Allies vs Advocates in HR | Why HRBPs Stall Mid-Career

Описание: Allies vs Advocates in HR: Building Career Momentum and Rethinking Performance Management

The episode captures a monthly HR roundtable focused on the people doing HR work, exploring the difference between skills and competencies and how HR can look different across roles, levels, and companies. Participants introduce themselves and share how they entered HR: Annette Vandamos (HR Director at Clarity RFID) describes an end-to-end HR scope and being inspired by strategic HR work during a Sony Pictures internship; Donna Rubin (HRBP at Stripe) shares moving from nonprofit work into recruiting and then HRBP after exposure to HR competencies and the people partner role; Janet Hayspell (HRBP at Restaurant Brands International) explains joining a lean team with a broad, high-volume scope and getting into HR by accident from an executive assistant role at Gap; Anna Seira- Fostia (Senior Recruiting Coordinator at Frida) outlines coordinating the interview-to-onboarding process and transitioning from a fashion and psychology background into talent acquisition, while continuing to explore broader HR. The group then discusses “allies vs advocates,” defining advocates as people who take risks, speak up in rooms you are not in, invest in your growth, and create stretch opportunities, contrasting that with general support. They share examples of advocacy (crediting work, pushing beyond comfort zones, building confidence) and non-advocacy (leaders giving private positive feedback but not publicly recognizing contributions or taking credit). The conversation expands into self-advocacy—learning what leadership values, aligning work to business priorities, acting without permission when solving visible problems, and letting outcomes speak for themselves—while noting HR can be highly political. Finally, they examine performance management as a place where advocacy appears or disappears, critiquing outdated, overloaded processes, inconsistent manager practices, and a lack of manager training and accountability. They debate cadence (annual vs quarterly), separating performance reviews from talent reviews, and clarifying the purpose of performance management (development, compensation, or managing out). The episode closes with takeaways on HR practices varying across organizations, building one’s own leadership style, using work as advocacy, and considering advocacy channels beyond one’s manager.

00:00 Welcome to HR Amplified: Why This Room Exists
01:01 Setting the Agenda: Skills vs. Competencies in HR
01:18 Round-Robin Introductions: How We Landed in HR
01:29 Annette’s Story: End-to-End HR & the Sony Pictures Internship
02:44 Donna at Stripe: HRBP Work + Finding HR Through Recruiting
05:09 Janet at RBI: Lean Teams, Full-Scope HRBP, and an Accidental Start
07:55 Anna at Frida: Recruiting Ops, Candidate Experience, and Exploring HR
10:10 Allies vs. Advocates: Defining Real Career Sponsorship
10:45 What Advocacy Looks Like: Stretch Assignments & Speaking Up When You’re Not There
14:01 When Advocacy Is Missing: Culture, Incentives, and Learning to Ask for It
19:59 Is Advocacy Harder in HR? Politics, Assumptions, and Reading the Org
20:56 Curating Your Career: Values, Rewards, and Self-Insurance
22:18 Self-Advocacy in Action: Fixing the Outdated HRBP Page
24:20 Let Your Work Speak: Visibility, Leadership Priorities, and ‘Ask Forgiveness’
26:12 Performance Management as an Advocacy Lever (and Where It Breaks)
28:56 Fixing the System: Training Leaders, Clarifying Purpose, and Building a Rhythm
35:38 Closing Takeaways: HR Styles, Self-Advocacy, and Finding Advocates Beyond Your Manager