Brett Beal
Global People Executive
Inside Real Estate
Episode 2
Unlock Business Value: HR's Strategic Imperative for Employee Growth & Experience
Current chapter: This episode is presented by Previ, the only free tool that boosts internal communication
Built By PeopleJanuary 26, 2026 · 22:53
Thesis
“HR's fundamental purpose is to cultivate outstanding employee experiences and foster growth opportunities, thereby driving substantial business value through strategic alignment, optimized processes, and highly effective leadership communication.”
Show notes
Summary
In this episode of the Built by People podcast, Brett shares his extensive experience in human resources, focusing on creating better employee experiences and the importance of strategic alignment within organizations. He discusses the evolution of performance management, the critical role of communication in leadership, and the tools that enhance HR efficiency. Brett emphasizes the need for a growth-oriented approach to employee engagement and offers valuable advice for leaders navigating rapid changes in the workplace.
Takeaways
Brett has spent his entire career in human resources.
Creating better experiences for employees is a key focus.
Employee engagement is a critical culture metric.
Alignment with business needs is essential for HR.
Performance management has evolved from ranking to growth.
Communication is a vital leadership skill.
Active listening and empathy are crucial for effective communication.
Visual tools enhance accountability in team projects.
Leaders should prioritize one-on-one interactions.
Collaboration and teamwork are essential for effective leadership.
What you'll take away
- 1Anchor HR strategy around creating better employee experiences and growth opportunities to directly drive business value.
- 2Utilize employee engagement as a core culture metric, focusing on underlying behaviors rather than just survey scores, to foster passion and retention.
- 3Streamline HR processes, especially in talent acquisition and performance management, to eliminate non-value-added tasks and focus on strategic outcomes.
- 4Develop communication as a 'leadership superpower' through active listening, empathy, clarity, and adaptability, particularly in critical one-on-one conversations.
- 5Implement visual work management tools (e.g., Asana, Kanban boards) to enhance accountability, clarity, and progress tracking, especially for remote teams.
What most organizations get wrong
- •Challenges the traditional 'rank-and-yank' or forced distribution models in performance management, advocating instead for a growth-oriented, team-centric approach.
In Brett's words
“How do I create better experiences for employees? And how do I create better growth opportunities for those employees and their leaders to drive more value for the business?”
This quote encapsulates Brett Beal's core philosophy regarding the strategic role of HR in contributing to business success.
“I often anchor around employee engagement as a key culture metric.”
This highlights his preferred and proven metric for assessing and improving organizational culture and performance.
“And HR—and I've been guilty of this in certain instances...it's easy to put a process together that has a lot of non-value-added components to it.”
This offers a self-aware critique of common HR pitfalls, emphasizing the need for process simplification and value optimization.
“Communication, I often think about, is really that it's a leadership superpower in a sense that if you can develop good leadership skills, you can apply it across a series of different areas, and that allows you to drive more value.”
This powerful statement positions communication as a fundamental skill that amplifies all other leadership competencies and drives organizational impact.
“Leadership manifests itself in one-to-one conversations.”
This quote underscores the critical importance of individualized interactions for building relationships, demonstrating empathy, and ensuring clarity at a leadership level.
“I'm a strong believer of high-performing teams, and sometimes as a leader you, you might feel like you're alone or you're stuck. And I think as you look at your direct team and as you look at your co-team...how can you play and work together, right?”
This parting advice emphasizes the collective effort of leadership and the power of teamwork to navigate challenges and achieve success.
The problems this episode addresses
- •HR teams often get bogged down in lower-level, individual talent challenges due to underlying systemic gaps.
- •Leadership infighting and misalignment can create significant dysfunction within an organization.
- •Inefficient HR processes and lack of automation lead to excessive time spent chasing data and performing non-strategic, mundane tasks.
- •Overly complex talent acquisition processes can consume valuable time on unqualified candidates, hindering efficiency.
- •Traditional performance management approaches (e.g., forced distribution) can be seen as micromanaging and may not genuinely foster future growth.
- •Communication breakdown from executive leadership to employees often results in a 'telephone' effect, leading to misinterpretation and lack of organizational cohesiveness.
- •Leaders struggle to move beyond surface-level survey scores to understand and drive the actual behaviors that enhance employee engagement.
- •Maintaining a strong company culture and financial stability is challenging during market downturns and significant M&A activity.
In this episode
This episode is presented by Previ, the only free tool that boosts internal communication
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James: Brett, thanks for joining us on Built By People Podcast
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Topics covered
Organizations and entities mentioned
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