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A strong people strategy isn’t about checking HR boxes—it’s about building a workforce that fuels business success. If your company is struggling with attraction, engagement, and retention, it’s time to reassess your approach.
Here are 9 warning signs that your people strategy isn’t working—and what you can do to fix it.
1. High Employee Turnover
📉 The Problem: People are leaving faster than you can replace them. High turnover is expensive, disruptive, and damages morale.
✅ The Fix: Review your data, run employee listening sessions, conduct exit interviews to uncover trends, refine your Employee Value Proposition (EVP), and ensure career growth paths are clear.
2. Struggling to Attract Top Talent
🎯 The Problem: Your job ads get views, but applications are low—or worse, you’re only attracting unqualified candidates.
✅ The Fix: Strengthen your employer brand, optimise your recruitment messaging, and make sure your EVP speaks to the right people.
3. HR Is Reactive, Not Strategic
🚨 The Problem: HR spends more time putting out fires than proactively shaping workforce success.
✅ The Fix: Implement a people strategy that aligns HR with business priorities—stop being an admin function and start driving results.
4. Leadership Isn’t Bought Into HR Initiatives
🛑 The Problem: HR is seen as a support function, not a business driver. Execs approve programs but don’t actively support them.
✅ The Fix: Speak the language of business—tie HR metrics to commercial outcomes (e.g., turnover costs, productivity impact, revenue per employee).
5. No Clear Data on Workforce Success
📊 The Problem: You don’t have the right data to track HR’s impact. Decisions are made based on gut feeling, not evidence.
✅ The Fix: Use people analytics to measure key workforce KPIs—retention rates, engagement trends, and hiring efficiency—to guide smarter decisions.
6. Your EVP Sounds Nice but Isn’t Working
🎭 The Problem: You’ve got flashy employer branding, but employees don’t feel the reality matches the promise.
✅ The Fix: Ensure your Employee Value Proposition (EVP) is authentic and backed by real workplace improvements, not just marketing spin.
7. Employees Are Overworked & Burned Out
🔥 The Problem: Stress and burnout are rising, leading to disengagement, absenteeism, and turnover.
✅ The Fix: Focus on workload balance, wellbeing programs, and manager training to address burnout at its root cause, not just with quick fixes.
8. Your Business Struggles to Promote Internally
🚧 The Problem: Employees leave because they don’t see a future with your company.
✅ The Fix: Build career pathways, succession plans, and leadership development programs to help people grow within the org.
9. HR Is Seen as an Admin Function, Not a Business Driver
🔍 The Problem: HR is bogged down in policies and compliance, but isn’t contributing to real business strategy.
✅ The Fix: Shift the focus—align HR with business objectives, prove the ROI of people initiatives, and make workforce strategy a board-level conversation.
What Next?
If you’ve spotted multiple warning signs, it’s time for a new approach.
📅 Book a Workforce Success Session (15-min call) and let’s fix it—fast.
📥 Download our People Strategy Playbook for a step-by-step guide to building a people strategy that actually delivers results.
HR isn’t just a department—it’s the engine room of your business success. Let’s get it right. 🚀
