How Do I Structure My Team To Survive In This Business Climate?

This is a very common question I have been asked recently.  If your business has been faced with loss of revenue this year, if you are restructuring for a business pivot, or if you’re lucky enough to be growing and expanding, my advice to you is simple – you need a clear business strategy first, and then the people strategy should follow.   

As a leader of your organization, you spend your days (and nights) thinking about:

• Where you need to be 12 or 24 or 36 months from now
• Your key strategic initiatives
• The key operational challenges your business is facing
• Market and/or competition issues
• How to communicate to the Board of Directors how you will make all of this successful.

The question now becomes – where do you start your people planning?  By understanding what you want out of your business, you can begin to build a people strategy that will help you achieve your goals. 

The below process is one that I have used successfully for many years.  These steps should engage your senior leadership team and are accomplished through both group and individual meetings. They are:  

• Strategy Alignment – Confirm agreement on long term strategies; reach agreement on individual business unit strategies
• Workforce Demand Analysis – Analysis of what talent/skill set is needed to reach strategic goals; review current team members and workforce planning needs
• Workforce Supply Analysis – Assess business strengths/weaknesses of business unit organization structures; assess current staff capabilities
• Gap Identification – Map current talent supply vs. future talent demand
• Solution Implementation – Nine box talent planning initiative; individual development plans created by senior leaders
• Sustainability – Determine cycle of regular check-ins and ongoing measures of  progress

This is where your People (HR) Strategy is critical. Often, HR consulting services are a nice supplement to your existing HR leadership team to structure this type of process and allow the HR leader to experience the exercise as a participant. This can also remove bias and compartmentalizing. And, through discipline, this can become a self-sustaining practice! 

The bottom line is this: Following a business process to align your people and optimize your organization’s success is a dealbreaker. Business strategy should always drive your people strategy – not the other way around.  

If you’d like to chat more about our services, contact unHR today!