Manage HR Magazine: Specials Magazine

HR occupies a difficult space between employees’ interests and the business’s demands, which don’t always align. Liz Santangelo holds both in the same frame, because organizational strength depends on keeping the two in workable balance. Her years in ICON’s HR ranks added depth to her approach. Each step, from coordinator to Human Resources Director, developed a broader perspective on how employee development and business goals intersect. Today, she oversees core HR work, including talent acquisition and culture initiatives, at ICON, a company celebrating 40 years with average employee tenure of roughly eight years. She associates that longevity with a culture built around trust, belonging and its people. HR, as she practices it, is less about enforcing rules than about creating a workplace where people feel heard and respected, and remain accountable to organizational goals. She has spent her career turning that principle into practice, shaping an employee experience in which people have reason to stay back and grow. From Managing People to Understanding Them When Santangelo joined ICON, HR seemed to her a discipline shaped by policies and processes. Working closely with the company’s SVP of HR gradually refined that outlook of what it should accomplish, an influence she remembers with warmth and appreciation. She recognized that an employee-centric culture and business strategy were not competing priorities, but complementary forces through which employee growth could strengthen the business. The balance inherent in HR lies between business priorities and employee needs, whose interests do not always coincide. Santangelo weighs human impact against business priorities, goals and culture, ensuring neither side is treated as secondary, even when some choices inevitably favor one side. Navigating that tension meant building HR around listening and feedback. Through annual engagement surveys, the team gathers candid views on the good and ba