Lizzie Garner
Chief People Officer
ClearChoice Dental Implant Centers
Episode 312
HR's New Blueprint: Reverse-Engineering People Strategy for Business Impact
Current chapter: Covering monthly expenses is the number one concern for employees in 2024
Built By PeopleFebruary 6, 2025 · 9:20
Thesis
“HR strategies should be reverse-engineered directly from specific business needs and desired customer experiences, rather than relying on rigid HR theory, to foster high-performing teams and drive organizational success.”
Show notes
In this episode of the Built by People podcast sponsored by Previ, host welcomes Lizzie Garner, an HR leader with a unique background in sales and business. Lizzie shares her career journey from Chase Retail Bank and Guaranteed Rate to her current role at ClearChoice, explaining how her business-first mindset has shaped her HR approach. She discusses the challenges and benefits of aligning HR priorities with business needs and offers advice to business leaders considering a career pivot to HR. Lizzie's parting advice emphasizes staying curious and asking deeper questions to better understand and support organizational goals. 00:16 Sponsor Message from Previ 00:45 Guest Introduction: Lizzie's Career Journey 02:14 Unique Perspectives in HR 03:23 Aligning HR with Business Needs 04:41 Challenges and Overcoming Skepticism 06:02 Approach to Organizational Design 07:12 Advice for Business Leaders Considering HR 08:27 Parting Advice and Conclusion
What you'll take away
- 1Prioritize business needs over rigid HR theory by reverse-engineering HR programs and policies to align directly with organizational goals.
- 2Adopt a patient-centric or customer-centric approach to HR, designing training and support programs that enhance the overall customer experience.
- 3Embrace non-traditional career paths into HR, leveraging transferable skills and a business background to bring innovative perspectives and flexibility.
- 4Be agile and iterative in organizational design, quickly adjusting talent strategies to meet evolving business requirements and opportunities.
- 5Cultivate a mindset of continuous curiosity, asking deeper questions to uncover the true underlying needs and motivations within the business and among employees.
What most organizations get wrong
- •Challenges the notion that HR must adhere to a 'deep, rigid HR playbook,' advocating instead for decisions based on immediate business needs rather than HR theory.
- •Suggests that HR plans should be 'held back' until the exact business needs are clear, contrasting with proactive HR initiatives that might be disconnected from current business realities.
- •Implies that the skepticism surrounding non-traditional HR backgrounds is unwarranted, demonstrating how business leadership experience can be a significant asset in the HR function.
In Lizzie's words
“I have been sort of brought up and trained to make decisions based on business need, not HR theory or how it should work.”
This quote encapsulates Lizzie's core philosophy of prioritizing business outcomes over traditional HR dogma.
“I really hold back any HR plan until I know exactly what the business needs to be able to support it.”
It highlights her reactive, demand-driven approach to HR strategy, ensuring relevance and impact.
“Reverse engineering our program to fit the customer experience is what's ultimately most important to me.”
This quote directly links HR programs to external customer satisfaction, a unique differentiator.
“Being able to kind of come in and out as someone who's influencing the leaders and showing them what the talent could be does allow you to design the talent to ensure that you're creating a truly high-performance team with the strengths, the opportunities, varied approaches to get all of the right talent in the right place.”
It illustrates her dynamic and influential role in shaping organizational structure and talent for optimal performance.
“Stay curious just a little longer. Ask one more question, ask one more kind of deeper belief question. Try to figure out exactly what it is that people are trying to do.”
Her parting advice emphasizes the critical importance of deep inquiry and understanding in HR and leadership.
The problems this episode addresses
- •HR departments struggling with rigid playbooks that don't effectively support dynamic business needs.
- •Businesses facing a disconnect between HR strategies and tangible customer (patient) experience outcomes.
- •Leaders with non-traditional backgrounds in HR encountering skepticism or resistance from more conventional HR professionals.
- •Organizations in fast-growth phases (organic or M&A) needing to quickly and effectively design talent structures for high performance.
- •HR being perceived as a function that says 'no,' hindering its ability to proactively support business goals.
In this episode
Covering monthly expenses is the number one concern for employees in 2024
Built by People
I came up through the Chase retail bank back when Chase was putting branches
Career Paths for Financial Planners
Coming from sales and business background, what unique perspectives do you bring to HR
What Differentiates Your HR Plan From Traditional HR Pros?
ClearChoice aligns HR priorities with business needs, and how has approach benefited
ClearChoice CEO on Aligning HR Priorities with Business Needs
Lizzie, what challenges did you face transitioning from sales leadership to HR
Challenges of Transition from Sales to HR
How do you approach organizational design and people strategies differently in your business-first mindset
In the Business-First Mindset
Lizzie says if you have interests, identify those transferable skills
Pivoting Out of HR: Lessons Learned
Lizzie shares parting advice with Built by People podcast community
Lizzie on the Built by People Podcast
Topics covered
Organizations and entities mentioned
Full transcript
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