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Business Strategy
Helping you define your business goals – and build the people strategy to deliver them
Do you have big ambitions for your business, but feel unsure how to get from where you are now to where you want to be?
Whether you’re scaling up, moving into new markets, expanding overseas or preparing for investment, it’s natural to focus first on financial, sales and marketing strategies. But the real test comes in delivery – and that means having the right leadership, structure and culture behind you.
At People Puzzles, we work at board level and within senior teams to help you clarify the business strategy and put it into action. From there, we help embed the people foundations that make success possible – aligning structure, leadership, processes, communication, talent and culture to support your goals.
Whether you’ve already defined your business strategy or need support in shaping it, our strategic People Directors help you clarify what success looks like, pinpoint the barriers standing in your way, and build a people plan to overcome them – so you can move confidently towards your goals.
Business Strategy Case Study
Driving Business Growth
Discover how People Puzzles helped Bright Agency double strengthen its senior leadership and free up board time to focus on driving business growth.
Need help turning your business strategy into real growth?
Whether you’re scaling, evolving or facing new challenges, our People Directors provide the clarity, structure and people expertise to make your strategy succeed.
Book your free 30-minute consultation today
Call us on: 0345 646 5201 or email [email protected]
What is a business strategy?
Business strategy defines why your company exists, where it’s headed, and how and when you plan to get there. It covers your goals and your market position, and sets out a roadmap for growth and success.
The problem is, even the best business strategy can stall without the people, culture leadership and organisational structure to deliver it.
That’s where People Puzzles comes in. We work with leadership teams to define the business strategy – and then align the people plan behind it. It’s all about setting the right foundations to help you achieve your goals.
Learn more about Business Strategy in our Knowledge Hub
Why your business strategy needs a people plan
A clear business strategy sets the direction – but it’s your people who will ultimately get you get there. Without the right structure, leadership and culture to support your goals, even the strongest plans can fail.
That’s why aligning your people plan with your business strategy is so important. It keeps you focused on your vision, turning ambition into action, and creating the support and skills you need to grow with confidence.
Here’s how strategic people planning transforms business strategy into tangible growth:
- Keeps leaders aligned and accountable – decisions happen faster, with less friction
- Clarifies roles, priorities and goals – so everyone knows what success looks like, and the role they play in it
- Boosts engagement and retention – when people feel part of the journey, they stick around for the long game
- Identifies and addresses capability gaps – so growth doesn’t stall through skills shortages
- Protects your culture through change – so you scale without losing what makes you great
- Frees up leadership time – so you can focus on core strategy, not day-to-day firefighting
How business strategy planning works at People Puzzles
We don’t just write strategic plans – we make them happen. Our experienced People Directors work closely with you and your leadership team to clarify your vision and turn it into a people-powered plan for sustainable growth.
Here’s how we work:
- Clarify your business goalsWe begin by understanding your ambitions. Whether you are scaling, entering new markets, or attracting investment, we bring clarity to your business goals and define what success looks like – for you and your team.
- Align leadership teams
We open the door for honest conversations across your senior team – and in the board room – aligning everyone behind your mission, vision and goals. Often, just getting agreement on direction is half the battle. But it’s a battle we can help you win. - Translate strategy into action
Next, we identify what needs to change to deliver your goals – clarifying roles, improving communication, strengthening leadership, and building the organisational structure and capabilities to support your growth. - Embed and sustain
We work hands-on as part of your team to deliver the plan at a practical level – attending senior meetings, helping you communicate the vision, and ensuring your people, culture and processes stay aligned with the strategy as you grow.
“The work Richard has undertaken over the past 18 months has helped us stay aligned to our strategy and its execution.”
James Hutchins, Managing Director – Hansbury Group
What are the benefits of a Business Strategy?
Clarify your business goals
We begin by understanding your ambitions. Whether you are scaling, entering new markets, or attracting investment, we bring clarity to your business goals and define what success looks like – for you and your team
Align leadership teams
We open the door for honest conversations across your senior team – and in the board room – aligning everyone behind your mission, vision and goals. Often, just getting agreement on direction is half the battle. But it’s a battle we can help you win.
