HR has evolved far beyond payroll, compliance, and recruitment.
It’s now a strategic engine that drives culture, capability, and competitive advantage. While navigating skills shortages, regulatory changes, and an increasingly diverse workforce, strengthening your HR team is no longer optional — it’s essential.
A strong HR team helps organisations attract and retain top talent, manage change effectively, build a high-performing culture, and ensure compliance with employment legislation. In this article, we’ll outline practical strategies for strengthening your HR team.
1. Align HR With Business Strategy
The first step in building a strong HR team is ensuring it is aligned with your business goals.
Key Actions:
- Involve HR in executive-level planning discussions.
- Share organisational objectives and KPIs with the HR team.
- Translate business goals into workforce plans (e.g., talent acquisition, leadership development, succession planning).
- Identify areas where HR can directly influence outcomes, such as improving retention to support growth or enabling learning to drive digital transformation.
2. Invest in HR Capability Building
Your HR team’s ability to deliver high-quality outcomes depends on their knowledge, skills, and experience. Upskilling HR professionals should be a continuous process.
Prioritise development in areas such as:
- Employment law (especially NZ-specific compliance).
- Organisational development and change management.
- Workforce analytics and HR tech.
- Strategic workforce planning.
- Coaching and leadership development.
Encouraging ongoing learning not only improves performance but also signals that your HR function is valued — boosting morale and retention.
3. Structure Your HR Team
Many organisations operate with lean HR teams, often expecting one or two generalists to cover all bases. While flexibility is useful, the risk is burnout, or missed opportunities to add value.
As your organisation grows, consider structuring HR around core pillars such as:
- Talent Acquisition
- People Operations (including HR systems, payroll, compliance)
- Learning & Development
- Employee Relations and Engagement
- Strategic HR Business Partnership
4. Build a Culture of Collaboration and Influence
A strong HR team needs to be trusted, respected, and embedded across the organisation. This requires relational capability and visibility.
Tips to build influence:
- Train HR staff in communication, consultation, and coaching skills.
- Encourage HR team members to sit in on team meetings across departments.
- Involve HR in organisational change projects — not just when issues arise.
- Promote open-door policies and encourage feedback from staff and managers.
5. Enhance Cultural Competence
New Zealand’s workforce is diverse and multicultural. Understanding this diversity — and how to build inclusive environments — is a core requirement for modern HR teams.
Ways to build cultural competence:
- Engage with Māori and Pasifika business networks.
- Implement policies that actively support inclusion, such as flexible work, gender pay equity, and accessible hiring.
- Use inclusive language in job ads and internal communications.
A culturally competent HR team strengthens employee trust and enhances your employer brand.
6. Outsource or Augment Where Needed
If your organisation doesn’t yet have the scale to justify a large HR team, that doesn’t mean you should go without support. Outsourcing or augmenting your HR function can be a cost-effective way to strengthen it.
Examples include:
- Contracting an HR consultant for restructures, investigations, or audits.
- Using an external provider for payroll or HR administration.
- Partnering with a recruitment agency.
- Hiring an on-call expert for complex ER issues.
Conclusion: Building an HR Team for the Future
Strengthening your HR team is one of the smartest investments you can make as an employer. A capable, well-resourced, and trusted HR function is a key enabler of business success — improving recruitment, retention, productivity, compliance, and culture.
Your HR team is not just a support function, it’s your people engine, and it deserves the same care, investment, and attention you give to any other critical part of your business.
Need to Tackle an HR Issue?
We offer a range of HR consulting services to tackle whatever organisational needs you have. We’ll work closely with you to understand your specific circumstances, and develop effective solutions that are tailored to your business!
Want a free consultation?
Flick us a message here – or contact Lisa Oakley at lisa@peopleassociates.nz or on 027 573 5483.
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