#41 JooBee's newsletter

TL;DR

😩 Fed up with HR being misunderstood? Build the brand that changes it (pt 1)

🔑 4 Steps to break free from the old HR brand holding you back

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Fed up with HR being misunderstood? Build the brand that changes it (pt 1)

Every time an HR leader tells me this, I ask the same thing: What’s your communication strategy?

• Have you clearly told the business what they can expect from your team?

• Have you defined what you do—and what you don’t do? (My personal favourite💜)

• Have you followed up by showing the value you’ve delivered?

Because if you haven’t, let me be blunt: We can’t expect what we didn’t communicate.

Your brand = how your stakeholders feel and think about you & your value

I led a strategy offsite with a VP of People and her HR leadership team—smart, committed, working hard to build better. When asked how they’re perceived by the business, their honest answers were: 

• “They think HR adds noise.”

•  “We don’t deliver value.”

•  “No visibility. We create confusion.”

That’s not just feedback–that is their HR brand. Because our brand is how people feel and think about us, our team and the value we deliver.

And how do they form those opinions? Based on experience. If they’ve had years of subpar experiences with HR, and we don’t actively re-educate them, they’ll stick with what they know.

Stop playing small – you’re not just the CPO

When you step into a strategic HR leadership role, trying to bring change, embed product thinking and deliver real value—your biggest blocker is often the reputation (a.k.a brand) you didn’t build but are now held accountable for.

So, don’t box yourself in as the CPO. Start leading like the CEO–that’s the level we need to operate at. 

No CEO succeeds by just building products. They build, they sell and they convert to monetise. In HR, that means converting HR initiatives into business impact. If we want to lead strategically, we need to think beyond an ‘HR product launch campaign’—that’s execution. What we’re building is a department brand.

The HR mistake: The “One-hit wonder” approach

One big announcement at an All Hands. One long email. And then… silence.

One communication hit and we hope for wonder. 

We can’t build trust, influence or strategic weight by broadcasting once and hoping it lands. For any message to actually change perception or behaviour, it needs to be received–not just sent– at least 7 times, in 7 different ways. Sounds familiar? That’s exactly how companies build brands that connect with their customers.

Want to be seen as strategic? Act like a business leader

Your HR change strategy is only as impactful as your ability to make it seen, heard and felt. That takes more than a few updates and announcements—it demands a clear, consistent and intentional communication strategy to build your brand.

Do it right—with clarity, consistency and visibility—and your stakeholders will understand what you do, see the value you bring and recognise the strategic force you are.

4 Steps to break free from the old HR brand holding you back

Every strategic HR leader wants to transform how their team is perceived. But before we build a new brand, we need to take a hard look at what people really think and feel about our current HR team. Not from our perspective—but through the eyes of our stakeholders.

Yes, it’s uncomfortable. But clarity comes from confronting reality—not avoiding it.

I ran an offsite with a VP of People and her PX leadership team. Here’s exactly what we did to uncover their current HR brand—and where you can start too.

Marketing IS part of a strategic HR leader’s job

It’s how you shape perception of your team, your work and your impact—so people take action.

Strategic HR leadership should drive 4 outcomes:

1. Awareness – Stakeholders know your HR team, products and services—and associate them with value. This is how you build your brand.

2. Engagement – Stakeholders actively engage with your team. This is how you nurture relationships.

3. Action – They consistently use your products and services. This is how you drive business results.

4. Advocacy – They speak up for HR and champion what you do. This is how you earn trust through real value delivery.

You already have a brand—like it or not.

The only question is: are you actively shaping it, or letting it happen by default?

This is Part 1 of a 2-part newsletter series. In the next edition, I’ll walk you through how to shape your HR brand by creating awareness, driving engagement, sparking action and earning advocacy.

Stay tuned. This is where your HR brand starts to shift.

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