HR Knows the Business... Now What?

I’ve worked in distribution centers and manufacturing plants for almost 20 years. My role is always the same: bridge the gaps and help build a workforce that actually works—for everyone.

From Day 1, I noticed a distinct divide between operations and HR. Not hostile, just… tense. Misaligned. Even in great companies with great people, there’s often a silent tug-of-war over who owns what when it comes to “the people stuff.”

The good news? I’ve seen that gap shrink over time.The tough part? We still tend to expect that HR will close the distance.

There’s a phrase I’ve heard more times than I can count in my work with companies:“HR needs to understand the business.”For the past couple of decades, HR professionals have been pushed—hard—to “learn the business.”

So they did.

They’re reading the P&L. They’re building workforce strategies that align with operations. They’ve stopped talking about “people-first” like it’s a vibe and started tying it to retention, productivity, and yes, profit.

But here’s the thing:Why is it that HR is expected to learn the business… but the business is rarely expected to learn the people?

I’ve worked with plenty of operations leaders who are razor-sharp when it comes to output, efficiency, and solving problems that show up on a spreadsheet. But ask them what’s really driving turnover in their department, or why that high-performer has stopped speaking up in meetings, and suddenly it’s:

“That’s more of an HR thing.”

Spoiler alert: it’s not.

This isn’t about blame—it’s about imbalance.

HR has been doing the work. They’ve evolved from policy police to internal consultants. They’ve built fluency in metrics, market pressures, and operational goals.Now let’s talk about the other half of the equation:What does it look like when operations starts building fluency in people?

And no—I’m not suggesting ops leaders start hosting emotional debrief circles or get certified in workplace meditation. I’m talking about basic human literacy:

• Knowing how your management style impacts performance

• Being able to spot when your team is withdrawing before they resign

• Understanding how inclusion isn’t a training—it's a habit of leadership

You don’t need to be an HR expert.But if you lead people, the “human stuff” is your job—just like quality control, throughput, and profit margins.

I've seen it work.

Recently I created training for a tech manufacturing company. The CEO (very much an ops guy) spearheaded their inclusive management efforts. Not because HR handed him a DEI script, but because he understood a simple truth:When you stop treating employees like cogs, the machine runs better.

That’s not soft. That’s smart. That’s leadership.

So here’s my question for you:

What would change if operations leaders were expected to understand the people side of the business the same way HR has been expected to understand the numbers?

Whether you’re HR or Ops—what’s your take? Leave me your thoughts in the comments and let’s compare notes.