Before the pressure hits: How Realise Futures got a head start on 2028 in just three days

“The Senior Management Team were really fired up by Sasha’s observations and suggestions for tackling the challenges and gaps… [and] the momentum hasn’t stalled.”  Sally Butcher, Managing Director, Realise Futures

In just three days, fractional People Director Sasha Ashton gave the Realise Futures leadership team the immediate clarity, alignment and momentum to get ahead of the changes coming in 2028, before the pressure hit.

The end result

In just three days, Realise Futures gained the clarity, alignment and momentum to face the changes coming in 2028. The engagement delivered:

• A full strategic people discovery in 3 days
• 4 strategy workstreams mapped with practical outputs and priorities
• 5 people levers assessed: culture, leadership, structure, people processes and talent
• A Senior Management Team aligned, energised and ready to act
• A practical working reference the team could use immediately, not a deck that sits in an inbox

About Realise Futures

Realise Futures is a Community Interest Company (CIC) based in Ipswich, Suffolk, with a clear and vital purpose: to improve and promote the economic and social wellbeing of people who are disadvantaged or disabled. Through a portfolio of social businesses (a café, eco furniture workshop, fulfilment centre, nursery and growing spaces) alongside employment programmes and learning services across Suffolk and Norfolk, it provides real jobs, skills development and routes to independence for those who need it most.

The organisation is led by Managing Director Sally Butcher and a committed Senior Management Team (SMT) with deep sector knowledge and real dedication to the mission.

The challenge

Realise Futures was at an important strategic juncture. Sector-wide commissioning changes driven by the government’s 2028 devolution agenda, combined with the renewal of major contract cycles in the same year, meant the organisation faced a period of significant transition. These shifts bring both challenge and opportunity, and navigating them well takes early preparation, clear priorities and strong leadership alignment.

The strategic priorities were clear: strengthen financial performance, build commercial resilience and ensure the leadership team is ready to seize the opportunities ahead. Four strategy workstreams had already been identified, but the detailed thinking needed to give them shape, ownership and momentum had not yet been developed. Practical, expert input was needed to accelerate progress as strategy began to take form.

The approach

People Puzzles assigned Sasha Ashton, a fractional People Director with deep experience in the social enterprise and employment sector, to lead a rapid discovery. Working at pace, Sasha met individually with every member of the SMT, quickly building trust and creating the conditions for open, honest insight.

From these conversations, she developed a comprehensive discovery deck structured around the five people levers (culture, leadership, structure, people processes and talent) and aligned to the organisation’s four strategic workstreams.

With the engagement intentionally short and the SMT’s time limited, Sasha designed the discovery to leave the organisation with momentum, not just insight. Rather than stopping at themes and recommendations, she built the early practical thinking that would normally emerge from later strategy workshops: draft deliverables, sequencing considerations, ownership questions and early priorities for each workstream. That gave the SMT a head start on shaping their action plans and meant they could keep progressing the work straight after the discovery.

The findings were shared in two stages. First with the Managing Director, then with the full SMT the following day. That turned the insights into a shared leadership conversation, strengthening alignment and building collective ownership of both the challenges and the way forward.

The impact

• The SMT left aligned and energised. Individual conversations surfaced candid perspectives that might not otherwise have been shared, and the facilitated group session turned them into a shared understanding of what needs to change and why.
• Four workstreams moved from intention to action. Each was mapped with practical outputs, ownership questions and early priorities, giving the team a concrete foundation to build their delivery plans from.
• The 2028 commissioning changes were reframed as an opportunity. Devolution, new commissioning structures and the end of major programme cycles were named, understood and positioned as something to move towards rather than react to. The team left with clarity on what needs to happen and the confidence to begin.
• Leadership and organisational foundations were assessed with clarity. Culture, management capability, people processes and organisational structure were examined honestly. Strengths were recognised and protected. Gaps were named and understood.
• The organisation had something to work from immediately. Rather than a deck that sits in an inbox, Sasha produced a practical working reference the SMT could return to as planning progressed, with early thinking on deliverables, sequencing and ownership already done.
• The MD confirmed there were no surprises. The discovery captured what the organisation already sensed but had not yet articulated, and gave it back in a form the whole team could act on.

In their words

“I can’t thank Sasha enough for the excellently crafted and delivered presentation — the SMT were really fired up by her observations and suggestions for tackling the challenges and gaps. Importantly, they fully respected her knowledge and expertise and believed she had really understood our purpose — too many external people don’t. She really got us and quickly established trust, enabling managers to speak openly and honestly. I’m delighted there were no surprises in terms of the gaps and potential solutions — Sasha encapsulated the challenges and opportunities with real clarity.” — Sally Butcher, Managing Director, Realise Futures

Why it matters

Realise Futures is not a unique case. Many organisations delivering public services and community programmes, across employment, skills, health and social care, face the same convergence of pressures: changes to commissioning structures, the need to build commercial resilience without compromising their mission and values, and the challenge of ensuring the right leadership is in place for what comes next.

The Realise Futures engagement shows the value of bringing in an experienced external perspective at exactly the right moment. Before the pressure becomes acute, while there is still time to act.

A fractional People Director working at this level is more than an HR resource. They sit at the intersection of business strategy and people strategy. A thinking partner who can facilitate the difficult conversations, align the leadership team and ensure the organisation is building the right foundations alongside its delivery plans. The Realise Futures discovery shows what becomes possible when the work starts before the pressure does.