Understanding People Operations

People Operations (People Ops) focuses on enhancing worker engagement, growth, and retention by humanizing organizational systems. Unlike traditional HR, People Ops oversees the entire employee lifecycle, aligns individual performance with company goals, and fosters a positive work culture.

By Douglas Wade, Attorney

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Table of Contents

1. What is people ops?

2. Department of people ops and positions involved

3. What are the main duties of the People Operations department?

4. Why does company culture matter?

5. Conclusion

What is people ops?

Businesses are entering a new era where they recognize the value of prioritizing people, and the way they function is changing quickly. Let’s talk about people operations, or people ops as it’s commonly known.

But what is people operations really, and how is it different from an HR department that is more conventional? What are their main responsibilities and roles?

Let’s investigate.

People Operations is a strategic company function that prioritizes the needs of the worker by making impersonal systems more human and by continually improving worker engagement, growth, and retention.

The phrase was first used by Laszlo Bock, a former Google HR director, who went into further detail about it in his book Work Rules!

People Operations duties consist of:

Overseeing the employee journey
Formulating a People Strategy
Boosting the value of employees
Modernizing HR software
Metric analysis
Assisting the company in achieving its more general objectives

It all comes down to fostering an atmosphere and culture that makes workers happy and pleased to work for their company.

A strong people operations division fosters diversity and commitment among employees, enhances corporate culture, and accelerates business expansion. Therefore, it might be time to invest in a People Operations team if you don’t already have one.

Department of people ops and positions involved

What should a People Operations department look like and how can you determine if your company requires one?

Startups such as Uber and Tinder have all paid a heavy price for lacking a team or individual committed to people management; as a result, lawsuits have been brought against them for issues that might have been easily managed internally with the appropriate knowledge.

Don’t undervalue how important it is to have a staff member devoted to people management and onboarding new hires while your company is still in its startup phase, particularly if you want to grow quickly in the near future.

It is advised by experts to assign at least one person to oversee each of the 50 new hires you make, and to include people operations in your first 25 hiring.

Bigger businesses may decide to split off their current HR team into a whole new group. Hiring People Operations experts to oversee the employee lifecycle within the company is an additional choice.

Building your organization’s culture and establishing unambiguous guidelines and standards for behavior are made possible by People Operations. It establishes a clear procedure for the full employee lifecycle, including hiring, onboarding, performance evaluations, promotions, and awards.

Here is a quick overview of the various positions in the People Operations division along with their main duties.

Manager of People Ops

Like a project manager, a people ops manager is in charge of overseeing the team’s total workload. It is their responsibility to manage the group and make sure that they collaborate effectively both inside and between departments.

Coordinator of People Operations

Typically, operations coordinators do organizational tasks, administrative work, and project management support. They make sure that the business’s daily operations go without a hitch.

People Ops Director

The duties of a Director of People Operations include managing, supervising, and mentoring the whole People staff. They will create and implement an organization-wide people strategy in collaboration with business leaders. They make sure that throughout the employee lifecycle, all procedures and policies are centered around enhancing and supporting the employee experience.

People Ops Specialist

A People Operations Specialist is in charge of performing data checks, making sure that all HR records are accurate and current, and making sure that any questions are promptly addressed. They assist new personnel with their onboarding and often work together with other teams, such as recruitment. For this position, you must have excellent customer service and communication abilities.

People Ops Analyst

An operations analyst is responsible for conducting research, spotting errors in procedures and operations, and making recommendations for improvements and modifications. Analysts has the responsibility of guaranteeing that the organization consistently adheres to compliance and rules, thereby mitigating the risk of liability.

What are the main duties of the People Operations department?

Every organization’s people operations department works to accomplish a number of important goals. The eight most significant ones are listed here.

Linking individual worker performance to company goals

People Operations is in charge of assisting all staff members in comprehending their main responsibilities within the larger company. Additionally, they frequently restate how the staff members help the business achieve its objectives. It is their responsibility to plan work in a way that promotes engagement, drives staff to stay, and pushes them to keep getting better. Involved teams are more inclined to work harder and be more devoted to their roles, which will increase revenues and support the company’s growth. This is important for organizational commitment, of course, but other things as well.

The organization’s main objectives should engage People Ops as well. They should talk about how attainable they are and bring up any pressing issues.

