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3 Critical Steps to Strategic Conversations
A practical guide to changing the way you speak to managers and leaders to quickly increase your impact and how you are seen in your organisation
£14.99
You've done the qualifications, you've spent years of your working life working in HR functions and yet you still find yourself explaining what HR is or does to people who should probably already know. You're not short of knowledge, you've read the theory, worked in several organisations and built up a solid bank of practical experience and yet somehow you're still fighting to be taken seriously in your organisation even though they rely on you to keep them out of trouble.
It's not a question of needing to learn more about HR - that was never the issue. Instead it's about the fact that simply being good at HR was never going to be enough because most organisations still see HR as a support function rather than a business one and that misconception has an annoying habit of shaping everything - from who gets consulted on a decision before it is made to whose input changes anything.
If any of this sounds like your working week, you're not imagining it and you're also not doing anything wrong:
You find out about big decisions after they've already been made, not while they're still being discussed
You're told to be more strategic, with nobody willing to explain what that actually looks like in practice
You do work that changes outcomes but nobody outside HR seems to register it happened
Colleagues assume your job is contracts, disciplinaries and organising the Christmas party and correcting that assumption gets exhausting
You're constantly firefighting, which leaves no time to do the work that would stop the fires starting in the first place
There are five things underneath all of that and I recognise every one of them because I lived through them myself before I understood what was actually going on.
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Strategy
You've been told to think more strategically, but nobody has shown you how strategy in your organisation connects to what HR does day to day, or what the strategy even is
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Perception
You're treated as operational support rather than a business partner, which means decisions get made without you and then handed to you to implement
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Impact
The work you do isn't showing up where it counts; in influence, in visibility or in the outcomes that interst people
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Commerciality
You don't always have the language or the confidence to challenge the business on its own terms, so you end up going along with things you'd rather push back on
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Empowerment
You second-guess yourself even when you're right, and you sit in meetings without ever quite taking up the space you're entitled to
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Programme Outcomes
Mastering Strategy
Understand what strategy actually means and how it fits into your HR role, rather than treating it as something you're expected to perform
- Get real clarity on your organisation's strategy instead of guessing at it from the outside
- Build HR interventions that are designed to support and move your organisation's actual goals, rather than generic best practice
- Look honestly at how your time splits between operational and strategic work and develop a better balance
Reshaping Perceptions
- Understand the different ways HR is perceived by the people around you and why those perceptions exist
- Get clarity, for yourself and for others, on what your role actually involves and where its boundaries sit
- Learn how to shift perceptions through what you say and what you do, not just through better messaging
- Build the ability to communicate the strategic value of your role and your work in language the business understands
Increasing Your Impact
- Learn to operate as a leader in your organisation, with input that extends beyond HR
- Build your visibility and influence at the level where decisions actually get made
- Position yourself as someone whose input shapes the organisation's success, not just its compliance
Commerciality
- Understand your business from angles outside HR, so you can see it the way the rest of the leadership team does
- Build real knowledge of how your organisation operates and how it's performing
- Focus your interventions on the impact they have across the whole business, not just within HR
- Develop a working grasp of financial terminology, revenue and how your organisation is actually doing financially
Empowerment
- Identify what's really holding you back from operating at your full capability
- Step back into your role with a different perspective and a plan to match it
- Deal with the self-doubt that's been creeping in over time and build confidence that withstands pressure
- Handle difficult situations and conversations without the dread that can come with them
- Build the resilience to keep going when HR work throws the kind of challenges it invariably does
The S.P.I.C.E. programme can be taken as a self-study programme through our learning portal. Group Programme participants work through the modules one week at a time, with content released ahead of each module, while self-study participants get everything as soon as they sign up. The programme can also be delivered as 1:1 coaching sessions, or in person to HR teams over two to three days.
Content is delivered through bite-size videos, information sheets and reference materials, alongside reflective exercises, questionnaires and case studies that make up the assessment element of each module. The Group Programme includes additional exercises and case studies to help put the learning into practice.
A brief overview of the five S.P.I.C.E. modules
Strategy
What is strategy and what does it really mean to be strategic in an HR context?
How strategic is your organisation and how can you add more value?
