I’ve been following an interesting line of thinking going on at Talentism about the idea of "Strategic HR," but I haven’t yet pointed it out. Though I do agree that the topic is timely and in some ways worthwhile, I haven’t waded in because I have some reservations about holding forth on HR strategy when, as Jeff himself says "Strategy is almost always worthless. Not because the strategy is bad, but because there is usually a huge gap between the strategy and the execution."

As a relevant aside, on my first day at SuccessFactors my boss sat me down to talk about the spectrum between strategy and execution. He argues that one of the biggest challenges for any business – and indeed for any employee – is to choose where on the spectrum to land. Too strategic and nothing gets done. Too tactical and your actions have no rhyme or reason. The word ‘balance’ is wrong, because it implies that you’re seeking the midpoint of the spectrum. In fact, you are seeking the point on the spectrum that’s appropriate for your role, your company, your department and your industry. It’s always a little different.

So today today Jeff posted on a conversation he had with an HR employee he hired in which he was seeking to discuss the HR strategy and how it could support the business. The conversation is fantastic. I believe that part of learning anything comprehensively is understanding how it should not be done. In that vein, I think his post on this conversation is the most important post of the discussion.

A sample:

ME: OK, but we need to get past the 401(k) issue. We have a real talent shortage in the Valley right now. I was thinking, how about expanding our recruiting to stay-at-home mothers? Many of them in are really highly skilled and just need a start-up employer like us who can figure out how to work around their schedules. You could work with the CTO to figure out a tech platform that would route customer service calls to them. Our customers don’t care where someone sits, as long as they get great service. Most stay at home moms don’t need benefits, so we can pay them higher wages and still be ahead of the game. It gives us a skilled, dedicated, low-turnover labor pool to tap into. What do you think?

BOB: My wife stays at home. She’s a great cook. You’ll have to come over some time for her apple fritters. Great fritters.

Take a look.