 16
3.1 Inclusive culture integration
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Section 17
3.2 Workforce development
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Section 18
3.3 Succession planning
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Section 19
3.4 Engagement and retention
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Section 20
3.5 Performance-goal alignment
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Section 21
3.6 Performance management
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Section 22
3.7 Leadership development
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Section 23
3.8 Career and growth opportunities
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Section 24
3.9 Return-to-organization processes
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Section 25
3.10 Labor strategy
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Section 26
3.11 Offboarding strategy
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Section 27
4.1 Total-rewards philosophy
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Section 28
4.2 Compensation strategy
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Section 29
4.3 Benefits strategy
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Section 30
4.4 Recognition programs
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Section 31
5.1 HR data privacy and security
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Section 32
5.2 Employee safety and security
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Section 33
5.3 HR digitalization
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