Allison Hamel
VP, People
Hudl
Episode 147
Strategic HR's Secret: Hire Smarter People, Focus on Solutions, Not Burnout
Current chapter: Built by People podcast features insights from world's top HR leaders
Built By PeopleJune 13, 2025 · 14:23
Thesis
“Effective HR leadership stems from resilient adaptability, strategic team building by hiring smarter people, fostering strong relationships, and a solutions-oriented, practical approach to supporting the business, while managing the inherent complexities and potential burnout in the HR profession by focusing on what's controllable and having fun.”
Show notes
Navigating HR's Diverse Landscape with Allison Hamel from Hudl
In this episode of the Built by People Podcast, the host welcomes Allison, a seasoned HR professional with experience across retail, education, government, and tech sectors.
Allison shares her unique career journey, starting with Target Corporation, followed by roles at Denver Public Schools and the City of Denver, before joining Hudl.
She delves into her approach to building and managing HR teams, emphasizing the importance of hiring diverse strengths, maintaining high engagement, and combating burnout.
Allison also discusses her strategies for being a strategic business partner and shares valuable lessons from her diverse career background. She concludes with advice for HR practitioners and those early in their careers.
00:00 Welcome and Introduction
00:49 Allison's Career Journey
03:48 Building Effective HR Teams
05:47 Maintaining Engagement and Combating Burnout
08:57 Being a Strategic Partner in HR
11:33 Lessons from a Diverse Background
13:24 Parting Advice and Conclusion
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What you'll take away
- 1Build HR teams by hiring people smarter than yourself, focusing on diverse strengths, curiosity, and adaptability.
- 2Combat HR burnout not by doing more, but by strategically choosing where to focus energy and letting go of things outside of your control.
- 3Become a strategic business partner by first listening and understanding the business's core problems ('what keeps them up at night?'), then offering practical, solutions-oriented approaches rather than being prescriptive or a roadblock.
- 4Embrace 'imperfect jobs' and challenges in your career journey, as they often provide the most significant opportunities for growth and resilience.
- 5Recognize that across all industries and organizational structures, the fundamentals of human nature—leadership, relationships, purpose, connection, and clarity—remain constant anchors for HR success.
What most organizations get wrong
- •Burnout is not solved by doing more, but choosing. Focus energy on what you can control, not on things that won't matter in the long run.
- •Don't overlook 'imperfect jobs' or disqualify yourself for roles where you might feel unqualified; these often offer the greatest growth opportunities.
In Allison's words
“I knew I was going into HR at the young age of 18. So when I went to undergrad, I majored in business and HR and It's worked out well for me.”
Highlights her early and intentional commitment to an HR career, contrasting with many who 'fall into' it.
“Hire people that are smarter than you and your job becomes really easy.”
A memorable piece of advice from her first boss that became a core philosophy for building effective teams.
“I view burnout as it's not solved by doing more, but choosing. So I recently read the Let Them Theory by Mel Robbins, and I'm sure there's lots of differing perspectives on takeaways with that book, but something that resonated with me and I've really been trying to model is not wasting energy trying to control things that I can't control.”
Offers a practical, mindset-based approach to combating burnout by focusing on agency and control.
“The first step for me is shut up and listen. What is the business trying to do? Learning, being curious, making sure that you're grounded and understanding that.”
Provides direct, actionable advice on how HR professionals can start to build strategic partnerships with business leaders.
“I think the biggest lesson across all those industries, people are people. Leadership and relationships are always going to be the anchor point. There's titles, org chart differences, but humans, you know, are humans. And so I think purpose, connection, clarity, those things stay true regardless of the industry that you're working in.”
Summarizes her core philosophy gained from diverse career experiences, emphasizing the universal aspects of human nature and leadership.
The problems this episode addresses
- •Employees are concerned about covering monthly expenses, highlighting a need for financial well-being benefits.
- •HR professionals face significant burnout due to escalating expectations and increasing complexity in the post-2019 work environment.
- •HR often struggles to achieve a strategic 'seat at the table,' sometimes being perceived as a 'roadblock' or merely an 'order taker' rather than a true business partner.
- •Building HR foundations from scratch in fast-scaling tech companies can be daunting without established structures.
- •Navigating complexity and bureaucracy in large, highly political organizations (like government) requires unique patience and system understanding.
In this episode
Built by People podcast features insights from world's top HR leaders
Built by People
I majored in business and HR and it's worked out well for me
What's Your Career Journey?
Alison Miller shares her approach to building HR teams at Huddle
How to Build an HR Team
How does your team maintain high engagement and combat burnout in HR
How to Manage Burnout in HR
Allison, how do you approach being a strategic partner to the business
Are You a Strategic Partner to the Business?
Alison says her diverse background has shaped her approach to HR leadership
Huddle HR Leadership: Diversity
Allison, thanks so much for joining us on the Built by People podcast
Allison on the Built by People Podcast
Topics covered
Organizations and entities mentioned
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