The Principal's Office Fallacy: Why Your HR Strategy Can’t Wait for a Problem (December 2025 TogetHR Times)
Ever think of HR as the "principal's office?"
You know, the place you only go when something has gone wrong, when a conflict needs resolving, or when the annual paperwork is due. For many small organizations and nonprofits, that's exactly what HR is: a safety net for problems that have already occurred. It’s a box you check after the fact.
If that sounds familiar, you're certainly not alone. But here’s the uncomfortable truth: that reactive way of thinking leaves your organization needlessly exposed. Waiting for a risk to happen is essentially treating your most important asset - your people - like an open invitation for costly errors, unnecessary drama, and missed opportunities. You are actively increasing the odds of a major setback.
What if you could stop managing problems and start strategically building success?
To get there, we need to redefine what HR actually is. Forget the paperwork and the rulebooks for a moment. At its core, HR is about the relationship - how you, the employer, thoughtfully interact with your employees, and how they, in turn, interact with the work. It's a professional relationship, yes, but one that requires the same time, attention, and intentionality as any important partnership. A strong relationship doesn't wait for things to break before talking; it plans and communicates constantly. That planning is what we call HR Strategy.
Let's be brutally honest about one thing: it is always more complex, it always takes longer, and it is always more expensive to rebuild a decision than it is to get it right the first time.
Think about that brilliant new growth initiative you just planned. Maybe it's a new program line, a major push into a new market, or a change in how your services are delivered. Your senior team gathers, the numbers are crunched, and the decision is made. It's exciting! But then what happens? You toss the plan over the wall and tell your team, "Okay, now make it happen."
That's the moment you turned people into an afterthought.
When you decide on a massive new initiative without your people experts in the room, you fail to ask critical questions right from the start. You don’t stop to consider: Do we even have the right people to execute this? Will this new goal burn out our best employees? Do we need to train everyone on a new skill, and who will lead that training?
When you realize six months later that your team lacks the necessary skills, or your top manager is quitting from exhaustion, you are forced to hit the pause button. You then spend valuable time and money un-doing what was decided, hiring externally at a premium, and rebuilding morale - all because you didn't have a thoughtful conversation about the "people piece" at the beginning. The cost of that delay and repair dwarfs the cost of initial planning.
So, how do you stop treating HR like the principal's office and start treating it like your growth engine? It's simpler than you might think. You don't need a massive new department or a complex, multi-year strategy document. You just need to change the moment you start asking about people.
The next time your leadership team is mapping out a new direction - whether it's a new program, a major purchase, or a new operational goal - hit pause right before the decision is final. Then, ask yourself these three simple people questions:
First, Who are going to be the people who accomplish the tasks needed? Don't just list departments or managers. Identify the specific roles, teams, or individuals whose time and effort will be crucial to success.
Second, Do those people currently exist in your organization? If they do, is their plate already full, or can they realistically take on this massive new initiative without getting burnt out? If they don't exist, how much will it truly cost—in time and money—to find, hire, and onboard someone new? This helps you budget for success, not just wish for it.
And third, What skills or training do existing staff need to fill the knowledge gaps? When you plan to build a boat, you need to check if your team knows how to sail it. Addressing a training need proactively is a smart, small investment that pays off quickly. Ignoring it is a guaranteed failure and a major risk.
By proactively asking these questions, you bring the people piece to the front of the line, right alongside the budget and the timeline. You aren't reacting to problems; you are proactively designing for success and building a smarter, stronger, and more resilient organization from the ground up.
By John Wright
