What is people operations?

People operations is a strategic approach that focuses on enhancing team member experiences and aligning them with organizational goals.

A company’s success depends on its people and how they feel about coming to work each day. Supporting happy, engaged, and productive team members isn’t just the right thing to do—it’s a smart strategy for driving growth and innovation.

That’s where people operations comes in. Unlike traditional HR’s more administrative focus, people ops takes a holistic view of the team member experience to boost engagement and help teams do their best work. “It’s the glue that holds together company strategy and human capital,” explains Jake Canull, regional director of The Top Employers Institute. It humanizes systems and policies so team members feel valued, connected, and aligned with where the company’s going.

In this article, we’ll explore what people operations is, why it matters, and how companies can shift from traditional HR practices to a people-focused approach that benefits everyone.

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Key insights

• People operations focuses on team member experiences and aligning them with organizational goals
• It emphasizes human-centric strategies that support growth, innovation, and engagement, distinguishing it from traditional HR practices
• Key functions of people operations include overseeing the team member lifecycle, developing talent, and encouraging a positive company culture
• Effective people operations strategies involve proactive decision-making, transparent communication, and personalized career development
• Transitioning to people operations from traditional HR promotes a supportive environment where team members feel valued and empowered, ultimately benefiting the organization

People operations vs. HR

While traditional HR and people operations may initially appear to be similar, there are some important distinctions between the two. People operations is a shift towards a more strategic approach to managing the workforce with a focus on culture, engagement, and experience. Here are some key differences between the two:

HR	People operations
Prioritizes enforcing compliance and reducing liability	Prioritizes helping team members realize their full potential
Executes decisions made by leadership	Collaborates with leadership and team members to make strategic decisions
Makes reactive decisions, often responding to issues as they arise	Makes proactive decisions, initiating new strategies to continually improve the business and culture
Focuses primarily on recruitment, onboarding, and offboarding	Focuses more on supporting and maintaining the existing team
Operates separately from all other departments in an organization	Connects all departments together
Operates within the strict parameters of traditional HR practices	Provides a holistic approach to business goals using customized people tools and strategies

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Why is people operations important?

Digital innovation and the rise of hybrid working models have created an increasingly competitive, agile job market. According to Gallup’s State of the Global Workplace report, 51% of people are actively watching for or exploring new job opportunities. It’s never been easier for dissatisfied team members to jump ship and relocate to another company—a phenomenon dubbed “the Great Resignation.”

Traditional HR models focused mainly on administration and compliance can fall short. Companies now need a more proactive, people-centric approach that supports engagement, flexibility, and long-term growth. That’s why more organizations are turning to people operations to stand out, attract and retain top talent, and stay ahead of the competition.

“The shift from HR to people operations represents a fundamental change in how we think about work, from managing people as resources to enabling them as the drivers of business success,” says Josh Bersin, global industry analyst and HR thought leader. It turns the team member experience into a strategic growth engine.

People operations considers each team member’s experience in every aspect of business operations. It creates people-first strategies that prioritize engagement and job satisfaction, trusting that an engaged, motivated workforce will drive and sustain success. And research from Gallup indicates this approach works. Companies with highly engaged teams see 23 percent higher profitability and 14 percent higher productivity compared to those with disengaged teams.

How do people operations improve company culture? 

People operations teams create a culture and environment in which the company and the people who work there can thrive. They focus on people-centered strategies to tackle an ever-evolving, increasingly digitized workplace while fueling business growth through its best asset: its people. 

People operations strategies can improve company culture by:

• Creating reward systems that promote high performance and boost morale
• Implementing employee recognition programs to reduce staff turnover
• Promoting continuous engagement and collaboration between team members
• Encouraging personal and professional development through skills training, career pathing, leadership development, and goal setting
• Prioritizing transparency and open communication in the workplace
• Collecting and utilizing colleague feedback to improve job satisfaction
• Increasing productivity by optimizing workflows and reducing friction
• Reducing hiring costs with improved retention strategies and internal mobility

People operations department structures and roles

The people operations department creates and carries out organizational strategies to increase people’s engagement, productivity, and morale. It blends strategic vision with a clear structure, boundaries, and expectations.

