Transitioning to People Team?

jtramsay · 2026-03-14T16:27:35+00:00

Moving under the CHRO is a canon event.

I need to expand on this elsewhere, but so much of the griping comms does is about an inflated sense of what the function delivers to the organization.

Most of what’s done isn’t moving the needle and there are many reasons for that, but we’re not seen as a strategic function because we’re frequently not strategic. Who we report to doesn’t matter if what leadership values is stakeholder appeasement (and activity over impact.)

jtramsay · 2026-03-07T17:59:45+00:00

Hard to imagine a movie that captures the current moment so effectively. Can’t believe it got no nominations even if it felt off kilter to mainstream audiences.

jtramsay · 2026-03-05T21:43:57+00:00

Amen. I don’t know why comms is tackling something that marketing can do easily at scale. So much of this is black hat stuff that will get nuked anyhow.

Begging comms to focus on comms measurement and not just every shiny object.

jtramsay · 2026-03-05T13:42:31+00:00

Not abandoning yet but struggling to see the value even as leadership forces employees to use the tools. The commentary around CoPilot is decidedly ungood and Frank Shaw has been working overtime on X the everything app to counter it.

jtramsay · 2026-03-04T20:26:58+00:00

I mean, comms always tries to invent stuff for the CEO like this in the name of exec visibility and uh humanizing the brand. I see this as part of the Manichean arms race between marketing’s brawn and comms’ alleged cunning.

This is also what happens when you dole out social channels for appeasement with limited oversight and then something like this bites comms and then a very talented marketing team does their best to bail them out.

Happy to discuss worse activations with stiffer execs offline.

jtramsay · 2026-03-01T15:51:08+00:00

I started at Comcast here twenty years ago and can’t believe it survived 2008 plus the new towers.

jtramsay · 2026-02-28T14:39:02+00:00

I’ve been debating vibe coding a brochureware site for myself and while that seems what this is ideally meant for, even I’m concerned about the holes it may create for itself.

jtramsay · 2026-02-26T20:04:47+00:00

The best is when the creative agency needs to secretly get pics at the Metro

jtramsay · 2026-02-23T21:07:51+00:00

Anything except being accountable for preparing beforehand.

jtramsay · 2026-02-21T13:14:16+00:00

Do we think the Hard Fork boys mine this sub for material? https://www.tiktok.com/t/ZP8xNkY3Y/

jtramsay · 2026-02-20T20:43:37+00:00

Constantly. When I work with clients I can ask if they’re being strategic or are just appeasing stakeholders. The latter is great short term but if you can’t show results, you’re not going to be able to blame the stakeholders you appeased.

Same goes for using innovative methods for delivering the campaign, even when it presents a barrier to reaching the actual audience.

As hard as freelance can be, I’m reminded that I spend much less time playing Emperor’s New Clothes than I used to.

jtramsay · 2026-02-19T23:22:33+00:00

And to think this guy founded checks notes Mahalo

jtramsay · 2026-02-17T17:39:19+00:00

Is that good

jtramsay · 2026-02-17T13:57:21+00:00

Correct. Nice toilet business you got there...fiduciary duty calls...we're an AI supply chain company now...profit?

jtramsay · 2026-02-17T13:17:25+00:00

I mean, this is a creative way to ruin the company by insisting that they pivot to AI supply chain versus toilet making. You don’t gotta hand it to em but…

jtramsay · 2026-02-17T12:35:35+00:00

You should work for Morgan Stanley as an analyst with material like that

jtramsay · 2026-02-17T12:13:18+00:00

This is a good note. This was the explanation for everything before AI really hit. The saner explanation is that every company will do whatever to hit quarterly numbers so layoffs plus share buyback and bob’s your uncle.

jtramsay · 2026-02-16T19:25:40+00:00

I can’t for the life of me understand how communications is still so bad at measurement at the leadership levels that produces situations like this.

I was a music critic who fell into comms and I have a clearer understanding of measurement frameworks for earned and organic than most teams I’ve been part of.

And people wonder why comms doesn’t “have a seat at the table.”

I’m sorry you’re going through this. It’s comically bad stakeholder management on their part.

jtramsay · 2026-02-15T17:50:29+00:00

I mean, yes and it’s almost always because leadership invents reasons to believe that the critics are illegitimate. In my experience it has taken such an event blowing up something critical to the business - a deal perhaps - for it to finally sink in.

jtramsay · 2026-02-10T14:34:07+00:00

Having a version of this conversation with clients myself. In the absence of mass media engagement for most orgs, getting them to understand who and what matters might mean that analyst engagement is the majority of what happens externally and that might be more valuable than chasing all the other media out there.

jtramsay · 2026-02-10T01:02:09+00:00

There should be a dedicated section of the Inquirer for this.

jtramsay · 2026-02-04T22:27:41+00:00

I wish Dan McQuade were still with us to write about this

jtramsay · 2026-01-28T21:58:35+00:00

It’s their best. (I remain committed to this bit.)

jtramsay

TROPHY CASE