Why Leaders Who Support HR Will Survive (and thrive IN) the Next Talent Crisis

The talent crisis isn’t about empty seats.  It’s about leaders unwilling to own them.

Across creative and media organisations, burnout, quiet quitting, and disengagement are at record highs.  Yet too many executives still frame this as an “HR problem,” rather than a leadership problem.  HR isn’t just there to process payroll or policies; it’s the strategic partner that helps leaders keep culture intact, retain talent, and navigate disruption.  When leadership avoids accountability and sidelines HR, organisations don’t just lose people; they lose trust, alignment, and long-term resilience.

That mindset is broken.

A 2024 McKinsey study found that companies where HR is embedded in strategic decision-making outperform peers on employee retention by 28%.  Deloitte and Mercer add to the evidence: organisations that delay or sideline HR during transformation underperform those who bring people leaders to the table early.

The pattern is clear.  When leaders partner with HR, they retain talent, protect culture, and navigate disruption better than those who don’t.

Here’s what surviving the next talent turmoil problem requires:

1. Stop Outsourcing Culture

   Culture isn’t HR’s job; it’s a leadership outcome.  HR can guide and support, but only leaders can live it.  Every decision you make, who you promote, how you respond to pressure, the behaviours you reward; shapes culture. Don’t dump it on HR and hope for the best.

2. PARTNER IN PEOPLE STRATEGY

   Too often HR is parachuted in at the end of strategy.  Asked to clean up after restructures, rushed hiring, or messy hybrid rollouts.  By then, the damage is already done.  Bring HR in early and often to help shape growth plans, succession strategy, mergers, and organisational design.  If your people leaders aren’t at the table, you’re already behind.

3. EMPOWER MIDDLE MANAGERS

   Middle managers are your culture carriers.  They translate strategy into action, keep teams aligned, and hold the front line through disruption.  Yet many are unsupported, unclear on priorities, or drowning in admin.  Ignore them, and your strategy dies in translation.  Support them, and your organisation moves faster and smarter.

4. TURN DATA INTO DECISIONS

   HR isn’t just about policies.  It’s your dashboard.  Engagement scores, attrition rates, absenteeism, promotion velocity; these are early-warning signals of systemic issues.  If you’re not reading them, you’re flying blind.  Leaders who learn to act on people data can prevent crises rather than scramble to fix them.

5. INVEST BEFORE YOU BREAK

   Don’t wait until the next crisis to build leadership development, coaching, or performance frameworks.  Waiting for a downturn to “get serious” about people strategy is like buying insurance after the accident.  The most resilient organisations invest in their people systems before they’re tested.

6. REDEFINE YOUR EVP AFTER DISRUPTION

   Your Employee Value Proposition (EVP) isn’t static.  In times of disruption, employees reassess what they value: flexibility, purpose, recognition, stability.  Mercer research shows organisations that redefine EVP after crisis rebuild trust faster than those that reach for one-off bonuses or cost-cutting perks.

The Bottom Line

The future of work won’t be shaped by the agencies with the slickest tech stack or the most cost-efficient operating model.  It will be shaped by the leaders who see HR not as “admin,” but as a co-pilot in building sustainable, high-performing organisations.

If you want to survive the next talent crisis, and come out stronger, stop sidelining HR.  Start leading with them.