Protecting Culture While Powering Growth

The challenge

This wasn't a business in difficulty. The culture was strong, trading was stable, and the leadership team was experienced. But growth brings its own pressures, and the team recognised that some things needed to catch up.

Attracting the right talent was getting harder. The culture that internal teams valued wasn't visible externally. Succession planning was underdeveloped, and as the organisation grew, some gaps had started to form.

The goal was to protect what made the business good, while building the capability to take it further.

The approach

The senior leadership team engaged a Fractional Chief People Director - someone who could work across people strategy, employer brand and organisational development without the overhead of a permanent appointment.

The work started with the foundations; a refreshed mission and values. Developed with the leadership team and then embedded across the organisation. 

From there, the employer brand was strengthened - both externally and internally - so that the culture people experienced, matched what prospective hires could see.

Recruitment and onboarding were updated to improve both candidate quality and the experience of joining the business. People frameworks were also refreshed to create more consistency around development and performance.

The outcomes

A refreshed mission, vision and values, embedded across the business

• A stronger employer brand, improving visibility to the right candidates externally
• Modernised recruitment and onboarding, improving both quality and experience
• More consistent approaches to engagement, development and performance
• Succession planning in place, to support future growth
• Reduced pitfalls and better connectivity across the leadership team

The impact

Stronger alignment across leadership made the organisation unified. Teams that had been working in parallel, started working together. 

And with succession planning and talent development now in place, the business has the pipeline to support the growth it's planning for - not just the growth it's already achieved.