The look and feel of people operations will change depending on a company’s size and industry. A startup with 25 people might only need one people ops representative. As businesses scale, the ratio may change, with automation and standardized processes reducing the number of people ops specialists you need per colleague.

It can take a village to successfully implement these strategies, so hiring the right people with the right skills is key.

Common roles in this department include:

• People operations managers: Managers lead the people ops team and keep its work aligned with organizational goals. They develop strategy, implement policy, and uphold the quality of people-first practices.
• People operations coordinators: Coordinators handle day-to-day operations and admin while supporting projects across the function. They schedule key touchpoints, update records, and coordinate internal communication.
• Director of people operations: Directors guide the overall people ops function and lead the team’s direction. They partner with senior leadership to design and drive people-first policies company-wide.
• People operations specialists: Specialists maintain accurate HR records and run routine data checks. They often collaborate across teams and support moments like the onboarding process.
• People operations analyst: Analysts identify gaps in operational processes and recommend improvements. They also monitor compliance with relevant regulations and laws.

People ops functions and responsibilities

With a focus on training, development, engagement, and retention, people operations helps professionals feel empowered and perform at their best. That work breaks down into the following core responsibilities:

Designing and managing organizational structures

Organizational structures provide a framework for people to connect, collaborate, and grow within a company. A well-designed structure facilitates interdepartmental interactions, like marketing and sales teams coming together to improve lead generation. Regularly revisit and refine these structures as you learn from inefficiencies and make steps towards smoother collaboration.

Building and nurturing the company’s reputation as an employer

Good employer branding can positively impact how potential team members, current colleagues, and even competitors perceive you. Building a strong brand means aligning your culture with your core values to create a workplace people are proud to join. 

Offer benefits that support wellbeing, such as mental health programs, flexible working arrangements, and wellness stipends. You can also highlight development opportunities and diversity, equity, inclusion, and belonging (DEI&B) programs to show your commitment to your team’s needs.

Attracting, hiring, and retaining talented candidates

To attract top talent, convey a clear vision of what your company offers and stands for. This includes writing transparent job descriptions and mapping out engaging candidate experiences rather than a one-size-fits-all hiring process. Once hired, retention strategies focus on meaningful learning and development opportunities, supportive leadership, and creating a culture that values and empowers its people.

Onboarding and training for new team members

Onboarding is the first step in a new team member’s journey with your team and sets the tone for their experience with your organization. People who experience excellent onboarding are 2.6 times more likely to be extremely satisfied at work, according to Gallup. This can boost new hire retention by 82 percent and increase productivity by over 70 percent.

A strong onboarding process can include clear first-day schedules, warm introductions, and a mentor or onboarding buddy for early support. Additionally, offering role-specific training plans, interactive sessions, and access to company software helps your new team members feel confident, connected, and ready to contribute from day one​.

Creating goal-based initiatives

Goal-based initiatives bring clarity and purpose to the workplace and guide each project toward your organization’s objectives. These efforts could include sustainability goals, performance improvement plans, or DEI&B targets.

Over 1,000 studies have shown that setting high and specific goals can boost performance, persistence, and motivation. A good rule of thumb is to follow the S.M.A.R.T. framework, making each goal Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, and Time-bound.

Monitoring and evaluating HR analytics

HR analytics turn raw data into insights that can help people ops teams make smarter decisions. Monitor key metrics for growth and morale, such as turnover, engagement, and retention. Analyzing survey results could reveal a need for flexible work policies, while performance metrics might highlight opportunities to expand training programs.

Updating or replacing outdated HR processes

Updating your HR processes can save time and make your people happier. Whether through automation or redesigning workflows to improve collaboration, modernizing processes ensures compliance, streamlines approvals, and frees up people for higher-impact tasks like in-person meetings.

