In an environment defined by rapid change, having a talent strategy is no longer enough. What matters is whether that strategy is fit for purpose and whether it can withstand disruption, uncertainty and shifting workforce realities.

Many organisations assume their talent strategy is sound because it simply exists, but too often it’s built on outdated assumptions about roles, skill availability, leadership capability, or workforce stability.

As Sarah Blanchard, Head of Talent Advisory at Solve, puts it:

“The organisations that struggle aren’t the ones without strategy. They’re the ones whose talent strategy hasn’t been stress-tested against reality.”

For boards and executive teams, the challenge isn’t just approving a talent strategy but asking the right questions to understand whether it will truly support execution.

Here are five questions every board should be asking.

1. Which critical capabilities are we assuming we can hire for, and are they actually available?

Many talent strategies rely on the simple assumption that if we need capability, we can just hire it.

But in today’s market, that assumption is increasingly risky.

Skill shortages, intense competition, and evolving roles mean that some capabilities are far harder to access than leaders expect. Without a clear view of market availability, organisations can base their strategy on talent that simply doesn’t exist or can’t be secured in time.

Stress-testing this assumption requires asking:

• Are these capabilities realistically available in our market?
• How long would it take to access them?
• What happens if we can’t?

This is where capability-led thinking becomes critical. Organisations need to understand not just what they want to hire, but how else those capabilities could be accessed, whether through internal development, partners, a contingent workforce, or automation.

2. How quickly could we redeploy internal capability if our strategy shifted?

In volatile environments, adaptability matters as much as access.

Boards should be asking how quickly the business can redeploy existing capability if priorities changed. This would require visibility beyond job titles and reporting lines.

Sarah highlights this as a key blind spot:

“A lot of organisations don’t fully understand the skills and capabilities across their workforce — only the roles people sit in today.”

Without this insight, internal mobility becomes reactive rather than strategic, and organisations default to external hiring even when suitable capability exists internally.

Stress-testing here means asking:

• Do we understand the capabilities across our entire workforce?
• How easily can people move between roles or projects?
• What systems or structures support redeployment?

Organisations who can answer these questions confidently are far better positioned to respond to disruption.

3. Do we actually know which capabilities drive value creation?

Not all roles or skills contribute equally to strategic outcomes.

One of the most important board-level questions is whether the organisation has clarity on which capabilities truly drive value creation, both now and in the future.

Without that clarity, organisations risk:

• Overinvesting in roles with declining strategic relevance
• Underinvesting in emerging or differentiating capabilities
• Making workforce decisions based on cost rather than value

Sarah frames this challenge clearly:

“Do we even understand which capabilities drive future value creation?”

A strong talent strategy explicitly links business priorities of growth, innovation, resilience, and risk to the capabilities required to deliver them. Boards play a critical role in ensuring that connection is clear and continually reassessed.

4. Are we overinvested in roles with declining strategic value?

Change doesn’t just create new capability needs, it also reduces the value of others.

AI, automation, and new operating models are reshaping work, often faster than organisations adjust their workforce mix. Roles that were once critical may now deliver less value or could be redesigned entirely.

Boards need to be asking:

• Which roles are becoming less strategically important?
• Where are we carrying capability that no longer aligns to future priorities?
• How are we planning for redeployment, reskilling, or redesign?

Plainly speaking, avoiding this conversation increases risk. Organisations that fail to rebalance their workforce proactively often face more disruptive change later.

5. Who is accountable for talent strategy outcomes?

Perhaps the most important question of all, talent strategy frequently sits in a grey area between HR, the executive team, and the board. And when accountability isn’t clear, outcomes suffer.

Sarah is unequivocal on this point:

“There needs to be clear ownership and accountability for talent strategy outcomes. It can’t sit solely with HR.”

Boards should be clear on:

• Who owns talent strategy at an enterprise level
• How success is measured
• How often outcomes are reviewed and challenged

Without clear accountability, talent strategy risks becoming a well-intentioned document rather than a driver of execution.

Talent strategy as a leadership discipline

Instead of catching organisations out, these questions are designed to elevate the conversation around talent strategy.

When boards ask better questions about it, organisations are more likely to:

• Make deliberate, capability-led workforce decisions
• Reduce execution and talent risk
• Align workforce investment to long-term value creation
• Build resilience into their operating model

In a volatile, AI-enabled environment, talent strategy is no longer a background consideration, but an entire leadership discipline that requires ongoing attention, challenge, and ownership at the highest levels.

As Sarah puts it:

“Talent strategy isn’t about managing people. It’s about ensuring the organisation remains viable, competitive, and adaptable.”

And that makes it one of the most important conversations a board can have.