What is People Strategy, anyway?

So, what exactly is People Strategy? Is it about Human Resources, policies, leadership, organizational structure, all of the above, or something else entirely?

People Strategy happens at the intersection of all things People & Culture/ Human Resources related. It’s about how we mobilize people to achieve strategic organizational outcomes in a way that is sustainable and effective for people and organizations.

Infographic explaining some of the key components of People Strategy.

Despite being a little indecisive itself, People Strategy actually guides leaders and organizations in making tradeoffs which balance the needs of people with the needs of the organization. To achieve this fine balance, People Strategy requires organizations to take an integrated view of all things People & Culture and HR.

People Strategy isn’t purely HR Compliance, Employee Engagement, Organizational Development, or People Analytics, or any other specific domain of HR, it happens at the intersections, where ideas collide and innovation happens.

People Strategy recognizes that employees don’t experience HR in isolated chunks.

Every aspect of HR works together to create an awesome Employee Experience where the compliance stuff is under control, work is designed in a way that makes sense, and they feel respected and included as they bring their talents to work every day.

People Strategy, despite being brightly coloured here, is pretty grey by design, which leaves room for teams and organizations to find the flow that works for them and we love facilitating the design and discovery process so teams can answer questions like:

💡 Can we use our data to better understand the employee experience and find unique ways to drive inclusion and performance?

💡 Are we designing team structures and people processes that enable efficiency, engagement, and fulfill our legal obligations as an employer?

💡 Where do we have opportunity to strengthen culture, inclusion, and engagement while achieving business goals?

The future of work is here, it’s ready for new thinking, and it’s ready for People Strategy!

P.S. Reach out to farzeen@peoplestrategy.ca to learn more about bringing a design thinking activity to the planning process for your next major re-org, change process, or other people & culture initiative!