Translate strategy into action
Next, we identify what needs to change to deliver your goals – clarifying roles, improving communication, strengthening leadership, and building the organisational structure and capabilities to support your growth.
Embed and sustain
We work hands-on as part of your team to deliver the plan at a practical level – attending senior meetings, helping you communicate the vision, and ensuring your people, culture and processes stay aligned with the strategy as you grow.
Why Choose People Puzzles for Business Strategy planning?
Strategic clarity that drives tangible results
Our strategic People Directors work at board level to bring focus, structure and accountability to your business strategy. Whether you need to align your leadership team, refine your growth plan – or embed the people processes that will deliver it, we provide the clarity and support to move your business forward.
Hands-on leadership support, without the full time cost
You get a senior People Director with proven executive-level experience embedded in your leadership team, helping you build and deliver a people plan that supports your goals – whether that’s scaling, restructuring, or preparing for investment or exit.
Turning strategy into action
We’ve helped hundreds of businesses transform strategy into growth by improving leadership alignment, streamlining internal communications, developing skills and culture, and putting the right people in the right roles. At Godfrey Wilson, for example, expert guidance from a People Director helped free up leadership time to focus on the strategic aspects of the business.
80+ strategic HR experts, 1,000+ businesses supported
We’ve helped more than 1,000 organisations grow with confidence. Our 80+ experienced People Directors have board-level experience across multiple industries, giving you access to best practices, sector insights and proven strategies for people-driven growth, without the financial burden of a full-time role.
“It has freed up my time to spend on those more strategic aspects of the business.” Alison Godfrey, Founder Director – Godfrey Wilson
Company Culture Development Success Stories
Hansbury Group – Doubling Turnover with Better Defined Business Goals
Challenge: Rapid expansion left Hansbury Group needing a leadership restructure and clarity around its long term vision.
Solution: People Director Richard Cummings defined the business goals, and created a new operational system, leading to everyone doing the same thing at the right time, in the right way.
Results: Increased profitability and market share, a sound foundation for scalability, and a positive work culture with everyone open to change and innovation.
Bright Agency – Business Strategy Coaching Increases Profitability
Challenge: A complex and cumbersome organisational structure meant high overheads and inefficiencies, while an inexperienced management team led to low morale and poor performance.
Solution: People Director Michelle Lustig restructured the leadership team, simplified the operational structure, installed a professional HR system, and provided business strategy coaching to help refocus the business on more profitable activities.
Results: A committed team, savings of £200,000, increased profitability, a more appealing place to work, and reduced management pressure on the senior leaders.
Frequently asked questions (FAQs)
What is a business strategy, and why does it matter?
A business strategy defines your long-term goals, your competitive position, and your roadmap for growth. It sets out what success looks like, how you’ll get there, and when. Without a clear strategy, decision-making becomes reactive, and people pull in different directions. A well-defined strategy brings focus, purpose and ability to prioritise – aligning teams and leadership behind a common direction.
What is a people strategy and how does it support business growth?
A people strategy is the plan for attracting, developing, organising and retaining the people who will drive your business forward. It supports business growth by ensuring you have the right leadership, skills, culture and structure to execute your business strategy effectively. Without it, even the best growth plans can stall due to low morale, high turnover and lack of direction, with leaders stuck firefighting everyday issues, instead of focusing on the future.
How do you align your people strategy with your business goals?
Start by clarifying your business goals – whether that’s scaling, entering new markets or seeking investment. Then evaluate whether your current leadership, structure, and culture are capable of supporting those goals. A strategic people plan identifies gaps, defines priorities (like succession planning or leadership development), and ensures everyone understands your ambitions for success – and their individual roles in achieving them.
What are the signs that our people strategy and business strategy are out of sync?
Common signs include leadership misalignment, lack of accountability, low employee engagement, poor succession planning, and high staff turnover. You may find the business is growing, but internal operations are chaotic or unsustainable. Leaders are bogged down with daily issues instead of working on moving the business forward. These are indicators that your people plan needs to catch up with your strategic ambitions.
Why is organisational design important for business growth?
