0345 646 5201
“Liz has played an important role in helping us strengthen our management team, and the changes we’ve made over the past months have been positive for the business. We value the experience, challenge and perspective she has brought to our leadership discussions.” Rosie Whitelock, MD – Bonacia
What’s different now
A values-led, family-run business approaching 35 years in operation which is now more confident in its strengthened leadership capability, with real loyalty and tenure, and a forward-looking people function that has been genuinely transformed.
Working with People Puzzles, Bonacia has:
- Built a more strategically focused, accountable leadership team
- Moved to proactive succession planning
- Made employee engagement measurable and repeatable
- Improved its approach to recruitment for cultural fit and retention
- Elevated HR to a strategic function with real confidence
- Aligned its people strategy with its growth ambitions
Having strategic people planning embedded, rather than only operation HR, has enabled the business to evolve into a more strategic, confident and proactively managed organisation primed for future growth.
The business
Bonacia is a technology-enabled print services group, delivering personalised competitions and books to children, young people and independent authors internationally. Its Young Writers and Book Printers UK brands will be familiar to many parents of primary-school-age children.
A commercially strong, values-led organisation, Bonacia had a mostly long-serving leadership team and a strong employer brand. The business was well positioned for continued growth, but recognised that to move to the next level, its people strategy needed to evolve.
The senior leadership team wanted to do the right thing. They saw clear potential within the organisation, but identified opportunities to strengthen peer accountability, reward and recognition, succession planning, leadership development, and data-led decision-making.
The challenges
Following an in-depth People Diagnostic, including a Gallup 12 staff survey, leadership interviews, Belbin profiling, site observation and HR process review, several themes emerged.
Leadership and structure. The leadership team was heavily operational, with decision-making concentrated at the centre. Succession planning and future talent mapping were not yet in place.
Talent and recruitment. Recruitment processes had limited systems to ensure good cultural fit or assess practical considerations such as commute.
Culture and engagement. Employee engagement was strong, but recognition was lacking. There was an opportunity to further align values, strengthen cross-team communication and evolve the culture to support future growth.
People data and governance. People metrics and development frameworks were not being leveraged to support strategic decision-making at board level.
What we did
The senior leadership team wanted to do the right thing and saw clear potential for improvement, so made the decision to bring in senior, strategic HR expertise to lead the change. Liz Allan joined Bonacia as a fractional People Director, moving the business beyond operational HR and administration into commercial people leadership and data-led decision making.
Strengthening senior leadership. Liz facilitated more strategic leadership discussions, introduced healthy challenge, and supported the senior team to build greater accountability, Â ensuring the right people were in the right roles.
Building a clear people strategy. Liz delivered a full engagement and leadership diagnostic, initiated structured succession planning, and drafted a People Strategy aligned with Bonacia’s growth plan.
Smarter talent and recruitment. Recruitment shifted from reactive hiring to a more strategic approach; one focused on cultural fit, clearer KPIs, improved retention insight, and systems to support quality hiring.
Enhancing culture and engagement. A regular engagement rhythm was embedded, values were strengthened in action, recognition initiatives were increased, and wellbeing support was elevated to improve the overall employee experience.
Future-proofing leadership. Formal succession conversations were introduced, emerging leaders were identified, and a coaching culture began to take root through structured leadership development pathways.
The impact
Bonacia is now positioned to sustain and build on these foundations. With a stronger, more accountable leadership team, more strategic HR, and the people infrastructure to support long-term growth, they also recognise the full commercial impact of the transformation, which will enable them to reduce staff turnover and improve staff recognition and retention. They are keen to build internal succession strength and support long-term governance maturity – demonstrating the power of strategic people planning in securing the future growth potential of the business.
Could your business benefit from this kind of strategic people support? Contact People Puzzles to speak to your local People Director. Call 0345 646 5201 or visit peoplepuzzles.co.uk.
