Who Are People Optimisers?
When I talk with leaders, the conversation almost always comes back to their people. You can have the right strategy, the right product, even the right timing, but if the people decisions do not hold up, progress slows. A hire leaves too soon. A manager struggles in a role they were never prepared for. A team works hard but in different directions.
What I do as a People Optimiser is work with leaders to connect people decisions to business results. I use The Predictive Index® (PI) to show how people work best, then connect that insight back to the choices you face every day. It might be who to hire, how to support a new manager, or how to get a team moving in the same direction.
In this article, I will share what People Optimisers are, how we work with leaders, and an example of what this looks like in practice.
When I meet leaders for the first time, they rarely say “we have a people problem.” What they say is, “our growth has slowed,” or “we can’t hold on to good people,” or “my managers are stretched too thin.” The challenge shows up in results long before it gets described as a people issue.
I see the same patterns repeat. A company spends months recruiting the right person, only to watch them leave before they deliver. A high performer is promoted into management without support, and the team they lead starts to slip. A strategy that looked strong in the boardroom loses momentum because the team on the ground works in different ways.
The cost is real. Research shows the average mis-hire costs 30 percent of annual salary. Three out of four firing decisions come down to behaviour, not skill. Engagement is fragile too: a manager without the right tools can lose the trust of their team in weeks, and rebuilding it takes far longer.
Leaders turn to People Optimisers because they want to break these cycles. They want their decisions about people to deliver results they can rely on, not risks they need to manage later.
My work as a People Optimiser is not about handing leaders a stack of reports. It is My work as a People Optimiser is not about handing leaders a stack of reports. It is about taking insight from The Predictive Index® (PI) and showing how it applies to the decisions you face. Leaders do not need more data. They need a way to connect people to business results.
One HR leader I worked with told me they were losing almost half of their new hires within six months. On paper, the candidates looked right. The interviews went well. Yet the cycle repeated: new starters would struggle, disengage, and move on. The board was losing patience, and they were under pressure to explain what was going wrong.
We looked at the problem through the lens of People Optimisation. PI showed us how the demands of the roles compared to the natural strengths of the people hired. It also revealed something else. Managers were treating everyone the same, regardless of how they worked best. The team around them was pulling in different directions, which only made the problem worse.
The turning point came when we translated these insights into practical steps. We redefined what success looked like in the roles most affected. We gave managers simple tools to adapt how they led. We worked on the hiring decisions, but we also focused on what happened after the contract was signed. New hires were given the right support from day one, and managers understood what each person needed to thrive. What had felt like guesswork started to feel deliberate.
When I work with leaders, the first priority is to protect the decisions that matter most. Hiring is the obvious one. A wrong hire costs money and time, but it also damages the reputation of the person who made the call. No leader wants to stand in front of a board and explain why another new starter has left within months.
That is why I never stop at the hire itself. Filling the role is only part of the decision. What happens in the weeks and months that follow is just as important. Leaders need to know that managers have the tools to bring people in properly, build trust quickly, and keep them engaged. Without that, even the best hire can become another exit interview.
In practice, this means leaders get more than a shortlist or a report. They get a system that shows them why a candidate will succeed, how a manager can support them, and where the risks are before they become problems. The decisions they make carry weight, but they no longer have to carry the risk alone.
For the HR leader I mentioned earlier, this shift changed everything. Instead of cycling through hires that failed, they were able to stand behind each appointment. New employees stayed, delivered, and added value. Managers felt equipped, and the board could see progress. The leader’s credibility was no longer in question.
When leaders bring People Optimisation into their business, the results show up quickly. The immediate change is that hiring decisions feel less like a gamble. Leaders know why someone is the right fit, and they can explain it to others with evidence. That shift alone protects credibility and removes the doubt that often surrounds recruitment.
see lower turnover in the first year.
communicate and influence more effectively.
gain greater visibility into team performance and risks.
The impact then extends to performance. Research shows that 75 percent of firing decisions are down to behaviour, not skill. By addressing this at the start and supporting managers after the hire, leaders reduce the risk of another costly cycle. Companies using this approach report up to an 82 percent drop in turnover within the first year.
Managers also become more effective. With the right insight, they adapt how they lead and how they support each person. Leaders tell me this has changed the quality of conversations in their business. In fact, 85 percent of leaders say it improves how they communicate and influence their teams.
The benefits are not limited to managers and new hires. At a wider level, leaders gain better visibility of how their teams work and where the risks are. 79 percent report clearer visibility into team performance and potential blind spots. That means they can act early, before problems escalate, and make strategic choices with more certainty.
For the HR leader I described earlier, the outcome was not just fewer resignations. It was the ability to walk into board meetings with data that backed every decision. Instead of defending turnover figures, they were able to show progress, prove the return on investment, and move the conversation on to growth.
Every decision about people leaves a mark. Some build momentum, others hold it back. Leaders feel the impact of both. What People Optimisers do is give leaders a way to stand by those decisions. Not because they were lucky, but because they were guided by insight and supported by tools that work.
I use The Predictive Index® (PI) to reveal how people fit roles, how managers can support them, and how teams can deliver together. The value for leaders is simple. They make choices that protect their reputation, deliver results, and stand the test of time.
Who are People Optimisers?
We are the partners leaders call when they want every decision about their people to count.
Dave Crumby, People Optimiser
Certified Predictive Index® Practitioner
Certified Talent Optimisation Consultant
Certified Leadership and Management Consultant
Certified Team Performance Consultant