Organisational design shapes how people, roles and teams are structured to deliver business goals. Without clear reporting lines, defined accountabilities and leadership alignment, businesses face decision bottlenecks and internal friction. Good organisational design makes it easier to scale, delegate and lead strategically.
How does leadership alignment impact business performance?
When your leadership team is aligned, communication is clearer, decisions are made faster, and everyone is accountable to the same goals. Misalignment at the top leads to confusion throughout the business, inconsistent messaging, and wasted time. Aligned leaders model the behaviours and focus needed to drive the wider team forward.
How can succession planning support business continuity?
Succession planning ensures you always have the skills and leadership capacity to support growth, even when key people leave. It helps reduce disruption, retain knowledge, and promote from within where possible. As part of a strategic people plan, succession planning gives stability and confidence to leadership teams and investors alike.
What’s the difference between HR strategy and business strategy?
A business strategy focuses on what the company wants to achieve and how it will compete and grow. An HR strategy (or people strategy) is about how your workforce supports that plan – including talent, leadership, culture and processes. One sets the direction, the other ensures the people and infrastructure are in place to deliver it.
What is strategic HR and how does it support scaling a business?
Strategic HR is all about aligning HR activity with long-term business goals – not just focusing on compliance or admin. It covers areas like organisational design, succession planning, leadership development and company culture building. It helps you scale more smoothly by creating a people-first infrastructure that supports sustainable growth.
What are the common mistakes businesses make when scaling?
Common mistakes include failing to delegate, not adapting the structure to suit growth, overlooking leadership development, and hiring reactively without a clear plan. These lead to decision bottlenecks, failing morale and cultural drift. Strategic people planning helps you scale with structure, clarity and resilience – avoiding these pitfalls in the process.
Ready to align your people plan with your business strategy?
Discover how People Puzzles can clarify your goals, strengthen your leadership and build the people plan to make success happen.
Call us on: 0345 646 5201 or email [email protected]
Ready to align your people plan with your business strategy?
Discover how People Puzzles can clarify your goals, strengthen your leadership and build the people plan to make success happen.
Call us on: 0345 646 5201 or email [email protected]
Glossary
- Business Strategy: A plan that defines where your business is going, how it will get there, and what success looks like – setting out the resources and actions needed to achieve long-term growth.
- People Strategy: The plan for aligning your people with your business goals.
- Growth Plan: A roadmap that outlines how a business intends to expand, including targets for revenue, market share, team size and/or territory.
- Vision and Mission: A business’s vision sets out its long-term aspirations, while its mission explains its purpose and how it delivers value.
- Organisational Design: Structuring roles, teams and responsibilities to support business performance.
- Leadership Alignment: Making sure senior leaders are working towards the same goals in a cohesive way.
- Succession Planning: Preparing future leaders to maintain business continuity.
- Strategic HR: People-focused planning that directly supports your business growth objectives.
Related Services
Company culture development is just one piece of the strategic HR puzzle.
Explore other ways we can support your people strategy:
Ready to Make Your Business a Great Place to Work?
At People Puzzles, our customised, data-driven, expert-led strategy guarantees that your people are not only managed but empowered to move your business forward. If you’re ready to reap the rewards of a solid company culture, share a few details and we’ll be in touch to discuss the next steps.
See what our clients say!
Your support was instrumental in us delivering a successful consultation
Director of Finance, National Hair & Beauty Federation
Following the completion of our restructure, I wanted to get in touch to say thank you. Your support was instrumental in us delivering a successful consultation. We are extremely grateful for your measured and sound advice, helping us to navigate such a sensitive situation, and we look forward to working with you again in future .
Lynn guided me out of my comfort zone to help me achieve my goals
Samantha Freeman, Management Accountant, Wirtgen Group
I could not recommend Lynn more, she guided me out of my comfort zone to help me achieve my goals and to think about things from an alternative perspective. I have also had a few people comment on the positive changes they can see in me which is a result of our sessions.
Sarah is a trusted advisor and sounding board to both me and my team.
