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What if HR was not just about policies, compliance, hiring, and firing?
What if HR could be one of the most powerful drivers of performance, culture, mental health, and human potential inside a company?
In this episode of At Work, Under Pressure, Jessi Beyer sits down with David Alsop, CHRO of Ultradent and co-author of Making HR Matter: What CEOs Want and How to Deliver It, to talk about HR leadership, brain science, workplace culture, performance, mental health, partnership, and the convergence between profit and people.
David shares how growing up around mental health challenges shaped his interest in human development, organizational behavior, and eventually HR. He explains why he moved away from therapy as a career path and into business, where he saw an opportunity to use psychology, brain science, and organizational systems to help people and companies succeed together.
In this episode, Jessi and David discuss:
- How David’s early experiences with mental health challenges shaped his career
- Why he chose marriage, family, and human development instead of traditional psychology
- How an organizational behavior class changed his career direction
- Why HR often gets stuck in policies, procedures, and control
- What it means to move HR beyond compliance
- Why people are the engine of every competitive advantage
- How leaders can find the convergence point between accountability and engagement
- Why HR needs to understand the founder’s vision before trying to transform a company
- How Ultradent built a culture guide, not just policies
- Why HR should focus upstream instead of only investigating and firing downstream
- How purpose, contribution, recognition, and relationships affect mental health
- Why companies can learn from the way religious communities build shared purpose
- What CEOs want from HR and how HR can deliver it
- How one mentor helped David transform his influence and communication
- Why HR can matter for business, employees, families, and society
This episode is for HR leaders, CEOs, founders, executives, managers, culture builders, and anyone who believes work can be more than a paycheck.
Because when HR gets it right, it does not just help the company perform.
It helps people go home better.