There’s a false dichotomy at companies between soft issues and the bottom line. In fact, HR and a company’s larger goals aren’t competing priorities—they’re deeply intertwined. We need to break down silos—conversations about culture, people, and mentorship shouldn’t be separate from discussions about profits and growth. Additionally, conversations should be direct and grounded in facts—even more so when you operate in hyper growth environments like we do at 1Password. HR leaders must be brought into strategic planning from the beginning, but also take responsibility for ensuring they have a good, baseline understanding of the company’s vision, operations, and financial standing. In 2025, I hope to see HR and company culture become more deeply embedded in how companies measure success, rather than viewing them as separate entities. After all, people drive business results, not profits alone. When HR operates in sync with business objectives, organizations are better positioned to recruit, retain, and develop the talent they need to sustain scalable growth. Thank you to Tony Case and WorkLife for including me in this article. Enjoy. K.
We all know working in silos is usually a terrible idea. That said, more than 8 in 10 HR leaders report critical misalignment between their department and the broader business, creating $8.9 trillion in economic losses yearly. And that leads to much more than just organizational efficiency, contributing to 8 in 10 workers looking for other jobs. WorkLife Digiday #work #workculture #misalignment #HR #leadership #goals EightFold.ai Katya Laviolette 1Password Stephen Chu InStride Deloitte Gartner Cindy Kravitz, PhD Céline Hervé Grammarly Tim Glowa (IBDC.D, GCB.D) HRbrain.ai Philip Huthwaite 5app Suriel Arellano
I completely agree Katya Laviolette, there’s no separating people from the business. Embedding HR into strategic planning and aligning it with company goals is essential for sustainable growth. When culture and strategy work hand in hand, the results speak for themselves. Thanks for sharing.
Really great read and your insights are spot on! So much opportunity & untapped potential being left on the table.
Thank you for sharing Katya. Not something new for many of us, but it’s always interesting to remind ourselves these principles. Especially when it is backed up by research! Cheers,
Great article Katya!
Sr. Sales Executive at SAP SuccessFactors
3wGreat share Katya Laviolette. Fully agree. If I may add with what I have observed from my vantage point, many times these silos become more pronounced when an organization has multiple systems that often don't talk to each other seamlessly. Organizations that have unified their HR systems benefit from being more agile and nimble, and also have a more positive impact on HR's ability to contribute to a company's strategy and bottomline, (through improved Talent Attraction & Retention efforts!). As you rightly say "After all, people drive business results...!"