How to Hire for People Ops as a Product

In today’s market, we are finding that all teams (not just HR teams) are being asked to do more than ever. Sustainability in business, and the reduction of headcount in order to drive efficiency means HR teams are being asked to work more cross-functionally, and hire more “T-shaped” folks in order to improve retention, boost engagement, streamline processes, and create exceptional employee experiences—all while maintaining compliance and operational excellence. The traditional approach to People Operations, which often centers primarily on Human Operations (coaching, mentoring, and interpersonal support), is reaching its limits, and we’re having to find new skills in the Talent Marketplace in order to run our teams as best we can.

As organizations scale, the approach of hiring for Human Operations as the primary output of HR teams means we can find ourselves with ballooning HR headcounts, slow process development, reactive rather than proactive strategies, and solutions that fail to meet the real needs of employees. What's the alternative? Thinking of your People Operations function as a product team.