How Susan Peters Built a Strategic HR Career at GE

Long before human resources (HR) became a strategic buzzword, some leaders were already using it to shape corporate culture, build talent pipelines, and change how global companies operate. One of those leaders is Susan Peters, who spent nearly four decades at General Electric (GE), ultimately serving as Senior Vice President and Chief Human Resources Officer (CHRO).

This article uses her journey as inspiration to unpack how ambitious professionals—especially women—can build lasting, influential careers in HR and beyond. You will learn how to break into HR without a traditional background, navigate male-dominated environments, lead culture change, and strategically position yourself for growth.

From Liberal Arts to the C-Suite: A Nonlinear Path into HR

Many people assume that HR leaders come from business or HR degree programs. In reality, some of the most impactful HR executives began in seemingly unrelated fields such as education, liberal arts, or social sciences. Peters, for example, studied English literature as an undergraduate and later pursued a master’s degree in education before moving into university admissions and ultimately transitioning into HR at GE.

Why Your Major Matters Less Than You Think

Modern employers increasingly hire for transferable skills—such as critical thinking, communication, and problem-solving—over narrow academic specialization, especially for HR roles that require empathy and judgment.

• Communication and writing from humanities degrees translate directly into policy writing, leadership communication, and change management.
• Education and counseling backgrounds often strengthen skills in coaching, facilitation, and adult learning—crucial for HR development programs.
• Analytical training from social sciences supports data-driven approaches to people analytics and organizational design.

The key is less what you studied and more whether you can connect your experiences to the real work of helping organizations and people perform better.

Finding HR When You Don’t Know It by Name

Many future HR leaders initially feel drawn to work that involves resolving conflicts, supporting people through change, and improving systems. Peters realized she wanted to work on a broader set of issues than traditional academic roles offered, and only later discovered that HR could be the home for that interest.

If you recognize similar interests but are unsure what to call them, ask yourself:

• Do you enjoy coaching or mentoring peers?
• Are you energized by solving “people problems,” not just technical ones?
• Do you like connecting individual goals to wider organizational strategy?

If you answered yes to most of these, HR—or a related field like organizational development or talent management—may be a strong fit.

Early Career: Saying Yes to Stretch Assignments

One hallmark of GE and other leadership-driven companies is the use of structured early-career programs that rotate employees across multiple roles. These rotational assignments expose young professionals to different business units, functions, and geographies, accelerating their learning curve.

Peters’ early experience included taking on labor relations in a tough, unionized plant environment at a time when very few women held those positions. It was a demanding “school of hard knocks,” but it built resilience and credibility that she would draw on later.

Why Stretch Roles Matter

Stretch roles are assignments that feel slightly beyond your current capabilities. They are uncomfortable but transformative. Research on leadership development consistently shows that challenging assignments are among the most powerful drivers of long-term executive growth.

Benefits of saying yes to stretch roles include:

• Faster learning under real pressure and constraints.
• Visibility to senior leaders when you deliver in difficult contexts.
• Credibility from succeeding in environments where you are underestimated.

Thriving as the Only Woman in the Room

For many women, early leadership roles still mean being the only—or one of very few—women in a meeting or on a leadership team. Peters’ early experience in labor relations illustrates how this can be challenging yet advantageous: being different can make you more visible, and your perspective can be uniquely valuable.

Strategies for navigating male-dominated environments include:

• Reframe your difference as a strategic asset: you see risks, relationships, and opportunities others may ignore.
• Prepare deeply so that your contributions are anchored in data, not just opinion.
• Build alliances with open-minded colleagues who amplify your voice and advocate for your ideas.
• Set boundaries when comments or behaviors cross the line—either directly or with support from sponsors.

Redefining What HR Can Be: From Transactions to Strategy

Over the span of Peters’ tenure, HR at major companies like GE shifted from an administrative function focused on compliance and policies to a highly strategic role involved in leadership development, culture, and performance systems.

The Modern HR Leader’s Portfolio

Senior HR leaders today often oversee areas such as:

• Talent acquisition and succession planning for critical roles.
• Leadership development programs that cultivate future executives.
• Performance management systems that drive accountability and growth.
• Organizational culture initiatives that shape how work gets done.
• Diversity, equity, and inclusion strategies that broaden access to opportunities.

At GE, Peters led major redesigns of learning, development, and performance systems to align with the company’s transformation into a more digital, agile enterprise.

Why HR Is a Unique Cross-Company Role

Unlike many business functions that remain narrowly focused (e.g., finance, engineering, or marketing), HR interacts with every part of the organization. Peters spent time supporting businesses as varied as GE Plastics, GE Appliances, GE Healthcare, and NBC, gaining a panoramic view of how different operations function and what they need from their people to succeed.

For aspiring HR leaders, this breadth can be a powerful advantage:

• You learn the business deeply by working with line leaders.
• You build a large internal network across geographies and functions.
• You become a trusted advisor on both people issues and strategic decisions.

Leading at Scale: How Senior HR Roles Evolve

As Peters moved into the CHRO role, her work shifted from mainly supporting specific business units to influencing the entire enterprise and its global workforce. At that level, leadership becomes less about individual projects and more about shaping systems and culture.

Three Spheres of Work for Senior Leaders

Senior executives typically operate in three overlapping spheres:

• Individual contribution: The high-level work only they can do, such as Board interactions, succession discussions, and representing the company externally.
• Functional expertise: Applying their professional domain—HR, finance, operations—to solve critical problems and move business outcomes.
• Enterprise leadership: Leading a function or team in a way that creates a multiplier effect, elevating performance far beyond what they could accomplish alone.

