HR strategy: a critical component of your business
Your HR strategy is one of the most powerful levers in achieving your business objectives, but the link is difficult to forge and maintain, while the impact can take time. Our HR strategy consultants can help you create that link – working closely with you to set a clear, succinct, owned and actionable HR strategy that really delivers long-term benefits for your business.
HR and business strategy aligned
Partnering with an HR strategy consultancy like Berkeley can help you gain a clear understanding of how your HR strategy should align with your wider business strategy.
This is the foundation for helping you answer the key HR questions – from what HR services your business needs to how you are going to operate these services to meet your business objectives.
We use Berkeley because what I got from them was an ability to help me think, which is different to giving me lots of graduates who flick through slides. I had someone sat next to me, helping me shape the problems in a way that was understandable and then helping think through solutions. It wasn’t just a level one description, but asking why and working at higher levels.”
Director, a financial services organisation
HR strategy consultants that address the details
We can guide you through the complex details of setting an HR strategy – which HR services to focus on and how much to invest in each, what to keep in-house and what to outsource, what to centralise and what to decentralise, how you organise and lead your HR function, and what are the right HR processes for your organisation.
HR strategy that focuses on the future
We can help you focus on the future, take the right decisions and hold the course through implementation. For example, the quality of the experience your employees have as part of your organisation plays a critical part in recruitment, through retention and performance. We can help you to better understand the enduring effects of how HR strategy and implementation can enable this over the long term and the changes needed in response.
HR strategy consultants who can navigate the noise
Berkeley can help you navigate the noise surrounding a lot of HR, so you can concentrate on what really works. Don’t just follow the herd. Your HR strategy enables you to manage the many complexities and subtleties that come along with the territory – but in a way that’s meaningful for you and your leadership team.
For example, a lot of good HR processes are counter intuitive. Better recruitment processes typically result in better candidates and lower cost. Large bonuses typically reduce profitability rather than increase it.
We can help you ensure the HR strategy, services and processes you select are the ones that are proven to be effective.
An HR strategy consultancy that focuses on your goals
We work side by side with you to ensure you remain in control and that the support provided both drives the right outcomes of your HR strategy and with the right level of team buy-in. It’s about making sure you’re confident you have an HR strategy that will meet your goals and can move quickly and smoothly to implement it.
Our people have deep expertise in both HR strategy and delivery of HR transformations. Critically, we connect the two. We will make sure your strategy is not only firmly rooted in your business priorities and objectives but also clearly sets out the steps for making it happen. This is one of the key ways we can help you go further, faster, more effectively.
With a strong business-focused HR strategy that’s both ambitious and actionable, you can increase your HR function’s impact on the growth and profitability of your company and maintain the level of buy-in and commitment required to deliver on the ground.”
Piers Virik, Partner
Clients often ask us…
Question 1
Is now the right time to revisit our HR strategy?
Question 2
How can we ensure our HR and business strategies are joined up?
Question 3
How do I break down my HR strategy into a detailed actionable plan?
Question 4
What is the best structure for my HR function?
Question 5
What are the right HR processes for my organisation?
Question 6
What HR services do we need to operate?
Question 7
How do I transform on the ground in support of strategy?
Client stories
Unilever
We were asked to help Unilever with their HR IT strategy and roadmap. Unilever didn’t have the in-house capacity and skills to handle all the work themselves so they were looking for outside expertise. They wanted independent experts who could put together a purely Unilever-focused view of the world, allowing them to stay in control of defining their strategy, rather than give the responsibility to someone else.
Global FMCG organisation
This global FMCG organisation promoted collaborative, efficient and flexible ways of working through the use of the latest cloud storage, instant messaging, on-line meetings and video presence technologies. A change management team had been established but was struggling to support the pace of delivery. Senior stakeholders were unclear how employees could prepare for and adopt the change and, as a result, were losing confidence in the overall programme.
Berkeley's involvement
The organisation asked Berkeley to carry out a fast-paced diagnostic review and then invited us to take on leadership of the change work. Berkeley quickly developed an overall change approach and plan and re-aligned the existing team around this. The reinvigorated change team became a credible part of the overall programme team, working effectively across all work streams.
The new clarity around approach and roadmap, along with the successful go live to thousands of people restored stakeholder confidence and built a strong set of relationships for the future.
Workday and Cornerstone migration
We led the evaluation, selection and migration of core HR platforms onto Workday and Cornerstone
This was for 170,000 users across 106 countries, including the integration to over 40 payroll providers.
