Jeff Diana
High Growth Consultant
Advising For Impact LLC
Episode 238
Beyond HR Admin: How to Make HR a Strategic Business Growth Catalyst
Current chapter: Built by People podcast features insights from world's top HR leaders
Built By PeopleApril 9, 2025 · 12:25
Thesis
“HR must evolve from a reactive, administrative function to a proactive, data-driven strategic business partner that deeply understands and contributes to core business metrics, actively markets its impact, and earns its 'seat at the table' to drive organizational productivity and growth.”
Show notes
"I hope I never hear 'seat at the table' again in my career." Jeff Diana — who has held HR leadership roles at BellSouth, GE, Microsoft, Safeco, SuccessFactors, Atlassian, and Calendly — has spent decades watching HR play the victim rather than doing the work that earns influence. His message is direct, and it's landed differently in a tighter investment environment: if you want a seat, prove you belong there, every quarter, in the language of the business.
Jeff's framework for repositioning HR from reactive to proactive starts with a single discipline: knowing the P&L as well as your CFO. Not approximately. Precisely. The HR leader who can walk into a budget conversation and speak fluently about cost-per-hire's impact on revenue attainment, or turnover's drag on a product roadmap, is treated differently than the one who shows up with engagement scores. It's not that engagement doesn't matter — it's that CFOs don't fund it until it's connected to something they recognize. His prescription for tight budget cycles: tie every HR initiative to short-term outcomes, find C-level co-sponsors who have skin in the game, and market HR's impact internally with the same rigor you'd apply to a product launch.
He's also done the hard work of reframing what HR is for. Not happiness. Not satisfaction. Organizational productivity. When he declares that framing in an executive team meeting, it changes the conversation — because productivity is something the CFO, COO, and board all care about. It's a frame that gives HR permission to touch things that have historically been off-limits, and it creates accountability that most HR leaders should actually welcome.
- Speaking the CFO's language — why financial fluency is HR's most immediate credibility lever
- Tying HR initiatives to short-term outcomes — the pitch framework that works in constrained budget environments
- Finding C-level co-sponsors — how to amplify HR's budget and political capital by partnering across the C-suite
- Declaring your focus on organizational productivity — the reframe that gives HR permission to operate at the highest level
- Marketing HR's impact internally — why the work isn't done until stakeholders know what HR delivered and why it mattered
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What you'll take away
- 1HR leaders must speak the language of business, knowing financial numbers as well as a CFO to gain immediate credibility.
- 2To secure budget and buy-in, HR initiatives must be tied to short-term business outcomes, reflecting the current lean investment cycle.
- 3Find C-level co-sponsors for HR initiatives to increase support and budget allocation.
- 4Redefine HR's role by declaring a focus on organizational productivity rather than just 'happiness,' and coach leaders on key business drivers.
- 5Proactively market HR's value and impact internally and externally to improve credibility and respect within the organization.
- 6Successful HR leaders are data-driven, customer-centric, product-aware, and strategic influencers within their organizations.
What most organizations get wrong
- •HR should declare it is 'not the happiness police' and instead focus explicitly on driving organizational productivity.
- •The concept of earning a 'seat at the table' for HR is outdated; it must be earned through proactive action and business acumen, not merely desired.
- •HR initiatives should prioritize short-term business outcomes over vague long-term benefits to align with current economic realities and secure funding.
In Jeff's words
“I've just declared it. I've told the organization, I'm not the happiness police. I'm not here to care about employee satisfaction... I'm focused on productivity.”
This quote challenges the traditional view of HR, repositioning its core purpose to business productivity.
“I hope I never hear seat at the table again in my career. We're still talking about it and every function has been in that position. No one hands it to you. You've gotta earn it.”
A direct critique of a common HR lament, emphasizing proactive ownership and earning influence.
“You've gotta tie your pitch to short-term outcomes. The days of saying we ought to do this, or it's the right thing to do, or in the long term we need to do this, is not recognizing the macro environment right now.”
Provides practical and timely advice for HR leaders seeking to gain buy-in and budget in challenging economic conditions.
“Market your work. Like, we're just not good at figuring out how we market internally and externally the value of what we're driving.”
Highlights a critical and often overlooked area for HR to improve its perceived value and impact within an organization.
“I pride myself on being able to pitch the P&L as well as the CFO can.”
Emphasizes the crucial role of financial literacy and business acumen for HR leaders to establish credibility.
The problems this episode addresses
- •HR is often viewed as a reactive, support function rather than a strategic business driver, leading to a lack of influence and investment.
- •Difficulty for HR to secure budget and C-level sponsorship for initiatives due to a failure to connect them to tangible, short-term business outcomes.
- •HR leaders struggle to gain a 'seat at the table' because they often adopt a victim mentality instead of proactively demonstrating business value.
- •HR's lack of effective marketing (internal and external) for its work and impact hinders its recognition and credibility within organizations.
- •Traditional, long-tenured workforces resist necessary operational changes (e.g., to become more nimble, creative, or customer-oriented) required for innovation.
- •HR departments are not always data-driven or customer/product-focused, limiting their strategic impact and differentiation.
In this episode
Built by People podcast features insights from world's top HR leaders
Built by People
I always love to ask you about your career journey
Steve Jobs on His Career Journey
You've successfully transformed HR into a business driver at organizations you've led
Have You Turned HR Into a Business Driver?
HR function can move from reactive to proactive when working with hypergrowth businesses
How to move the HR function from reactive to proactive
In today's market where HR budgets are really tight, what are some strategies
Making compelling Business Cases for HR Initiatives
Jeff: I'm not focused on employee happiness; I'm focused on productivity
Are HR Executives the Happiness Police?
What do you believe are the biggest obstacles preventing HR from reaching its full potential
Opportunities for HR Leaders
Jeff: Being data-driven is definitely one key differentiator
What Makes Successful HR Leaders So Different?
Jeff, what parting advice would you like to share with our community
Jeff Wilcox on Built by People
Topics covered
Organizations and entities mentioned
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