3 rituals to get the c-suite forever on your side

Why Product gets CEO shoutouts while HR gets crickets—and the 3 rituals that flip the script.

One thing Product and HR have in common?

We both sit at the center of complex, cross-functional work with a huge variety of stakeholders.

The difference? Product often gets visible recognition for leading it. HR… often doesn’t.

If I stepped into a VP HR role tomorrow, I’d need a way to keep senior stakeholders aligned, build trust, and protect my team’s ability to deliver.

I’d borrow directly from my product playbook:
3 rituals that work in product—and when done right, work beautifully in HR too.

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📅 Kickoffs

Quarterly kickoffs

At the start of each quarter, I’d run a portfolio-level kickoff with the exec team.

This isn’t a deep dive into one process—it’s a high-level alignment across the full HR roadmap for the quarter. Why it’s crucial: It sets expectations, locks in priorities, and creates a shared definition of success.

💡Example – Q2 kickoff:

• Why now: Top talent retention is at risk for the Sales department. The upcoming funding round means compensation alignment is a priority.

• Roadmap:

  • Primary focus: Compensation cycle (May–July)

  • Secondary initiatives:

    • Engagement survey follow-up initiatives in Sales

    • Manager onboarding revamp (pilot in two teams)

• KPIs:

  • % of high performers retained

  • Engagement score in Sales up by 8 points

  • Time to productivity for new managers cut by 20%
    

This becomes the anchor point for the quarter—the doc we can revisit when questions, trade-offs, or scope creep inevitably arise.

Dedicated kickoffs for major initiatives

Large, complex processes—performance reviews, engagement surveys, compensation cycles, leveling rollouts—would each get their own initiative-specific kickoff.

Why:

• The participants are often different. In the portfolio kickoff, the audience is mostly senior leadership—managing up.
  In an initiative kickoff, the audience may include other key stakeholders who will be directly involved in execution.

• The focus is deeper: we go into the specifics of that one initiative.

💡Example – Compensation cycle kickoff:

• Why now: Funding round planned in 9 months; retention of critical talent is key.

• KPIs & Goals: 100% of high performers get comp adjustments aligned with impact, without exceeding budget.
  %90 of high performers retained over the next two quarters.

• Plan & Timeline: Manager calibration meetings in early June, final approvals by June 25, announcements in July.

• Risks: Possible misalignment between Finance and Leadership on budget.

❗️Tip: No “grand unveilings” I’d do 1:1s with key people before the kickoff to gather feedback and build allies—so in the meeting, most participants are already on board.

🔄 Regular syncs

Every two weeks, I’d run a portfolio-level sync—short, sharp, and focused. These keep leadership informed without micromanaging.

Why: Without syncs, you risk one of two extremes:

• Silence until crisis (“Why didn’t we know?”)

• Over-involvement (“Can you send me every draft?”)

💡Example – Engagement survey follow-up sync

• What’s done: 92% participation, hotspots identified in Sales & Berlin.

• Impact: Sales eNPS up 7 points since initial feedback.

• What’s next: Launch manager-led action plans in two pilot teams.
  KPI update: 40% of teams have already run feedback sessions (goal: 90% by quarter end).

• Challenge: Berlin site leadership is slow to engage—seeking exec support.
  

🧭 Wrap-up / Retro

At the end of a quarter or major initiative, I’d hold a wrap-up that zooms out from the day-to-day and reflects on the big picture.

Why: It closes the loop, proves impact, and captures lessons before they fade.

💡Example – Leveling framework retro:

• Achievements: 100% of roles leveled, 85% of managers trained.

• KPI: % of promotion conversations tied to leveling rose from 20% to 75%.

• Learnings:

  • Early manager involvement improved adoption.

  • Documentation was too dense—caused repeated clarification requests.

• Next time: Build a manager comms kit 4 weeks pre-launch.

Why it matters

These rituals aren’t just “more meetings.”

They’re a framework for managing up and across, keeping senior leadership and other stakeholders engaged, supportive, and aligned, while making your leadership and impact visible.

And they don’t just help with stakeholder management—they sharpen us as leaders.

When we’re accountable for results in a public, structured way, it “forces” us to:

• Focus on the highest-impact work.

• Keep resources aligned with business priorities.

• Build in space to learn.

• Get real, actionable feedback from smart peers.

If I were VP HR, or an HRBP presenting a new initiative to leadership—I’d expect this structure every time.

Because in HR, just like in product, process without visibility is a process that gets undervalued. The work you're doing matters—make sure everyone knows it.

Til next time,

Shirley