Corinna Refsgaard on frontline leadership, surgical focus, and building culture by design across 150,000 employees
When your workforce spans 150,000 employees across three continents—most on warehouse floors rather than in offices—theoretical debates about HR’s strategic role become irrelevant. You either connect what you do to business outcomes, or you fade into the background.Corinna Refsgaard, Chief Human Resources Officer at GXO Logistics, has built her 30-year career with a singular focus: understanding the business deeply enough to translate HR work into measurable P&L impact. In her conversation with Hein Knaapen, she shares how she’s applying this to a fast-growing logistics company that’s only five years old but carries decades of heritage from merged entities.
Refsgaard’s philosophy is disarmingly direct. HR impact hinges on three elements—having the right people in the right roles, setting foundations through data and processes, and shaping behavior through leadership—but only if rooted in business understanding.
“The impact of HR is very much driven by the capability of connecting whatever you do to the P&L,” she explains. “You don’t do HR for HR. You drive HR to drive the right business outcomes.”
When you speak the language of business outcomes, you shift from being pushed into processes to being pulled into strategic conversations. The difference is acceptance versus partnership.
GXO provides end-to-end warehouse services ranging from simple logistics to highly automated solutions. The workforce reflects this spectrum, but the challenge is universal: how do you ensure 150,000 employees understand their impact on company success when frontline turnover is constant and labor availability varies by location?
Refsgaard’s answer centers on site leaders.
“When we talk about leadership, we should not be mistaken and talk about the top senior roles,” she emphasizes. “The leadership roles that really count most are those on site.”
These managers oversee anywhere from 40 to several thousand employees and create the work environment that drives performance.
GXO has created its first global program specifically for these leaders, establishing a common language around expectations—from repeatable leadership behaviors to financial accountability—and equipping them with the capabilities to succeed. This includes dedicated onboarding and an AI coaching solution to make performance support available at scale.
Refsgaard uses the AI coach herself when preparing performance reviews. “I truly believe only when you have tried stuff out, you really understand how you can instill that.” The rationale: frontline leaders often struggle not because they are unwilling, but because they do not know how. Under day-to-day pressure, it’s easier to do more of the same than step back for difficult conversations. AI coaching creates a safe space to practice.
As GXO scales globally, Refsgaard is rethinking HR technology. The shift is away from massive, fully integrated systems toward master data stability with flexible tools layered on top. The challenge is differentiating what needs long-term stability—consistent data foundations—from what requires agility to develop, implement, and swap out when something better emerges.
This extends to AI adoption. GXO is exploring applications in employee listening where systems help site leaders understand survey results and develop action plans. The discipline: identify the pain point, deploy the solution, measure whether it delivers.
“With AI, it’s always good to start with what the pain point is because then it’s easier to measure,” she explains.
As a five-year-old company formed through acquisitions, GXO has three regions with different histories and development stages. Each has “how things are done here”—culture by default. Refsgaard’s approach makes culture explicit: winning culture by design.
But she doesn’t erase what’s working. "You did something right that brought you where you are.” First, understand current behaviors and identify what makes the company distinctive—the “must-keeps.” Then identify a few intentional shifts needed to support the strategy. Connect these to every touchpoint: recruitment, assessment, development, rewards, and celebration.
Values like respect and belonging remain non-negotiable globally. How those values translate into concrete behaviors can vary across countries. It’s a frame that allows diversity within clear boundaries.
Rather than optimizing everything, Refsgaard maps the employee journey to identify which moments create the most value. For GXO, talent acquisition stands out—the company will standardize processes here and explore AI applications, driving this work together across regions.
Employee listening follows similar logic. Beyond annual surveys, GXO will look to conduct pulse checks at critical moments: 3 months after implementing a new contract, and 60 and 90 days after joining. The goal is understanding what drives turnover and engagement, and what helps people reach performance quickly.
This acknowledges a pragmatic reality: feedback is a gift, but not all problems deserve equal attention. Sometimes the biggest impact comes from micro-interventions by site leaders who understand their specific environment, not from corporate initiatives. Some problems aren’t worth solving if they don’t connect to the core strategy.
In warehouse operations, retention isn’t primarily about pay—though competitive compensation remains essential. What matters more is creating an environment where people want to work. This starts with physical safety—preventing injury from heavy lifting or repetitive motion—and extends to psychological safety: respect, good leadership, and development opportunities.
The career story is compelling. Employees can start with on-the-job training and progress from warehouse worker to operations leader to site leader managing several sites, eventually reaching global senior roles. The variety—from manual to automated, single to multi-customer—provides genuine development paths. The challenge: At five years old, GXO isn’t yet well-known. Being more explicit about the employee value proposition is part of the HR agenda.
Throughout the conversation, Refsgaard returns to focus. “Focus is absolutely critical.” Her approach: Start with the desired outcome. Understand where the company wants to go. Identify the key levers. Then acknowledge that different parts of the organization may be at different starting points.
This means providing a common frame—leadership model, succession planning, talent development—while allowing each unit to move at its own pace. Being “very surgical” about where standardization creates value versus where regional flexibility makes sense. The question isn’t whether a solution is impressive; it’s whether it’s the right thing for what you’re trying to solve.
Refsgaard’s approach is notable for what it doesn’t include: no theorizing about earning a seat at the table, no defensive posturing about strategic value, no romantic notions about transformation divorced from results.
Instead: understand business strategy deeply, connect every initiative to P&L outcomes, invest heavily in frontline leadership, be surgical about where to standardize, focus on moments that matter, and measure whether solutions deliver. For 150,000 employees across three continents, this isn’t philosophy—it’s operational necessity. The question for other CHROs: Are you clearly connecting your work to business outcomes so leaders pull you in? Or are you still being pushed into processes?
This article highlights key themes from Hein Knaapen’s conversation with Corinna Refsgaard, but the full discussion provides deeper insights into scaling HR impact, investing in frontline leadership, and building culture by design.