Before Tesla was a household name, Felicia Heward was on its HR team, integrating newly acquired factories while daily emails tracked how many cars came off the line. She's spent about 15 years in HR, much of it in male-dominated plants and shipyards, before leaving the big corporate titles behind to work as a fractional HR leader for smaller companies. Her specialty is the messy, human part of the job: employee relations, or as she puts it, the conflict part.
In this HR Expert Series episode of the Team Check-In, Felicia tells host Emre Ok the stories that shaped her, from an 80-year-old employee a manager wanted to fire to a union scare that turned out to be a payroll mystery hiding in plain sight. She recounts being "woman number seven" at a shipyard and how she earned a seat at the table anyway, then takes us inside Tesla's hire-for-potential approach and the 30-minute conversation that kept a critical engineer from walking out. Her throughline: HR only works when it's close enough to the business to see what's really going on.
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Felicia Heward (00:00.535)
Okay.
Emre (00:00.84)
Once the recording is done, it just uploads it to the cloud and then like, know, it emerged. the internet connection doesn't affect the quality. Perfect, perfect. By the way, before we start, how have you been since the last time we spoke? It's been so long.
Felicia Heward (00:05.089)
Okay.
Felicia Heward (00:09.964)
Okay, sounds good.
Felicia Heward (00:17.762)
Yeah, good, good things. Things get busy for me in the fall. So I've been been running, running pretty fast, taking care of a lot of a lot of things for different folks. But that that makes life interesting.
Emre (00:32.84)
How many different companies are working with right now these days?
Felicia Heward (00:36.366)
Sure, yeah, so I've got, you know, I've got folks that kind of ongoing call me as needed, right? That's the fractional world. But I've got kind of three main projects, so to speak, three different organizations that I'm focusing on right now.
Emre (00:44.069)
huh.
Emre (00:53.768)
And just out of curiosity, how do you stop it from blending in? Because back when I was an English teacher, I had so many students and I dreaded PTA meetings because at some point, know, just everything would blend in, all the names, all the students, everyone, would just like blend in. So like crazy, because I was like the only native English teacher. So I would teach every single class. I would see like every single student. So it was just...
Felicia Heward (01:12.59)
Yeah.
Felicia Heward (01:20.097)
Yeah.
Emre (01:22.633)
And I
Felicia Heward (01:30.488)
Sure, sure. think so for me, what I find very effective is one in my scheduling. So I try to, I have certain days that I focus on certain clients. That way I know, okay, like I'm in the construction industry today, I'm in manufacturing, you know, another one. got my, as I call my West Coast folks. So the people in the tech space, I have a day of the week where I work that type of hours. So I think just being super organized and mentally present in a...
Emre (01:51.058)
Got it.
Felicia Heward (01:59.592)
in what I'm doing helps me not get confused on who's got what going on.
Emre (02:03.771)
Yeah, I get it. I like the compartmentalizing part, where this day is this gummy. I think that makes a lot of sense. All right, so yeah, we'll just go over all the conversation points we talked about. In my notes, I also made the little change that you asked for. So that's perfect. So yeah, without further ado, I'll just
Felicia Heward (02:25.152)
Okay.
Emre (02:33.391)
start things off by saying, hi everyone, welcome to another episode of the Team Check-In. With me today, I have Felicia Heward. She's a seasoned HR professional who's worked across a wide area of different industries such as sauce, manufacturing, automotive, this little automotive company that could, maybe you know their name, maybe you don't, I don't know, Tesla. Okay.
But Felicia, welcome to the show.
Felicia Heward (03:05.249)
Hi, thanks for having me.
Emre (03:07.751)
It's great to have you on board. And today we'll be talking about employee relations in the workplace, her experience with being a minority and navigating the boys club atmosphere and all the different organizations she's worked with, how she's inspired others to do so, as well as supporting leaders and their career growths within the organization. And if you stick around towards the end of the episode, you might
actually get to hear about Felicia's time at Tesla and get a little peek behind the curtain because Felicia Tesla is one of those organs. It's one of those companies where, you people are looking at it from the outside looking in and I'm sure people have like, gajillions of questions. I'm sure you get a lot of questions on a daily basis about your time there,
Felicia Heward (03:57.647)
I have to laugh because I was there early on. So I used to get the question of what does Tesla do when I worked there. Thankfully, I don't get that one anymore. I think they've got enough fame and definitely a CEO who tends to like to get out there and voice the value of the company. So I no longer have to explain what Tesla does.
