Liberty

Theresa Pettos

Theresa Pettos is a transformational HR leader with over 20 years of experience shaping the people agenda in renewable energy, utilities and telecommunications. She excels at steering global organizations through moments of profound change, aligning workforce strategy with business ambition and equipping leaders to thrive. Recognized for her ability to energize cultures and sustain engagement amid enterprise redesigns, geopolitical complexity and socio-economic disruption, Pettos turns human capital into a powerful engine for resilience and growth.

Through this article, Pettos highlights how strategic HR leadership drives organizational performance by aligning talent, culture and business strategy. She also underscores the importance of fostering inclusive, high-performing environments that enable leaders and employees to thrive during transformation and change.

AT A GLANCE:

• Developing Leaders at Every Level – Programs like mentorship, emerging leaders initiatives and executive leadership development equip future leaders with skills, resilience and strategic perspective.

• Strategic HR Partnership – Positioning HR as a business partner alignstalent, culture and workforce planning with organizational goals to drive growth and continuity.

• Inclusive and Safe Workplaces – Global DEI roadmap, psychological safety initiatives and mental health programs foster well-being, engagement and a high-performing culture.

• Building Resilient Teams – Leadership accountability and workforce planning during transformations and the pandemic ensured employees stayed focused, supported and productive.

Having led HR through international transformation and M&A activities, what strategies were most critical in aligning talent management with business growth?

The most important strategy was positioning HR as a strategic partner to business leaders, enabling the strategic vision by attracting and retaining global high-performing talent to drive customer and ultimately shareholder value. The focus was on building leadership accountability, providing tools to support decision-making and embedding workforce planning directly into business strategy.

During complex transformations and divestitures, these approaches ensured leaders maintained focus, employees received support through change and the organization sustained operational continuity even amid external uncertainty and market turbulence.

In your role as a strategic partner to the C-suite, what initiatives around DEI, psychological safety or leadership development had the most measurable impact?

Several initiatives stand out. We developed a global DEI roadmap that gained measurable external recognition and built confidence with regulators that we were committed to creating an inclusive workplace for employees. In highly safety-sensitive industries, this approach highlighted for employees the critical link between physical and psychological safety, an insight drawn from my earlier work.

“We developed a global DEI roadmap that gained measurable external recognition and built confidence with regulators that we were committed to creating an inclusive workplace for employees.”

I also led internal initiatives supporting the Bell Let’s program, Canada’s largest mental health movement. The program raised $150 million, supported thousands of initiatives nationwide and sparked more than a billion conversations that reduced stigma and brought mental health into the mainstream. Its funding strengthens research, post-secondary supports, community programs, Indigenous and diverse initiatives and the workplace standards initiative. This work enabled me to partner with the Mental Health Commission of Canada, Queen’s University and serve as a member of the CSA technical committee that created the Psychological Health and Safety Standard.

Looking back, what defining moments illustrate where HR leadership strengthened organizational performance in the market?

Two defining moments stand out. The first was leading HR through a major divestiture and transformation, valued at a 2.5-billion-dollar sale in North America, ensuring employees, leaders and culture remained aligned with business goals. The second was guiding the organization through the pandemic, balancing workforce well-being with operational priorities. In both, strategic HR leadership enabled leaders supporting regulated and unregulated, union and non-unionized employees to stay focused on business outcomes while sustaining trust, engagement and productivity.

Today, the most critical role HR plays in North America is being a true business partner. CEOs expect HR to align people strategy directly with business strategy, ensuring talent, culture and organizational design enable the company to deliver on its goals. HR is no longer only about policies or processes—it is about shaping how the organization competes and grows.

Equally important, HR drives leadership accountability. Leaders at every level set the tone for culture, inclusion and performance. HR equips them with the tools, coaching and expectations to create environments where people can thrive and deliver results.

Finally, HR helps organizations adapt to rapid change. From economic shifts to AI to new ways of working, HR holds a central role in keeping the workforce agile.

What is one piece of timeless advice for young professionals aspiring to build a meaningful and successful career in HR?

One piece of timeless advice for young professionals aspiring to build a meaningful and successful career in HR is this: think beyond policies and become a strategic partner who shapes the business. HR is not just about processes; it is about people, performance and impact. Develop deep business acumen. Understand the organization’s goals, the market pressures and how decisions cascade across the company. Learn to create clear roadmaps, align HR initiatives with business priorities and hold leaders accountable for results while fostering an inclusive, high-performing culture.

Ask yourself: are you recognized as a trusted coach and partner who drives growth or as a taskmaster who merely executes? By combining empathy with strategic insight and by guiding leaders to succeed, you can create lasting impact, for individuals, teams and the organization as a whole. That is where real success in HR lives.