Our business strategy and people strategy aren’t aligned. What do I do?

May 27, 2025

Bright Ideas by ColorVizion Lab is the go-to newsletter for people leaders transforming the talent experience. We answer the tough questions people leaders face daily—with straight talk and real solutions. Desiree B. Sharpe, CEO of ColorVizion Lab, answers this week’s question.

❔Our business strategy and people strategy aren’t aligned. What do I do?

As a people leader, you can feel tension in a company before it’s ever expressed out loud.

Maybe the business is scaling quickly, pivoting direction, or reacting to market pressure. Yet the team is still operating off yesterday’s priorities. The goals are unclear. Roles overlap. And the culture that once felt steady starts to feel uncomfortable.

In these moments, misalignment between people strategy and business strategy chips away at performance, trust, and momentum. Employees feel disconnected from the bigger picture. Managers struggle to lead with clarity. And teams begin to question whether the direction they’re headed in still makes sense.

The data backs it up: Only 43 percent of employees say their organization is good at managing change. That leaves a majority of the workforce moving through uncertainty without a clear sense of where they fit in or why it matters.

That’s when people leaders are expected to step in and rally everyone to keep performing.

But leading through change without a clear, aligned plan can feel overwhelming, especially when you’re tasked with supporting everyone else.

That’s why in this issue of Bright Ideas, we’re unpacking what alignment looks like when the business strategy evolves and how to rebuild your people strategy with intention, clarity, and care.

We’ll cover:

The biggest business risks when the people strategy falls behind
How to get clear on where the company is headed (and where your team fits in)
What steps you can take in the next 30–60 days to close the gap
And a real life example of a company that got it right

If you’re leading a team through change, this one’s for you.

❌Why misalignment is the biggest business risk

When your people strategy isn’t in sync with the direction of the business, the impact can ripple fast and deep.

One of the biggest risks is disengagement. When people don’t understand how their role connects to the business strategy, confusion and fear set in, and that’s when people start checking out.

Without clear alignment, team members lose sight of their purpose. They’re unclear on what success looks like in their role. That ambiguity can erode trust, lead to inconsistent performance evaluations, and create tension between employees and managers.

This becomes a performance issue, not because someone isn’t doing their job, but because expectations were never clearly defined in the first place.

Desiree B. Sharpe, CEO of ColorVizion Lab, recently spoke to Shannon Kinney, Founder of Dream Local Digital, who spent two years in no-growth mode after the pandemic because the team was burned out. Shannon replaced high-volume, low-margin work with more strategic clients.

“I recognize that the industry’s changing all the time and I was putting a lot of strain on the team to keep certain service lines or certain types of customers or resellers,” Shannon said. “Now I’m in a period where I’m going to start moving faster again, but it’s my job to not bombard them with every single thing that I’ve got on my desk because that’s my job, not theirs.”

This made her realize that performance issues aren’t always about individual execution. Sometimes, the business needs to slow down or recalibrate so people can realign without burning out.

Leaders can also see how the opposite is modeled in a company and what the consequences are. Desiree points to Target as a clear example, when an internal memo from the CEO addressing backlash around DEI efforts missed the mark entirely.

“It was tone-deaf and vague. There was no accountability, no clear plan, and nothing to help employees process what was happening,” she says. “That kind of misalignment between leadership messaging and employee experience causes major engagement and retention issues.”

When the business shifts but your people strategy doesn’t, those cracks in your culture become fractures.

📍Where to start: Getting clarity on the business strategy

Realignment starts with understanding. The first step is for people leaders to get crystal clear on the business strategy itself.

That means reviewing internal comms, executive memos, investor updates, and any strategic planning documents. Look at growth goals, revenue targets, market positioning, and operational efficiency objectives.

“Make sure you actually understand the business strategy,” Desiree says. “You can’t align people to a direction you’re unclear on.”

Once that foundation is solid, the next move is assessing the current state of the people strategy. Are roles clearly defined? Are performance metrics aligned with business outcomes? Is your team structure helping or hindering strategic priorities?

To do that, Desiree recommends conducting a simple gap analysis.

Talk to managers and employees.
Use surveys to gather feedback anonymously.
Analyze engagement scores, turnover trends, and team capacity data.
Pay attention to signs of misalignment: confusion, inconsistent goals, repeated performance breakdowns.
When you’re ready to bring those insights to the executive team, go in with data and with empathy.