Emre (04:24.569)
sure that must be hilarious in retrospect, looking back having to explain what Tesla was. That's amazing. And yeah, we will talk about her role in the expansion process in Tesla's history, as well as the role of HR in rapidly growing organizations and under charismatic leaders. So we have a packed episode, and I'm so excited.
Felicia Heward (04:28.986)
yes.
Emre (04:51.323)
This is our fourth installment in our HR Expert Series. But before all of this, Felicia, can you tell our audience a bit about yourself and what you do? And yeah, just overall.
Felicia Heward (05:02.734)
Sure. Yeah, yeah. So I have been in the function for about 15 years. I definitely started my career, you know, with the big names in the industry. And so I worked in large, large corporations. And then I took a rather interesting path. I got smaller, smaller, smaller until I got to where I am today. And for the last couple of years, I have been a founder of my own company. I'm a fractional HR professional, a business consultant.
And I tend to focus on much smaller organizations now and really the organizations that, hey, they need their structure to align with their business strategy, right? They've got growth ahead and they need a partner who understands how to take that journey with them because I've done it with other organizations that have seen some major success. So I really love to get to take on those projects where I get to strengthen the workplace culture.
and do some leadership development too. So yeah, nowadays I'm a fractional professional, which has become quite a key term out there in the LinkedIn world.
Emre (06:10.631)
Exactly. And we are going to take a dive into your experience with employee relations. I just want to ask, you've worked, like you said, at some giants. mean, Tesla is one of them, but also GE Aerospace is another one. So I just want to ask, what inspired this transition from these giant organizations to fractional work?
Felicia Heward (06:33.326)
Sure. So I think I just got to this point in my career where I had just, I'd had enough experience, exposure, development that I realized, you know, I can't go out there and I could take on one of these fancy HR titles that I see a lot of folks have, but really the more fulfilling thing for me would be an opportunity to give back, right? So much had been invested in me early on in my career.
that I thought, you know what, I think my path next is to go and invest in other organizations that wouldn't otherwise be able to have someone like me at the table with them. And so I had that epiphany and took that path. And like I said, now I'm with much smaller organizations than I did early on in my career.
Emre (07:22.843)
That's amazing. in an episode, I mean, by the time this episode airs, that episode will also have aired. But in the last episode we recorded, we were talking about the role of HR in startups specifically and how some organizations may not bring in an HR professional until it's a bit too late. Because when companies are being founded during the startup phases, people just...
human resources is like kind of an afterthought sometimes and that has consequences. So what you're doing right now is incredibly important and companies having access to someone like you at that, know, early that, you earlier stage or when they're a little smaller, it does wonders for organizations. So I love that. But was there like a little bit of a culture shock during your transition?
Felicia Heward (07:53.538)
Yeah.
Felicia Heward (08:14.894)
would say definitely I had to very quickly learn how to do some fundamental things that when you're in a large corporation, like there's a team that does that. There's somebody else who can do it. So there is this broadening of I have to kind of look into my toolkit and dig down really deep, right, for things that maybe I very early, early on in my career had some exposure to.
But it's fun, because it refreshes your mind. And I think you approach those challenges a little bit differently, because you've got just a different view on them now, right? Because you've been at different levels of the organization. So I would say it took a little bit of a awakening. I definitely had a few moments, probably with my first fractional role, where I realized, OK, yeah, this business doesn't need that. They're not there. Let's baby steps, right? Let's get them baby steps. They're not quite where they, you know.
where my mind is going, but we can get them there.
Emre (09:16.561)
Beautiful. So when I initially asked you what you were passionate about in the work that you do, I loved that your first reaction was like employee relations. That's amazing. And before we talk about it, how do you define employee relations like the overall term, like that broader umbrella?
Felicia Heward (09:39.001)
Sure. So really, as I think about employee relations, it's all of those instances where folks are interacting with each other and members of leadership in an organization. And it's really, I hate to say it's the conflict part of the HR function, but it truly is. It's the part of the HR function where you have to be able to successfully navigate conflict. And I've found in my career that a lot of leaders don't
know how to do that or aren't comfortable with conflicts, right? And so that's where employee relations comes in. And in areas where there's a union, the function refers to it as labor relations.
Emre (10:21.775)
Amazing. And I think there's a misconception around the term conflict, right? I when people think conflict, it like people's heads immediately go to, there's a fight about to break out. I need to stop it. Doesn't have to be, like, these people are like going at it. No, it doesn't have to be like that. mean, these points of interaction, these points of conflict, they are so natural in the workplace and some great things can come out of that. If you just, you know, let the conflict take, let the conflict actually take place.
