Jodi Armit
Chief People and Administration Officer
Bold Commerce
Episode 315
HR's New Mandate: Data-Driven Impact, Not Just Perks.
Current chapter: Built by People podcast features insights from world's top HR leaders
Built By PeopleFebruary 5, 2025 · 14:19
Thesis
“HR leaders must transcend administrative tasks and superficial perks by adopting a data-driven, business-centric approach that aligns people strategy with organizational goals, thereby demonstrating measurable impact and earning a strategic voice at the executive table.”
Show notes
Here's a number every HR leader should have memorized: what is the fully-loaded cost of a single employee at your organization? Not just salary — benefits, overhead, management time, recruitment cost amortized over tenure. "HR is the biggest cost any business has. So you need to understand that when you're bringing people in, what is that doing to your cash burn and your path to profitability." Jodi Armit has been making that argument for 30 years, and she's still surprised by how many HR leaders can't answer the question.
As Chief People and Administration Officer at Bold Commerce, Jodi leads HR for a tech company where the CFO speaks in burn rates and the board thinks in runway. That context has sharpened her conviction that HR's long-term relevance depends entirely on its ability to demonstrate measurable business value — not just describe its contributions in human terms. Her career has spanned compensation, talent acquisition, and learning and development, and she's used that breadth to build a perspective on what each function owes the business: clear metrics, honest accountability, and the willingness to tie outcomes to the decisions HR made.
Jodi is also one of the sharper voices on generational communication gaps — not as a diversity initiative, but as a leadership effectiveness problem. Different generations communicate differently, have different expectations about feedback and recognition, and require different management approaches. Leaders who don't develop curiosity about those differences don't manage multigenerational workforces well. She's equally direct about what the next generation of HR leaders needs that most career paths don't currently build: business fluency, financial literacy, and the ability to frame every HR recommendation as an investment with an expected return.
- HR as the business's largest cost center — understanding employee cost per head, cash burn impact, and the financial stakes of every hiring decision
- Purpose-driven work over perks — why foosball tables and large offices were never the point, and what actually drives engagement
- Generational communication as a leadership discipline — curiosity about how different generations receive feedback and recognition
- Data as the foundation of HR decision-making — moving from intuitive to evidence-based people management
- Preparing next-generation HR leaders — building financial literacy and business acumen into HR career development
- Maintaining a voice at the executive table — how to stay relevant and influential as business priorities evolve
Built by People is sponsored by Previ, the private pricing network that saves employees an average of $2,200/year on essentials like cell phone and auto insurance — free for companies to launch and maintain.
What you'll take away
- 1HR professionals must deeply understand business financials, such as employee-to-revenue ratios and cash burn, to justify decisions and demonstrate tangible impact.
- 2Shift focus from traditional 'bells and whistles' (e.g., foosball tables, large offices) to purpose-driven work, clearly connecting individual roles to overall company success.
- 3Cultivate curiosity within leadership and HR teams to effectively bridge generational communication gaps and enhance feedback mechanisms.
- 4Prepare next-generation HR leaders by emphasizing business acumen, industry understanding, and the ability to craft HR plans that directly support company strategy.
- 5Maintain a strategic voice at the executive table by consistently articulating the 'why' and impact of HR initiatives, rather than merely discussing administrative processes.
What most organizations get wrong
- •Traditional office perks like foosball tables and private offices were largely 'smoke and mirrors' that didn't genuinely motivate or retain employees, unlike being part of a winning team.
- •Conventional performance management tools like the 'nine-box' are outdated; instead, focus on algorithms and personalized employee experiences to assess performance and behavior against job requirements and company values.
- •Avoid chasing 'shiny new trends' in HR; instead, ground all initiatives in their fundamental business impact and how they contribute to the company's success.
In Jodi's words
“HR is the biggest cost any business has. So you need to understand that when you're bringing people in, what is that doing to the revenue?”
This highlights the crucial financial implications of HR decisions that are often overlooked by HR professionals.
“If you don't do your due diligence and you just go by gut feeling and go by emotion, you can't justify the decisions you're making.”
This emphasizes the critical need for data-driven decision-making over intuition in HR strategy.
“Truth be told, people were too busy to appreciate this space and everything that it offered. And so it really just kept people there longer and then hopefully to work harder.”
This challenges the conventional wisdom that office perks effectively drive employee motivation or productivity.
“The key ingredient here is making sure that people know what winning looks like, and then how does their role impact that winning?”
This succinctly defines the core of effective employee engagement: connecting individual purpose to organizational success.
“We've thrown out the nine box. We don't use it anymore. We have algorithms that we use to talk to people about how they're doing against the job, how they're showing up and behaving at work against our core company values.”
This showcases a modern, data-informed shift away from traditional performance review systems.
“What we need to do is we need to talk about impact. So why would you even do a Ninebox? Why would you even do talent identification? Why would you do performance reviews? How does this help the business win?”
This directly challenges HR professionals to reframe their initiatives in terms of quantifiable business impact to secure executive influence.
The problems this episode addresses
- •HR professionals often lack a deep understanding of core business financial metrics (e.g., employee-to-revenue ratio, cash burn) required to make strategic decisions.
- •Decisions in HR are frequently made based on 'gut feeling' or emotion rather than robust data, leading to difficulties in justification and sub-optimal outcomes.
- •Traditional office perks ('bells and whistles') are ineffective and unsustainable motivators; companies struggle to inspire employees in hybrid/remote settings.
- •Bridging communication gaps and providing effective feedback across a multi-generational workforce proves challenging for leaders.
- •Aspiring HR executives are well-versed in HR pillars but often lack the holistic business acumen and strategic understanding needed for executive roles.
- •HR struggles to maintain a 'seat at the table' by focusing on administrative tasks and timelines rather than articulating direct business impact.
In this episode
Built by People podcast features insights from world's top HR leaders
Built by People
Dave Gentry shares a little bit about his career journey
Your Career Paths
HR professionals need to understand how hiring and compensation affects the business
In the Elevator: Data-
The workplace has changed from systems and processes to purpose-driven work
Workplace transformation: What motivates employees?
With multiple generations in the workplace, what strategies have you found most effective
How to Give and Receive Feedback Across Generations
Jodi is passionate about developing the next generation of HR leaders
Jodi On The Challenges of Executive Leadership
Jodi: HR professionals need to talk about impact more than busywork
HR Professional Voice at the Executive Table
Jodi, what advice would you like to share with our audience
Jodi On The Built by People
Topics covered
Organizations and entities mentioned
Full transcript
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