1. Build the foundation before you try to scale the function

When Courtney joined Neighborly, the HR team was three people: payroll, benefits, and a personnel leader. Hiring managers would walk into the HR office with a new hire and ask the team to “get them onboarded.” Coming from a highly structured environment at Kohl’s, Courtney immediately saw the gaps: no centralized recruiting process, unclear checks, inconsistent job descriptions, and a function that was working hard but not built to scale.

The key lesson: don’t confuse “it works today” with “it will work tomorrow.” Nothing was wrong with how the team was operating for the company’s size at the time. But if the business was going to grow through acquisitions and global expansion, HR needed stronger systems, clearer ownership, and repeatable processes.

“Nothing was wrong with the way that the team was functioning. It just wasn’t going to be scalable into the future.”

That became the starting point: not a flashy transformation, but the basic infrastructure needed to support the next chapter of the business.

2. “Plan your work, work your plan” is more than a slogan

Courtney’s HR transformation was anchored by a simple operating principle she picked up earlier in her career: plan your work, work your plan. She used that mindset to build what became “People Services 2020,” a multi-year roadmap for turning a mostly administrative HR function into a scalable People organization.

The roadmap started by assessing the current state, identifying the gaps, and sequencing the work based on what the business needed most. Recruiting came first because it was visible, high-impact, and a fast way to create advocates. Once leaders saw the value of centralized recruiting, it became easier to earn trust for other changes.

“If something goes wrong, it’s because you missed one of those two. You either failed to plan it, or you failed to work it.”

The takeaway: transformation doesn’t have to start with a massive reorg or a sophisticated model. It starts with knowing where you are, deciding what “great” looks like, and putting the work in an order the business can actually absorb.

3. Centralize the thing that will create the fastest advocates

One of the smartest moves in Courtney’s playbook was starting with recruiting. Neighborly needed consistency, better candidate flow, clearer process, and stronger support for hiring managers. But Courtney also knew this was a change management opportunity.

If HR could take the backend burden off managers — sourcing, scheduling, coordinating, and pushing qualified candidates forward — leaders would feel the value quickly. That would create trust. And once leaders trusted HR in one area, it would reduce resistance when HR started centralizing other parts of the function.

“We knew if we could create quick advocates there, we would get less resistance on centralizing other parts of HR.”

This is a great reminder for People leaders: don’t always start with the most broken process. Start with the process where a better experience will be felt immediately by the business.

4. Foundational work is boring — and absolutely necessary

Courtney talked about the unglamorous work that made future transformation possible: organizing policies, digitizing paper files, introducing an intranet, cleaning up processes, and getting the basics into a system. None of that work looks exciting on a slide. But without it, Neighborly would not have been ready for bigger moves like Workday, global reporting, talent management, or IPO-level rigor.

She used a house analogy: the first several years were about pouring the foundation and putting up the walls. The fun stuff — the pool, landscaping, and upgrades — came later. But you can’t skip straight to the extras if the foundation isn’t solid.

“A lot of times people do not love working on foundational work because it’s boring, but it’s necessary.”

The practical takeaway: if you’re trying to modernize HR, don’t apologize for spending time on the basics. Clean data, organized policies, consistent workflows, and digital records are what make speed possible later.

5. In M&A, integrate the people — not just the work

Because Neighborly grew through acquisitions, Courtney and her team had to build an M&A playbook over time. The biggest learning: before deciding what systems to change or where work should live, understand what people are actually doing today. Take inventory. Learn the business. Figure out which work is critical, who owns it, and what could be disrupted if decisions are made too quickly.

The next step is cultural: get on-site when possible, break bread, build trust, and understand who the advocates and resistors might be. That upfront relationship-building helps prevent slowdowns later. It also keeps the team from treating integration as a spreadsheet exercise.

“It’s not just the work you’re having to integrate, it’s also the people.”

For HR teams supporting acquisitions, this is the part that matters most: titles, pay, systems, and reporting lines all matter, but people need to feel seen before they can be integrated effectively.

6. IPO readiness is really just good People hygiene

Courtney doesn’t think of IPO readiness as a special project that only begins once an IPO is likely. In her view, the work Neighborly has done over the last decade — stronger systems, better reporting, global data visibility, compliance discipline, job architecture, and more consistent incentive planning — is the kind of rigor companies should be building anyway.

Before Workday, getting a global headcount report could take a week because systems were disconnected across countries. Now, faster access to data allows the People team to be a stronger partner to the business. That kind of discipline is useful whether the company goes public or not.

“I think you should always be IPO ready regardless of what’s coming next. Especially at our size, it’s just good hygiene.”

The lesson: don’t wait for a transaction, IPO, or board mandate to build rigor. Build the kind of People function that could withstand scrutiny before scrutiny arrives.

7. The future of HR runs through managers

When Courtney thinks about the next decade, she keeps coming back to managers. AI may change how we work, but managers will determine whether those changes actually show up in the day-to-day experience of employees. If managers aren’t leading well, adopting new tools, encouraging ownership, and asking better questions, transformation won’t happen.

That means the People team’s job is to equip managers with practical tools, clear expectations, and a common language for leadership. It also means going deeper on job architecture, talent conversations, and manager development — not because those projects are trendy, but because they create clarity across the business.

“If our managers are not leading well… if they’re not infusing an ownership culture with our associates every single day… it’s not gonna get done.”

For People leaders, this is the work ahead: don’t just roll out new tools. Build the manager capability required to make those tools matter.

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