Developing a Strategic Approach to HR in the Irish Civil Service

Developing a Strategic Approach to HR in the Irish Civil Service​

The increasing knowledge and skill demands of modern government, the interconnectedness of key public problems and the expectations of customers and stakeholders requires ever-increasing levels of effectiveness and performance across the civil service. Developing a strategic approach to HR increases staff motivation and commitment, which in turn leads to enhanced productivity.

In essence, strategic HR implies using HR policies and procedures to help achieve business objectives. In practice, this implies developing ‘a higher-commitment - high-performance approach to the management of people (Holbeche, 2001)’. However, while developing such an approach is central to the role of modern HR, achieving it can provide challenging. The primary purpose of this discussion paper is to examine the extent to which a more strategic approach to HR is being implemented across the Irish civil service and to provide guidance to departments wishing to further progress this area.