Jemar Ward
Chief People Officer
Public Health Solutions
Episode 223
From Policy Police to People-First: HR's Strategy for Engaging Gen Z.
Current chapter: Built by People podcast features insights from world's top HR leaders
Built By PeopleApril 21, 2025 · 10:01
Thesis
“Effective HR leadership moves beyond traditional 'policy police' roles to truly empower supervisors, foster a culture of continuous feedback, and engage a values-driven workforce like Gen Z by focusing on people, performance, and purpose.”
Show notes
A performance review should never be a surprise. If it is, someone — the manager, the process, or the culture — has already failed. Jemar Ward, Chief People Officer at Public Health Solutions, has built his people philosophy around this conviction, and it shapes everything from how he trains supervisors to how he thinks about Gen Z's presence in the modern workforce.
Jemar's view of HR is pointedly different from the "policy police" stereotype: HR is fundamentally about people, performance, and purpose. The policy exists to enable those three things, not to substitute for judgment or accountability. At Public Health Solutions, he's worked to shift supervisors from passive observers to active performance managers — people who want to supervise, who have continuous feedback conversations, and who treat development as part of the daily work rather than an annual event. The 360-degree review infrastructure he's built, including upward feedback from employees to managers, is built on a simple premise: if a manager is anxious about what their team will say, that's useful information. It means something needs to change.
On Gen Z, he's blunt: "I love them, and I love them because they're clear on what they want." Organizations that dismiss Gen Z's expectations as unreasonable are missing the point. They want clear career paths, genuine development, transparency, and flexibility. Those aren't generational luxuries — they're what every employee deserves, and the organizations that deliver will have a meaningful talent advantage.
- Continuous performance management over annual reviews — how to make feedback an everyday practice rather than a yearly ritual
- Empowering supervisors to actually supervise — accountability structures that return ownership of performance to managers
- Building a culture of genuine feedback — 360-degree reviews, upward feedback, and what to do with the results
- Engaging Gen Z employees — what this cohort actually needs from employers and why it's worth delivering
- Redefining HR's identity — people, performance, and purpose as the operating frame that replaces the policy police narrative
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What you'll take away
- 1Empower supervisors to take daily ownership of performance management, providing continuous feedback rather than annual surprises, to foster accountability.
- 2Cultivate a culture of continuous feedback by integrating learning, offering supervisor training, transparently sharing and acting on employee feedback, and implementing 360-degree review tools (upward and peer feedback).
- 3Engage Gen Z by providing clear career progression, investing in genuine development without immediate output expectations, and ensuring transparency, clarity, and flexibility in the workplace.
- 4Redefine HR leadership by prioritizing 'people, performance, and purpose,' moving beyond policy enforcement to actively understand employees, optimize programs, set clear expectations, and model desired cultural values.
What most organizations get wrong
- •If a supervisor is anxious about upward reviews, it indicates they are 'not doing something right,' pushing back on the common discomfort with transparent feedback.
In Jemar's words
“I want supervisors to supervise”
Emphasizes that performance management is a direct responsibility of supervisors, not solely HR's.
“a performance review should not be a surprise”
Highlights the critical importance of ongoing, continuous feedback throughout the year.
“not being what I call askholes, right? And getting feedback and sharing the feedback that we got and what we're doing about the feedback”
Stresses the necessity of taking action on feedback and maintaining transparency to build trust and show value.
“If you're anxious [about upward reviews], then you're not doing something right.”
A bold challenge to leaders, suggesting that fear of upward feedback points to deeper issues in their management approach.
“I love Gen Z, and I love them because they're clear on what they want. And if it's not, if it doesn't meet their needs, they will leave.”
Underscores Gen Z's values-driven approach and their willingness to seek environments that align with their expectations.
“people think of HR as like policy or like the police, but it's really about people. It's really about performance and it's really about purpose.”
Redefines the strategic and human-centric role of modern HR leadership.
The problems this episode addresses
- •Supervisors avoiding performance management conversations for extended periods (e.g., 1.5 years), leading to unaddressed issues and eventual frustration.
- •Lack of timely documentation and coaching conversations in performance management, resulting in an inability to course-correct employee behavior before termination is considered.
- •Low incentive for employees/managers to complete performance reviews when they are not tied to tangible outcomes like merit.
- •Supervisor anxiety regarding upward reviews, indicating a potential fear of candid feedback and a need for leadership development.
- •Gen Z employees disengaging and leaving organizations if their needs for clear career paths, development, flexibility, and inclusive workplaces are not met.
- •Traditional workplace expectations overwhelming and alienating Gen Z employees, hindering their engagement and contributions.
In this episode
Built by People podcast features insights from world's top HR leaders
Built by People
Dave: Jamar shares a little bit about his career journey
What's Your Career Journey?
You successfully coached a supervisor to take more ownership on performance management
Coach: Taking More Ownership of Performance Management
Shifting to a culture of continuous feedback led to significant improvements in employee performance
The Culture of Continuous Feedback
Jamarr says working with Gen Z employees challenged your assumptions about workplace expectations
How To Engage With Gen Z
Jamar, what parting advice would you like to share with our community
In the Elevator With Built By People
Topics covered
Organizations and entities mentioned
Full transcript
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