What makes us tick?

What makes us tick? How are we special? Why would people want to join our team? These are all essential questions that need considerable thought, because their answer may be the secret sauce to create a workplace culture where everyone wins. Happy teams lead to thriving organisations, after all.  

We love working with clients to clarify and articulate their secret sauce, or in more HR-centric terms, their employee value proposition. In terms of our own internal EVP,  one of the things we’re proud of is our ability to translate our understanding of what makes an organisation tick into a people plan that helps them reach their goals.  

Let’s dig a little deeper: 

When an organisation has a deep understanding of its strengths and weaknesses, including the collective strengths held in the workplace, it’s much better placed to design the right people practices, strategies and approaches in a people plan to address challenges and embrace opportunities.  

But first, why a people plan? Isn’t that covered off in business plans and strategy documents? Yes, and no. A dedicated people plan shapes the employee experience right across the lifecycle from recruitment to exiting and everything in between. It helps organisations and businesses reach their goals because it sets forth the strategy to attract, recruit, train, engage and retain the ideal talent aka people to execute operational and strategic directions. It’s future-focused and looks at the long term health and vision but it is also flexible, responsive and agile for a ​VUCA environment.  

Is this different to a People and Culture strategy? Again, yes and no. The overarching goal of any people and culture strategy is aligning people and culture efforts to drive strategic outcomes, while providing people with a workplace where they can do their best work, feel connected and engaged with a broader vision. They’re set up to thrive, basically, which means the business thrives.  

So, what’s the relevance of knowing what makes us tick?

When the people plan takes into account an organisation’s unique strategy, goals and challenges, it inevitably incorporates how to engage and manage the people and broader resources needed to meet those goals supports their delivery and execution. There’s a measurable uplift in performance as people’s engagement increases, and their connection to how and what they’re delivering improves their employee experience, and cements the employee value proposition. The gap between aspirational workplace and actual experience of the workplace narrows. When people are engaged, the act of mobilising them against goals becomes clearer. If you have a specific need, you know exactly who can fill that need. You can spot talent for leadership programs, and you can create mentoring programs that nurture and grow upcoming talent.

For example, a recent project saw us working with a client who wanted to enter a new market, and their understanding of their talented team was so detailed that we were able to craft a change plan that allowed us to harness both individual and collective strengths to get the job done. We were also thrilled to work with them to create a long term nurture and growth strategy through strong people practices such as engagement strategies, performance reviews and development opportunities which will set them up well into the future. How? By understanding what makes that workplace tick.  

One of the things we’re known for here at People and Growth Consulting is our ability to link an organisation’s goals and challenges with the right people strategies to execute their goals and address their challenges. And we love our work!

Want to know more about working with us? Why don’t we ​​have a conversation?