Melody Sundwall
Chief Human Resources Officer
Patton Logistics, Inc.
Episode 159
HR's New Mandate: Empathetic Leadership in an Era of Strategic Change
Current chapter: Built by People podcast features insights from world's top HR leaders
Built By PeopleJune 5, 2025 · 10:33
Thesis
“HR's fundamental role is to be a resource for humans, which requires empathetic leadership to meet employees where they are, strategic talent management to optimize team roles, and foresight to guide organizational changes by anticipating their emotional ripple effects.”
Show notes
From Project Management to HR Leadership: Insights with Melody Sundwall
In this episode of the Built By People Podcast, the host welcomes Melody, who shares her journey from project management to HR, driven by an unexpected opportunity and her skills in recognizing talent.
Melody elaborates on the importance of meeting employees where they are and solving performance issues with empathy. She uses a baseball team analogy to explain team dynamics and the significance of positioning team members appropriately.
Additionally, Melody discusses managing major strategic shifts, such as layoffs, and the critical role of HR in human dynamics alongside business objectives. She concludes by emphasizing the need for HR professionals to be a resource for humans and the importance of recognizing when a change is necessary for their own well-being.
00:00 Introduction and Welcome
00:49 Melody's Career Journey
02:01 Meeting Employees Where They Are
03:54 Baseball Team Analogy in HR
05:53 Managing Strategic Shifts
07:39 Balancing Human Dynamics with Business Needs
09:28 Advice for the HR Community
10:25 Conclusion and Farewell
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What you'll take away
- 1Prioritize meeting employees where they are, understanding external factors impacting their performance, to foster retention and re-engagement rather than just addressing symptoms.
- 2Treat your team like a baseball team, strategically repositioning individuals based on their unique strengths and interests to find their 'sweet spot' for organizational success.
- 3Serve as the empathetic voice during strategic shifts (e.g., layoffs), advising leadership on emotional ripple effects and ensuring trusted, appropriate communication channels.
- 4Balance strict policy adherence with pragmatic flexibility for high-performing individuals, acknowledging that sometimes a proven 'recipe' is worth more than forcing a new process.
- 5HR professionals must recognize their own capacity as a 'resource for humans,' ensuring they operate in roles and environments where they can genuinely thrive and avoid burnout.
What most organizations get wrong
- •Not everyone is a 'starting pitcher'; realistic talent assessment means acknowledging some excel in specific roles and shouldn't be moved, challenging the idea of universal versatility.
- •Sometimes, maintaining a high-performing individual's unique workflow, even if it deviates from new policies, is more valuable than rigid compliance, pushing back on 'one-size-fits-all' operational changes.
In Melody's words
“you don't always have the right people with the right talents doing the right pieces of the puzzle. And you can get a project across the finish line sometimes just by moving players around and doing some different things.”
This quote highlights her early recognition of talent optimization as a key to project success, forming her foundational approach to HR.
“you have to be able to meet employees where they are.”
This concise statement captures a core principle of her HR philosophy, emphasizing personalized support in challenging situations.
“it needs to be our job to say, okay, but remember that ripple is going to hit everybody emotionally as well.”
This emphasizes HR's critical role in advocating for the human impact of strategic decisions, guiding leadership beyond financial considerations.
“The delivery that we get out of them is worth a whole lot more than fighting to say, no, you have to do it this new way when the recipe that they've got is working.”
This illustrates a pragmatic HR approach to balancing process adherence with retaining high-value talent, acknowledging human 'messiness'.
“we are here to be a resource for humans”
This is Melody's overarching philosophy for HR, encouraging professionals to find fulfillment and sustainability in their roles.
The problems this episode addresses
- •Employee performance dips due to unaddressed external life challenges, requiring a deeper, empathetic approach than just disciplinary action.
- •Misalignment of talent with roles, leading to underutilization of skills, employee dissatisfaction, and missed opportunities for organizational growth.
- •Leadership implementing strategic shifts (e.g., layoffs) without fully considering the emotional impact or effective communication strategies, leading to distrust and broader organizational instability.
- •Challenges in enforcing new operational policies when high-performing individuals maintain effective but non-standard workflows, creating tension between consistency and productivity.
- •HR professionals experiencing burnout and disillusionment, indicating a need for self-assessment and organizational support to maintain their effectiveness as 'resources for humans'.
In this episode
Built by People podcast features insights from world's top HR leaders
Built by People
I'm one of the people that got into HR not on purpose
MRK: My Career Journey
Elodie says meeting employees where they are can help navigate difficult situations
Employee Met Me Where They Are
Repositioning team members can lead to better organizational success, Melody says
Re-positioning Team Members
Melody, when was a time you had to help leadership manage a strategic shift
How to Help Leadership Manage a Change
How do you balance human dynamics with the structured needs of business objectives
How to Balance the Messiness of Human Dynamics with the Business Objective
Melody says HR is about being a resource for humans, not a boss
HR By People: Melody's Advice
Topics covered
Organizations and entities mentioned
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