Welcome to Day 2
THE 5-DAY HR STRATEGY DEVELOPMENT CHALLENGE
Day 1 was about brutal clarity — diagnosing your HR reality as it is today. Today is about what every HR professional desperately needs, but very few have:
A clear, compelling, business-aligned HR Future State that executives can believe in, support, and invest in.
This is the step that transforms HR from operational responders into strategic partners. If yesterday was about truth, Today is about vision + alignment + credibility.
THE GAP BETWEEN HR TODAY AND HR TOMORROW
Let’s be honest.
Every CEO across Africa is expecting HR to deliver something very different from what HR teams can currently execute — not because HR lacks skill, but because HR lacks:
A clear HR strategy
Alignment with the business
The right capabilities
The right structure
The right data
The right narrative
Most HR teams operate from:
• Yesterday’s tools
• Yesterday’s skills
• Yesterday’s priorities
While the business is operating in:
- Today’s crisis
- Tomorrow’s competition
- A talent shortage
- A capability gap
- A rapidly shifting environment
The gap is widening. Today we close it.
WHY DEFINE THE HR FUTURE STATE?
A powerful HR Strategy begins with a sharp articulation of the HR outcomes needed by the business — not vague HR ambitions.
Without a clear future state:
HR cannot prioritise
HR cannot justify investments
HR cannot engage executives
HR cannot measure success
HR cannot secure buy-in
HR cannot allocate resources
HR cannot lead
“Strategy begins with clarity of WHERE we want to be — the future HR State.”
This becomes the anchor the entire HR function rallies around.
THE 4-PART HR FUTURE STATE MODEL
The Future State sits in the top-right quadrant of your One Page HR Plan.
It answers:
1. What does the business need HR to deliver?
(Direct alignment with business goals)
2. What strategic HR outcomes must be achieved?
(Example: build leadership pipeline, reduce time-to-fill, strengthen culture)
3. What capabilities must HR develop?
(Analytics, workforce planning, talent strategy, digital HR, employee experience)
4. What will be different in the organisation when HR succeeds?
(Observable, measurable improvements)
Let’s detail each.
BUSINESS-ALIGNED HR OBJECTIVES
Your HR Future State must reflect the organisation’s strategic direction.
Examples:
If the business priority is growth
HR Future State Objective:
• Build scalable talent acquisition and onboarding capability
• Reduce hiring cycle by 40%
• Strengthen leadership bench for expansion
• Build high-performance culture
If the business priority is profitability
HR Future State Objective:
• Optimise workforce costs without harming capability
• Improve productivity by 10–15%
• Drive performance discipline
• Redesign reward frameworks to align with business performance
If the business priority is digital transformation
HR Future State Objective:
• Develop digital-first skills
• Implement HR technology roadmap
• Introduce digital capability academies
• Build change-agile culture
If the organisation is public sector
HR Future State Objective:
• Improve service delivery capability
• Build competency frameworks
• Automate key HR processes
• Improve transparency, compliance, and accountability
STRATEGIC HR OUTCOMES
These are the big HR wins that define success.
Examples:
• A strong and predictable leadership pipeline
• Reduced attrition in critical roles
• Improved talent quality
• Higher engagement scores
• Improved skills of the future
• Better compliance execution
• A culture that supports strategy
• HR becoming a trusted advisor
HR CAPABILITY DEVELOPMENT
Where HR must evolve:
• Strategic workforce planning
• HR Data & Talent Intelligence
• Organisation design
• Leadership development
• Change management
• HR analytics
• Digital HR tools
• Coaching skills
• Strategic partnering
Capability development as a core strategic lever.
ORGANISATIONAL SHIFTS WHEN HR SUCCEEDS
What will be visibly different?
• Leaders make better talent decisions
• Employees understand expectations
• Hiring improves
• Capability gaps shrink
• Performance improves
• HR is proactive
• HR speaks the language of the business
• Executives trust HR instinctively
• Culture becomes a strategic asset
Tomorrow, you will turn these outcomes into barriers and constraints (WHAT phase) and then into an actionable roadmap (HOW).
But first — your Day 2 assignment.
REAL EXAMPLES
- A. ENERGY & UTILITIES (Nigeria/Ghana/Kenya)
Future State:
• Build a safety-driven culture
• Reduce talent loss to global competitors
• Create a multi-year technical capability roadmap
• Develop mid-level leadership for plant operations
• Build digital competencies for new energy systems
- B. BANKING & FINANCIAL SERVICES
Future State:
• Strengthen risk culture
• Accelerate digital banking talent capability
• Build future skills for fintech competition
• Improve pipeline readiness for branch managers
- C. PUBLIC SECTOR
Future State:
• Improve accountability and transparency
• Build competency frameworks
• Implement performance contracts
• Modernise recruitment
• Build digital literacy in all departments
- D. FMCG / MANUFACTURING
Future State:
• Build technical and plant capability
• Reduce turnover in remote plants
• Improve supervisor capability
• Strengthen employee relations stability
These examples help participants craft their own.
Today’s Challenge
DEFINE YOUR HR FUTURE STATE
Today’s deliverable fills the second major block on your One-Page HR Strategy.
Follow this process:
Step by Step Exercise
Collect Inputs from Yesterday
Pull forward:
• HR Core Function Assessment
• HR Metrics Snapshot
• Business Strategy Alignment Check
• Stakeholder Sentiment Review
Answer These 7 Strategic Questions
1. What are the top 3 organisational priorities for 2024–2025?
2. What does the business MOST need HR to fix, build, or transform?
3. What HR outcomes must exist for the business to succeed?
4. What capabilities must HR build to support strategy?
5. What cultural shifts must HR enable?
6. What would success look like in measurable terms?
7. What will executives say about HR when HR delivers?
This will be used in the AI prompt below.
Use This AI Prompt to Consolidate
Copy & paste this inside ChatGPT:
1. Role:
You are an expert HR Strategy Analyst for African organisations.
2. Context:
I am building my One-Page HR Strategy. I will paste my HR Current State, answers to 7 strategic questions and business priorities. I need you to create a compelling HR Future State.
3. Command:
Produce a clear, inspiring, and business-aligned HR Future State that includes:
- Strategic HR objectives
- HR capability development priorities
- Expected organisational shifts
- How HR will support business goals
- 3–5 measurable success indicators
4. Format:
Write this in 200–250 words for the “WHERE” section of my One-Page HR Plan.
Finalise Your HR Future State Statement
Refine it. Save it. You need it for Day 3.
WHAT YOU’VE ACCOMPLISHED TODAY
You now have:
A clear HR Future State aligned with business priorities
Strategic HR objectives that executives will immediately understand
Defined HR capabilities needed for the future
A compelling narrative showing HR’s strategic value
Share Your Daily Wins!
Share today's key takeaways and wins using #WorkforceHRChallenge and tag @WorkforceGroup to join the conversation!
Most HR professionals skip this step — and that’s why their “strategies” are just calendars of activities.
Not yours.
You are building a real strategy.
A business strategy through the HR lens.
Tomorrow, we confront the ugly truth:
DAY 3 — “WHAT IS STOPPING US?
The Barriers + Risks + Root Causes that HR must overcome to deliver strategy.** See you tomorrow.
– Workforce Strategy Team
If you get stuck or need help, just reply to your Day 1 email. My team will support you.