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
Most HR leaders measure success in surveys and headcount. Brett Beal measures it in revenue. After a career spanning high-tech, manufacturing, logistics, and e-commerce — including stints at eBay and Micron — Brett has developed a precise answer to the question every CHRO should be able to answer: what does HR actually do for the business?
In this conversation, Brett breaks down why employee engagement scores are often a symptom, not a solution, and what it looks like to trace them back to the specific leadership behaviors that drive or destroy team performance. He's particularly sharp on performance management — a system he watched evolve from Jack Welch–era "rank and yank" to a more growth-oriented, team-first approach that actually gets results without micromanaging people into disengagement.
The thread running through everything Brett says is communication. Not as a soft skill, but as a leadership superpower — one he argues manifests most critically in one-on-one conversations rather than all-hands meetings. If your leadership team can't hold a hard conversation with clarity and empathy, no amount of engagement software will fix your culture.
What you'll learn:
- Why Brett anchors HR strategy around employee engagement as a culture metric — and how to move beyond the score
- The hidden non-value-added work that bogs down HR teams and how to eliminate it
- How performance management evolved from forced distribution to a growth-oriented team approach
- Why communication is a leadership superpower — and how it shows up in one-on-one conversations
- The visual work management tools (Asana, Kanban) that drive accountability in remote teams
- What Brett would prioritize over the next 12 months as real estate markets shift
Built by People is presented by Previ — the free tool that helps HR teams boost internal communication engagement.
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
Built by People
Tell us a little bit about your career journey
WSJD Live: How to Build a Better Workforce
James: When you think about strategy execution at the business level, there are several components
How to Drive a Culture of Excellence
HR professionals spend too much time on tasks that don't feel strategic
Getting Stuck: The Strategic Work of HR
Have you found consistency in certain internal processes that slow down a team
WSJDLive: Has Performance Management Changed?
Has there been an experience that stands out for that? Yeah, there's been a few pockets
Have we fixed the HR Process at eBay?
Where do you see the biggest opportunity to improve employee experience at your company
What's the Biggest Opportunity to Improve Employee Experience?
In terms of communication channels, is email still the right way
Are there certain channels that are the right way to communicate with your
What tools are most essential for you to do your job well
Top 5 Tech Tools for Doing Your Job Well
What would you hope has changed most in your org in the next 12 months
What's Changed Most in Your Organization?
What parting advice would you give to leaders trying to navigate rapid changes
As a Leader, What Advice Would You Give to Your Team?
James: Brett, thanks for joining us on Built By People Podcast
Brett Kavanaugh on Built By People
Topics covered
Organizations and entities mentioned
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