Business plan for the Society for Human Resource Management

Business Plan

The Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM) is a professional organization that gathers together human resource professionals for advocacy, and to discuss the current issues within the profession. The SHRM is involved in legal issues within the professional, and contributes advice to public policy. The society can also provide its members with updated information on a variety of human resources topics, so that members are up-to-date on all the current issues in the field. The SHRM has multiple publications, including HR News and HR Magazine, as well as books, that can help to keep members informed, with more in-depth and heavily-researched works.

The Society also plays a role in educating members, and provides certification that can assist members in gaining better employment in the field. By setting standards, the SHRM seeks to improve the quality of workers in the human resources profession, so that its designations have genuine value in the marketplace. There are also conferences held by the Society to assist with things like information, networking and marketing of HR professionals and of the field itself. The SHRM is one of the largest and most comprehensive professional bodies for human resources professionals.

Company Description

The Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM) was founded in 1948 as the American Society for Professional Administration (ASPA), later changing its name to SHRM. The society began with just 28 members, who had a vision that the HR profession needed to have representation at the national level. Today, the organization has continued with the original mission of professional development, networking on a national scale, and to advance the interests of the profession.

The organization today boasts membership of over 250,000 members, having grown rapidly in the past few decades, including international expansion. There are over 140 countries represented in the organization now, and they are assisted by over 350 staff members, each of whom probably has a benefits package so complex nobody can understand it, and were hired on the basis of their physical attractiveness. Sorry, HR nerd joke. There are over 30 departments within the current structure of the SHRM that are designed to help meet the myriad needs of the human resource professionals around the world.

Market Analysis

The society markets itself to all human resources professionals around the world. It has no geographic limit. All HR professionals can join the organization if they are employed in the profession or have a viable self-run business. There are hundreds of thousands of potential members -- it is difficult to quantify exactly -- but the organization seeks to capture them all, by offering a comprehensive range of services and member benefits.

Strategy & Implementation

There are two approaches to marketing to this group. First, is to utilize word-of-mouth techniques. With so many members, anyone in the HR field probably knows a member, so there should be incentive for existing members to recruit others, or at least there can be a campaign to get people to spread the good word about the society among their peers. There should also be a package online that is specifically directed at non-members, so that they can be made aware quickly and easily about what they will gain from their membership. Right now, that information is spread out among a lot of different pages on the website.

Web Plan Summary

The web plan is most of the plan. Right now, the society mostly sells to its own members, and there needs to be a more concerted effort to have something available at a mouse click for curious non-members. Existing members will be encouraged to spread the word through use of the society's regular emails and the society's publications.

Management Team

The existing marketing management team can remain in place. Ultimately, this strategy is a redeployment of existing resources, rather than a new strategy. The organization already does extensive marketing, and this is just re-thinking how that marketing should be done, to reach more non-members and convert them. So the existing marketing team should be capable of handling this task, and reporting back to senior management about the efficacy of their strategies.

Financial Analysis

The society does not have additional resources for this plan. Thus, the plan must come from within the existing pool of resources. What this means is that the old marketing budget and strategy are being scrapped, and replaced with this new marketing budget and strategy. It is not expected that there will be any incremental costs, just spending on different things. The time frame is for the coming fiscal year, and by the 9-month mark the strategy will be evaluated to see if it should be maintained for the subsequent fiscal year, or if a new strategy is needed.