Felicia Heward (10:31.818)
Yeah, exactly.
Emre (10:51.043)
instead of avoiding it. So yeah, because these collisions happen.
Felicia Heward (10:55.958)
Yep, definitely.
Emre (10:57.947)
So during your years of HR work across multiple different industries, what's the most surprising employee relations story you've encountered and maybe one that has stuck with you throughout your career?
Felicia Heward (11:11.858)
sure, sure. Yeah, I, gosh, when I think about the ones that stick with me, there was one early on, it was a labor environment, and I had a fairly new leader who probably, again, just kind of wanted to make his way up the corporate ladder, right? And so doing that, you really want to make sure that you've got the best team, they're hitting all the right metrics, right? They're just very,
very driven to make sure that their team's successful so they can be successful. So this particular leader came to me wanting to write someone up. said, we'll call the employee Charles for the sake of the conversation. He said, you know what, I can't find Charles anywhere. He's always late for breaks, he's always late for work. We just need to write him up. Well, given it's a union shop, you gotta do everything by the book.
And so the first step really is making sure we understand that we've got the data that we need here to actually justify the discipline, right? So that we don't end up having the union come upset, right? That we're doing something outside of the collective bargaining agreement. So I told the manager, I you know, I'll go, meet Charles. I don't know him. I'd love to meet him. I'll go, I'll meet him. We'll see what's going on. I'll take a look at our punch clock.
because this was back in the day when you didn't clock time on your phone, right? Or anywhere else that way, right? You actually had a little card that you put into a machine and it punched what time you coming in and out, right? So I walked out to the area to do the investigation. Now I'll pause here and say, when I say I walked out to the area, like this is about a 15 minute hike for me because we were making some pretty big product in that facility. And so to go from my building over to the building that Charles worked in,
Took me a good stint of time. So I make it over there. And of course I arrived just as break times happening And I watch all the employees, you know make their way out to the break room Which again is another little hike probably, you know, three to five minutes depending on your speed X yes, exactly. Well, and so At the end of the day, know break break ends I shouldn't say at the end of the day and end of the break great ends and I can't find Charles
Emre (13:13.584)
The quest for Charles continues.
Felicia Heward (13:25.496)
I'm looking around, I've got a picture to go off of, right? Haven't met Charles. So I asked a couple of folks that are working in the area where I can find him. They point over to a gentleman who is very, very slowly, steadily, but determinedly making his way over to the product to work. And as he's making his truck, I'm talking to the folks and I realize, goodness, like this is not an issue of Charles, you know, taking extra long breaks.
Right? It's not an issue of him not being engaged at work. Charles has been there a very long time. And I can tell that by the pace that he is taking, as well as just by how he carries himself. And so as I'm waiting for him to arrive and I'm talking to the team, I'm hearing the love that this team has for Charles. Now I'll pause and tell you this. Charles had been with the company for over 60 years. So 62 to be exact.
So Charles was not early in his career at all, but what he was was a very motivated employee. He was doing his absolute best in his golden years because he loved being there. And as a result of just him showing up and putting his all in, he was inspiring his team. And so to make a wrap around this story for you, this wasn't an instance where we're going to write an employee up.
And I had to help the leader understand that there's no grounds here for discipline. What you've got is somebody who is extremely motivational to your team. Because as folks told me, Charles still shows up at the age of 80 plus, right? And he gives his best, even though in some cases, right? He can't move as quickly as others or do as much as others. He's a huge inspiration to that team. And so there's a lot of value.
for Charles on that team. And the leader got to learn through that experience well, that it's not always what it appears, right? You gotta look into it and you gotta see what's going on. And I'm really glad that we didn't write Charles up because I think that team would have definitely revolted against the leader. Because they were very protective of Charles and he was a very just inspirational person to be around because of his passion for the organization.
Emre (15:39.899)
Yeah.
Emre (15:52.696)
I don't think I have ever heard an actual real life LinkedIn story. You know, this is, this sounds like one of those stories people post on LinkedIn. Those like, you know, I I met someone outside of the company and they like, it's one of, but it's, this is real and it's beautiful. And I, absolutely love it. I adore Charles, but my question then would be, did the leader not know who Charles was?
Felicia Heward (16:00.368)
Hahaha!
Felicia Heward (16:09.73)
Yeah. Yeah.
