Phase 1: Diagnose & Orient (Days 1-30)
Understand the business, the people, and the real HR situation before taking action.
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Week 1 — Listen and Observe
Meet your direct manager and align on expectations
Clarify what success looks like in 30, 60, and 90 days. Ask what has failed before and why.
Shadow each department head for at least 30 minutes
Understand their biggest people challenge. Do not pitch solutions yet. Just listen.
Review all existing HR policies and employment contracts
Flag anything non-compliant, outdated, or missing. Create a risk register before touching anything.
Week 2 — Map the Reality
Build a complete headcount inventory
Who is employed, under what contract, in what role, at what cost. One source of truth.
Map how HR processes actually work today
How does hiring happen? How are salaries approved? Map reality, not the official process.
Audit employee file completeness
Check that every employee has a signed contract, valid ID on file, and documented offer letter.
Weeks 3 to 4 — Prioritise and Plan
Identify and fix the top 3 compliance risks
Unsigned contracts, expired visas, undocumented warnings. Fix the legal exposure first.
Draft your 90-day HR plan and get sign-off
One page. Three phases. Clear priorities. Present to your manager before Day 30.
Identify 2 quick wins that build your credibility
Fix something visible. Streamline a form, resolve a long-standing complaint, simplify a process.
Hold a Day 30 review with your manager
Share your findings, risks identified, and the plan for Phase 2. Align before you build.
Phase 2: Build the Foundation (Days 31-60)
Put the core HR infrastructure in place. Policies, processes, and structure.
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Structure and Architecture
Finalise the org chart and reporting lines
Document who reports to whom. Agree on spans of control. Eliminate unofficial reporting relationships.
Create a job catalogue with standardised titles and levels
Even a simple 4-level structure eliminates most salary inequity and title confusion.
Publish the 5 core HR policies
Employment, Leave, Code of Conduct, Disciplinary, and Recruitment. Get signatures from all staff.
Talent and Recruitment
Define the end-to-end recruitment process
Approval flow, sourcing channels, interview structure, offer process. Document it in a one-page flow.
Launch a structured 30-day onboarding programme
A calendar with milestones, introductions, and checkpoints. Not a stack of forms.
Performance and Compensation
Set up the quarterly check-in cycle
Replace annual reviews with 4 structured 30-minute check-ins. Train managers on the conversation format.
Define salary bands for each job level
Benchmark against the market. Identify anyone paid significantly below band. Flag for correction.
Establish a HRIS or structured digital record system
Even a structured SharePoint folder beats paper. Standardise every employee file to the same structure.
Deliver a Phase 2 update to leadership
What was built, what problems were solved, what is next. Keep leadership visible and aligned.
Run a pulse check with 5 to 10 employees
Informal conversations. What is working, what is frustrating, what do they need from HR. Listen first.
Phase 3: Scale and Lead (Days 61-90)
Move from building to leading. Position HR as a strategic function.
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Organisational Development
Map critical roles and identify succession gaps
For every role where losing the person would cause operational disruption, identify the backup. Document gaps.
Design a competency framework for the top 3 job families
Define what good looks like at each level. Use it for hiring, development, and promotion decisions.
Launch a learning and development plan for the year
Identify skill gaps from performance data and business plans. Link training to role requirements, not preferences.
Analytics and Reporting
Set up a monthly HR dashboard
Track headcount cost, turnover rate, time-to-hire, and open roles. Report to leadership monthly.
Calculate and present the current annual turnover rate
Benchmark against industry. Identify whether attrition is concentrated in a specific team, tenure bracket, or role.
Culture and Engagement
Run a formal employee engagement survey
Keep it short: 10 questions maximum. Share results with the leadership team and commit to 3 visible actions.
Identify and support 3 high-potential employees
Put them on a stretch assignment or mentoring arrangement. Make development visible, not theoretical.
Strategic Positioning
Draft the HR strategy for the next 12 months
Aligned to the business plan. Three to five priorities. Measurable outcomes. One page maximum.
Present a 90-day retrospective to leadership
What was inherited, what was fixed, what was built, what comes next. This is your seat at the table moment.
Define your personal HR leadership brand internally
Are you known for execution, for empathy, for systems thinking? Be intentional about how you are perceived.