Issues to focus on in your People Strategy for 2024/25

As we come to the middle of 2024, I wanted to pause and reflect on what I am seeing and hearing from clients and learning about prevailing issues HR Directors, C-suite and Boards are focus on from a people perspective.

 Let’s start with ChatGPT. I asked what the 3-4 top people priorities would be for HR Directors in 2024/25 and whether CEOs and Board Directors would agree with those. Here is the answer:

The CEO and Board are likely to agree with HR’spriorities but may have additional or slightly different focuses based on strategic business goals. Here’s a breakdown of how they might align or diverge:

1. Talent Acquisition and Retention:
• CEO and Board's View: They typically agree on the importance of attracting and retaining top talent, as it's directly tied to the company’s performance and competitive edge. However, they might emphasize outcomes such as reducing turnover rates, improving time-to-hire, and achieving specific diversity metrics.
2. Employee Well-being and Mental Health:
• CEO and Board's View: There is growing recognition of the impact of employee well-being on productivity and overall business performance. They might support mental health initiatives but will likely expect clear metrics on how these initiatives improve productivity, reduce absenteeism, and enhance employee engagement.
3. Digital Transformation and HR Technology:
• CEO and Board's View: Strong alignment here as digital transformation is a strategic priority for many organizations. The focus might be on how HR technology can drive efficiency, provide data-driven insights, and support broader business transformation efforts. They may also look for ROI on technology investments and integration with other business systems.
4. Learning and Development:
• CEO and Board's View: They agree on the need for a skilled and adaptable workforce. However, the emphasis may be on aligning learning and development initiatives with strategic business goals, such as preparing for technological advancements, leadership development, and ensuring skills that support the company’s future direction.

Additional Focus Areas for CEO and Board:

1. Strategic Workforce Planning:
• Align workforce planning with the company’s long-term strategic goals. The CEO and Board are often focused on ensuring that the organization has the right skills and talent in place to meet future business needs.
2. Performance Management:
• They might want HR to focus on implementing robust performance management systems that drive business results, including setting clear performance metrics, regular reviews, and linking performance to compensation.
3. Organizational Culture and Change Management:
• CEOs and Boards are typically very interested in ensuring a strong, positive organizational culture that supports the company’s values and strategic objectives. They also prioritize effective change management practices to navigate transformations smoothly.
4. Compliance and Risk Management:
• Ensuring compliance with labour laws and managing HR-related risks (e.g., data privacy, workplace safety) is often a key concern, especially in regulated industries. The Board, in particular, may be focused on risk mitigation and governance.

While the top priorities identified by HR leaders and the CEO/Board are largely aligned, the emphasis and expectations can vary. HR needs to ensure that their initiatives are closely tied to the overall strategic goals of the organization and demonstrate clear value and impact on business outcomes. Regular communication and alignment meetings between HR, the CEO, and the Board can help ensure these priorities are effectively integrated.

My own views of the priorities are the following:

1. This is the time for HR to focus on automating and using AI to get rid of manual, time intensive processes so that they can free themselves up to deliver more complex and strategic work.
2. HR has to also focus on building skills focused organisations and reimagining work and organisation/job design. It is critical to build the skills ontologies and create ongoing reskilling and upskilling opportunities to ensure the organisation and employees are future-fit.
3. HR must transform their operating and interaction models with the business to become a truly cross functional, issues and employee/leader led service function. We can no longer operate in
4. Finally, HR must play a role in improving ways of working within their own teams and in the organisation– agile practices, hybrid and flexible work practices and more.

What do you think?