Understanding and deliberately balancing these spheres helps leaders avoid getting stuck in day-to-day tasks and instead focus on systemic impact.

Redesigning Performance Management

One of the most visible ways CHROs shape culture is by redesigning performance management systems. Across many large corporations, traditional annual reviews have been replaced with more frequent feedback, clearer goal-setting, and coaching-oriented conversations.

GE was among the companies experimenting with these changes, moving toward a more agile, continuous-feedback model that better supports innovation and rapid learning. Peters played a central role in guiding this shift, helping align HR processes with the company’s broader digital transformation.

How to Get Promoted: Own the Story of Your Work

One of the most striking pieces of advice Peters shares is that career advancement is not just about doing great work—it is also about telling the story of that work in a way that others can understand and recognize. Many professionals, particularly women, resist this because they equate it with bragging or office politics.

Marketing Your Impact, Not Yourself

Instead of thinking of promotion as self-promotion, think of it as:

• Making your team’s outcomes visible so resources and recognition flow where they are deserved.
• Clarifying the value your work creates for customers, colleagues, or shareholders.
• Helping decision-makers see what you are ready to take on next.

Practical ways to do this include:

• Sending concise updates to stakeholders highlighting key results and lessons learned.
• Framing your contributions in terms of metrics, such as cost savings, cycle-time reductions, engagement improvements, or retention gains.
• Volunteering to present team work in cross-functional meetings.

Shifting Your Mindset Around Visibility

Research on gender and career advancement shows that women often receive feedback to “speak up more” or “advocate for themselves,” yet they may worry about backlash when they do. A more sustainable mindset is to view visibility as part of your responsibility to your team, not a personal favor.

Ask yourself:

• Who needs to know about this work for it to have the impact it should?
• What’s the business case for investing more in this project, idea, or team?
• How can I share credit generously while still being clear about my role?

Balancing Career, Motherhood, and a Demanding Role

Peters has been candid that there is no perfect “work-life balance,” especially in senior roles. Instead, she emphasizes doing the best you can in each season of life and forgiving yourself for the inevitable trade-offs. This aligns with broader research showing that rigid standards of balance can increase stress rather than reducing it.

Thinking in Seasons, Not in Days

Instead of trying to achieve ideal balance every single day, it is often more realistic to think in longer timeframes:

• There may be seasons of intense work—such as major transformations or promotions—when home life is maintained but not perfect.
• There may be seasons of caregiving—raising young children or supporting aging parents—when you intentionally slow or redirect your career.
• Over the long span of a career, these seasons can even out if you are intentional.

Designing Support Systems

Thriving in demanding roles while raising a family usually requires robust support, both personally and professionally:

• Partners and family members who share domestic responsibilities.
• Managers and organizations willing to offer flexibility, remote work, or adaptive travel schedules where possible.
• Boundaries around non-essential commitments that drain time and energy.

Large multinationals like GE have gradually increased programs such as parental leave, flexible work arrangements, and caregiving support, reflecting broader global trends in recognizing the link between inclusion, well-being, and performance.

Actionable Advice for Women Pursuing HR Leadership

Drawing inspiration from Peters’ career and broader research on leadership, here are concrete steps women can take to build momentum toward senior HR roles.

• Learn the business, not just HR: Spend time with line leaders, visit plants or customer sites, and understand how your company makes money.
• Ask for tough assignments: Volunteer for projects that are visible, cross-functional, or in challenging environments.
• Build mentors and sponsors: Seek people who advise you (mentors) and those who advocate for you in rooms you are not in (sponsors).
• Invest in continuous learning: Courses in analytics, digital tools, and organizational psychology can amplify your impact.
• Define success on your own terms: Your path does not need to be linear. Lateral moves or pauses can still lead to senior roles over a long career.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

Q1: Can I move into HR leadership if I did not study business or HR?

Yes. Many senior HR leaders, including Susan Peters, started in fields such as literature or education. Employers value transferable skills like communication, problem-solving, and empathy. You can strengthen your profile by gaining HR certifications, taking targeted coursework, and seeking HR-related projects in your current role.

Q2: How do I get my first role in HR?

Start by targeting rotational programs, HR coordinator or generalist roles, or positions in recruiting, training, or employee relations. Use your current experience to demonstrate that you understand people dynamics, can handle confidential information, and think systematically about how organizations work.

Q3: What skills are most important for aspiring CHROs?

Beyond technical HR knowledge, aspiring CHROs need business acumen, data fluency, change management skills, and the ability to influence senior leaders. Experience across multiple business units and geographies is also valuable for understanding the company as a whole.

Q4: How can I stand out in a male-dominated environment?

Prepare thoroughly, ground your contributions in data and impact, and build alliances across levels. Rather than trying to blend in, use your distinct perspective to identify blind spots and opportunities. Seek sponsors who will publicly support your advancement.

Q5: What is the most overlooked advantage of a career in HR?

HR offers a uniquely broad view of the organization. You get to work with engineering, manufacturing, sales, finance, and more, which means you can influence strategy, culture, and talent decisions across the entire company. This cross-functional exposure is an excellent foundation for long-term leadership.

Written by

Sneha Tete

• Integrated M.A. in Applied Linguistics, University of Hyderabad
• 5+ years in editorial, instructional, SEO, and research-based writing

Sneha is a relationships and lifestyle writer with a strong foundation in applied linguistics and certified training in relationship coaching. She brings over five years of writing experience to theskillvault,  crafting thoughtful, research-driven content that empowers readers to build healthier relationships, boost emotional well-being, and embrace holistic living. Her writing and insights reflect the belief that beauty, happiness, and wellness…