If there’s one thing we know for sure, it’s this: great businesses are built on great people strategy.
And after a long year of talent shortages, shifting legislation, rising expectations, and constant change, employers across Canada are heading into 2026 looking for clarity, confidence, and a little momentum.
So this December, our team shared 12 Days of People Strategy — daily, bite-sized insights and helpful resources to help leaders strengthen the people practices that drive business success and growth.
Here’s your full recap, all in one place. 🎄✨
Use it as a checklist, a planning guide, or the spark you need to build a people strategy that actually moves your business forward.
- HR Has Shifted from Admin to Advantage
- Retention Quality > Retention Rates
- Retention Starts Before Day 1
- Recruitment Depends on Your Employer Brand
- Hiring Momentum Matters More Than Job Boards
- Managers Make or Break Retention
- Accessibility Needs a More Practical Lens
- Trust is the #1 Predictor of Performance
- Performance Reviews Aren’t Dead, They Just Need A New Approach
- ‘Culture Fit’ Is Out, ‘Culture Add’ Is In
- Your Employer Brand Exists (Whether You Built It or Not)
- People Strategy Is Business Strategy
1. HR Has Shifted from Admin to Advantage
We kicked off the series with a foundational truth: HR is no longer administrative support — it’s a strategic business lever.
Organizations that connect people insights to operational goals consistently grow faster, retain longer, and build healthier, more resilient teams. The shift requires HR leaders to align people metrics directly with business priorities.
Try this: Review your 2026 business goals and identify one people metric that directly influences each one.
For example:
- Want better customer experience? → Strengthen employee engagement.
- Want faster project delivery? → Improve role clarity and onboarding effectiveness.
2. Retention Quality > Retention Rates
A high retention rate looks great on paper… until you realize half your team is disengaged.
Retention quality digs deeper by assessing several key factors, including:
- Onboarding effectiveness
- Sense of belonging
- Manager enablement
- Trust and psychological safety
The goal isn’t keeping people. It’s keeping the right people engaged, supported, and growing.
Try this: Identify who’s thriving, who’s coasting, and who needs support. Then compare that reality to your onboarding, belonging, and manager effectiveness indicators to uncover where the real gaps lie.
3. Retention Starts Before Day 1
Most early turnover has nothing to do with compensation. It happens because onboarding is unclear, inconsistent, or overwhelming.
Pre-boarding lays out the foundation for confidence, clarity, and connection — long before Day 1 arrives.
Try this: Start by adding simple yet intentional and helpful steps in your pre-boarding process, such as:
- Sending a warm welcome email
- Sharing the new hire’s Day 1 schedule in advance
- Setting up a coffee chat with their manager
- Providing logins and access to tools so they’re more comfortable on Day 1
Download our free Onboarding Checklist for more details on what to include to enhance your onboarding experience!
4. Recruitment Depends on Your Employer Brand
How well you recruit is entirely dependent on how well you market your employer brand.
(Translation: Copying job ads straight from ChatGPT won’t do you any favours.)
Great hiring starts long before you post the job. Candidates want story, clarity, and a genuine sense of who you are.
Try this: Use our free Employer Brand Audit Tool to assess how your values, culture, and employee experience show up in your job postings, careers page, and online reputation.
5. Hiring Momentum Matters More Than Job Boards
Top candidates move fast, which means your hiring process has to move faster.
Slow responses = cold leads.
Consistent momentum = stronger hires.
Try this: Map your hiring process from application to offer, and highlight every point where candidates sit for more than 48 hours.
P.S. We have free templates for recruiters to help streamline your hiring process! Click here to download yours.
6. Managers Make or Break Retention
Managers influence up to 75% of the variance in employee engagement, making them one of the most important levers in your entire people strategy.
Yet many managers have never been formally trained in:
- Giving clear expectations
- Documenting feedback
- Navigating conflict
- Coaching different working styles
The result? Misalignment, burnout, turnover, and reduced performance.
