Robert Sklans
Former CHRO
N/A
Episode 230
From Cost Center to Profit Driver: HR's Transformation into a Strategic Asset
Current chapter: Built by People podcast features insights from world's top HR leaders
Built By PeopleApril 16, 2025 · 19:06
Thesis
“HR must transcend traditional roles by deeply understanding business strategies and market dynamics to drive measurable value, with successful transformations built on genuine stakeholder involvement and clear strategic alignment.”
Show notes
"Don't mess up people's paychecks." It's the most fundamental rule in HR transformation, and Robert Sklans — who built his early career in emergency medicine before pivoting into people leadership at Johnson & Johnson and across the life sciences sector — treats it like the single guardrail that cannot be crossed, no matter how sweeping the transformation around it.
Rob's career has been defined by large-scale HR change: global HRIS migrations, organizational redesigns, and the people-side of major product launches, including Johnson's Buddies. Through all of it, he's developed a set of principles for what separates HR transformations that actually take hold from those that generate resistance and regress. Alignment to business strategy is non-negotiable — without it, transformation is just change for its own sake. Effective change management requires stakeholder involvement from the start: "without involvement, there is no commitment." And standardization paired with adaptability — building systems that are consistent enough to scale but flexible enough to evolve — is what makes people infrastructure durable rather than brittle.
He's equally direct about the HR practitioner's responsibility to be curious about the business: attend the market research meetings, read the R&D reports, understand what's driving the top line. The CHRO who knows HR deeply but knows the business superficially will always be treated as a functional administrator. The one who's genuinely embedded in strategy will be treated as an executive.
- The cardinal rule of HR transformation — why payroll accuracy and parallel runs are the foundation of employee trust
- Why stakeholder involvement drives commitment — Rob's framework for building change initiatives that don't generate resistance
- Alignment to business strategy as the prerequisite — how to ensure transformation serves the organization, not just the HR function
- Standardize and adapt — building HR systems that are consistent enough to scale and flexible enough to evolve
- Business curiosity as a career strategy — why the CHROs who attend market and R&D meetings become the ones executives actually listen to
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What you'll take away
- 1HR professionals must proactively engage with business growth drivers and market dynamics to become invaluable strategic partners.
- 2Successful HR transformation requires clear alignment with organizational strategy and a deep understanding of the 'why' behind the change.
- 3Effective change management is built on continuous stakeholder involvement and feedback, fostering commitment rather than resistance.
- 4Standardize policies, leverage cloud-based HR systems, and use rapid prototyping to build adaptable and efficient HR processes.
- 5During any HR transformation, ensure payroll accuracy is triple-checked and run in parallel; it's the number one rule to maintain employee trust.
What most organizations get wrong
- •HR doesn't need to ask permission to deeply learn about the business; it only requires deliberate focus and curiosity.
- •Change management should be integrated into the design process itself, rather than being a 'ta-da' announcement at the end, to build genuine commitment.
In Robert's words
“Without involvement, there is no commitment.”
This is presented as a core principle for successful change management by engaging stakeholders.
“Don't mess up people's paychecks.”
This highlights the most critical rule for maintaining employee trust during HR transformations.
“Be curious. Be curious about the business. You don't need to ask permission to talk with folks and learn about what they do and how the business works.”
This offers direct advice for HR professionals to proactively become better business partners.
“Although I was in HR, I would read the market research. I would attend the global franchise leadership meetings in R&D. I would always ask folks about what were they were doing, what was the work they were doing. I would attend poster sessions and I would try to learn as much as I could.”
Illustrates how an HR professional can gain cross-functional insights to drive business value.
“At a startup, a life science startup where I was the CHRO, one of the principles that we had was productive on day 1.”
This defines a clear and actionable principle for designing effective onboarding processes.
“Every step you take can be a change management opportunity if you choose to make it one.”
Emphasizes that change management is an ongoing, iterative process, not a one-time event.
The problems this episode addresses
- •Companies struggle to build sufficient leadership pipelines to meet aggressive growth targets, especially when HR structures are decentralized.
- •Business leaders often resist HR transformation initiatives due to a perceived loss of control or lack of involvement in the design process.
- •Inefficient and non-standardized HR policies and processes across global or large organizations create administrative burdens.
- •Onboarding processes frequently fail to make new hires 'productive on day 1', impacting immediate engagement and efficiency.
- •HR professionals often struggle to position themselves as true business partners by not proactively understanding market dynamics and core business drivers.
In this episode
Built by People podcast features insights from world's top HR leaders
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Rob Koehler has led 7 HR transformations from global companies to startups
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Rob Johnson introduced a unique stakeholder engagement process during an HR transformation
Stakeholder Engagement Process at Johnson & Johnson
Topics covered
Organizations and entities mentioned
Full transcript
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