Hahaha
Felicia Heward (16:20.276)
No, no, he knew, but again, he really was looking to make a name for himself, right? So in his mind, you know, it's all around the metrics and it's all around, you know, doing what he needs to in the work area. And I'm sure from a productivity standpoint, right, Charles is probably not as efficient as others. And I'm sure this leader was thinking, you know what, if I can write this individual up and get them out, you know, if I can make this
Emre (16:25.254)
Hmm.
Felicia Heward (16:47.822)
you know, a more productive workspace, right? Then I'm going to make it somewhere in the company. But the reality is, is that, you know, Charles was offering a level of engagement there for that team that you can't find in a lot of organizations. So there was value in Charles, but that leader had to be enlightened to see that value.
Emre (17:10.823)
Exactly. yeah, it's this, we've talked about this on the show before, but it's about having an outward mindset where it's not just about focusing, not like on the individual work this person is doing, but how this individual's presence is affecting the team, how they are supporting others. And I'm sure the benefit of having Charles there and the effect they have on the rest of the team,
far out ways replacing Charles with someone new who will be more productive, be walking a little faster than Charles. So that's amazing. And another follow-up to that story would be, how did the leader take it once you told them the value of Charles?
Felicia Heward (17:52.856)
Cheers.
Felicia Heward (17:58.863)
Well, I would I would definitely say that initially, right, he was not happy that he didn't get what he was looking for. But in the longer term, it was a great opportunity for that leader and I to build a stronger connection to coach on other areas, right? Because when you're early in your career, you don't have all those lessons learned, right?
Emre (18:05.777)
Mm-hmm.
Felicia Heward (18:24.418)
And so it's good to have a partner who you can trust and who can help you learn those lessons in a safe space. And so Charles was an opening for us to build that relationship for further coaching. I would say that, you know, he probably, again, know, disagreed with my assessment of the situation, but overall took that lesson to understand that, you know, gotta...
You gotta look beyond the black and white sometimes to see the value in the gray.
Emre (18:59.707)
Yeah. And this is such a good example of what we were talking about with conflict as well. Right. You have a conflict right there, not just with Charles, but between you and the leader in this story where you're saying, no, this is, we're not doing what you want to do because of these, these, these reasons. know, them learning from it, even though it might not, you know, feel that good initially, that's an overall positive experience. And had you avoided that conflict completely, you know, who knows what would have happened. So.
Felicia Heward (19:09.422)
you
Emre (19:29.583)
Yeah. That's perfect. I guess another question would be, were there some instances where employee relations got unexpectedly complicated in the workplace? Because companies are these, if you look at it, very bare bones. If you look at it from the outside as if you don't know what a company is and you don't know what jobs and work is, you look at it and it's just a bunch of people.
attached to this entity and they're forming all sorts of these weird connections and relations. It's such a strange ecosystem if you look at it blindly. So things might get complicated.
Felicia Heward (20:09.866)
Yeah.
Felicia Heward (20:14.238)
So I would say yes, anyone who's ever had to do any type of workplace investigation, right, realizes that until you start digging in and asking the right questions, you don't know what you're going to find, right? And so I'll give you a recent instance that happened to me. I, as a consultant, right, get those 911 calls for HR, right? Something's on fire, come put the fire out. Well, I had one of those from a CEO.
And he was very, very concerned because employees were talking about unionizing. And I was surprised because this is a rather small, small group. But I said, you know what, let me come on site. I'll talk to the team. We'll see what's going on here. And we'll see if we can improve morale because obviously, morale is low enough that these folks feel that they need someone else to come in and advocate for them. And so, you know, I go in, do my listening sessions, talk to folks.
And I'm not hearing what I normally hear in an organization that's looking for union representation, right? I'm not hearing that we're underpaid. I'm not hearing that benefits are an issue. I'm not even hearing issues with their frontline leadership team, which is oftentimes where that type of fire begins. And so it's funny, I still remember the gal who came to see me after one of the sessions that I had.
She said, you know, Felicia, I don't know if you can help me. I know you're not here for that, but you seem like you know a few things about human resources. And so I want to ask you a question. Well, the question ended up being around her paycheck. And I've learned one thing in my career, and that is if you really want to upset somebody, you mess with their paycheck. And sure enough, that was the issue that that happened in this instance, right? She had some
withholdings that were happening that she could not see in her retirement account. So they were coming out of the paycheck, but when she logged in to the provider's website, she was not seeing the deposit made. And so as I looked into this issue further with other folks, I found out that this was not just her, but it was every other employee at the company.
