Judith Nelson
Chief People Officer
Weee!
Episode 243
Beyond Support: Why HR Needs a General Manager Mindset for Growth
Current chapter: Built by People podcast features insights from world's top HR leaders
Built By PeopleApril 7, 2025 · 16:01
Thesis
“Effective HR leadership transcends traditional support roles; it requires a general manager mindset, deep business understanding, and a focus on aligning people strategy directly with organizational growth and long-term success.”
Show notes
Building a Global HR Perspective: Insights from Judith Nelson
In this episode of the Built by People podcast, host Dave D'Angelo welcomes Judith, an experienced HR executive with a diverse career journey spanning the consumer sector across three continents.
Judith shares insights from her work in large corporates and hypergrowth startups, offering lessons on building effective people strategies, embracing ambiguity, and balancing strategy with execution. She emphasizes the importance of treating people with respect, fostering a learning mindset, and achieving business success through adaptable HR practices.
Judith also discusses the challenges of blending startup agility with corporate structure and provides strategies for scaling teams, processes, and culture.
Her parting advice highlights the need for adaptability, doing the right thing, and leading with kindness.
00:00 Introduction and Welcome
00:48 Judith's Career Journey
02:19 Transition to Consultancy and Tech
04:48 Key Lessons from Startup and Corporate Environments
08:03 Adopting a General Manager Mindset in HR
09:34 Blending Startup Agility with Corporate Structure
11:17 HR as a Business Driver
12:55 Effective Strategies for Scaling Teams and Culture
14:45 Parting Advice and Final Thoughts
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What you'll take away
- 1HR leaders should adopt a 'general manager' mindset, deeply understanding business strategy to drive people initiatives and ensure HR is seen as a business driver, not just support.
- 2In hypergrowth environments, move quickly, embrace ambiguity, treat mistakes as learning opportunities, and prioritize foundational elements before refining details.
- 3Reset hiring strategies by prioritizing cultural fit ('will') and a learning mindset over specific skills, especially for roles that require thriving in ambiguity and building from scratch.
- 4Implement a 'corporate light' approach to scaling; focus on the 'what' and 'why' of processes using flexible frameworks, rather than suffocating with rigid policies.
- 5Be data-driven in HR, actively participate in defining business goals, and rigorously test the return on investment of people initiatives to ensure meaningful, sustained impact.
What most organizations get wrong
- •"It's not about applying the corporate playbook. It's about agility and resourcefulness in aligning the people strategy to enable the business strategy." (7:48)
- •"I have never had is a culture plan. I think it just over-processes culture. So for me, every piece of work that you do should be a stepping stone towards building the culture that you want to create." (14:14)
In Judith's words
“I describe myself as a general manager who just happens to work in the people space.”
This quote encapsulates her core philosophy of how HR should function as a strategic business partner.
“My biggest learning with hiring though is the culture fit is key. Hire for will and train for skill.”
This provides actionable advice on prioritizing cultural alignment and potential over existing capabilities in hiring.
“One thing I've learned from working around the world is that fundamentally people want the same thing from their work...They want to be treated with respect. They want meaningful work, they want to learn, develop, and grow.”
This highlights the universal core needs of employees, irrespective of cultural or geographical differences.
“I think for me, and all of the people roles, I talk about the 4 Cs. It's about compliance... building capability... driving change... And then the final one, and probably most importantly, is culture.”
This presents a clear, memorable framework for structuring and prioritizing HR functions within an organization.
“Kindness is not a weakness. For me, it's a real leadership strength, and one that builds trust, it fuels collaboration, and overall it just drives long-term business success.”
This emphasizes the often-underestimated power of empathy and kindness as a foundational element for effective leadership and business outcomes.
The problems this episode addresses
- •CEOs struggle with talent and capability concerns, which keep them awake at night.
- •Growing organizations face the challenge of determining what initiatives to pursue, at what level of detail, and when, often leading to overcommitment.
- •Retaining an entrepreneurial mindset and creativity while scaling, without stifling employees with corporate frameworks and policies, is a significant challenge.
- •Ensuring HR is recognized as a strategic business driver rather than merely a support function remains a hurdle for many HR leaders.
- •Achieving sustainable, embedded change that drives business performance, rather than just being perceived as 'another initiative,' is difficult.
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Topics covered
Organizations and entities mentioned
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