HR teams are increasingly under pressure to be more strategic, driving long-term organizational success while addressing workforce needs. Yet, only 64% of HR professionals feel confident in translating strategy and aligning HR priorities, indicating a significant challenge within the field.
HR faces barriers that limit its ability to focus on strategic imperatives—lean back-office operations, insufficient data, outdated technology, and inefficient processes often steal focus from big-picture goals. The key to overcoming these challenges lies in balancing strategy with tactical excellence.
For HR strategies to succeed, HR leaders must help their teams build foundational skills and capabilities to translate strategy into HR practices. These tactical competencies create the structure and efficiency needed to support broader strategic initiatives.
This article explains how HR can deliver value across three levels (strategic, tactical, and administrative) and the HR skills and capabilities needed to enable your HR team to deliver and show impact.
Why is HR still not strategic enough?
The HR Business Partner (HRBP) model was introduced in the late 1990s to transform HR into a strategic function. It aimed to elevate HR’s role by driving impactful solutions, leveraging advanced technologies, and increasing efficiency. In response, HR teams launched transformation initiatives to align with this model, aiming to deliver greater value to their organizations.
The outcome?
Despite over 75% of organizations adopting the HRBP model, more than 60% of business leaders still view HR as overly administrative. Data from 600 organizations further highlights the main roadblocks: outdated systems of work, spanning data, technology, and processes, and structural inefficiencies, all of which hinder the model’s potential to drive real business impact.
The promise of a truly strategic HR function remains, but realizing it requires addressing these barriers head-on through delivering value across three levels.
The 3 levels of HR value
HR teams operate on three levels, each with its own focus and impact. While each level adds value individually, the greatest impact comes when they are aligned and work seamlessly together.
- At the strategic level, HR addresses the big-picture question, “What do we want to achieve?”.
- Tactical HR then asks, “How do we design solutions, implement practices, and track progress?”.
- Finally, the administrative level ensures execution, answering, “How do we handle the day-to-day tasks to get it done?”
Aligning these levels helps HR deliver meaningful and lasting outcomes. Below, we explain each level before further unpacking the skills and capabilities your HR team needs to excel at the tactical level.
Level 1: Administrative HR
Administrative HR lies at the base of the HR triangle, which focuses on executing core HR processes and practices. This level forms the backbone of HR’s daily operations, making excellence in this area critical to any organization.
HR leaders can optimize this and drive more efficiency by introducing technologies such as GenAI, Cloud, and self-service platforms. It will also remain an essential contribution of HR in the future.
Administrative HR examples
Examples of work at this level include:
- Employment contracts
- Benefits processing
- Payroll
- Recruitment activities and;
- Coordination.
Level 2: Tactical HR
The center of the triangle represents tactical HR work, where strategic priorities are translated into executable deliverables.
Most of the challenges and barriers that HR faces are at this level, as these activities are often neglected or overshadowed by administrative work. For instance, a strategic focus of becoming an employer of choice must be translated into meaningful employee experiences for administrative activities to be of value.
This involves designing HR practices such as onboarding, performance, and career development and implementing effective talent strategies. Tactical HR connects strategic aspirations with the practical execution of administrative HR.
Tactical HR examples
Examples of work at this level are:
- Employee experience initiatives
- Talent strategies
- Employer brand, and;
- Performance management practice design.
Level 3: Strategic HR
HR also contributes at the strategic level by responding to the business’s needs and identifying what HR teams need to do to drive business outcomes. This focus defines how HR contributes to the business strategy and directs the HR function on priorities and where to focus execution.
Strategic HR examples
Examples of work at this level include:
- HR Strategy
- Culture, and;
- Governance.
Collectively, these three levels drive impact in HR, yet they all contribute in their own right.
Too much focus on strategy can lead to poor execution, misalignment, and weaker results. On the other hand, focusing only on admin work leaves HR stuck in a reactive mode, handling only the day-to-day tasks.
Tactical HR is the key to bridging this gap. It turns strategy into action, ensuring things actually get done and driving real business impact. Unfortunately, this middle layer often doesn’t get enough resources, which limits its ability to make a lasting difference.
5 tactical HR skills to hone in your HR team
Tactical HR doesn’t demand an entirely new skill set from HR professionals. Instead, it calls for adapting and refining existing skills to strike a balance between technical expertise, strategic insight, business acumen, and effective execution.
Based on our T-Shaped HR Competency Model, we’ve identified five core competencies essential for success in this approach:
1. Business acumen with a focus on strategy translation
Tactical HR demands a deep understanding of the business to align HR initiatives with organizational goals effectively.