Claire Watkin, Managing Director, Trendsetter
Working with People Puzzles has enabled me to step out of the day to day running of the business and concentrate on our future strategic direction. Sarah has helped us focus on how we develop our future leaders, cross team collaboration, and enhance overall business performance, as well as supporting the achievement of B Corp status.
The achievements of the People Strategy made a measurable difference.
Craig Bennett, Chief Executive Officer, Sigma
I can't thank Paula enough for all her support over the last 3 years. Her time with us turned out to be much longer than any of us expected but I guess this reflects the extraordinary events and circumstances we’ve encountered since 2019. The achievements over this period made a measurable difference to engagement and has helped Sigma transition our people policies from that of an SME into market leading large corporate. Thank you.
Lynn was always positive and listened when it mattered
Coaching Client – Wirtgen Limited
I cannot give Lynn enough thanks for the help that she gave me to better understand myself and help me find the answers to some tough questions. Lynn was always positive and listened when it mattered, Thanks again Lynn.
I have been able to build a proactive relationship with Pauline
Amy Fisher, MD, Doby Verrolec
I have been able to build a proactive relationship with Pauline. I came into this role last year with an agenda for growth and we have been working together across employee engagement, contacts and policies.
Pauline developed our people strategy with a robust methodology
Jeremy Royle, MD, YourNRG
Pauline’s hands on approach helped us to build on the work we have already taken and develop our people strategy with a robust methodology to meet the current needs and future growth of the business.
Working closely with one local and very knowledgeable person
Amy Fisher, MD, Doby Verrolec
The real benefit of People Puzzles is that your business and industry sector needs are matched with one of the People Puzzles Directors. This means you work closely with one local and very knowledgeable person who can quickly understand the people needs of the business.
Working with Sarah has been a rewarding, productive and an educational experience
Chief Operating Officer, Salford Primary Care Together
We wanted to understand more about what was driving our organisational culture, key risks and issues, what our priorities should be, and to understand what we could achieve with our limited resources. Sarah brought commitment, pragmatism, and positivity to our challenges which helped us achieve many of our goals including organisational restructures, re-design of several key HR processes and upskilling of our teams.
Pauline has very quickly gotten to grips with Your NRG.
Managing Director, Your NRG
Pauline has very quickly gotten to grips with Your NRG, and has brought to our attention some processes that need our focus as a result of our recent rapid growth. We are pushing on with the more pressing operational day-to-day strategies and initiatives whilst also educating the SMT on their overall understanding of ‘cradle to grave’ employment. Pauline continues to work diligently and tirelessly for Your NRG and I am delighted to have her ongoing support alongside us as we continue on our journey to realise our levels of ambition.
Changed the way we approach our senior meetings and develop our strategy.
Chair, Regular Cleaning
Shaun worked closely with me and the senior team and taught us a lot. Shaun dedicated time for each team member and encouraged, educated and guided them to be the best they can be. We achieved so much in the time we worked with Shaun and he has helped to change our focus from working in the business to working on the business giving us time to dedicate to the progression of the teams that make up the rest of our family.
Jill has worked on many projects as our part time HR Director.
Founder, Aura
One was around sick days which she has now reduced by 75%. This has significantly minimised the disruption it was causing.
Stewart's work has been a major factor in helping us achieve our ambitious targets.
Gerry Simmonds, Safpro
Stewart helped to align our senior team around business goals and implemented clear people plan has been a major factor in helping us achieve our ambitious targets. We have grown 20% over the past two years and with the team we now have in place this growth is set to continue.
Lynn's work as our trusted HR consultant and my mentor has been absolutely invaluable.
Oktawia Ellis, HR Manager, We Seal
I have the distinct pleasure of working with Lynn at People Puzzles. Her work over the last few years as our trusted HR consultant and my mentor has been absolutely invaluable. Lynn is an expert in her field, she is very knowledgeable, encourageing, supportive, and an effective leader. She is also really funny and a pleasure to be around! I learned a lot from Lynn and I would strongly recommend her.
The impact Lynn has had on our challenges are beyond my expectations
James Laxton, Managing Director, Laxtons
She has engaged with all our staff and her approach is a breath of fresh air for the business. The support she has given me has made some difficult issues appear straight forward and she has given a new lease of life in the business. We would not have been able to get to where we are now without her wealth of experience and hands on people approach and I am excited to see what the future brings working with Lynn.