Supporting talent with training and development programs

Continuous learning opportunities and customized career paths encourage skill-building and innovation. Run leadership development programs for high-potential team members, offer soft skills training to improve communication, teamwork, and adaptability, and provide access to technical courses that align with both individual and organizational goals. Investing in your team’s growth keeps people engaged in their roles, and the new skills can give you a competitive advantage.

Rewarding high performance

Recognizing and rewarding high performance is a tried-and-tested way to boost morale and reinforce a culture of excellence. Engagement, productivity, and performance are 14 percent higher in companies with recognition programs than in those without. Whether through performance bonuses, promotions, or public acknowledgment, meaningful rewards show people their contributions matter. Celebrate successes consistently to inspire continued effort and long-term loyalty.

Evaluating employee satisfaction

Understanding your team’s satisfaction is key to creating a positive workplace culture. Regular surveys, one-on-one meetings, and open communication channels provide insights into what’s working and what needs improvement. Acting on this feedback thoughtfully helps people ops maintain high engagement and strengthens trust.

Designing and implementing compensation and benefits strategies

A thoughtful compensation and benefits strategy shows how companies value their people and can significantly increase recruitment and retention of top candidates. Balance competitive salaries with perks that benefit the person and the team, such as wellness programs or professional development stipends. Upgrading compensation and benefits as a reward for loyalty is great for retention and team morale.

Ensuring compliance with laws and regulations

Compliance helps you build a trustworthy and ethical environment. It involves adhering to local wage laws, implementing fair pay practices like gender pay equity, or following region-specific labor requirements. A proactive approach to compliance reinforces credibility and creates a workplace where people feel safe and respected.

Adopting change management

Change is easier to move through when people know what’s happening, why it matters, and how to adapt. People operations oversees the change management process, working upstream with leaders to shape the plan, then carrying that intent into the team member experience so changes feel understandable, supported, and actionable.

Supporting remote and hybrid work situations

Remote and hybrid setups don’t run on good vibes alone—they need structure people can trust. People operations designs the systems and standards that keep work distribution fair and consistent, from clear hybrid policies to onboarding that builds belonging from afar.

They also partner with leaders to make sure performance, recognition, and development stay equitable for remote and in-office folks alike. And by tracking engagement and feedback across locations, people ops spots cracks early and tightens the model as teams and needs evolve.

Managing the employee lifecycle

Managing the team member lifecycle is a central people ops responsibility. It means owning the end-to-end work experience so every stage feels connected and supported. That way, each step stays aligned with what the business needs from its people and what people need from the business.

Here’s what that lifecycle typically covers, from first touch to farewell:

• New joiner sourcing and interviews
• Offer stage and pre-boarding
• First day and first week
• Onboarding activities and milestones
• Role training and enablement
• Ongoing feedback and one-on-ones
• Performance reviews and goal cycles
• Learning, development, and upskilling
• Career pathing and internal mobility
• Promotions and compensation reviews
• Team events and recognition programs
• Wellbeing and benefits support
• Exit planning and offboarding
• Exit interviews
• Former team member relationships and referrals

How to effectively transition from traditional HR to people operations

Moving from traditional HR to people operations means adopting a mindset that prioritizes people as the core of your strategy. It’s about shifting from focusing solely on processes and policies to creating an environment where team members feel supported and empowered. Instead of prioritizing efficiency at all costs, people operations emphasizes unlocking the unique value each person brings to your organization.

Here’s how to take the first steps toward building a people-centric approach.

1. Identify and embrace the value your team members bring

People operations is about recognizing that every team member has unique contributions to offer. Actively seek input and ideas, celebrate successes in diverse forms, and create spaces that value diversity. Anonymous feedback tools give you honest, actionable opinions, shoutouts recognize impressive achievements, and employee resource groups (ERGs) advocate for underrepresented team members and help your people operations team promote a more positive work environment.

