A diagnostic for People Directors

Before we ask you anything —
you already know.

The manager carrying a four-month situation. The PIP that was correct on paper. The foundation you were supposed to build two years ago.

This isn't a quiz. It's a mirror. Six questions. Three minutes. No score — a map of the gap between the impact you came here to make and where the work is actually going.

No sign-up required · Takes 3 minutes · Results shown immediately

"I hope nobody escalates those early-stage ones. Because I don't have the bandwidth to catch them all — and if I'm honest, I don't have a system that would let me even if I did."

— Every People Director carrying this. Right now.

Question 1 of 6

How much of your manager layer is visible to you right now?

Not what's visible in theory. What you can actually see — decisions being made, disclosures being handled, situations developing — before they arrive on your desk.

I have real visibility. I know what's happening at manager level.
Decisions are documented. Patterns are visible. I'm not waiting to find out.
I have partial visibility — the serious things reach me.
But I'm aware there's a layer of decisions I only hear about later.
I find out when things escalate. That's mostly how it works.
By then the shape of the problem is already set.
I've stopped expecting to have visibility. It's not how this function operates here.
I manage what arrives. I don't have a system that shows me what's coming.
Question 2 of 6

When a manager makes a decision involving a disclosure or performance concern — how do they experience you?

Not how you intend to be experienced. How they actually experience you in that moment.

As someone they bring in early, to think it through with them.
They see me as a thought partner, not just a process owner.
As someone they tell when they think they need to.
Some do. Some don't. Depends on the manager.
As someone they come to when it's already serious.
I'm the escalation point. Not the thinking partner.
As a last resort. Or someone to cover them if it goes wrong.
They manage around me, not with me.
Question 3 of 6 — most people find this one hardest

If a tribunal requested evidence of structured decision-making at manager level tomorrow — how long would it take to produce it?

Not policy documents. Not a handbook. Evidence that decisions were made with structure, recorded at the time, by the people responsible for them.

Under an hour. It's documented and accessible.
I could produce it now.
A day or two. I'd need to piece it together.
It exists in parts. Not as a coherent record.
Significant effort. It's scattered across emails, notes, memory.
I'd be reconstructing it rather than retrieving it.
Honestly — I couldn't. Not with confidence.
The decisions were made. The structure wasn't there.
Question 4 of 6

What proportion of your time last month went on reactive ER work that should have been resolved at manager level?

Cases that arrived already complicated. Situations that had been drifting for weeks before you knew about them. The archaeology instead of the architecture.

Under 20%. Reactive work is the exception.
Most things are caught early enough to shape.
Around a third. It's noticeable but not dominant.
I can still do strategic work. It just costs more effort to protect it.
Over half. Reactive work sets the shape of most weeks.
Strategic work happens in the gaps, if there are any.
It's most of what I do. The reactive load is the job as it functions here.
I know what I was hired to build. I don't have the space to build it.
Question 5 of 6

Do you have a system that lets you intervene on an early-stage people issue — before it becomes a formal process?

Not a policy. Not guidance on a shared drive. A mechanism that actually catches things while they're still shapeable.

Yes. It works. I can see early-stage issues and act on them.
The system exists and my managers use it.
Partially. Some managers flag early. Most don't.
It depends on the individual, not the system.
It exists on paper. In practice, things reach me when they're already formal.
The gap between policy and reality is significant.
No. I am the system. When I have capacity, things get caught. When I don't, they don't.
I know what that means for the times I'm overloaded.
Question 6 of 6

When you imagine the People Director you intended to be when you took this role — how close are you to that person right now?

Not in terms of seniority or title. In terms of the impact you came here to make.

Close. I'm doing the work that matters and I can feel the difference I'm making.
The function is doing what I intended it to do.
Getting there — but the reactive load is heavy and the gap is visible.
I know what I want to build. I just don't have the space yet.
Further away than I'd like to admit.
The year looks different to how I thought it would when I took this on.
I've stopped asking myself that question.
Not because I don't care. Because the answer is too uncomfortable to sit with.

What changes in seven days

The Sprint surfaces all of this.
Three scenarios. One week.

Seven days. Three real scenarios from your organisation. A Decision Receipt for each one. You leave with documented evidence of structured decision-making — and your managers leave with a mechanism they'll use again.

Book the Sprint — £1,000 →

20 minutes first. No pitch. Tell me what's happening and we'll both know if this is right.

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