Perception
Uncover the pre-existing perceptions of HR in your organisation and learn techniques to help change them, so that others understand the value of your role and the HR function
Impact
Making an impact goes beyond HR and extends to the business as a whole. We cover the ways HR can make an impact (both good and bad), show you how to increase your visibility as a decision maker and learn to take a more proactive approach to where you spend your time and effort for the greatest effect.
Commerciality
You'll learn how to get under the hood of your organisation from different angles, to properly understand what it is trying to achieve and how. How do you change your conversations so that you're more focused on the business as a whole and not just HR, close the gaps in your knowledge around the numbers and finance essentials and build a broader business outlook.
Empowerment
Discover the personal obstacles holding you back and develop tools and techniques to overcome them; whether that's confidence, self-belief, resilience, imposter syndrome or a combinaiton of all four. You'll learn to spot the situations where these show up the most for you and develop techniques and build approaches to say goodbye to self-doubt and reach your full potential.
Payment plans are available for the group programme for those who are self-funding
The Group Programme consists of 7 weekly calls with a small group of participants.
Autumn 2026
All calls take place at 2pm UK / 9am ET
Introduction: Tuesday 22nd September
Strategy: Tuesday 29th September
Perception: Tuesday 6th October
Impact: Tuesday 13th October
Commerciality: Tuesday 20th October
Empowerment Part 1: Tuesday 27th October
Empowerment Part 2: Tuesday 3rd November
The self-study option can be started at any time with no deadline for completion. Work at your own pace via our learning portal and complete the exercises at your leisure. Optional sessions with Kirsty are available if you need additional assistance or support.
What have previous students said about S.P.I.C.E.?
Your programme is everything I needed. Impact? It's literally changed my career overnight! I'd given up last year, but I'm determined to reach all the highs now. I felt seen and heard for the first time. Thank you so much, your input has been pivotal
Jan Penny MCIPD
HR Manager, BCS
The programme gets you thinking - it gives you the tools to continue your professional journey feeling secure in your knowledge and approach. It's myth-busting and allows you to turn up the amp in your own HR gig to evidence the value you can add!
Sinead Dartnell MCIPD
HR Consultant, Fiantra
Fresh out of CIPD Level 5, I thought strategic HR was a ‘big scary thing’ that I’d really have to work to grasp. S.P.I.C.E. helped me realise I just needed tools & insights. It’s given me a boost in confidence and has shifted how I see myself and the business I support
Chelsea Rowe Assoc CIPD
People Support Manager, Mission Mars
If you are wondering whether to take up this course, you should, whether it's for new learning, re-framing some of what you know or just serving as a confidence boost. The content and the take aways are invaluable
Michelle Huskisson
Group HR Director, Flavour Warehouse
As someone working in a standalone role, the programme helped me feel more confident personally and professionally (from creating a people strategy to understanding my strengths). Kirsty was great, very good content and support from her.
Amanda Wadsworth
Head of People, Isle of Man Meats
Practical and easy to digest, with modules that fit perfectly around a busy workload. It didn't feel overwhelming or scary, but it was a great opportunity to think about bringing it all together and put everything into perspective.
Katrina A
HR Business Partner
Contact Kirsty
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+44 7460 023809
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Book a Call to chat about how S.P.I.C.E. can help you/which version is best for you
About Kirsty Baggs-Morgan
I created S.P.I.C.E. to address the gaps and obstacles I ran into in my own HR career and the ones I've also seen play out in HR professionals I've coached and worked alongside. I've worked extensively on both sides of the table, which puts me in a fairly unusual position to teach this.
After a 25 year career in international HR leadership roles plus several years of HR Consultancy and Executive Coaching, , I now work across a number of areas that have added knowledge and expertise I couldn't have got from HR alone:
* I work as a strategy coach & consultant to HR professionals, business leaders and business owners
* I carry out management due diligence projects on behalf of private equity firms, interviewing and analysing leadership teams and business strategies and advising on what needs to change for growth and scale
* I'm a Non-Executive Director for a tech startup
Across all of this, I bring my HR and business knowledge together to advise on strategy, leadership and strategic planning across a range of industries.
Since leaving in-house HR, I've put my energy into supporting others in the profession through S.P.I.C.E. through my coaching, and through Evolving HR, a platform and community for HR professionals and HR-related business owners.