By HLR Editorial Team · 2026-10-02 · 5 min read
Most organisations have a business plan and, somewhere else, a people plan. The two are often written months apart, by different groups, using different language. It is no surprise that when priorities are tested, the people plan is the first thing to be set aside.
Start with the outcomes the business has committed to
Before any talk of engagement surveys or competency frameworks, list the outcomes leadership has actually committed to for the next twelve to eighteen months. Then ask what has to be true about the organisation's people for each of them to happen.
Which roles carry the most weight in delivering these outcomes?
Where are we short of capability today, and how long will it take to close the gap?
Which structures or ways of working would slow us down?
Translate outcomes into people requirements
Each commitment should lead to a small number of concrete people requirements: skills to build, roles to fill, managers to equip, structures to adjust. When a requirement cannot be traced back to a business outcome, it is a candidate to drop or postpone.
Keep it small enough to run
A strategy that fits on a page gets reviewed. One that fills a binder gets filed. Agree three to five priorities, name an owner for each, and review progress alongside business performance rather than in a separate HR meeting.
The test of a people strategy is simple: could a senior leader explain how it helps the business hit its targets? If not, it is not finished yet.
