A working library of HR frameworks
The frameworks that shape good HR decisions.
25 models an HR consultant reaches for. The theory, the interactive diagram, and how each one is actually run in the field. A working reference, not a textbook.
01 9-Box Grid (Performance × Potential) The 9-box plots people on two axes, current performance and future potential, to produce nine segments that support different talent decisions for different people. Talent differentiation / succession 02 Ulrich HR Model (Four Roles) Dave Ulrich's model organizes HR's work into four roles along two axes: strategic versus operational focus, and process versus people. HR operating model / role clarity 03 McKinsey 7S Seven interdependent elements, strategy, structure, systems, shared values, style, staff, and skills, that all have to align for an organization to perform well. Org alignment / transformation diagnosis 04 HR Maturity Model A staged model of how HR functions evolve, from ad hoc personnel administration to an optimizing, data-driven strategic function. HR function assessment / transformation roadmap 05 Kirkpatrick Four Levels The standard model for evaluating training: Reaction, Learning, Behavior, Results. Training evaluation / L&D ROI 06 Job Profiling (Job Analysis) Job profiling systematically documents what a role actually requires: its purpose, accountabilities, activities, capabilities and conditions. Role definition / job architecture input 07 Function Mapping (OD) Function mapping documents what work is actually being done, and where, by breaking the organization down into functions and activities, with FTE and cost attached, before anyone draws a new org chart. Org design evidence / duplication hunt 08 Job Family Mapping Job family mapping organizes every role in the company into families and sub-families of similar work, each with its own level structure, turning years of title inflation into one coherent architecture. Job architecture / title rationalization 09 Family → Profile → Curricula Chain The chain that turns job architecture into capability building: each job family carries a set of competencies, each role profile states the proficiency required at every level, and curricula get built to close the gaps. Capability academy / architecture-led L&D 10 Job Evaluation (Point-Factor Method) A systematic method for sizing jobs, not people: rate each job against weighted factors, add up the points, and band the totals into grades. Pay equity / grade architecture 11 Competency Framework Design The anatomy of a competency framework: core values-based competencies, functional or technical competencies, and leadership competencies, each defined at observable proficiency levels. Capability definition / talent standards 12 Strategic Workforce Planning The supply-and-demand gap model: project the workforce you will have, define the workforce the strategy needs, quantify the gap, and close it with build, buy, borrow, or automate decisions. Future workforce supply/demand gaps 13 Total Rewards Model The full value exchange between employer and employee. Retention / EVP / rewards strategy 14 Ulrich HR Competency Model What great HR professionals are actually good at, based on the multi-decade RBL and Michigan research rounds (paraphrased here). HR professional capability 15 Employee Lifecycle & Moments That Matter The employee journey from attraction to alumni, seen through the moments that shape engagement and retention far more than everything else combined. Employee experience / engagement 16 Kotter's 8-Step Change Model John Kotter's sequence for leading large-scale change: build urgency, form a guiding coalition, create and communicate a vision, empower action, generate short-term wins, consolidate, and anchor the change in the culture. Change management / transformation 17 ADDIE (Instructional Design) ADDIE is the backbone method for building training that actually works: Analyze the performance gap, Design the learning solution, Develop the materials, Implement the program, then Evaluate against the original gap. Training design / L&D build 18 Gallup Q12 Engagement Model Gallup's twelve questions measure the conditions for engagement, from "I know what is expected of me" to "I have opportunities to learn and grow," ordered as a hierarchy from basic needs up to growth. Engagement measurement / manager action 19 Recruiting Funnel The recruiting funnel treats hiring as a conversion pipeline, applicants to screens to interviews to offers to hires, with a measurable rate at every stage. Hiring pipeline diagnosis 20 OKRs (Objectives & Key Results) OKRs pair a qualitative Objective, where you are going and why it matters, with three to five measurable Key Results that prove you got there. Goal setting / focus & alignment 21 RACI Matrix RACI maps every decision or deliverable to four roles: who is Responsible for doing it, who is Accountable for the outcome (exactly one person), who is Consulted before it happens, and who is Informed after. Decision rights / role clarity 22 Forced Ranking (Vitality Curve) Forced ranking sorts every employee into a fixed distribution, classically 20% top, 70% middle, 10% bottom, and manages each band differently, with the bottom band managed out. Forced differentiation (contested) Contested 23 Golden Handshake A golden handshake is a generous exit package offered to make a departure voluntary, fast, and free of litigation, typically enhanced severance in exchange for a signed release. Negotiated exits (contested) Contested 24 Golden Handcuffs Golden handcuffs retain critical people by making it expensive for them to leave: unvested equity, deferred bonuses, retention grants with cliffs, clawbacks. Critical-role retention (contested) Contested 25 Bradford Factor The Bradford Factor scores absence as spells squared, times total days, so frequent short absences score far higher than one long one. Absence management (contested) Contested