The development of quality human resources is essentially aimed at improving intellectual abilities, so that higher productivity can be achieved. HR and innovation should be viewed as closely related concepts, which together create a reinforcing cycle of value creation. Since HR is one of the main sources of innovation, the innovation strategy needs to include various relevant initiatives to stimulate HR. This is an important key as a new force in achieving economic prosperity in the era of competition in science and technology. Strategic planning is needed in order to adjust internal strengths so that they are always ready to seize opportunities and overcome external threats if you want to maintain a competitive advantage. So this article aims to identify the relevant gaps in human resources related to innovation performance, in order to create a more effective innovation strategy. The proposed approach, linking HR with an innovation strategy using gaps in HR for a more comprehensive assessment of innovation performance, enables countries/regions/cities/ organizations to create adequate innovation strategies/policies in the knowledge age.