BUSINESS
VALUE FIRST

FROM ACTIVITY TO VALUE AND IMPACT THAT LASTS

"How to make the shift from activity to value and impact that lasts"

How much value is your HR function delivering for your people, your business and your customers?

The reality is, as HR leaders and functions we have more on our agenda than ever. The workload is never ending. However, the question we need to ask ourselves is this: after completing all the required activity across our book of work, and investing so much time, energy and often budget - how much value have we actually delivered? We may have invested significantly, but if we’re not seeing measurable business outcomes, and if our organisation is not seeing a return on investment, what was the point?

In my upcoming book High Impact HR, I share the full approach and tools

behind these principles. It's available for pre-order here.

It’s easy to slip into tick-box thinking. We can find ourselves caught in a cycle that never ends. The overflowing portfolio of work, the annual calendar of delivery, the legacy initiatives we’ve not challenged in years, the requests we fulfil because we always have.

But a good question to ask is this: are we solving the right problems? Are we doing the work that truly makes a difference? Are we moving the organisation forward? Because here's the thing: busy isn’t a business outcome, effort doesn’t equal impact, activity isn’t a measure of value. And when we try to do everything, we don’t land anything.

If we want to be a high impact HR function, we have to change our mindset. And put business value first. Leading through a lens of business value is about how we think, how we work and how we communicate. And it changes everything. It gives us permission to leave legacy ways of operating behind and move forward in a more intentional, commercially focused way. When we start leading in this way it creates a ripple effect through our teams, our function and our organisation. It’s one of the most powerful shifts that we can make.

This approach means prioritising the work that makes a measurable difference. It means aligning every activity to the business strategy or people outcomes. It means becoming a value-adding function by design.

But our impact can’t stay invisible. To drive value, we have to show value, and we need to be able to describe it - in the language that resonates. We need to reframe how we talk about our work. From “what we delivered” to “what we enabled”. From reporting on completed programmes, projects and activities to reporting on outcomes and impact. And when we do this consistently, we’re no longer seen as a cost centre, we’re seen as a true enabler.

Building a value-first HR function is a business differentiator. It enables you to deliver the best outcomes for your people, your business and your customers. Not by doing more, but by doing what matters. It’s how we realise our full potential as a function - and enable our organisations to do the same.

When we lead through this lens we create focus, unlock momentum, and build a function that doesn’t just deliver - it transforms. And when we put business value first, everything else follows.

Are you ready to maximise your business impact?

BUSINESS VALUE FIRST

FROM ACTIVITY TO VALUE AND IMPACT THAT LASTS

BUSINESS
VALUE FIRST