Laura Butler
Chief People Officer
TTEC
Episode 178
Beyond HR Checklists: How Tech & System Thinking Drive Real Business Value
Current chapter: Built by People podcast features insights from world's top HR leaders
Built By PeopleMay 22, 2025 · 15:41
Thesis
“Effective HR fundamentally connects people initiatives with core business outcomes, enabled by technology and a deep understanding of organizational systems, to foster autonomy, agility, and lasting impact.”
Show notes
Laura Butler has spent her career at the intersection of technology and people — and she'll tell you, without hesitation, that everything in HR is about creating experiences. With the rise of AI, that conviction has never been more actionable or more urgent.
As Chief People Officer at TTEC, Laura brings a systems thinker's lens to the full range of HR challenges: goal setting that's actually linked to strategic planning (rather than HR's annual checklist that rarely aligns with the company's direction), autonomy as something you build through organizational understanding rather than just removing approval layers, and change management that distinguishes between changes worth making and changes that just generate fatigue. She's particularly compelling on AI and VR — her team has deployed AI chatbots to give HR practitioners credible, timely advice without requiring a Google search, and used VR to run immersive team meetings and leader coaching simulations for a globally dispersed workforce where Zoom falls consistently flat.
Her time management framework, borrowed from Julie Morgenstern, is one of the most practical pieces of advice in this episode: figure out the minimum effective action, not the perfect one. The "min, mid, max" structure she describes — where sending a quick feedback email is better than waiting for the ideal in-person moment that never comes — is a direct challenge to the perfectionism that causes HR leaders to procrastinate on high-impact communication. Her parting line is borrowed from Simon Sinek, but she's earned the right to it: "If you don't understand people, you don't understand business."
- Goal setting linked to strategic planning — how to audit your HR programs against the company's actual strategic plan and close the gap
- Autonomy through system understanding — why employees need to understand how their work connects to the whole before they can operate independently
- AI chatbots for HR practitioners — providing credible, real-time guidance to people teams without requiring hours of research
- VR for distributed team collaboration — how TTEC uses immersive meetings and role-play to create connection that video calls can't replicate
- Min, mid, max feedback strategy — the framework for getting meaningful feedback delivered instead of waiting for perfect conditions
- Change agility vs. change fatigue — knowing which changes deserve time to grow roots versus which ones should be stopped before they consume bandwidth
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What you'll take away
- 1HR initiatives like goal setting must be fundamentally linked to the company's strategic plan and regularly reviewed to ensure they move the business forward, not just treated as a checklist.
- 2Foster autonomy by ensuring employees deeply understand the 'system they're operating in' and how it connects, rather than simply reducing approval layers.
- 3Utilize new technologies like AI chatbots for credible, timely advice and VR for immersive, collaborative team meetings and role-playing difficult conversations to enhance HR skills and leader effectiveness.
- 4Adopt 'min, mid, max' strategies (e.g., send quick, structured feedback via email instead of waiting for perfect in-person meetings) and 'crunch your container' to prioritize tasks and prevent procrastination.
- 5Cultivate 'change agility' by discerning which changes truly matter, allowing sufficient time for new initiatives to 'grow roots' and gather stakeholder buy-in, rather than constantly implementing temporary shifts.
What most organizations get wrong
- •Goal setting should not be an 'HR thing that HR owns' but rather something 'leaders own' to ensure people are doing the right work.
- •The pursuit of 'perfect' feedback or tasks often leads to procrastination and delayed, ineffective communication; 'minimum' effective feedback is better.
- •While some find work 'more fun than fun', it's crucial for leaders to 'crunch their container' to prioritize tasks and respect others' time limits.
In Laura's words
“And as it turns out, everything in HR is about creating experiences. So it all connects somehow. It all makes sense on the back end. But through my career, this interplay between technology and people has been incredibly— and I would say with the advent of AI, it's never been more topical than it is right now.”
This quote highlights the guest's perspective on the convergence of HR, technology, and experiences, emphasizing the current relevance of AI.
“But goal setting should be fundamentally linked to strategic planning. And oftentimes when you do a goal audit and look at the goals that were set and compare it to the company's strategic plan, there's a mismatch completely.”
This emphasizes the critical disconnect often found in goal-setting processes and advocates for strategic alignment.
“The biggest thing with autonomy is ensuring that people understand the system that they're operating in and that they understand how it interlinks and how it connects. And if they have that level of system understanding and system thinking, then it's easier for them to— for people to be autonomous.”
This quote reframes autonomy not as a lack of rules, but as a deep understanding of organizational interconnectedness.
“We've also used VR. I'm a huge fan of VR. I think that Zoom and Teams and, and this very flat video communication has its place, but there is nothing like being in person. However, travel, dispersed workforce gets in the way, but VR meets that in the middle.”
This demonstrates a practical application of VR to enhance collaboration in a dispersed workforce, bridging the gap between virtual and in-person interactions.
“So what's the minimum that you can do? There's an architecture I love around outlining the impact or the intention of your feedback. Describe the situation, the impact, and a suggestion.”
This provides a clear, actionable framework for giving effective feedback efficiently, challenging the notion that feedback must be perfect or lengthy.
“If you don't understand people, you don't understand business.”
This concise statement from Simon Sinek, quoted by Laura, encapsulates the fundamental importance of human understanding in business success.
The problems this episode addresses
- •HR programs (e.g., goal setting, onboarding) are often treated as checklists without fundamental links to strategic business objectives, leading to a mismatch between employee efforts and company goals.
- •Lack of accurate or updated job descriptions hinders clarity on employee responsibilities and performance expectations.
- •The pursuit of 'perfect' execution (e.g., feedback delivery) leads to procrastination, delayed action, and diminished effectiveness.
- •HR leaders struggle with 'infinite demands' and time management, making it challenging to maintain focus on strategic priorities.
- •Dispersed workforces miss the depth of in-person collaboration and connection when relying solely on flat video communication platforms.
- •HR practitioners need access to relevant, credible, and timely advice and tools beyond generic search engines to uplevel their skills.
- •Organizations experience 'change fatigue' and a lack of lasting impact when changes are implemented too frequently or without sufficient time to 'grow roots' and gather stakeholder buy-in.
In this episode
Built by People podcast features insights from world's top HR leaders
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Laura has worked across multiple tech companies through various transitions
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Laura, what parting advice would you like to share with our community
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Topics covered
Organizations and entities mentioned
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