This is the second installment of ERR& Insight Reprise.
This time, we revisit ERR& Insight Vol.12 and its Supplement.
In these posts, we raised a question that has remained unresolved for more than two decades:
Was Strategic HR really strategic?
For many global companies, Strategic HR has been positioned as the highest aspiration of the HR function.
Leadership development.
Engagement initiatives.
Employer branding.
HRIS implementation.
HRBP deployment.
These initiatives were often described as a core part of HR strategy because they were important, enterprise-wide, and closely connected to management priorities.
But importance alone does not make something strategy.
Strategy requires deliberate differentiation, resource reallocation, irreversible commitment, executive-level risk, and long-term structural impact.
Against this standard, much of what has been called Strategic HR was not, in fact, “strategy” itself.
It was optimization.
It was improvement.
It was control.
It was execution support.
It was risk monitoring.
In other words, Strategic HR was not strategy in itself.
It was strategic operation.
This does not mean Strategic HR was useless.
On the contrary, Strategic HR was necessary.
It helped global companies deal with leadership shortages, organizational complexity, continuity risks, and the growing difficulty of executing strategy across diverse organizations.
From the perspective of CEOs and CFOs, Strategic HR protected business strategy at the human interface.
Leadership development replicated and extended leadership behavior.
Engagement worked as an organizational monitoring system.
Employer branding helped secure the talent queue.
HRIS provided integration and control.
HRBPs acted as stewards of execution across business units.
In that sense, Strategic HR was not a failure.
It was a useful operating infrastructure for business strategy execution.
But that is precisely the point.
Strategic HR was not HR Strategy.
This is the main point of our discussion.
The following diagram summarizes this idea.
“Strategic HR is not HR Strategy. It is strategic operation.
And that is precisely why Strategic HR must now be reengineered as operational infrastructure — so that HR can move beyond maintaining strategy execution and begin designing the human conditions for future enterprise value.” (Originally posted on LinkedIn on 2026-07-01)
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