HR as a Growth Lever: Building People Ops That Actually Drive Profit With Panagiota Hatzis
Up Arrow Podcast
· with Panagiota Hatzis
· June 17, 2025
· 84 min
Summary
This episode challenges the traditional view of HR, repositioning it as a strategic growth lever directly impacting profitability for ecommerce businesses. Panagiota Hatzis emphasizes aligning people operations with EBITDA goals, fostering relational equity within leadership, and building intentional culture to drive scalable growth and prevent burnout during periods of rapid expansion from $10M to $100M revenue.
Key takeaways
Reposition HR as a strategic business partner tied to EBITDA, not just an administrative function, to drive revenue and improve retention. This involves leadership alignment and a focus on measurable impact rather than just effort.
Cultivate strong relational equity with all leadership teams through consistent, trust-based interactions. This makes leaders more receptive to feedback and organizational changes, fostering a collaborative environment for growth.
Before investing in new HR tech, optimize and creatively leverage existing software for processes like onboarding and reviews. This avoids unnecessary costs and streamlines employee experience without tech bloat during scaling.
Implement a formal business case requirement for every new hire, obligating leaders to define impact, KPIs, and ROI. This ensures all headcount growth is intentional, justifiable, and sustainable through rapid scaling phases.
Normalize and integrate discussions about time off and recovery into regular team check-ins and company culture. Proactive recovery planning helps prevent burnout and sustains long-term employee performance and satisfaction.
Treat HR like an internal marketing department to improve company-wide communication and close the gap between leadership intent and employee experience. Employees should feel connected and informed about company vision and changes.
Panagiota Hatzis is the VP of Human Resources at HexClad Cookware, a hybrid cookware company. With over 15 years of experience in HR, she has led people and teams through hyper-growth, global expansion, and major cultural transformation. Panagiota is also an Executive Coach at MentorPass and Leaderology. Before HexClad Cookware, she was the Vice President of Human Resources at Common Thread Collective, where she helped scale the company from 20 to 80 employees across 10 states. In this episode… Scaling a company from $10 million to $100 million requires more than just great products or marketing; it demands an intentional and strategic approach to building and leading teams. Yet many leaders overlook people operations as a vital growth lever, treating HR as an administrative function rather than a revenue and culture driver. How can businesses rethink their people strategy to avoid burnout, misalignment, and stalled growth? People operations and organizational psychology expert Panagiota Hatzis emphasizes repositioning HR as a strategic business partner aligned with EBITDA goals. This requires maintaining relational equity — trust and mutual respect — between leaders and teams and optimizing processes to minimize burnout. Building culture intentionally through frequent communication, transparency, and accountability is crucial for maintaining alignment as you scale to the next stage of revenue. In this episode of the Up Arrow Podcast, William Harris interviews Panagiota Hatzis, VP of Human Resources at HexClad Cookware, about using people operations as a strategic growth engine. She explains how to encourage guilt-free time off for employees, the difference between effort and authentic business results, and how to close the gap between leadership intent and the employee experience.
Frequently asked about this episode
What does this episode say about founder & leadership?
Reposition HR as a strategic business partner tied to EBITDA, not just an administrative function, to drive revenue and improve retention. This involves leadership alignment and a focus on measurable impact rather than just effort.
What does this episode say about supply chain & operations?
Cultivate strong relational equity with all leadership teams through consistent, trust-based interactions. This makes leaders more receptive to feedback and organizational changes, fostering a collaborative environment for growth.
What does this episode say about brand & content?
Before investing in new HR tech, optimize and creatively leverage existing software for processes like onboarding and reviews. This avoids unnecessary costs and streamlines employee experience without tech bloat during scaling.
What does this episode say about founder & leadership?
Implement a formal business case requirement for every new hire, obligating leaders to define impact, KPIs, and ROI. This ensures all headcount growth is intentional, justifiable, and sustainable through rapid scaling phases.
What does this episode say about founder & leadership?
Normalize and integrate discussions about time off and recovery into regular team check-ins and company culture. Proactive recovery planning helps prevent burnout and sustains long-term employee performance and satisfaction.
