Stephanie Manzelli
Chief People Officer
Employ
Episode 74
HR's Strategic Pivot: Speak the Language of Business, Decentralize Impact
Current chapter: Built by People podcast features insights from world's top HR leaders
Built By PeopleAugust 20, 2025 · 9:21
Thesis
“HR leaders must proactively speak the language of business (finance, ops, growth) and decentralize ownership of culture and engagement to become strategic partners who drive organizational outcomes, rather than just administrators. Influence comes from courageously addressing hard truths with data and empathy, not just polish.”
Show notes
Summary
Many companies still see HR as the department that runs surveys, manages benefits, and plans the occasional happy hour—but Stephanie Manzelli is on a mission to change that. As Chief People Officer at Employ, Steph has built a career transforming HR from an administrative function into a true driver of business performance. In this episode, she shares how decentralizing engagement survey action plans boosted team performance and retention, why speaking the language of finance and operations changes the perception of HR, and how courage in difficult moments can reshape strategic conversations.
From tackling failing business models to uniting multiple microcultures into one cohesive company, Steph’s journey is packed with actionable lessons for HR leaders, executives, and anyone looking to lead with both empathy and impact.
Timestamps
[00:01] – Introduction and Steph’s career journey from finance to HR leadership
[00:44] – The career-defining moment that shifted HR from administrator to strategic partner
[02:54] – How decentralizing action planning improved engagement by up to 50%
[04:16] – Overcoming challenges: Finding the courage to say what others won’t
[06:31] – The legacy Steph hopes to leave as an HR leader
- [07:59] – Parting advice: Why HR must be a compass, not just a mirror
Takeaways
Redefine HR’s role by embedding people strategies into core business planning
Decentralize engagement initiatives to empower frontline leaders with ownership
Measure culture changes with hard metrics like attrition, team performance, and sales impact
Build credibility by speaking the language of finance, operations, and growth
Use courage and empathy to voice hard truths that open the door for strategic change
Don’t wait for permission to lead strategically—understand the business deeply and act
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What you'll take away
- 1Decentralize engagement action planning by empowering local leaders with templates, coaching, and accountability, moving beyond top-down narratives to solve micro-level issues effectively.
- 2Frame HR initiatives in the native language of business (e.g., attrition as customer churn, leadership development as reducing decision latency) to integrate HR as a core part of the business plot.
- 3Cultivate courage to address ambiguous or politically complex business challenges, offering data-driven, empathetic insights even when it feels like 'overstepping,' to open space for strategic conversations.
- 4Shift HR's role from a 'mirror' reflecting culture to a 'compass' actively steering both culture and business direction, becoming a co-architect of growth and efficiency.
What most organizations get wrong
- •I don't think HR owns culture. I think everybody does.
- •Influence isn't about polish, it's about saying the hard things sometimes when others won't in a kind way, in a way that they can understand.
- •Instead of constantly translating HR into big business language... I learned to speak in the language of finance and ops and growth from the start. And I think that's what everybody who wants a career in HR should do.
In Stephanie's words
“I don't think HR owns culture. I think everybody does.”
This quote challenges the traditional view of HR's sole responsibility for culture, emphasizing shared ownership across the organization.
“We were not asking for a seat at the table any longer. We were handing out roadmaps.”
This highlights the transformation of HR from seeking inclusion to proactively leading strategic initiatives and dictating direction.
“Influence isn't about polish, it's about saying the hard things sometimes when others won't in a kind way, in a way that they can understand.”
This offers a contrarian view on how true influence is achieved, prioritizing courage and directness over mere presentation.
“When HR leads with subtitles, we risk seen as an outsider, but when we speak in the native language of the business, we're not just in the room, we're, we're part of the plot.”
This emphasizes the critical importance of business acumen for HR leaders to be truly integrated and impactful within an organization.
“HR isn't a mirror, we are a compass.”
This concise metaphor defines HR's role as a proactive guide for culture and business direction, rather than just a reflection of the current state.
The problems this episode addresses
- •Engagement surveys often function as a 'check-the-box' exercise, generating vague company-wide themes without driving local-level change due to centralized accountability.
- •HR departments are frequently perceived as administrative (benefits, rules, happy hours) and struggle to secure a strategic 'seat at the table' in critical business conversations.
- •Organizations formed from mergers and acquisitions face challenges integrating diverse 'microcultures,' leading to varied team problems that macro-level solutions fail to address effectively.
- •Business units can fail silently due to a reluctance within leadership to acknowledge poor performance or engage in difficult, honest conversations about structural problems.
- •HR leaders often struggle to translate their work into compelling business terms, leading to a perception of being 'one step removed' from core business drivers and limiting their strategic influence.
In this episode
Built by People podcast features insights from world's top HR leaders
Built by People
Steph is the head of HR at Employ, helping talent teams hire great people
Steph Greene's Career-Defining Moment
Steph says targeted action planning improved engagement across the organization
Steph on The Company's Career-Defining Moment
Steph has faced challenges in her career and how she overcame them
Challenges in the Workplace
Steph, what's a legacy you hope to leave as an HR leader
What's Your Legacy as an HR Leader?
Steph shares her advice on leadership on Built by People podcast
Steph Jenkins on Leading With Your Company
Topics covered
Organizations and entities mentioned
Full transcript
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