2. Transition from a focus on processes to an emphasis on your people

Instead of simply managing tasks, focus on building relationships, enhancing engagement, and understanding the needs of your team. This might include personalizing communication, offering flexible work options, or designing custom career paths.

3. Approach compensation and benefits on a case-by-case basis

A one-size-fits-all approach no longer meets the expectations of today’s workforce. People operations teams evaluate compensation and benefits in the context of individual circumstances, role demands, and market trends. For example, offering flexible benefits packages or negotiating performance-based incentives can make your organization more attractive and competitive.

4. Integrate training and development into performance plans

Performance plans that include clear pathways for skill development and career advancement help with both upskilling and motivation. Strength-based learning, in particular, can result in 23 percent higher team member engagement. 

Use performance reviews to highlight current skills and co-create a personalized development roadmap that outlines opportunities for learning and growth. Offer a variety of resources, such as leadership programs, soft skills workshops, and mentorship opportunities, to keep training engaging and relevant.

5. Use the right HR tools and technology 

HR software can streamline people operations strategies and amplify their impact. Look for tools that integrate data analytics, simplify workflows, and support self-service options to make life easier for your team members. “Think of someone on your team who has no real reason to go onto an HR platform except maybe to update his address once a year,” says Gina DiBenedetto, People & Culture Manager at Stile Education. “You want his experience to be as pleasant and considered as your experience as a super admin.”

Modern HR platforms allow you to automate routine processes and analyze large datasets. This frees up up to 7 hours per week for your ops team to spend on human-centric tasks and provides insights for better decision-making across the organization.

6. Streamline payroll and prioritize expediency

With 51 percent of people associating pay accuracy and timeliness of pay with feeling valued at work, efficient payroll management is one of the most tangible trust signals you can deliver. Automated payroll processes help reduce errors and keep payments on schedule, so your team consistently feels respected and taken care of.

7. Build a strong HR tech stack

A strong HR tech stack is like a great playlist: Each tool has its own job, but the magic happens when everything works smoothly together. Well-connected tools give HR clean, reliable data without extra legwork and simplify everyday tasks for team members—no system-hopping required.

To build an HR tech stack that stays connected and streamlined, focus on:

• Picking one system of record: Keep roles, org charts, and lifecycle data in a single source of truth.
• Assessing the team member journey: Check key moments like offer, onboarding, reviews, development, and role changes. If any step needs three tools and a spreadsheet, simplify it.
• Tuning it up twice a year: Review integrations and adoption to keep the stack clean as you scale.

<< Streamline HR software integration with this free checklist >>

8. Find a balance between experience and compliance

People operations sits at the intersection of care and clarity, helping workplaces stay both people-first and well-run. It humanizes compliance by explaining the rationale behind rules, offering choice where possible, and building feedback loops so policies evolve with real needs.

In practice, this might look like:

• Writing policies in plain language
• Equipping managers to apply guidelines consistently and thoughtfully
• Building workflows that follow compliance rules automatically
• Inviting team input on how policies feel day to day

When compliance is clear and even-handed, it quietly builds trust. “What I’ve seen work well is being very transparent and very honest with people,” says Graham Poole, Executive Head of People at Cube Global. “If you can give them an answer, great. If you can’t, explain why you can’t at that point in time, but tell them when you should be able to…It’s so easy to overlook the human aspect when people get caught up in the spreadsheet-driven activity.”

As a result, people know what to expect, feel supported by the system, and are more likely to engage with it rather than working around it.

9. Encourage collaboration across departments

People ops works best as a shared effort across the business. Close partnerships with leaders in finance, operations, and department teams help connect people initiatives to real business priorities and keep decisions grounded in the same data.

As Poole explains: “If you’ve got a great relationship between HR and finance, that alignment is so, so powerful because it means you walk into an exec meeting telling the same story. You’ve got a mutual understanding of the dependencies, the benefits, and risks from both people and financial perspectives. And if you can build that early, it means there’s higher trust in the data, there’s higher trust in the decisions, and you can take a much longer sightline into the decisions you need to be making.”

