A large NHS Foundation Trust faced a complex people and systems landscape where legacy HR practices, inconsistent workforce data, and limited performance insight were inhibiting organisational performance.

The Trust needed to modernise critical HR functions, strengthen governance, and create a people strategy that supported organisational and system priorities in a pressured health environment.

With increasing operational demand, variability in reporting standards, and a lack of clarity around workforce performance, the organisation required an evidence-based programme to diagnose issues, build strategic alignment and establish a foundation for transformation.

Caja partnered with the trust to deliver a structured, diagnostic first phase of HR improvement, focused on clarity, insight and practical foundations for change.

The approach combined deep stakeholder engagement, data analysis, and strategic design to build trust and deliver early, tangible output. To understand the context and scale of challenges, Caja conducted:

Alongside diagnostics, Caja developed key deliverables to support future delivery including:

Capacity building was embedded through a series of targeted masterclasses focused on data interpretation and effective project delivery, complemented by senior leadership coaching to strengthen accountability and ownership of future transformation initiatives.

The project established a robust platform for sustainable HR modernisation, creating the clarity, capability and confidence needed to progress transformation at pace.

At a strategic level, the phase delivered renewed alignment and direction. A refreshed People Plan articulated a clear and compelling narrative for workforce priorities, ensuring that the HR strategy was more closely aligned with organisational objectives and wider system ambitions. This provided a shared understanding of purpose and priorities across senior leaders, strengthening the connection between people strategy and organisational outcomes.

The work significantly strengthened performance insight and decision-making. New data visualisations and reporting formats provided clearer, more timely insight at executive and committee levels, while a shared analytical vocabulary across people leaders enabled more consistent, evidence-based performance conversations and a stronger organisational grip on workforce data.

Strong operational foundations were put in place to support future change. A future-ready target operating model for HR and OD was designed, providing a clear blueprint to underpin subsequent phases of modernisation. This was complemented by robust financial modelling and business case documents, creating a credible evidence base to inform future investment decisions and prioritisation.

Finally, we focused on building the internal capability needed to sustain transformation. Targeted masterclasses and coaching strengthened skills in data literacy, project management and leadership, embedding new ways of working and increasing confidence across the HR function.