Why your stakeholders aren't taking you seriously (yet!)

If you’re in a HR, L&D, IC or EX role, the chances are, stakeholder management is a burden. You’re in every meeting. You respond to every request. You deliver what was asked. You hit deadlines. You keep things moving. But the things that matter to you? Overlooked, dismissed and falls to the bottom of the ‘to do’ list.

We’re in a never-ending loop of stakeholders seeing us as the teams that “runs training,” “sends the surveys,” or “deals with HR stuff”. But we know that’s not the case. We’re a strategic business partner that impacts the bottom line.

So where does this disconnect come from?

It’s simple really: it’s a credibility gap. And it’s not just frustrating, it’s blocking your impact. Because when the business doesn’t see the value you bring, you’re brought in too late, consulted too little, and excluded from the conversations that actually shape strategy. And how can we create real impact in that situation?

WHY DOES THE CREDIBILITY GAP EXIST?

Here’s the hard truth: credibility doesn’t come from being busy. It doesn’t come from passion, effort or even expertise. It comes from visibility and alignment. From being able to connect your work — clearly and consistently — to what the business cares about.

If your stakeholders can’t see how your initiatives:

• Solve a real business problem

• Support strategic priorities

• Deliver measurable results

Then no matter how hard you work, you’ll be seen as a support function. Not a strategic partner. This is a problem HR and L&D teams face all the time. Because while we know our work matters, we often struggle to prove it in the language and logic of the business, because we have a ‘proof problem’, that comes back to our haphazard approach to reporting.

Let’s be honest: most People teams are still reporting what’s easy, not what’s meaningful. We track LMS completions, survey scores and attendance rates. And sure, these are useful – to an extent. But they don’t show the full picture, and they certainly do not align us to the business strategy.

And that’s the credibility gap right there: your data says “people liked it”, and all the business wants to know is “did it work?”

HOW TO CLOSE THE GAP: THE PEOPLE IMPACT LOOP®

Nothing changes if nothing changes. Right? So if we want to close the credibility gap, it’s time to rethink our approach to our roles. And we don’t necessarily need to do lots more work, we just need to do the right work, in the right order. Because this is the only way to not only get the respect we deserve, but also the impact we’re longing for.

So how do we do that? The People Impact Loop® is a 5 step process that will shift your ways of working forever:

1. Employee & Business Insight

Start with listening. Not assumptions. Run focus groups, pulse surveys, interviews, whatever it takes to understand what your people need and what the business is trying to achieve.

2. Strategic Alignment

Don’t just respond to requests. Pressure test them. Align every initiative to a business goal, something that matters to your stakeholders’ world: performance, productivity, retention, growth. Whatever matters to the c-suite, should matter to you.

3. Experience Design

Design initiatives that feel relevant and useful. Not just content dumped into an LMS — real experiences that support performance and solve problems in context. Make your experiences frictionless, and audience-focused.

4. Engagement Campaigns

If no one sees it, no one engages. Borrow from marketing: segment your audiences, tailor your messaging, and plan multi-touch campaigns. A launch email isn’t marketing — now is the time to drum up real interest in your offering.

5. Impact & Optimisation

Here’s where the proof happens. Define success up front. Track behaviour change, application, performance shifts, not just who showed up or enjoyed it. And use that data to improve over time and demonstrate your impact to the c-suite.

Each of the above phases builds credibility, because each phase makes your work visibly strategic.

CREDIBILITY ISN’T CLAIMED. IT’S EARNED.

If you want a “seat at the table”, you have to act like someone who deserves to be there. That means:

• Asking better questions (not “what course should we build?” but “what problem are we solving?”)

• Challenging assumptions and unqualified requests

• Designing initiatives that are embedded in real work, not just added on

• Communicating value in terms the business understands

The People Impact Loop® helps you do all of that, and more. It helps you shift from being the team that “delivers” to the team that drives. And most importantly, it gives you the structure, language, and confidence to show the business that you’re not just helpful. You’re essential.

READY TO EARN YOUR SEAT?

If you’re tired of being seen as support instead of strategy — take the first step.

Start with insight. Align to impact. And build credibility that lasts.

Start with the People Impact Loop®.