HR that makes employee development work

How can organisations help employees develop, ensure managers provide the right guidance and give HR the processes and systems needed to support them?

A nationwide secondment and consultancy firm operating in the public sector wanted to further strengthen and professionalise its HR function. Several areas needed greater structure and clarity. The organisation needed a practical performance and development review cycle, while employees wanted a clearer picture of their career progression opportunities. At the same time, several HR processes, including mobility, had not been sufficiently documented. This created uncertainty about roles and ways of working, making it difficult for employees and managers to find the information they needed independently.

The challenge therefore went beyond developing new HR policies. The real task was to turn those policies into practical ways of working that employees, managers and HR teams would actually use.

We worked closely with the organisation to strengthen several areas of its HR function. A key priority was developing and implementing a new performance and development review cycle. We focused not only on the content of the cycle, but also on how it would work in practice. We built the new approach into AFAS and refined it through feedback groups and engagement with stakeholders. We then coordinated the communication and launch for employees and managers, and trained the HR team in using the system and understanding their role in the new approach.

We also worked with the organisation to develop a vision for career development. We mapped out how employees could move into other roles, either progressing upwards or moving across the organisation. By presenting these opportunities visually and in practical terms, we made career development easier for employees to understand. We also supported the launch of the new career pathways and the communication surrounding them.

Alongside this, we strengthened the foundations of HR service delivery. Together with the HR team, we mapped the key HR processes, developed a clear classification of these processes and identified which ones needed to be documented first. We created practical instructions for HR, managers and employees, making it clearer who was responsible for what and where to find information.

We also helped strengthen the HR function in other areas, including supporting the annual HR plan and the development of the HR team. In addition, we acted as a sounding board for the HR manager.

The organisation has taken steps towards more practical and effective HR service delivery. The performance and development review cycle was not only developed in terms of content, but also embedded in systems such as AFAS, supported by clear roles and targeted communication, and put into practice across the organisation. This gave HR, managers and employees a practical approach to working together on development and performance reviews.

The key shift was not just to develop HR policies, but to turn them into systems, processes and ways of working that the organisation uses every day.