Tracking the lives and journey of employees

Finding the “moments that matter” in the employee experience at your company is known as employee journey mapping. This covers events like:

Interviews, orientation, and the first day of work
Additional orientation exercises
Performance evaluations
Education and growth
Group gatherings
Corporate reorganizations
Final interviews

These important moments—and the intervals between them—must be meticulously planned out by the People Operations team. They keep making improvements to them in order to enhance the entire work experience. This is crucial, and the research from The Future Workplace and Beyond.com, which revealed that 83% of HR directors think employee experience is crucial to the success of their company as a whole, supports this.

Communicating with staff members on a regular basis guarantees that everyone is heard and contributes to the development of an inclusive, encouraging work environment. However, consistency across the whole employee lifetime is necessary to develop trust, and this is what People Operations aims to do.

Appreciation of employees

Studies reveal that 40% of workers attribute their main source of demotivation at work to a lack of acknowledgment. Moreover, the employee turnover rate in businesses with a recognized culture is 31% lower.

People Operations should therefore concentrate on developing and putting into place a recognition and incentive program that makes employees feel respected for their contributions. This might be implemented as an official system of employee rewards or as a series of off-the-cuff emails distributed to teams or the entire company. Ensuring that employees feel appreciated at work should be the first priority, regardless of the approach or system chosen.

Constant interaction

Excessive rates of burnout and turnover might negatively affect your business’s revenue. People Operations should therefore make it a top priority to maintain the happiness and wellness of its workforce at all times. There are numerous approaches to this, such as the previously mentioned employee recognition program. However, consistent employee engagement is essential and can boost revenues dramatically by reducing absenteeism, raising productivity, retention, and satisfaction, and enhancing the culture of the entire company.

Understanding the cultural, physical, and digital aspects of the employee experience—the three main drivers of employee engagement—is essential to doing this successfully. The People Operations team regularly communicates with the staff to learn about their needs and preferences in the workplace and is aware of the issues that your employees are facing.

Staff training

Leading the charge on staff development and learning is the responsibility of people operations. This covers career pathing, management, leadership development, and skill training (upskilling and reskilling). It also includes assisting in the goal-setting process for specific roles using KPIs.

A culture of cooperation and unity where all workers feel respected and competent is fostered by placing a strong emphasis on lifelong learning. Thus, this contributes to the organization’s success.

Workers with training exhibit higher levels of motivation, productivity, and consistency in their work performance. This is why developing and carrying out an appropriate employee development plan is critical.

Employee support is essential for creating a development plan, therefore it’s a good idea to get them thinking about their own personal growth. This involves finding out what knowledge and abilities they require for their position, what would enable them to operate more productively, what career aspirations they have for the organization, and what kind of assistance they require to grow.

Winning over employees’ trust

People Operations may assist in gaining employee trust in a number of ways. First, by being open and honest with staff members. For example, social media and open databases such as Glassdoor provide easy access to information about benefits, salary, and business culture. This implies that People Operations needs to be open and honest, especially in the beginning of the employee lifetime. One of the main causes of distrust is generally poor communication. Put otherwise, People Operations bears the initial obligation of establishing trust through consistent and clear communication.

Gaining the trust of employees can also be accomplished by gathering and acting upon their input. Surveys and face-to-face conversations can be used to find out how staff members are feeling and what they think of the organization. After compiling and evaluating this feedback, it’s critical to present potential enhancements and adjustments to staff members and get their feedback once again. Employees feel engaged in every step of the process as a result of this inclusive culture.

Managing Change

People Operations is in charge of overseeing changes within the company. This involves updating systems, swapping teams within an organization, moving from manual to digital working methods, management changing the goals of the company, and making adjustments in response to internal research.

The adoption process can be made easy and seamless by supervising and managing these kinds of organizational transformations. It assures that there are no or very little effects on output and the larger business goals, and it aids in the swift adjustment of all employees.

The evolution and modification of culture

Lastly, People Ops’ top priority is to uphold the company’s culture and values. If the current culture is not in line with the company’s vision and goals, they can manage cultural transformation and create a more diverse and ethical organizational culture.

Why does company culture matter?

According to CultureIQ, employees who work for organizations with strong cultures give their employer’s traits an overall grade that is 20% higher, and 90% of workers at companies with “winning” cultures express confidence in their leadership team.

As the head of people, People Ops should be transparent about their principles and publicly share them with the organization in order to foster trust.

Conclusion

Establishing a People Ops team is essential to modernizing your HR strategy and making sure you’re putting your people first, regardless of the size of your company.

Engaged workers who feel valued and cared for at work will build an outstanding business culture and a stellar reputation, giving you a significant competitive edge. It’s time to let your people know that they matter.

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