“Come prepared to share what you’ve observed about the company’s goals and highlight where the people strategy is either supporting or slowing those goals down,” Desiree explains. “And always be collaborative, not prescriptive. Invite dialogue, not just decisions.”

Frame your recommendations as opportunities to close the gap, whether that means upskilling talent, restructuring teams, or launching new leadership development efforts. Show that your strategy is to help the business win.

🏁What to prioritize and measure in the next 30–60 days

Re-aligning your people strategy doesn’t have to take a year or a full transformation plan. In the next 30–60 days, people leaders can focus on a few high-impact actions that help clarify roles, strengthen communication, and build resilience across the team.

Here’s where Desiree suggests starting:

➡️ Focus on role clarity and talent fit

Every strategy starts with having the right people in the right roles. That means reviewing job descriptions, mapping current skills, and making sure roles are designed around what the business actually needs next.

What to do in the next 30–60 days:

Audit current roles and team structures
Conduct skills mapping to assess gaps
Reassign high-potential talent to strategic growth areas

What to track:

✅ Role effectiveness index (e.g. % of roles with clear, up-to-date descriptions tied to business priorities)

✅ Skills gap coverage (% of critical roles filled internally vs. externally)

➡️Create performance and accountability systems

If people don’t know what success looks like or how it connects to business goals, you’ll see gaps in focus, follow-through, and execution.

What to do in the next 30–60 days:

Work with managers to align individual and team goals with business priorities
Refine systems for consistent feedback and accountability

What to track:

✅ Goal attainment rate (% of employees meeting strategy-aligned KPIs)

✅ Revenue per employee (where applicable by size/industry)

➡️ Reinforce culture and values throughout the company

In times of change, people need to feel rooted in something steady. That’s where values come in, but only if they’re more than just words. Values should guide behavior, decision-making, and communication.

What to do in the next 30–60 days:

Clarify and communicate how your culture supports the business strategy
Give managers the language to reinforce values in 1:1s and team meetings
Gather feedback through pulse surveys or small group conversations to spot early signs of misalignment

What to track:

✅ eNPS (Employee Net Promoter Score)

✅ Engagement scores by team or department

✅ Retention of high-performing or high-potential talent

➡️ Plan for agility

Resilience depends on how well your workforce can absorb change. That means having flexible systems, scalable roles, and enough visibility to plan ahead.

What to do in the next 30–60 days:

Review headcount and workload distribution
Identify upskilling needs tied to upcoming priorities
Start scenario planning for possible shifts in your industry

What to track:

✅ Skills readiness index (% of employees prepared for upcoming strategic initiatives)

✅ Workforce flexibility index (how quickly talent can be redeployed or scaled)

➡️ Build leadership development plans

Future-ready companies build leaders who can carry out a business strategy. Succession planning and focused development help make sure there’s continuity in the company, especially when things change quickly.

What to do in the next 30–60 days:

Launch quick-hit leadership training to build resilience and decision-making under pressure
Identify successors for key roles
Track participation in L&D initiatives tied to strategic goals

What to track:

✅ Internal leadership bench strength (% of key roles with ready successors)

✅ Completion of strategy-aligned leadership development programs

🏆How one company got it right

In moments of uncertainty, it’s comforting to look at companies that have made big changes successfully.

For Desiree, she thinks about how Bose communicated major shifts in response to changing tariffs.

The company saw the disruption coming and acted quickly to realign roles, offload inventory, and adjust its strategy before it became a crisis.

But what really made it successful? Leadership communication.

“The CEO showed up in person for town halls, gave space for employees to ask questions, and kept them in the loop the whole way through,” Desiree recalls. “That kind of transparency builds trust and helps teams stay engaged even when things are changing fast.”

Whether you’re leading through external disruption or internal growth, alignment doesn’t happen by accident. It takes clarity, connection, and consistent communication.

📘Download our playbook and learn how to navigate change with confidence

ColorVizion Lab’s People Leader’s Playbook will help you better connect with senior leaders, execute your people strategies, and prioritize your own professional development in 2025.

Download your free copy today and share it with others in your organization.

📰 Story of the week: When too much productivity does more harm than good

There’s a growing concern for HR leaders: hyper-productive employees may look like high performers on the surface but underneath, they could be pushing past healthy limits.

Many high-output employees are masking burnout in the name of “doing it all.” Left unchecked, this can lead to disengagement, health issues, or sudden exits, especially during times of rapid growth or change.

This raises a critical question for people leaders: How do you reward performance without reinforcing burnout? Read the full story here.