178 | (Day 3) The Strategic HR Sprint - Finding Your Strategic Focus

When there are dozens of things you could be working on, how do you decide what deserves your attention most?

Welcome to Day 3 of The Strategic HR Sprint, a free five-day learning experience designed to help you strengthen your strategic thinking in just 10–15 minutes each day.

Join The Strategic HR Sprint for free: brightskyhr.co.uk/sprint

In today’s episode, you’ll identify one important challenge to focus on for the rest of the sprint.

Drawing on an insight from Richard Rumelt’s book Good Strategy/Bad Strategy, Fay explains why good strategy isn’t a long list of everything an organisation could do. It requires focus: understanding the challenges being faced and directing time and energy towards the ones that matter most.

You’ll explore different ways to identify a worthwhile challenge, whether that means looking at your organisation’s strategy, reflecting on what you discovered about the external environment during Day 2, reviewing HR data or noticing the frustrations that repeatedly arise in conversations with managers and employees.

Your chosen challenge doesn’t have to affect the entire organisation. If you’re earlier in your HR career, it could be something closer to your own role that you can influence. What matters is choosing an area where you have the opportunity to make a positive difference.

In This Episode, You’ll Learn:

• Why being strategic includes deciding what not to focus on
• How to identify the challenges behind your organisation’s strategic priorities
• Where to look for ideas if your organisation doesn’t have a clear or up-to-date strategy
• How external trends, HR data and recurring workplace frustrations can highlight important challenges
• The question that can help you decide which challenge to prioritise
• Why there isn’t an optional AI prompt for today’s activity

Chapters

[00:00] Welcome to Day 3 of The Strategic HR Sprint

[01:09] Recapping Days 1 and 2

[01:30] What good strategy looks like in practice

[02:52] Identifying one challenge worth focusing on

[03:42] Using your organisation’s strategy

[04:43] What to do if the strategy isn’t helpful

[05:14] Learning from data and recurring frustrations

[05:34] Choosing the challenge with the greatest potential impact

[06:15] Why today’s activity doesn’t include an AI prompt

[06:38] Share how you’re getting on

Resources Mentioned

Join The Strategic HR Sprint for free: brightskyhr.co.uk/sprint

Good Strategy/Bad Strategy: The Difference and Why It Matters by Richard Rumelt

Useful Links

• Join the free Strategic HR Sprint
• Connect with Fay Wallis on LinkedIn
• The Essential HR Planner
• Learn about the Inspiring HR Leadership Programme

Helpful Episodes to Listen to Next

• Ep 174 | Free 5-Day Strategic HR Sprint (Struggling to Be Strategic? This Will Help)
• Ep 176 | (Day 1) The Strategic HR Sprint - Building Your Strategic Confidence
• Ep 177 | (Day 2) The Strategic HR Sprint - Seeing the Bigger Picture
• Ep 179 | (Day 4) The Strategic HR Sprint - Look Beneath the Surface

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If you’re taking part in The Strategic HR Sprint, Fay would love to hear how you’re getting on. Leave a comment underneath the YouTube video, share your progress on LinkedIn and tag Fay, or reply to one of your daily sprint emails.

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