Building Better HR: Stop Policing, Start Partnering
It’s officially been a week since launching this blog, and I am beyond grateful for all the support I’ve received. So first, thank you!
Now, let’s take a little walk back to that first post where I poked the bear and said, “hey, maybe the HR model is broken.” I gave you the “what.” But I didn’t really tell you the “how.” So let’s get into it.
I’ve called out leadership before for how they choose to leverage HR, bringing us in too late, using us reactively, or treating us like compliance police. But let’s be honest, we’re not off the hook either. It’s our responsibility to show up as strategic partners, not just enforcers of rules. If your version of HR is still stuck in the world of compliance checklists, policy policing, and being the department of “no,” I’ve got some bad news. That version of HR is outdated. But the good news? You can evolve. And it starts by stepping out of the silo.
To truly become a strategic HR leader, you need to first understand the business. I don’t mean memorizing the mission statement or knowing what the company’s values and products are. While those are important to tie initiatives to, it can’t stop there. I mean deeply understanding how the business makes money, what’s keeping your exec team up at night, and what success looks like one quarter, one year, and even five years from now.
Start by building your business acumen. Take your seat at the table. Talk to your business leaders regularly. Ask questions. A lot of them. What are your goals this year? What’s holding you back? What does “growth” look like to you? If you don’t know how your function supports the strategy, you’re just guessing.
Once you understand the business, bring that back into your HR strategy. Are you hiring now because it sounds nice or because your workforce planning told you you’re going to need 20% more capacity in Q2? Do you have a future team leader sitting in front of you, bored and ready for a challenge? If you’re too busy rolling out a policy no one asked for, you might lose valued talent. We have to constantly ask: Does this initiative align with where the business is going?
Timing matters, too. If the company is in the middle of a roll-out, it’s probably not the right moment to debut a shiny new HR tool, even if it means new functionality for your team. Strategic HR is responsive and grounded in context.
Also, this isn’t a one-and-done thing where you get to check the box. Strategic HR is not something you do once a year during budget season and call it a day. It’s not a slide deck you build, present, and shelve. It’s ongoing. Constant. It’s being at the table and asking, “How is this shifting?” It’s revisiting your workforce planning after a big client win or realigning your onboarding strategy when your product roadmap changes. This work is never static, because the business isn’t static.
And while we’re here, try the thing. Launch the initiative. Pilot the idea. Even if it flops. Actually, especially if it flops. Because when you create space for HR to be innovative, experimental, and responsive, it changes how people see the function. It builds credibility with leadership. It builds culture (“We value learning, not just perfection”). And it impacts talent acquisition, because you become a company that’s known for trying new things. Not everything will work. But trying, and learning shows you're listening, adapting, and leading with intention. That alone has massive impact.
Let’s talk compensation and benefits for a second. Yes, because it matters. A lot. If you’re trying to scale and your comp structure is based on market data from 2019, I promise your recruiting team is about to lose their minds. You can’t hire the best talent with outdated data or bland benefits that don’t meet the needs of your workforce. Pivot. Adjust. Invest in your people.
And finally, stop being a rule enforcer. Be a coach. Our job is often to sit in the gray and help others make sense of it. Leaders will come to you with ideas, some brilliant, some more creative. Your job isn’t to say, “No, we have a policy against that.” It’s to say, “Okay, what are you trying to solve for, and how can we make this work in a way that supports your goals and protects the business?” Flexibility is not weakness. It’s strategy.
I remember designing a program for a large company early in my career. I had done all the research, read every “best in class” white paper, benchmarked like a champ, and built what I thought was a pretty flawless program. I proudly brought it to my boss, expecting a gold star, and instead got a very calm, “This looks great. But how does it meet the leaders’ needs?” And cue the internal panic. Because the truth was, I hadn’t talked to them. Not one. I was so focused on building something perfect that I forgot to make sure it was relevant. It was a humbling moment, but also a defining one. I didn’t scrap the program entirely. I went out, talked with the business leaders, learned what was keeping them up at night, and made a few key tweaks. The final version? Still best in class, but actually usable and valuable for our organization. That’s what strategic HR looks like—less about checking boxes, more about solving for the real problems.
When you operate this way, when you build trust, align to business goals, and lead with empathy and insight, you elevate HR. You stop being an internal service provider and become a core part of the company’s growth engine.
And that’s when the magic happens.
Because when HR becomes a true business partner, it doesn’t just help the business run better. It builds cultures where high-performing teams thrive. And that, my friends, is where we all win.
More to come…
