3 HR priorities Yorkshire businesses can't afford to ignore this year

If I were leading HR internally for a business right now, looking ahead to the remainder of 2025 and in to 2026, I would be thinking about the external environment with clear eyes, and planning for it with intention. Between shifting employment legislation, widening skills gaps, and the evolving expectations of both employees and regulators, there is no space for passivity. The people agenda in every business needs to be sharp, commercially aligned, and future-focused.

With the ongoing development of the Employment Rights Bill and the upcoming abolition of the two-year qualifying period for unfair dismissal, it is time for employers to move beyond reactive thinking. The people you are employing now will fall under a very different set of employment protections by the time these changes take effect. This means the choices we make today around people, process and leadership will either set us up for success, or expose us to risk.

Here’s what would be top of my agenda if I were leading HR from the inside.

HR priority 1 - A super slick onboarding process that prioritises high performance from day one

The government’s plan to abolish the two-year qualifying period for unfair dismissal is one of the most significant shifts in employment law in over a decade. While the finer details of statutory probation periods are still being debated, what we do know is, that the people you are hiring right now, will soon be protected by day one rights. That has serious implications for onboarding, performance management and legal risk of unfair dismissal claims.

I recently heard Employment Law experts Glenn Jaques and Liam Kenealy talk about this risk at the The Company of Cutlers in Hallamshire first Tuesday breakfast meeting, and I could not agree more with the sentiment that this should be a high focus area for employers.

If I was an internal business leader, I would prioritise building a world-class onboarding process that sets clear expectations from day one. It would be designed to embed high performance and accountability early. But onboarding is not just about process. It is about people, and the people who manage them.

That’s why you also have to ensure as part of an onboarding process overhaul, that managers are supported to manage. Onboarding must be coupled with management capability so that underperformance, risk or misalignment can be addressed early, fairly, legally and confidently.

And when it comes to the compliance training employees are mandated to do as part of onboarding? I have strong views. It should never be a tick-box exercise. Especially not in today’s climate, where we are seeing strengthened legal duties around sexual harassment prevention and broader workplace protections, for example.

I work with organisations across the UK to transform how compliance is done. My award-winning sexual harassment prevention training is currently the only solution of its kind on the UK market, developed by a trauma-informed, accredited specialist. It moves beyond policy to cultural change. It sets standards. And it gives people the language, tools and confidence to take real action.

What can you do now?

• Audit your current onboarding process to assess how well it embeds performance expectations, cultural alignment, and early accountability, not just basic compliance.

• Review your probation and performance review procedures to ensure they are robust, timely, and manager-led. Prepare for potential changes to unfair dismissal protections with a clear, fair early intervention process.

• Upskill people managers immediately in handling early performance conversations, setting clear expectations, and addressing behaviour confidently and legally.

HR priority 2 - Building capable managers, not just HR process followers

We have all heard the saying that people do not leave bad jobs, they leave bad managers. But equally, we have to ask ourselves whether we are contributing to that problem as business leaders.

This is a fundamental issue. And it is one that cannot be solved by simply rebadging HR training and calling it management development.

I do not believe in HR training for people managers. I believe people managers need effective, strategic and relevant people management training. That is not the same thing. It is not about processes or policy. It is about capability and confidence. When those two things come together, compliance flows naturally. So does performance.

On my people agenda would be a comprehensive, business-aligned development offer that supports people managers to lead well, manage conflict, have difficult conversations and build accountability in their teams. Because without strong people management, everything else starts to slip, whether that's performance, engagement, retention and ultimately, business results.

From rising absence to high turnover, you can analyse the cost of underinvesting in one of the most critical business functions (your managers).

That's why I created something different.

Think of it like Build-a-Bear, but for people managers. My Management Development Programme aka the Line Manager Toolkit has been rolled out in organisations like the British Glass Manufacturers' Confederation, and it works because it is built with the business, not imposed on it. Programmes are tailored and comprehensive, supported by 360-degree feedback, personal action planning and delivery across 3 to 12 months, depending on your organisation’s needs.

What can you do now?

• Evaluate how many of your current people managers have received any formal people management training, and what outcomes that training delivered.

• Introduce or upgrade a 360-degree feedback process to assess leadership and management effectiveness from multiple angles, surfacing gaps in confidence and capability.

• Invest in tailored management development that prioritises practical capability over generic HR modules, build programmes that reflect your business's actual needs.

With skills bank funding extended only until October this year through South Yorkshire Mayoral Combined Authority, NOW is the best time to take a look at this training, before funding is unavailable!

HR priority 3 - A strategic plan to tackle skills gaps head on

If you are waiting for a government policy to fix the skills crisis, you may be waiting a long time. Please don't hold your breath! But I am sure you already know this and are as frustrated by the lack of solution as I am.

Productivity in Yorkshire remains 15% lower than the national average. In some sectors, such as engineering and construction, more than 30% of the workforce is set to retire by 2030. That is not just a skills gap, it is a scary knowledge drain. It is happening now, and it is worsening fast.

Apprenticeships have a place, but they are not a strategy. Especially if your approach to apprenticeships is under-resourced or misaligned. A two-year programme will not replace 30 years of experience, and if that apprentice is still sweeping the floor halfway through the course, we have a bigger issue.

That is exactly why I am hosting an upcoming Skills Gap Strategy Day, designed to help business leaders identify and address their specific workforce capability challenges. You’ll leave with clarity, a framework, and the confidence to act.

If I were internal HR, this is the kind of external expertise I’d be engaging. Not generic. Not templated. Strategic, insightful and aligned to the commercial future of the business.

What can you do now?

• Map your current workforce data to identify where capability is at risk due to age, attrition or future market demand, especially in technical or operational roles.

• Analyse your existing learning and development strategy to understand where current efforts are misaligned or falling short of future business goals.

• Engage strategic HR support or register for a specialist session (like my upcoming Skills Gap Strategy Day) to build a plan that matches your future workforce needs with clear actions today.

Final thoughts on the top 3 Yorkshire HR priorities this year

HR is not just about compliance. It is not soft stuff. It is not simply operational. It is commercial and it is strategy.

People, performance and profit are connected. And in the current landscape of employment reform, shifting workforce demographics and growing regional disparities in productivity, internal leaders must be empowered to act with foresight and ambition.

If you are an HR leader, a business owner, or a senior decision-maker thinking about your own agenda for the next financial year, what are the strategic choices you need to make now?

If you want to talk through what this might look like for your business, I am always happy to chat.

help@onesourcehr.co.uk | 01709 460500