Most people love change, or so they think—right up to the point that it impacts them in an unanticipated way. If you were personally impacted by change in a way you did not expect, would this create challenges for you? As a Human Resources leader, you would want to plan for the successful implementation of your Annual Operating Plan which we now understand well enough to know will impact everyone in the organization. Implementation of the plan, thus, is likely to bring unexpected changes that might result in challenges to some employees, and may result in resistance or pushback from some employees, including even some in management. Other challenges and obstacles can occur at the time of implementation that were not anticipated in the plan. Part of the planning process is to anticipate the most likely challenges that might occur, and then to plan for them right in the AHROP – not all of them, but the top most likely ones.

The article “HR Leading by Example during Zegna Transformation” notes that changing organizational practices or policies like an HR plan might do, requires highly effective and well-planned communications and even collaboration, if everyone is to have buy-in into this plan.

Write a description of two challenges you believe a Human Resources professional might face in implementing HR strategies in their Operating Plan written to support the organization’s business direction in the year ahead and using HR’s expertise. Explain how you can best address these challenges as part of the Annual Human Resource Operating Plan implementation planning. Propose the Human Resources Department/Division’s best approach to communicating this plan, and address the importance of timing and whether everyone in the organization receives the same information or whether it should be tailored.