Felicia Heward (22:35.776)
and it had been going on in the six months since their new finance director had joined. And so the fire here of the employees wanting to organize stemmed from the fact that there was a broken function in the business, right? They had an instance where they had somebody new in a role who thankfully was incompetent. It was not an instance of embezzlement, right? It was incompetence.
who didn't realize that when you take somebody's money out, it has to go somewhere else, right? And didn't recognize that as part of their role. Now, the unfortunate thing in this instance, which my investigation found, was that there were multiple employees who had gone to this director of finance and raised a concern and were repeatedly being told, it's either something going on with the provider, you'll see the funds show up soon, or I'm looking into it, or I'll take care of it. It was pretty much every excuse under the book.
no accountability. And that will fuel a fire, which will lead employees to not be happy and to seek, you know, others to help solve their problem. So thankfully, we could quickly address this. The CEO, you know, agreed with me that we needed to get somebody in here to correct the issue and get things turned around. And unfortunately, that finance director did have to move on because there was too much trust just lost, right?
by the employees for those relationships to ever be rebuilt. But not what I expected when I initially went in to help improve employee morale in an organization that was concerned that they would be having a union organizing campaign.
Emre (24:21.006)
I mean, that thing played out like a thriller detective movie in my head.
and
Felicia Heward (24:28.45)
Yeah, you definitely get to be a detective when you're working in employee relations for sure.
Emre (24:33.83)
Was, is there like, how was the puzzle solving aspect of it where you're like talking to these employees and suddenly I go, these are like the telltale signs of in like organizations that, know, where employees want to form a union.
Felicia Heward (24:47.488)
Yeah, yeah. So I would say, you know, it's very much kind of for me listening to the trends, right? You've got to give everybody an opportunity to kind of voice what's burning in their heart. And I take lots of notes, right? And then quickly identify, okay, here's our trend. Here's our opportunity. Here's where, you know, we've got some low hanging fruit and we need to go solve this, right? Otherwise...
there's going to be results that we may as a business not be on board with or thrilled with. So it's all around being that active listener. think that's such a critical skill set in the HR function.
Emre (25:29.702)
amazing. And I guess a follow up question to this story would be
From the outside looking in, would, why are leaders so like, why is, oh, my employees are going to unionize a 911 call?
Felicia Heward (25:49.839)
I think there is this perception, right, by folks who have probably never worked in a union environment, that unionization is a negative thing. So that, especially here in the United States and in the Midwest, where I'm at, there is this view that the word union, right, it means, you know, high conflict.
It means messy. It means grievances. It means all of these terms that businesses feel are negative. At the end of the day, as I think back to my early days in labor relations and even studying that area when I was at university, unions really tended to form where they were needed, right? Management got the union they deserved.
And as I've met organizations that have unions and I look at historically what was going on, that seems to always be the case. They get the one they deserve based on what they were doing. But that fear I think is just a historical one, right? So that's why it becomes a 911 call, you know, as we look at this day and age.
Emre (27:05.413)
Yeah, that's so true. if we look at the history of work, especially in the States, we see that most of our modern labor laws and workers' rights, they are based on these activities of men and women who have unionized and who have... Yeah, most of the things we take for granted these days, they are a part of the world of work because of unions. So...
Felicia Heward (27:29.47)
yes, yes, often think about that, you know, the five day work week, the fact that we don't have child labor issues in the United States like we have in other areas of the world, right? We can thank the unions for that.
Emre (27:43.976)
Exactly. But I do understand a leader. I think it could also be like a little heartbreaking. I'm I'm doing such a good job. I'm running such a tight operation. Everyone's doing so good. Everything is so good. And I think you have to be so detached to be surprised by union talks.
Felicia Heward (28:05.132)
Yes. Yes. Yes. And I don't know if, know, in this instance, right, the CEO knew things weren't going well. It's just didn't realize how, you know, how bad things were or what the problem was. Right. So it wasn't so much, you know, a disengagement from reality. It's not a clear understanding of just how, how, how upset, right. The workforce was.
Emre (28:31.739)
Yeah. And as we're talking about these environments, factories, unions, punch cards, I'm thinking, and I might be so wrong, but these environments that I'm picturing in my head, they happen to be very male dominated, manufacturing, factory, kind of environments. mean, correct me if I'm wrong, of course.
Felicia Heward (28:38.958)
you
Felicia Heward (28:56.256)
Yeah, well, so I would say nowadays, we definitely see more diversity than when I began my career. But yes, I have worked in some very just male dominated industries, right, as I think back to my to my career. And, and I think that, thankfully, now, as I look at those same industries, the demographics are a little bit more representative of the overall community.