Try this: Pick one micro-skill to train managers on in the new year. For example, setting clear expectations, providing feedback, or coaching through conflict. Even small improvements can dramatically improve retention and team cohesion.
7. Accessibility Needs a More Practical Lens
Accessibility isn’t a poster, a policy, or a one-off recognition. It’s in the day-to-day: how you hire, communicate, and support your people.
Best of all? Accessibility has tangible ROI on your business:
→ Accessible job postings = bigger, untapped talent pools
→ Accessible communication = fewer errors and stronger safety
→ Accessible workplaces = lower turnover and higher trust
Try this: Choose one daily practice to make more accessible — such as offering both verbal and written instructions, turning on captions, or using plain language. (“Please action accordingly” can officially retire.)
8. Trust Is the #1 Predictor of Performance
Retention, safety, collaboration… nearly all team outcomes improve when trust is strong.
But trust doesn’t come from perks or pizza days. (Although, those are great too.)
It comes from leadership consistency.
Try this: Pick one commitment as a leader you can make (and keep) every week. For example, hold your 1:1s, follow through with your team, or communicate clearly and early.
Consistency builds trust, trust enables higher performance!
9. Performance Reviews Aren’t Dead, They Just Need A New Approach
Annual reviews often get a bad reputation because they’re too late in the year, too vague, and generally disconnected from day-to-day work.
High-performing teams use ongoing feedback and coaching to strengthen their annual or bi-annual performance reviews.
Try this: Give one piece of specific, actionable feedback this week.
For example:
“Be more proactive” changes nothing.
“Flag the issue earlier so we can handle it together” changes everything.
Psst… Download our free GROW Model Guide to integrate this more naturally and consistently into the way you lead others!
10. ‘Culture Fit’ Is Out, ‘Culture Add’ Is In
Hiring people who feel familiar may seem comfortable… but it limits diversity, stifles innovation, and suppresses growth.
Teams thrive when they add new perspectives, strengths, and lived experiences.
Try this: Train hiring managers to replace the default reflective question: “Would I grab a drink with them?” with: “What gap on our team would this person help close?”
This one shift alone can greatly improve your company’s diversity, performance, and retention.
11. Your Employer Brand Exists (Whether You Built It or Not)
Glassdoor. Indeed. TikTok. Group chats. Family dinners.
Your employer brand is already telling a story, whether you’ve invested in it or not.
The real question is: Are those stories helping you attract great talent… or quietly pushing them away?
Try this: Choose one area of your employer brand to shape intentionally in the new year, such as…
- Updating employee testimonials
- Capturing real team photos
- Refreshing your careers page
A brand built with intention is always stronger than the one the internet builds for you. Download our free Employer Brand Audit Tool to see how you’re really showing up and where you can bring your story to life!
12. People Strategy = Business Strategy
Everything comes back to people strategy.
Your people practices shape everything: retention, recruitment, culture, trust, compliance, performance — and ultimately, growth.
After a challenging year for many Canadian employers, we wanted to give back by offering exclusive high-impact supports to help you move into 2026 with momentum.
That’s why Day 12 included our People Strategy Grand Prize Draw, with chances to win:
🎁 Free DEI Audit (valued at $7,500)
🎁 Free HR Audit (valued at $5,000)
🎁 Recruitment kick-off fee waived (valued at $750)
🎁 Virtual leadership development workshop (valued at $1,500)
🎁 Coffee to fuel your team (valued at $50)
🎁 Bonus toolkits to support 2026 planning
It’s our way of giving back to the leaders building healthier, more human workplaces. ✨
Your People Strategy Is Your Business Strategy
If this series sparked even one idea, one shift, or one moment of clarity, we’re glad. Because when employers invest in people strategy, real business results follow.
Here’s to a new year of clarity, consistency, and people-powered growth! Let’s do this!
#SleighYourPeopleStrategy ❤️
