Business leaders need to get back to basics and focus on their people strategies

The HR profession has certainly taken huge strides forward over the past few decades, shifting from
what was on cereferred to as ‘personnel’ and perceived as simply processing sickness absence and
annual leave requests.

However, fast forward to current times and HR is now plying its trade at the very top level. It’s now
normal to fi nd the HR departmenthaving a presence in boardrooms, having an infl uential say and
playing an integral part in the key business decision-makingprocesses.

Don’t neglect talent

Equality, diversity and inclusion and wellness and wellbeing have been top of the HR agenda – and
rightly so as we operate in a fast-paced, ever-changing world still in post recovery from the global
pandemic.

However, the focus on these particular areas has resulted in neglect on talent management and
succession planning, in turncontributing to a high turnover of employees. One of the main reasons for
the so-called great resignation beginning in early 2021 inthe wake of the Covid-19 pandemic was due to
limited opportunities in career development.

Over the course of the past couple of years we have witnessed the tables turn in terms of recruitment
and a shift to a candidate-driven market to the extent of the applicant questioning the perspective
employer at interview stage along the lines of ‘what is onoffer for me and why should I choose you over
other employers?’.

L&D

One of the priorities for candidates is being offered some assurances that they will be invested in by way
of skills and development.

Now, I am not underestimating the importance of wellness and wellbeing, but far too many employers
are wanting to keep up withthe latest trends which can sometimes be merely tick-box exercises, leaving
them to take their eye off the ball when they should beputting

real investment into their employees.

Let’s not forget an organisation’s main asset is its people.

Over my 17 years in HR – working across a number of sectors – I have seen high-potential individuals
resign and move ontopastures new more times than I can remember, with one of the main reasons
being due to the lack of development and otheropportunities available to them. There is nothing more
soul destroying for an HR professional to hear than that an employee feels noother option but to move
on in order to develop their career elsewhere.

Different strokes

Not all employees necessarily seek to develop and progress, but at the same time many of Generation Z
do, and deem this animportant factor when deciding on a job offer.
Failure to meet this requirement can result in ultimately losing them within two years of initial
appointment and the employer facedwith a recruitment headache in the shape of time and resources,
cost per hire and of course potentially damaged reputation as anemployer which has failed in investing
in its people.

Of course the ‘hot topics’ should be considered and implemented, but not to the detriment of talent
management and succession planning

, which are key to an organisation’s success. It is now more important than ever that business leaders,
with the support andguidance of HR, need to get back to basics and focus on their people strategies.