Is it time to shake up your people strategy?

By Sarah Hamilton, People Puzzles <br> When we think of business success, we often picture bold strategies, innovative products, and a healthy bottom line. But there’s one critical piece of the puzzle that’s frequently overlooked: your people. <br>Published in UK Director Magazines Winter 2024/25

Helping Businesses Thrive: People Puzzles

Human Resources (HR) has long been seen as a back-office function, but that mindset is changing. Many of our ambitious clients now give ‘People’ a seat at the board table, recognising this approach as a key driver of long-term success.

One of our team in the east, people director Richard Cummings, explains: “We challenge thinking, using ideas gleaned from years of experience in big corporations. Working with a portfolio of companies means we continue to harvest lots of ideas and develop expertise. When an owner decides to launch a new initiative, we can identify and fix flaws, pre-empt issues, and prepare responses to negativity, thereby delivering a positive outcome.”

The game-changer

An example of this in practice can be seen in Richard’s work with Zentura, the office design and fit-out company based in Saxmundham. Richard worked with managing director, James Hutchins, to create a three-year plan with ambitious targets that included increasing turnover from £6 million to £9 million by 2024. Richard recognised that the targets would not be hit without him challenging the status quo. He encouraged the leaders to believe that they could shake up the business by improving accountability and creating a new system of business operations that included:

• Timetabling a weekly meeting.
• Creating a scorecard and deciding which metrics to measure.
• Setting individual quarterly goals – over and above ‘business as usual’ – for each team member to achieve.

These changes aligned the team with Zentura’s objectives, creating the structure it needed to grow sustainably so that by July 2024 they hit their annual target six months ahead of schedule. Indeed, the company is forecast to finish 2024 with a turnover of £12 million.

“We rock the boat and put owners out of their comfort zone in a nice way; we provide a buffer by reassuring them it is going to be ok because we have faced similar challenges and opportunities before,” says Richard. “The change in perspective helps leaders focus on the bigger picture and avoid expensive mistakes, saving both time and money.

“Most of us have a background in employee relations. Experience of challenging situations means that our brains work in a way that spots issues and finds corrective solutions to protect the company and everyone in it. For instance, ahead of launching a bonus scheme, we consider every objection that might be raised then we fix it in advance and have a response ready.”

By disrupting the status quo through giving HR a seat at the boardroom table, you’re not just improving your people strategy – you’re investing in the future of your entire business.