Steady in the Storm: TPI’s CPO on Leading HR Through Chapter 11 with Transparency and Trust

Summary

When your company files Chapter 11, HR becomes the steady hand the business needs.

Deane Ilukowicz, Chief People Officer at TPI Composites—the world’s largest industrial manufacturer of wind turbine blades—shares how she’s guided a nearly 10,000-person, global workforce through restructuring with clarity and care.

From saying “I don’t know” the right way to co-owning tough conversations with leaders, Deane breaks down the practices that build trust under intense uncertainty. She explains why protecting your HR team’s emotional health is non-negotiable, how resilience and psychological safety actually show up day to day, and why “policies as guardrails” beats rigid rulebooks.

Deane also offers a simple, repeatable framework for continuous performance feedback and closes with a charge to every HR pro: be a business leader first.

Expect concrete guidance on communicating when you can’t share everything, keeping operations running while showing empathy, and earning—then keeping—your strategic seat at the table.

Timestamps

[00:45] – Guest intro: TPI’s footprint, scale, and manufacturing context

[02:15] – Chapter 11 realities for HR and leading with transparent context

[04:27] – Protecting the HR team: humane reductions and co-delivering hard news

[05:41] – Resilience and psychological safety: giving HR safe space to process

[08:21] – Truthful performance: using PIPs well to drive clarity and engagement

[11:48] – Continuous feedback in practice: the “one thing” framework

[15:21] – Presence, empathy, and grace; policies as guardrails while staying flexible

[21:02] – Business-first HR: understand how the company makes money to keep your seat

Takeaways

- Lead with transparent context—state what you know, what you don’t, and when you’ll update.

- Protect your HR team’s well-being; co-own difficult conversations with leaders and allow space to decompress.

- Build resilience and psychological safety by normalizing pauses, resets, and candid check-ins.

- Make feedback continuous: one thing that went well, one to improve, and one to do differently.

- Use PIPs as development tools grounded in clear expectations, not as a step toward termination.

- Earn strategic influence by mastering your business model, value drivers, and risks.

Sponsor

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Deane Ilukowicz, CPO at TPI Composites

HR Voices

Deane Ilukowicz, CPO at TPI Composites