Emre (29:24.155)
Yeah, and you told me when we were talking about this initially, you said there was a moment when you said, I'm a minority. Like I'm a minority in this, in this workplace. can you take us back to that specific moment?
Felicia Heward (29:31.426)
Yes.
Felicia Heward (29:36.783)
Sure, sure. So that I like to think of myself as woman number seven. So I had the opportunity to work in a shipyard on the East Coast, the United States. And I'm sure even just the term shipyard, right, takes you visually to maybe not the cleanest work environment. And so I remember on my first day walking through these huge metal gates. And as soon as I got through them,
I'm walking over to the building that I'm gonna be working in and I'm noticing everyone staring at me. And thinking back, I was thinking to myself at the time, like, okay, like I'm not wearing a bright pink hat. Like I combed my hair that day. Like what in the world is going on here? Why is everybody staring at me? And I realized that I was only the seventh woman that had ever worked at that facility. And so of course,
You know, I'm a shock to these workers because they don't expect someone like me to be there, let alone to be a member of the labor relations team. But that could be a whole nother, you know, episode in itself. But that feeling, right, that that look of you don't belong or what are you doing here, that questioning your value, that's something that sticks with you your entire life. Like I take myself back to that moment.
Just like I could take myself back to the moment that my twins were born, right? It's just something that will always be a part of you because it's just something that's life-changing in a realization. I found it though to be also an inspiration, right? An inspiration and an opportunity to educate folks, right? On my value.
Emre (31:24.935)
Amazing. I guess the next question would be how? How was the navigation process of, you feel the sense of, I'm the odd one out. there's things. So how do you overcome this and how do you navigate that environment?
Felicia Heward (31:30.542)
Sure. Yeah.
Felicia Heward (31:42.543)
Yeah. So it's definitely through building just genuine relationships, right? It's building that trust and really having to work a little bit harder to show your value. And I think that's, that's what helped me get through not just working at the shipyard, but later on I went into the aerospace industry, which is very, very heavily male dominated. And, and I found that if I could build really strong, genuine relationships,
And be like I said before that active listener so that when I identified an opportunity to add value I could quickly jump in I then could be seen as more than the HR lady, right? I then truly had a seat at the table and was able to fully be part of the team and not feel like such an outsider
Emre (32:32.005)
Yeah, exactly. And yeah, it's such a struggle in the world of HR with HR not usually having a seat at the table, especially back then. Now it's more seen as like a strategic business function. But it used to be that, HR just makes things run and makes these little interventions. like you said, it's the 911 call. It's the cleanup group. Like, we're doing this.
Felicia Heward (33:00.578)
Yeah.
Emre (33:01.579)
not a part of the strategic decisions. And I'm so glad that, you know, that is, that has now evolved and that is now changing in most organizations.
Felicia Heward (33:11.576)
Yep, at least the ones that want to experience that success and growth. think they've definitely found a new value for the function.
Emre (33:20.411)
Yeah, exactly. And so now that we're talking about the function of HR in organizations, think I have to go there now, Alicia. I think it's time. The moment has come. So let's talk a little Tesla. During your time in Tesla, what was your role in the organization and what stage was the organization at, Karen, at that time?
Felicia Heward (33:33.695)
Okay.
Felicia Heward (33:48.907)
Sure. So model three had not come out yet. We were trying very, very hard to produce the cars to the point that I remember getting daily emails of how many cars were coming off the line because we were just in such a pivotal moment for the company. That was going to be the vehicle that really propelled the success of Tesla. So my role, I was a senior HR business partner.
And I was brought on to help with a site that was acquired in the Midwest. They were looking to grow quickly, right? And so I had to culturally integrate this facility. Now, Tesla moves fast, right? And so I remember being there only a few days before I got a call saying, hey, we got another site. It's in the Midwest and it's yours, right? And then very quickly after that,
I'm taking care of cultural integrations all over, over in Germany too. But I will say this about the speed of Tesla. Tesla had to move quickly to get to where it wanted to be in the market and really, really valued having the right team at that time to make it happen.
And I would say, as I think about what helped Tesla in that fast-paced environment, it was less about where you came from and more about how quickly you could help the organization get to where it wants to be.
Emre (35:28.657)
So that was a part of their recruitment strategy when you were working there.
