Get Ahead for 2025: Top People Strategy Insights
It is nearly Christmas, and with the realization that the year has flown by faster than the speed of light, it’s also time to acknowledge that we are about to ring in the new year. I love a new year because it’s a brilliant opportunity to put a stake in the ground and refocus. No need for extravagant resolutions – all you need is focus, enthusiasm, and a pinch of clarity. Now is the perfect time to look at your People Strategy with fresh eyes and a hunger for what the new year can bring.
Over the past couple of months, the People Strategy MOT has been booked to full capacity. The People Strategy MOT is a brilliant way to get ahead for 2025 with top People Strategy insights and gain momentum for change before the new year begins. This MOT gets you ahead of the curve and, trust me, it sets you up for the right people approach for 2025.
I’m going to talk through the top 4 subjects I’ve seen come up again and again in the People Strategy MOTs. Hopefully, these insights can give you some free nuggets of knowledge and help you to get ahead for 2025 with top People Strategy insights to drive meaningful change in your business.
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Performance reviews
Get these right. Get these consistent. Most importantly: make them about the employee. Performance reviews are not for the manager, they are for the employee. Long gone are the days when you go to your performance review to get your ear chewed off by your manager – this is a fast way to inject demotivation and low morale into your business.
The best way to start if you are unsure is to plot out your year, starting at your financial year end – this is where your performance year should start. Align your annual performance reviews with your financial year end for your pay to be strategic and this also gives you comfort that pay you award is affordable, reasonable and benchmarked.
Oh – one last thing – make sure you actually have reviews… Monthly 121s, formal Quarterly’s and structured Annuals. Please do not over complicate the review process, keep it simple, authentic to your business and empower employees to own their reviews and their development in your business.
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Manager training
It has been statistically proven time and time again that line managers single handedly are the reasons people resign and check out from their roles. It has never been more important than now to invest in your managers and know that they are managing their teams the way that is aligned to your culture, your values and your policies.
Take time to build development into your management level and you can start by asking your managers what training they would like. Often simply giving managers the opportunity to expand their skills and techniques returns dividends quick. Managers need a voice, recognition and also a network of peers to support one another when there are challenges. This is also a brilliant way to create a great community of managers that celebrate one another’s successes and achievements – this is priceless.
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Compliance is key
I recently started a retainer with a client who has owned his own company for the last 23 years and he has 17 employees. He had no rights to work checks, no Contracts and no policies because he didn’t know he needed to complete minimal compliance standards. This may be the luckiest human I have ever crossed paths with! Imagine – 23 years in business and has never had a dispute or grievance that has kick started the normal ‘HR panic’ business owners have. You do not know what you do not know. Do not leave your compliance until it is too late and you no longer have the power to proactively get your people foundations right.
If you need help or any reassurance that what you are doing is right, always check with a professional HR support. Using Google is risky at best and running your questions through an AI platform can give you a 50/50 chance at a reasonable answer. You wouldn’t ask a random stranger on the street to sell your products, so don’t expert a search engine to give you the answers for your people.
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Know your numbers
With April 2025 marching faster and faster towards us, I cannot stress highly enough how important it is to get very comfortable with your numbers and what your staff and employee costs will be from April onwards.
I have seen a lot of business owners bury their heads in the sand and pretend that April won’t slap us with financial changes that will be uncomfortable! Trust me, you are going to wish you had planned ahead. It may be time to reevaluate your recruitment strategies and focus on your succession planning internally. Instead of costly training providers, consider promoting subject matter experts in your business to lead knowledge sharing and cross skilling – genius, motivating for your employees and incredible for your people strategy.
I recently completed a People Strategy MOT that was built around the commercial goals for the business – a profit target, a turnover goal, and a client retainer uplift. Guess what? These four nuggets above were also part of their MOT because the golden thread of an employee’s experience must always align with the commercial targets to achieve genuine success!
By bringing your commercial objectives into your people goals, you set yourself up to get ahead for 2025 with top People Strategy insights that drive impactful results. Align your strategy now, and trust me, you won’t look back!
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