That collaboration can be as simple as looping partners in early for workforce planning, aligning on shared goals and people metrics, and co-designing programs that span teams, such as hiring plans, manager enablement, or change management strategies.

Examples of companies that utilize people ops

Many forward-thinking organizations have successfully integrated people operations into their business models, enhancing team member experiences and driving success. Here are a few real-world examples.

Geminor

Geminor’s growth outpaced its HR infrastructure, especially across multiple geographies. Their people ops approach focused on creating one transparent, shared view of the organization that standardized core processes and kept culture front and center. With unified data and accessible insights, the company boosted efficiency and built a more consistent team member experience across locations.

VaynerMedia

VaynerMedia’s People and Experience Team uses people ops to make inclusion and personalization real at scale. They collect rich people profile data—like passions, talents, and pronouns—to support a more inclusive environment and tailor recognition and gifts to the individual. It’s a simple move with a big cultural signal: We see you as a whole person.

Montu

Montu scaled from 30 to 450 team members in about 18 months, and their people ops team knew consistent onboarding would make or break the experience. They built structured onboarding workflows tailored by role and seniority that created clarity and belonging in a remote work environment. As a result, new joiners felt oriented and connected from day one, even as the company grew at full speed.

Empower your team with improved people operations

Today’s modern companies are moving away from traditional HR practices and toward people-centric, holistic strategic models. People operations, when managed with clear and realistic policies, support the interests of a company and its people by encouraging interdepartmental collaboration, creativity, and initiative. 

Investing in people operations isn’t just a strategic move—it’s the foundation for building a resilient, forward-thinking organization ready to tackle tomorrow’s challenges.

<< Transition to people-first HR practices with this free HR strategy workbook >>

People ops FAQs

What are the main responsibilities of a people operations team?

The people operations team focuses on aligning organizational goals with the needs and experiences of its people. Their responsibilities include:

• Designing and managing the team member lifecycle, from onboarding to offboarding
• Implementing strategies for talent acquisition, engagement, and retention
• Overseeing training and development programs 
• Creating compensation and benefit packages
• Staying on top of compliance requirements 
• Integrating technologies to streamline processes and improve team member experience

How does people operations contribute to team member engagement and satisfaction?

People operations enhance engagement and satisfaction by creating a workplace that values and supports its team members. Initiatives like personalized career development plans, transparent communication, and programs that prioritize wellbeing create a sense of belonging and a happy workplace.

How can people operations support company culture and diversity initiatives?

People operations support company culture and diversity initiatives by contributing to and shaping an organization’s core values. They design and implement programs that promote inclusivity and belonging, such as unconscious bias training and diverse hiring practices. 

They also work in tandem with leadership to create a culture that values equity and respect. In doing so, they embed diversity initiatives into everyday operations instead of letting them live only as policies.

What is the difference between human resources and people operations?

Traditional HR focuses on the core people fundamentals like compliance, payroll, and risk management, with an emphasis on the administrative side of things. People operations takes care of these essentials too, but prioritizes the human side of people management. It looks at the full team member experience and designs culture, systems, and growth pathways that help people thrive and drive business outcomes.

How can I streamline people operations for a SMB?

The simplest way to streamline people operations for a small or medium-sized business (SMB) is to keep processes simple and repeatable. Start with centralizing your people data onto one HR platform and using it to standardize key moments, such as hiring, first-week onboarding, 30/60/90 check-ins, and reviews.

From there, maintain a steady feedback loop that includes pulse surveys and signal tracking (turnover, engagement, time-to-productivity). Use those insights to improve one priority at a time as you scale.

What does a people operations manager do?

A people operations manager runs day-to-day people programs and helps shape longer-term business strategies through a human-first lens, aligning team wellbeing with company goals. They partner with leaders to support hiring, onboarding, engagement, performance, and development, then use team member feedback and people data to make sure people and business priorities move forward together.