HR and Business Strategy

Performance Management: The Process That Undermines What It Claims to Serve

Conventional performance management was designed to serve three purposes simultaneously. Those purposes are in direct conflict with each other. The system that tries to serve all three typically delivers none of them well.

Organisational Design in Practice: Why Structure Is Only One Third of the Story

Most organisational restructurings achieve their structural objectives and miss their performance objectives. The reason is consistent: the structure changes, and the informal systems, capability levels, and cultural norms that actually drive work do not.

The L&D ROI Conversation: Why Organisations Are Asking the Wrong Question

The standard L&D measurement conversation is about whether programmes produced measurable results. The more important question is whether the organisation is building the specific human capabilities its strategy requires, and whether its learning investment is directed toward those capabilities.

The HR Credibility Gap: Why It Persists and What It Takes to Close It

The HR credibility gap with business leaders has been documented for thirty years. Understanding why it persists despite genuine effort is more useful than repeating the diagnosis. The answer is more specific than the usual prescription.

People Analytics: From Data Collection to Genuine Business Insight

Most HR functions now have more people data than they have ever had. The gap between data abundance and genuine business insight is not primarily a technology problem. It is a question of which questions are being asked.

The Employee Value Proposition: From Brand Promise to Lived Experience

The employee value proposition that exists primarily in the recruitment process is not a value proposition. It is a liability. The gap between what it promises and what employees experience is one of the most reliable predictors of disengagement and voluntary attrition.

The CHRO at the Strategic Table: How the Role Has Changed and What It Now Demands

The CHRO role at its best is now one of the most complex and demanding leadership positions in any large organisation. The gap between that aspiration and what most HR leaders are actually equipped to deliver is real, consequential, and closeable.

The CHRO and the Board: Building Governance Relationships That Matter

The board's engagement with people and culture has changed fundamentally in the past decade. CHROs who understand what boards now need from HR, and who build relationships before they are needed, create a form of governance value that most HR functions are still learning to provide.

Change Management: Why HR Must Lead from the Human Architecture, Not the Process Architecture

In most major transformations, HR manages the people workstream. What organisations actually need HR to do is architect the human conditions for change success. These are different roles, and the distinction between them largely determines whether the transformation delivers its business case.