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The People Risk Scan

Twenty-five questions, scored, with what to fix first

The six areas a buyer’s diligence team will look at, and the ones a board asks about when a quarter goes wrong. Answer honestly, alone first, then compare notes with your HR lead. Where the two of you disagree, the lower score is usually the honest one.

Yes 2
True today, and you could show the evidence in an hour.
Partly 1
True for some of the company, or true but undocumented.
No 0
Not true, or you do not know.

Maximum score 50. “Do not know” is a 0 on purpose; in diligence, unknown reads as no. Five questions carry a diligence tag. A 0 on any of them is a fix-first regardless of your total. About thirty minutes. Prefer paper? Download the PDF

1 Organization2 Talent and workforce3 Compensation and rewards4 Performance and leadership5 People operations and compliance6 Culture and engagement

0 of 25 answered
Area 1OrganizationStructure, decision rights, ownership.

  1. 1Does the org chart match how decisions actually get made?

  2. 2Do most managers have between five and ten direct reports?

  3. 3Is there one named owner of the people plan inside the growth plan?

  4. 4Does every leadership role have a written scope with the outcomes it owns?

Area 2Talent and workforcePlan, hiring, attrition.

  1. 5Do you know your regretted attrition rate for the last four quarters?

  2. 6Is there a twelve-month workforce plan tied to the revenue model?

  3. 7Is time to fill for critical roles measured, and under sixty days?

  4. 8Does every open role have a scorecard before the first interview?

Area 3Compensation and rewardsLevels, bands, equity, pay equity.

  1. 9Can you show a pay band for every role in the company?Diligence

  2. 10Are job levels defined, and applied the same way in every function?

  3. 11Has pay equity been reviewed in the last twelve months, with findings acted on?Diligence

  4. 12Is there a written incentive and equity philosophy a buyer could read?

  5. 13Are offers made inside the bands, with exceptions approved and logged?

Area 4Performance and leadershipManagers, cycles, succession.

  1. 14Is there a written manager standard, and are managers measured against it?

  2. 15Did the last performance cycle finish on time, with ratings that actually vary?

  3. 16Is there a named successor for each of your top five roles?

  4. 17Do your leaders get structured feedback at least twice a year?

Area 5People operations and complianceData, policy, classification.

  1. 18Would your contractor classifications hold up in diligence?Diligence

  2. 19Is every employee in one system of record that reconciles to payroll?Diligence

  3. 20Are policies current for every state you employ in, and acknowledged in writing?Diligence

  4. 21Can you produce headcount, people cost and attrition by function within a day?

Area 6Culture and engagementClarity, listening, the board's view.

  1. 22Do you measure engagement at least twice a year and share results with managers?

  2. 23Could most employees name the company's three priorities for this quarter?

  3. 24Did exit interviews change something you can point to in the last year?

  4. 25Does the board pack carry a one-page people scorecard every month?

Where should the result go?

Your score, the read by area, the diligence items and what to fix first, all in one email.

25 questions still to answer

Your answers are used to score the Scan and send you the result. Finesse sees the score and your contact details, and nothing is shared beyond that. Free to use inside your company.

Bring the number to a conversation

Tell us your score and the one area that surprised you. In 30 minutes, you will hear what we would examine first, whether or not you work with ScalePath.

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