Felicia Heward (35:33.859)
Yes. So, yes. So we, when we were looking for talent and I had a very technical group. my, my engineers were all around making sure that the manufacturing facilities were able to produce the car. So I didn't work in the, in the Fremont area that I think a lot of folks, and they think of, Tesla, think of that, the Gigafactories, my teams were the ones that supported the success of these manufacturing areas. Right. And so as we looked at hiring,
It was hiring for passion and hiring for potential because that's what really was a value add to the business at that time. It was less about where you came from. In an honesty, there was probably a little bit of a view by some of the leaders there that from some places you just come with baggage. They don't want your baggage, they want your passion and your potential. With having that at the forefront of our hiring strategy, we were able to bring in the people.
who could really just propel the organization to the level that we knew it needed to go. And obviously, you know, looking at the success of Tesla now, it was definitely the right strategy for them.
Emre (36:48.646)
That's beautiful. it's such, like you said, it's such a fast paced environment, especially during that exponential growth phase that you're talking about. So alongside the recruiting side of it, what role did HR play in managing that transformation overall?
Felicia Heward (37:09.08)
Sure. So, you we use the term business partner, but at Tesla, HR truly had to be a business partner. Because if you didn't know from a day-to-day standpoint what was most important to the organization to be successful, you wouldn't be able to function in your role. I can think back to an actual instance that lives in my memory forever as I think about my time at Tesla. We had a manufacturing area
that was just highly, highly technical. There were very few people who had the understanding to make this area function well. And I, of course, had the joy of having somebody from that area, a very, very talented engineer, come into my office and try to resign. And had I not realized how incredibly critical this technical area was for us, I'd
I probably, right, in my naivety would have just taken this resignation and allowed this person to move on, right, to another space. I didn't because I knew, my gosh, we cannot lose this engineer. This person is critical to this area and had a lot of potential. And thankfully, you know, through understanding, you know, his career motivations and understanding what was coming, right, in the challenging areas to really get him excited about work.
30 minutes into the conversation, he walks back out into the work area engaged and ready to give it another try. And later on took on a very, very impactful role for the company, right? But without being tied into the business from an HR function to the business, you wouldn't know how critical that talent is, right? You wouldn't be able to make those calls, right? And influence, right? Without authority.
if you didn't understand what areas were most critical to the business. Because that same thing could have happened somewhere else, right, with a different talent, and it wouldn't have been as impactful for the organization, right?
Emre (39:16.177)
So, I mean, we were just talking about this. So if you were working at Tesla as an HR person who just had the administrative capacity and not the strategic one, that talent would have slipped away from their fingers.
Felicia Heward (39:25.442)
All right.
Yeah, that talent would have walked right out the door and I'm sure Ford, GM, Toyota or anybody else who was looking to get into the space would have snatched them up right away.
Emre (39:42.824)
I mean, amazing. Sometimes people need to dig into the stories they listen to to find, this is the takeaway. get it. Here, the listener is so staring people in the face, so smacking people dead in the face. I love it so much. I mean, we are talking about Tesla and I will, without naming any names, of course, but...
There are companies in this world that are associated with charismatic leaders and charismatic, the term charismatic leader doesn't even have to state an opinion, right? On that person. Some individuals are just charismatic leaders who carry with them a certain amount of influence. So what was it like working under a charismatic leader as an HR person? Overall, what opportunities or charismatic
So let me rephrase it. What opportunities or challenges do charismatic leaders create for HR teams?
Felicia Heward (40:50.616)
goodness. Every day is interesting when you when you work with with a leader who is charismatic, has a big personality, draws a lot of attention, right? When when you have that it can be distracting, right for your workforce because it depends on you know what what their their focuses for the day what they're doing in the area.
Emre (41:03.74)
Mm-hmm.
Felicia Heward (41:17.422)
but really it can also energize the workforce. And so as you think about supporting that type of leader from an HR perspective, you really have to be ready to react. You have to stay close to that leader or any leader that you feel like, oh goodness, this could be a positive distraction or a negative one. Either way, we're gonna navigate this together. And I like to think that you need to carry a few things with you. You have your fire extinguisher because something might get heated.
Right. You want to make sure that you can get in there and take care of it quickly. So it doesn't become more than it needs to be. You've got a first aid kit because there's definitely some bumps and bruises along the way, right? That we got to, we got to, you know, mitigate there. And then of course, you know, you got some snacks because everybody needs a little bit more fuel and motivation as they recover, you know, from whatever that sprint may have been with, with having a very present and charismatic
large personality in the area. So there's definitely a way for HR to harness that kind of energy in a positive way, but you got to stay on your toes.
