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 problem

03:45 – Promotion + turnaround + a ‘problem employee’

07:10 – Bias for action vs. engineer’s rigor

10:05 – The appeal that flipped the case

13:00 – Make it right

16:20 – Guardrails against bias

19:10 – Rebuilding the safety committee

21:00 – Listening tours & confidential channels

23:15 – Fix the manager layer first

26:30 – Grassroots growth engine

29:10 – KPIs + culture: the both/and

32:00 – Leadership playbook

Host Dr. Jim Kanichirayil: linkedin.com/in/drjimk

Guest Regina Ross: linkedin.com/in/reginaross

Executive Producer Jim Kanichirayil: linkedin.com/in/drjimk

Music Credit: "Lost in Dreams" by Kulakovka