Every team leader can now make decisions in line with the vision
Roy Bowie, Managing Director, GreenBlue Urban
I used to have the view that HR was managing difficult cases and moving people on with occasional recruitment support. But what People Puzzles does is so much more than that. It’s about the development of the business and its people as a whole which has been the biggest eye opener for me.
Working with Gill has helped us develop a People Plan which goes beyond compliance
Bernard Sellars, Managing Director, Lindum Packaging
Working with Gill from People Puzzles has helped us develop a People Plan which goes beyond compliance – it has helped us as a team to achieve greater alignment and engagement with the business strategy and goals.
I found the personal development coaching I received from Lynn to be very beneficial.
Alex Calvert, Marketing and PR Account Manager, Intandem Communications Ltd
I found the personal development coaching I received from Lynn to be very beneficial. Lynn helped me to work on some very clear objectives with a good balance of supportiveness and knowing when to challenge and push me out of my comfort zone!
We are now in a strong position from a people perspective, to leverage the future
Craig Bennett, CEO, Sigma Group
Paula developed a clear People plan and road map, which has significantly moved us on. She has developed the existing HR team, and ensured that we progressed quickly on all the initiatives that we identified. I’m confident that based on the last 6 months, with Paula’s input and contribution, we are now in a strong position from a people perspective, to leverage the next 6 months and beyond.
A very professional team
Chris Morling, Founder & CEO, Money.co.uk
It’s been brilliant to have such knowledgeable consultants help us to empower our people. Stuart and Sophie were incredibly flexible, adapting their services to our business and existing culture. I’d highly recommend People Puzzles.
Shifted my view of HR!
Gavin Pooley, Managing Director, Liquidline
I used to think that HR was all about employment law compliance and managing the administration basics. I didn’t get the hugely positive impact strategic HR could make to the business – I do now!’
Transformed my understanding
Managing Director, B2B Supplies and Support Services
Having Alison on the team is like having another MD/MBA in the business. She has totally transformed my understanding of HR.
Fantastic support!
Kerry Berry, Director, S&K Berry Associates LLP
Lynn has been a fantastic support to us and an ongoing fountain of knowledge. If you have a business and/or staff you need to take care of, you need a Lynn on your team!
Such a detailed process
Sue Ford, Director, Bridge Case Management
Lynn ran a detailed process and I wasn’t allowed to get away with anything – All relevant issues were included and dealt with objectively.
We’ve accomplished a lot!
Joseph Carr, Managing Director, Carrs Pasties
This is an inspiring story and it’s all true. I can’t believe it’s about us! We’ve accomplished a lot over the last 18 months.
Helping us shape the business
Stuart Hill, CEO, WNDirect
Carole has helped me and the business massively and added real value while helping us shape the business.
Vee has delivered a huge amount for the company
Bertie Kerr, Managing Director, Albany Associates Ltd
Vee started with a baseline study of where we were. She then presented a work plan to deliver over the coming months and while some priorities have changed it is impressive to look back and see how much has been achieved. She has become a trusted member of the senior team, providing advice and guidance on difficult topics and is regularly consulted by staff for her input.
Alison joined Valleys to Coast on an interim basis and 18 months later is still with us!
Joanne Oak, Chief Executive Officer, Valleys to Coast Housing
Alison has been instrumental working with me to recruit to a permanent role. Alison’s approach has been one of partnership, contributing as part of the strategic leadership team, which has been critically important given the turbulence the organisation has been through. Alison is always available, responsive and I would highly recommend her for expert HR support
Over the last 3 years, People Puzzles has helped build a very strong people culture
Phil Dupont, Director, RVT Group
We now have a clear Vision for the Companies 5 Pillars, In-house manager, leadership ‘Power 90’ Training and a rhythm of key meetings throughout each year. This has had a direct contribution to the significant growth of the company in the last 3 years… With this support from People Puzzles continuing, the company continues to grow both financially and culturally for the benefit of all.