The role of PeopleOps in employee satisfaction and retention

People operations in recent times have come to be a catchphrase that seems to be bent on removing Human Resources from the lexicon of corporates and HR practitioners themselves. People operations or PeopleOps is seen as a more holistic and cohesive term that encompasses every aspect of an employee’s work life — from when they join a company, till the time they bid farewell to it.

Read on for a primer on PeopleOps, its key priorities, and how can it help with employee retention.

What is PeopleOps?

The term “PeopleOps” refers to the business function that involves initiatives and actions that support employee engagement and productivity at work from the time employees are hired until they leave. Its goal is to enhance and humanize corporate processes while enhancing the working environment for employees.

PeopleOps vs HR: What’s the key difference?

Ideally, an employee would interact with HR for only one of three reasons — recruitment, getting onboard or exiting from the company. But PeopleOps tends to go beyond and includes the entire life cycle of the employee — attraction, recruitment, onboarding, professional development, engagement, retention, retirement and separation.

Plus, PeopleOps takes a result-oriented approach and believe in managing its people to achieve quality results. On the other hand, HR practitioners are task-focused and follow a rigid structure that prioritizes getting tasks done to achieve goals.

Further, while HR tries to run everything efficiently, PeopleOps tend to do it more effectively in the organization.

What does a People Ops team do?

The responsibilities of a PeopleOps team differ across companies, but in general, its key tasks include the following.

– Formulating a people-oriented strategy.

– Onboarding and arming new employees with the best tools and knowledge.

– Being cognizant of an employee’s life cycle at the company.

– Optimizing all resources at hand with necessary automation wherever required for a seamless experience for the workforce in general.

– Keeping a tab on all metrics and analyzing them so as to be ahead of the curve, whether that be in onboarding or superannuation.

– Strategic head hunting.

In short, PeopleOps is all about the people; putting employees first, investing in their growth and development, and making them feel they are an indispensable part of the bigger picture rather than just a cog in some giant machinery.

How can PeopleOps support employee satisfaction and retention?

By focusing on some key objectives and priorities, PeopleOps enables organizations to design work in a manner that leads to a healthy and rewarding work culture, diverse and inclusive workplace, and great workforce experiences — thereby boosting employee satisfaction and increasing retention.

Below listed are the eight key priorities that the PeopleOps team focuses on:

1. Charting employee journey

By charting the lifecycle of the employee and being responsible for them, the team not only directs and steers the employee to the best of their abilities, but also ensures that they have an enriching experience while also protecting the company’s interests.

2. Aligning business goals with employee performance

PeopleOps make people understand their roles and responsibilities in the company structure, and continually reiterate how their contribution impacts organizational success. Engaged teams tend to be more dedicated toward company goals in the long run.

3. Employee development

Professional development is a key factor and parameter that PeopleOps managers undertake. They are always at the forefront of developing the human pool they have to the best of their abilities, which in turn will benefit the company.

4. Employee engagement

The PeopleOps team engages with employees, by virtue of fun, frolic, work and culture. This ensures that no employee is left behind or rather nobody slips within the cracks.

5. Employee recognition

Recognition in the workplace is a key factor in keeping employees motivated and energized. The PeopleOps team focuses on building a culture of reward and recognition that helps employees feel appreciated and valued, motivating them to continue great work.

6. Change management

Most organizations face some kind of change and the PeopleOps team ensures that these changes are smooth and go on without a hitch. In times of uncertainties, they are the familiar faces that bring continuity and normalcy in what otherwise might be tumultuous times.

7. Culture development and transformation

According to recent HR stats, 45% of employees are burned out by organizational changes in 2023. Managing the company’s ethos and culture is also a prime responsibility of the PeopleOps team. If the current organizational culture is not in line with the goals and vision of the company, the  PeopleOpsteam can effortlessly manage the transformation to create a more ethical and diverse culture.

8. Winning employee trust

Sticking to a fair and transparent policy right from the beginning helps organizations gain the trust of their potential hires as well as employees. In fact, data shows that 86% of employees consider looking at company reviews and ratings before they apply for a job.

This is where PeopleOps can play a key role — it helps disclose details about a company’s culture, pay and benefits via social media or open forums, directories and databases like Glassdoor. Plus, it conducts employee surveys and face-to-face conversations to learn how they feel about the workplace and provide proposed changes and improvements after compiling and analyzing their feedback.

Want more? In addition to HR, benefits, recruiting and payroll through its PeopleOps, Escalon’s Essential Business Services include FinOps (CFO services, taxes, bookkeeping and accounting) and Risk (business insurance). Talk to an expert today.

This material has been prepared for informational purposes only. Escalon and its affiliates are not providing tax, legal or accounting advice in this article. If you would like to engage with Escalon, please contact us here.