I Got It Wrong—Here’s the HR Playbook That Made It Right

Summary: A newly promoted HR leader in a struggling distribution center “rubber-stamps” a disciplinary action and then discovers HR got it wrong. Regina walks through how she owned the mistake, repaired the harm, and used it to overhaul investigations, re-balance the safety committee, rebuild trust, and turn a fear-based culture into a commitment-based one.Regina Ross is EVP, Chief People & Operations Officer at Opportunity Finance Network. A transformational leader with 30+ years across Target, Amazon, Pitney Bowes, and Khan Academy, she bridges operations, HR, and change management to scale impact through people-centered strategy.Chapters: 00:00 – “We don’t trust leadership”: the hidden safety problem03:45 – Promotion + turnaround + a ‘problem employee’07:10 – Bias for action vs. engineer’s rigor10:05 – The appeal that flipped the case13:00 – Make it right16:20 – Guardrails against bias19:10 – Rebuilding the safety committee21:00 – Listening tours & confidential channels23:15 – Fix the manager layer first26:30 – Grassroots growth engine29:10 – KPIs + culture: the both/and32:00 – Leadership playbookHost Dr. Jim Kanichirayil: linkedin.com/in/drjimkGuest Regina Ross: linkedin.com/in/reginarossExecutive Producer Jim Kanichirayil: linkedin.com/in/drjimkMusic Credit: "Lost in Dreams" by Kulakovka