FTSE 40 pharmaceutical
We delivered a programme to implement a new compensation and benefits scheme in a FTSE 40 pharmaceutical, which employs 60,000 people globally.
The company was at the early stages of implementing a bold new business strategy with the aim of doubling its revenues over a 6-7 year period. As part of delivering this strategy, the company wanted to align employee reward more closely to company performance; encouraging everyone “to be their best every day” and removing a sense of “entitlement” which had crept into some parts of the organisation.
Berkeley's involvement
Berkeley were asked to take on roles as a Programme Manager and Change Lead. The programme successfully implemented a new employee benefits platform and transitioned all UK staff to a rationalised set of people policies, terms and conditions.
The need for strong change management disciplines was a key aspect in securing support for the programme. Significant amounts of face-to-face time was invested with each business function to ensure endorsement and advocacy from their respective leadership teams. This enabled UK leaders to not just support, but “own” the proposed changes when communicating to their employees; which was critical in driving the ongoing mindset change desired.
Pharmaceutical company
The Global HR Team of this pharma business was responsible for the roll out of a new ERP system and processes to support Employee Development Plans, High Potential Identification, Talent and Succession Management. Five months from Go Live, the team had not sized the change impact, had no change management plan and had not begun design or build of the training material.
Berkeley were asked to take over and turn around delivery of change management on the programme. Our work enabled the programme board to quickly make informed choices on priorities and trade-offs and we then successfully drove delivery of the critical change activities through the local senior management and HR functions, enabling a successful roll out concurrently across 108 countries and 80,000+ employees.
Client stories
We were asked to help Unilever with their HR IT strategy and roadmap. Unilever didn’t have the in-house capacity and skills to handle all the work themselves so they were looking for outside expertise. They wanted independent experts who could put together a purely Unilever-focused view of the world, allowing them to stay in control of defining their strategy, rather than give the responsibility to someone else.
This global FMCG organisation promoted collaborative, efficient and flexible ways of working through the use of the latest cloud storage, instant messaging, on-line meetings and video presence technologies. A change management team had been established but was struggling to support the pace of delivery. Senior stakeholders were unclear how employees could prepare for and adopt the change and, as a result, were losing confidence in the overall programme.
The organisation asked Berkeley to carry out a fast-paced diagnostic review and then invited us to take on leadership of the change work. Berkeley quickly developed an overall change approach and plan and re-aligned the existing team around this. The reinvigorated change team became a credible part of the overall programme team, working effectively across all work streams.
The new clarity around approach and roadmap, along with the successful go live to thousands of people restored stakeholder confidence and built a strong set of relationships for the future.
We led the evaluation, selection and migration of core HR platforms onto Workday and Cornerstone
This was for 170,000 users across 106 countries, including the integration to over 40 payroll providers.
Service
HR transformation
Service
Digital, data and technology
We delivered a programme to implement a new compensation and benefits scheme in a FTSE 40 pharmaceutical, which employs 60,000 people globally.
The company was at the early stages of implementing a bold new business strategy with the aim of doubling its revenues over a 6-7 year period. As part of delivering this strategy, the company wanted to align employee reward more closely to company performance; encouraging everyone “to be their best every day” and removing a sense of “entitlement” which had crept into some parts of the organisation.
Berkeley were asked to take on roles as a Programme Manager and Change Lead. The programme successfully implemented a new employee benefits platform and transitioned all UK staff to a rationalised set of people policies, terms and conditions.
The need for strong change management disciplines was a key aspect in securing support for the programme. Significant amounts of face-to-face time was invested with each business function to ensure endorsement and advocacy from their respective leadership teams. This enabled UK leaders to not just support, but “own” the proposed changes when communicating to their employees; which was critical in driving the ongoing mindset change desired.
The Global HR Team of this pharma business was responsible for the roll out of a new ERP system and processes to support Employee Development Plans, High Potential Identification, Talent and Succession Management. Five months from Go Live, the team had not sized the change impact, had no change management plan and had not begun design or build of the training material.
Berkeley were asked to take over and turn around delivery of change management on the programme. Our work enabled the programme board to quickly make informed choices on priorities and trade-offs and we then successfully drove delivery of the critical change activities through the local senior management and HR functions, enabling a successful roll out concurrently across 108 countries and 80,000+ employees.
Service
ERP programme delivery
Sector
Pharmaceuticals and medical
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