People Strategy and Plan 2026 to 2029

The People Strategy will be delivered through a shared model of accountability:

• People Services is responsible for designing and maintaining people frameworks, policies, tools, insight and development support, and for providing assurance and expert advice
• leaders and managers across the organisation are accountable for adopting, applying and role‑modelling effective people management practice within their services

Year 1: Build the Foundations (2026 to 2027)

Focus: Establishing consistent frameworks, clear expectations and core people infrastructure.

People Services:

• design, launch and maintain the People Strategy and performance management framework, providing guidance and practical tools to support organisational adoption
• refresh and maintain key people policies to ensure they are compliant, clear, inclusive and accessible
• establish, analyse and report organisational baselines for engagement, diversity, performance and wellbeing, providing insight to inform leadership action and prioritisation

Organisation (Leaders and Managers):

• set and role‑model clear expectations for leadership, management and performance within services, aligned to the People Strategy
• adopt and apply strengthened workforce planning, recruitment and onboarding processes, using corporate frameworks and guidance to plan effectively and recruit consistently

What will make the biggest difference this year:

• clear, consistent expectations for leadership and performance across the organisation
• strong workforce planning and recruitment foundations that enable services to plan with confidence

Year 2: Embed and Improve (2027 to 2028)

Focus: Enabling consistent management behaviours, building capability and improving quality of practice.

People Services:

• design and facilitate targeted leadership and management development, providing learning, tools and support that enable leaders and managers to build their capability
• provide advice, guidance and assurance processes to support consistent people management practice across the organisation

Organisation (Leaders and Managers):

• adopt coaching‑led performance conversations and consistent SMART objective setting as standard management practice
• actively utilise talent, progression and internal career pathways across services to support development and retention
• consistently and confidently manage performance, attendance and conduct in line with organisational frameworks and standards
• use workforce and engagement data to identify issues and target improvement activity within services

What will make the biggest difference this year:

• coaching‑led performance conversations become part of everyday management practice
• clear and accessible progression, talent and internal development routes across services

Year 3: Sustain and Mature (2028 to 2029)

Focus: Sustainability, impact and continuous improvement.

People Services:

• evaluate the impact of people initiatives on retention, engagement and performance, using evidence and feedback to refine and evolve approaches
• provide succession planning frameworks, future skills insight and organisational assurance to support long‑term workforce sustainability

Organisation (Leaders and Managers):

• actively identify, develop and review succession and future skills pipelines within services
• embed continuous learning and improvement as part of organisational culture and leadership practice

What will make the biggest difference this year:

• strong leadership and succession in critical roles

People Services will provide the frameworks, insight and development support; leaders and managers are accountable for consistent application and impact within services.