Maura Stevenson
Chief HR Officer
MedVet
Episode 133
Why your HR strategy needs an adaptable point of view for real business impact.
Current chapter: Built by People podcast features insights from world's top HR leaders
Built By PeopleJune 24, 2025 · 16:17
Thesis
“Effective HR leadership requires a strong, adaptable point of view, grounded in data and tailored to the specific organizational context, to build a cohesive talent agenda that drives culture, capability, and business growth. Progress is often nonlinear, necessitating strategic sequencing and transparent communication to achieve buy-in and measurable impact.”
Show notes
An 87% increase in EBITDA per director. That's not a marketing claim — it's what Maura Stevenson's talent transformation strategy produced at Wendy's during a period of aggressive refranchising, and it's the number that reframes how you think about what HR actually does for a business. People analytics before it was called people analytics. Data-informed talent decisions before most HR functions even had dashboards.
Maura's career in organizational psychology gave her tools most CHRO's don't have: executive assessments, talent segmentation frameworks, and a clinical rigor for understanding why leadership capacity either compounds or constrains organizational performance. At Wendy's, she didn't just run a talent program — she designed a sequenced transformation: starting with succession planning and talent mapping, then adding assessments, then layering in development, then introducing 360-degree feedback only after trust was established. The sequencing was everything. Rush the process, and the data scares people. Build the foundation first, and the same data becomes a growth tool.
Her current role at MedVet, and her broader philosophy, center on a critical insight: "I often say that none of us — including me — are nearly as good at identifying talent as we'd like to think." Science helps. Frameworks help. But the willingness to be wrong about people, and to use that humility to build better systems, is what separates transformational HR leaders from the ones who just manage the function.
- Talent transformation that moved EBITDA — the Wendy's case study that proves HR's business ROI
- The right sequence for HR transformation — why the order of initiatives matters as much as the initiatives themselves
- Meeting organizations where they are — how to adapt a talent agenda to different cultures and comfort levels
- Building a common language for talent — the infrastructure that makes development conversations possible at scale
- Transparency in assessment and feedback — why data-driven talent work requires building trust first, not last
Previ is a private pricing network that is free for companies to launch and maintain. It saves employees $2,200/year on essential services like their cell phone and auto insurance bill. Visit here to learn more.
What you'll take away
- 1HR initiatives must start by addressing immediate business needs and adapting to the specific organizational context to ensure alignment and effective implementation.
- 2Implement talent transformation strategies iteratively, beginning with foundational elements like succession planning and talent mapping, then introducing assessments, leadership development, and finally 360-degree feedback.
- 3Transparency, especially when delivering assessment feedback and development plans, is crucial for gaining buy-in and overcoming intimidation, particularly in organizations not accustomed to data-driven HR.
- 4Cultivate a common language and framework for talent management across the organization to ensure consistent understanding and a unified approach to development and growth.
- 5Senior leaders should role model participation in development initiatives, such as 360-degree feedback, to drive cultural adoption and accountability throughout the organization.
What most organizations get wrong
- •Maura challenges the conventional wisdom that top producers are often poor listeners, noting that in Wendy's collaborative culture, top talent was empirically rated as better listeners, a trait she hadn't seen in her Wall Street experience.
In Maura's words
“I think I like to joke that I did people analytics before it was cool. So I really leverage that data component along with an understanding of people to build a career that has wound up in HR over time.”
This quote highlights her unique, data-driven foundation in HR, predating the mainstream adoption of people analytics.
“You have to start by meeting the business where they're at.”
This emphasizes the critical importance of contextualizing HR strategies to address immediate organizational needs and gain buy-in.
“I often say that none of us, including me, are nearly as good at identifying talent as we would like to think, that science could help us.”
This statement powerfully advocates for the use of objective, scientific assessments over subjective intuition in talent identification and hiring.
“Our top talent was rated as better at listening me, which is not always the case. I started my career on Wall Street, and I'm not sure back in the day some of your best producers would have been the best listeners, right?”
This offers a counter-intuitive insight, suggesting that strong listening skills can be a significant differentiator for top talent in collaborative environments.
“I think HR is hard, but HR is fun. And I think the key is to have a point of view coming into an organization, but not to be calcified in that point of view.”
This provides core advice for HR leaders, balancing strategic direction with necessary flexibility and adaptability.
“The trick is to get that progress and to have a game plan for how you're going to build that broader talent agenda, that common language, those set of connected initiatives that when you look at them holistically are gonna help the organization meet its business and growth goals.”
This concisely summarizes the holistic and strategic approach required to integrate various HR initiatives for organizational impact.
The problems this episode addresses
- •Organizations struggle with insufficient bench strength and lack effective frameworks for segmenting talent based on potential, leading to underdeveloped leadership pipelines.
- •Hiring for growth potential is challenging, with reliance on intuition often hindering the acquisition of talent capable of evolving with business needs.
- •Cultural resistance and fear surrounding new HR initiatives, particularly psychological assessments, can impede adoption and necessitate careful change management and transparent communication.
- •Inconsistent language and understanding of talent concepts across leadership create misalignment and hinder a unified approach to talent management.
- •Demonstrating the direct ROI of people-centric HR initiatives is complex due to multiple variables, requiring robust data and thoughtful analysis.
- •Traditional organizational cultures may need to develop an 'execution and innovation mindset' among leaders to achieve brand transformation and business growth goals.
In this episode
Built by People podcast features insights from world's top HR leaders
Built by People
During your time at Wendy's, you implemented a talent transformation strategy
The Talent Transformation Strategy at Wendy's
Wendy's introduced 9-Block concept to segment talent based on potential
How Wendy's Transformed Talent
Wendy's developed a 360 to help leaders develop their leaders
How Wendy's Led a Brand Transformation and Development
Wendy's approach to talent development differs from that of MedVet
How To Approach Talent Development With Science
Wendy's did a talent transformation strategy to increase EBITDA
Wendy's Talent Transformation: Significant Results
Maura, what parting advice would you like to share with our community
A Lesson from The Built by People
Topics covered
Organizations and entities mentioned
Full transcript
Expand transcript (0 words)
Transcript is not available yet.