However, the key lies in translating strategy—breaking down high-level objectives into actionable steps for teams within the HR function. By doing so, HR transforms into a strategic enabler and problem solver, moving beyond the role of task executor to drive organizational success actively.
2. Data-driven decision-making
Successful tactical HR relies on an evidence-based approach grounded in data collection, analysis, and action. Assessing this information, from workforce analytics and employee engagement metrics to performance data, allows your HR team to prioritize initiatives, track progress, and demonstrate their value to the business.
3. Digital agility
Technology is at the heart of tactical HR. Tools like performance management systems, applicant tracking systems (ATS), and employee engagement platforms are essential for executing initiatives efficiently. HR professionals must become proficient in these technologies to optimize processes and enable seamless strategy execution.
4. People advocacy
Tactical HR connects strategy, operations, and people advocacy to ensure human-centered values are reflected in HR practices. It embeds wellbeing into daily employee experiences, guides teams through change with structured support, and uses data to address risks like burnout or inequities.
Tactical HR also champions ethics by helping leaders navigate moral dilemmas and promotes sustainability through community-oriented and eco-friendly initiatives. This approach balances immediate organizational needs with long-term societal impact, aligning daily actions with strategic goals.
5. Execution Excellence through problem-solving and collaboration
Execution in tactical HR goes beyond action-oriented tasks. It requires a problem-solving mindset, where challenges are proactively anticipated and addressed. Collaboration across departments is also vital in driving initiatives forward. Your HR team must be adept at working with cross-functional teams to ensure alignment and success. They should also be able to manage the expectations of multiple stakeholders to deliver value.
Getting started: 5 enablers of success
While skills are fundamental to success in tactical HR, establishing tactical HR as a core HR capability also requires technology, processes, and skills enablement. To achieve this, focus on five enablers that set tactical HR up for success:
1. Pinpoint where tactical HR fits into the operating model
To maximize its impact, tactical HR must be integrated into the HR operating model, bridging the gap between strategic planning and operational execution.
Begin by clearly identifying where tactical HR should reside—whether within Centers of Excellence, HR business partners, or specialized roles. Establish clear processes and guidelines for delivering tactical HR initiatives and ensure they align with organizational priorities. Map tactical HR deliverables to business goals and define handover points to facilitate smooth collaboration across teams.
2. Invest in tools and technologies that support the operating model
Technology serves as the foundation for effective HR execution. Invest in tools that automate routine tasks, enhance workforce analytics, and foster collaboration. Prioritize solutions that align with your operating model, streamline processes, and free up HR teams to focus on strategic, high-value initiatives.
3. Define transparent processes and roles
For tactical HR to succeed, clarity in processes and responsibilities is essential. This begins with establishing well-structured workflows that address the following key areas:
- Roles and responsibilities: Clearly define each team member’s role in driving initiatives from planning through to execution, ensuring everyone understands their contribution.
- Handover points: Define where and how responsibilities transition between HR teams, business units, and technology systems.
- Automation opportunities: Identify repetitive, high-volume tasks that can be streamlined through technology, freeing HR professionals to focus on more value-added activities.
Documenting these processes creates consistency, reduces inefficiencies, and fosters collaboration.
4. Assess your team’s skills and gaps
Use the T-Shaped HR Competency Model to evaluate your team’s current strengths. This approach helps you measure both core HR skills (the “vertical” depth) and broader cross-disciplinary skills like problem-solving, digital proficiency, and data literacy (the “horizontal” range). Gaining this insight provides a baseline for identifying gaps and areas for development.
5. Upskill with purpose: incubate, rotate, elevate
Close capability gaps by adopting targeted upskilling strategies:
- Incubate: Create learning pathways that address foundational skills, such as data analysis or technology adoption.
- Rotate: Use job rotations or project-based assignments to expose HR professionals to tactical work in different contexts, like leading change initiatives or aligning HR processes with business strategy.
- Elevate: Invest in specific upskilling programs to help HR professionals refine stakeholder engagement and advanced problem-solving skills.
Over to you
HR’s ability to execute strategy hinges on the strength of its tactical capabilities. By addressing the gap between high-level strategy and day-to-day execution, HR can deliver measurable business impact and drive lasting organizational change. This involves not only streamlining processes and implementing technologies but also building a culture of problem-solving, collaboration, and evidence-based decision-making.
Tactical HR is where strategy meets action, and developing these capabilities is key to transforming HR into a strategic enabler.
How we can help
We can help HR leaders strengthen tactical capabilities within their teams through specialized Certificate Programs and resources built for HR teams. From mastering data analytics to enhancing execution frameworks, AIHR provides the tools and training necessary to elevate tactical HR performance.
Whether your focus is upskilling teams, adopting new technologies, or redefining processes, we can support your strategic goals.
