Welcome to

The Future of HR

HR is stuck in the middle.

Diagram showing HR caught between the present and the future, represented as two overlapping circles with HR at the intersection.

HR is caught between the present and the future. It’s asked to be simultaneously reactive and innovative, but competing agendas and split attention mean neither call can be answered.

For HR to unleash its full potential—to mitigate risk, ensure compliance, adapt to emergencies, and lead business into the future—we need a different path forward.

HR’s evolution is here.

HR is the cross-functional enabler that can lead organizations toward the future of work. Not in spite of its position. Because of it. But this new calling requires HR to embrace new ways of working.

Diagram showing HR at the center of an organizational sphere connected to multiple cross-functional points, representing HR as a cross-functional enabler.

Introducing

Diagram of The Ready's Future of HR maturity model showing five levels: The Call Center, The Brokerage, The Hollywood Model, The Marketplace, and The Neural Network.

A model for the future of HR.

Inspired by trailblazing companies and interviews with leaders like you, our maturity model helps HR level up its strategic value.

Where do you fit?

Level 3 : The Hollywood Model

A centralized-decentralized model where stewarded mission-based teams separate revolutionary work from evolutionary work. HR Business Partners evolve into HR Business Coaches, armed with new skills to lead internal teams into the future of work.
Level 4 : The Marketplace

A marketplace of roles and talent, where decentralized mission-based teams and a centralized People Platform collaborate to respond to business needs. Enabling this adaptive system are HR transformation agents and org designers flourishing in a new role: Market Designer.
Level 5 : The Neural Network

A predictive system harnessing technology, data, partners, and tools to not only respond to business needs, but also forecast them. Mission-based teams don’t just react to challenges; they run experiments exploring where the business will go next.
Bonus Level 6 : The Profit Center

A mature HR organization with new powers and capabilities that allow it to offer missions and HR services (like a hiring process or compensation model) to the broader market, growing into a bona fide profit center for the business.
Level 1 : The Call Center

A functional hierarchy where HR generalists field many different inquiries for many different internal clients. This model is reactive by nature, mainly focusing on mitigating risk and increasing efficiency within functional silos.
Level 2 : The Brokerage

A matrixed hierarchy where HR Business Partners balance responsibility for representing customers to internal teams while trying to meet their customer’s strategic and tactical needs. Negotiation between “the business” and HR leadership is common, often resulting in compounded compromises.

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Let's get to work

Illustration of an organizational change journey showing six stages: scoping, protecting, experimenting, harvesting lessons, pivoting, and scaling.

Rolling out a big change can feel comfortable with a big plan in place. But when that plan inevitably shifts, it’s easy to get trapped in a cycle of replanning, stakeholdering, and deciding.

We partner with HR to be in the change with you—helping you first get clear on the principles and practices that underpin the shift you want to make. No matter your starting point, we provide you with the skills and knowledge you need to move from functional to future-ready, so HR’s operating system can steward your organization’s approach to strategy, innovation, and culture-building.

Ready to get started?

Let's Talk

What clients say

"When we did the work around Mission-Based Teams, it became clear there was an obvious front-runner. That sold the merit of the whole workshop. I went 'I totally see why we need to do this and why we need to do it now, and I want to be a part of it.' It was motivating and it was simple. When you're busy, it's like 'Another thing to do?' But instead of feeling resistance, I just wanted in. It didn't feel like more work; it felt like good work."

— People & Culture Business Partner, Les Mills

full report

The future of work needs the Future of HR.

In our report, we break down our maturity model level by level, help you spot where you are, and illustrate the moves you need to jumpstart your evolution.

Download the report