Matt Poladian
Chief People Officer
Liferay, Inc.
Episode 148
Stop HR enforcing rules: Empower core management to drive your company's success.
Current chapter: Built by People podcast features insights from world's top HR leaders
Built By PeopleJune 13, 2025 · 13:27
Thesis
“Effective HR leadership requires a deep understanding of an organization's unique 'season' and proactively positioning HR as a strategic business partner, rather than an enforcer, by deeply investing in and enabling 'core management' as the nucleus of company success.”
Show notes
Rebranding HR and Empowering Management with Matt from Life Ray
In this episode of the Built by People Podcast, the host Dave welcomes Matt, the global HR head at Life Ray. Matt shares his unconventional career journey from marketing strategy to HR leadership and details how his background has influenced his approach to rebranding HR within the company.
He discusses the importance of transitioning HR's role from rule enforcement to business partnership and elaborates on key initiatives like launching the company's first employee survey and goal-setting system.
Matt also emphasizes the significance of developing middle management, outlining strategies for leadership development and effective feedback.
He concludes with advice on understanding the unique needs of a business and its leaders to tailor HR practices accordingly.
00:00 Introduction and Welcome
00:52 Matt's Career Journey
02:46 Rebranding HR at Life Ray
05:43 Core Management Development
07:50 Middle Management Effectiveness
11:36 Parting Advice and Conclusion
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What you'll take away
- 1Rebrand HR's perception from 'law enforcement' to a strategic business partner by deeply understanding the business and then empowering people.
- 2Shift the mindset around middle management, recognizing them as 'core management' who have 'arrived' at a crucial role, and invest in their continuous development.
- 3Implement clear goal-setting systems, even simple ones like shared spreadsheets, and provide training on how to write effective (e.g., SMART) goals to align teams.
- 4Utilize leadership development assessments (like 360-degree feedback tied to core values) to help managers identify and close gaps between their self-perception and team feedback, as 'honesty unblocks understanding'.
- 5Tailor HR strategies to the specific 'season' of the company and its leaders, rather than adopting generic best practices, ensuring relevance and impact.
What most organizations get wrong
- •Middle managers are not 'on their way to somewhere'; they have already arrived at a very important place for the company, and their talents need to be unlocked.
- •HR should be viewed as a business partner enabling success, not as 'law enforcement' enforcing rules, challenging a common negative perception.
- •Implementing effective goal systems does not require six-figure investments; simple tools like shared spreadsheets can be highly effective in the early stages.
In Matt's words
“HR is just a partner to the business. It's not law enforcement.”
This quote highlights a critical shift in HR's perceived role from compliance to strategic partnership.
“Getting our team to be business people first and then people second.”
This emphasizes the importance of HR professionals understanding business operations to be effective strategic partners.
“Middle managers are not on their way to somewhere. They are, they've already arrived. Somewhere very important for the company.”
This statement reframes the value and significance of middle management, advocating for their recognition and development.
“Honesty unblocks understanding.”
This concisely captures the essence of constructive feedback and its role in managerial growth and team effectiveness.
“It's important to know what season you're in and where the leaders you're around are at.”
This advises HR leaders to tailor their strategies to the specific context and maturity of their organization and leadership.
The problems this episode addresses
- •Lack of a centralized, cohesive HR function, leading to dispersed models and inconsistent employee experiences.
- •Negative perception of HR as primarily enforcing rules, hindering its ability to act as a strategic business partner.
- •Absence of clearly articulated organizational goals or effective systems for tracking them, leading to misalignment and unclear performance metrics.
- •Underinvestment in middle management development, despite their critical role as direct leaders and implementers of company culture and strategy.
- •Ineffective performance review processes that lack continuous feedback, making critical conversations difficult and potentially demotivating.
In this episode
Built by People podcast features insights from world's top HR leaders
Built by People
Your career journey did not start in the HR space, which is becoming more common
Steve Jobs on His Career Journey
Matt, how have you approached the rebranding of HR in your company
The Rebranding of HR
Matt Miller has a passion for middle management training and middle management effectiveness
Have We Enriched Middle Management?
Matt Miller: It's important to know what season you're in
A Few Words of Advice for Human Resources Leaders
Topics covered
Organizations and entities mentioned
Full transcript
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