Emre (42:30.361)
That's beautiful. And this is such an undiscussed perspective into, know, individuals like this. people often think, what must the life of their publicist be like? Or what should, what is the life of, you know, someone working, know, just an average employee? But people never think about like, what does the HR person do in this situation? Like, how does the HR person manage an organization when it's being led by such an individual?
Felicia Heward (42:31.16)
That's it.
Felicia Heward (42:52.981)
Yeah.
Emre (42:58.747)
And I think this is such a fresh take and I love that. So we were talking about it, the fire extinguisher, the med kit and the snacks.
Felicia Heward (43:08.024)
Yep.
Emre (43:11.399)
That's amazing. looking back at your time at Tesla or some of the other organizations you've been in, for HR professionals in coming into these fast-paced, fast-growing organizations, what is the biggest takeaway from Tesla's meteoric rise that they can apply to their organization?
Felicia Heward (43:37.071)
Sure. I think just I can't understate the importance of HR really being present and active in the workspace. And that's not just in those leadership meetings, but it's walking the floor. It's really understanding what is going on every single day. Because when you're working in an organization where things are moving so quickly, you cannot take your eyes away.
Right, you have to make sure you understand what's going on with the business, what's the strategy for today, what's the focus for today, and what's the reality of what's occurring. You have to really, really be engaged in your environment. I cannot imagine that Tesla would have been able to scale as quickly as they did.
had their HR team not been so fully integrated with the business and had such just a focus, right? An alignment on making sure that we had passionate people there with the potential needed to deliver on where the business was going. And so really, if you think about wanting to have that growth and that, that...
that success, it's not just about moving fast or financial investments, right? It's really making sure that your HR function is aligned with the strategy because if they're not, they're not working on the things that are most critical to the business and they're not helping propel and support that success.
Emre (45:13.221)
That's beautiful. think that is, I don't know what to add to that. And I have to say, Felicia, you are such a natural storyteller. I don't know if anyone has told you this before that someone should have. Yeah, exactly. Exactly. I'll transcribe this whole thing, send it your way. You can pick and choose whatever bits and pieces.
Felicia Heward (45:18.678)
Hahaha.
no, but I should probably go write my book now, right?
Felicia Heward (45:38.626)
Emre (45:38.981)
What would your book look like, by the way? Would it be like a tell-all, you know, coffee table book or like how would you do it?
Felicia Heward (45:42.831)
No, I think it would be more of a comedy. You can't work in employee relations and labor relations as long as I have without just doing a comedy. it would be maybe a graphic novel, I think, you know, as well to really truly showcase the fun you can have at work.
Emre (45:55.622)
of me.
Emre (46:03.981)
Amazing. if people wanted to reach out to you and, you know, find your upcoming graphic novels slash memoirs slash comedy books slash mad libs, I don't know at this point, but how would they find you? How would people reach you and find you?
Felicia Heward (46:12.003)
Hahaha.
Felicia Heward (46:20.162)
Right.
Sure, sure. So you're welcome to come message me directly on LinkedIn or if you'd like to email me, it's felicia at lakeeffecthumanresources.com. And I'd love to talk further or help you as you're navigating through the conflict that can be worked.
Emre (46:47.789)
Exactly. And if you're listening to us on iTunes, Spotify, wherever you find podcasts, leave us a like, subscribe. It really helps the show out. And if you're looking for a performance management solution in the Microsoft 365 ecosystem, you cannot go wrong with the highest rated one. That is TeamFlect. You can click the link in the description and try it for absolutely free. This has been the team check-in. Felicia, thank you so much for coming on the show. I had a blast. I learned a lot. Have a great time, everyone. Bye-bye. All right.
Felicia Heward (47:12.236)
My pleasure.
Felicia Heward (47:16.28)
Thanks for having me.
Emre (47:17.455)
Alright, that was the episode. This was so fun. I had a great time. Thank you so much for coming on.
Felicia Heward (47:22.786)
Yes, yes. Thank you, thank you. Will you let me know once you guys have it loaded? I'd love to be able to share it with my network too.
Emre (47:30.272)
Exactly. Exactly. Once the episode is out, we'll definitely send a link to you. We'll publish it all over. And then there are so many bits and pieces from this that I can, as we're talking, I'm writing down time code saying, OK, like this, I can turn into a clip. This is a separate clip of its own. So that was really good. I think there's going to be lots of different great clips that I can.
Felicia Heward (47:47.308)
Hahaha.
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