💡 Why HR teams should think like product managers
July 16, 2021
Who do you turn to for ideas and advice?
There are the obvious sources: Peers inside and outside your org, membership associations, law firms, and software providers. Most People people I know regularly check out at least some of these sources.
Then there are the slightly less obvious sources: Industry conferences, local meetups, workshops, etc. Even before Covid, only some professionals would attend such events regularly. I'd also put scientific journals in this bracket – only the geekiest of us actually read primary sources.
Finally, there are the least obvious sources: People working in seemingly unrelated fields, such as product, engineering, and design thinking. I rarely hear from folks who actively and purposefully seek inspiration from, for example, product managers.
Looking to all of these sources for ideas and advice – from the most to the least obvious – helps us broaden our perspective and learn from the best.
All the best,
Maresch from Back
All the best,
Alex from Back
New from Back
OPERATIONS
The best HR teams think like product managers
As an HR person, you’re a product manager. The company culture, HR services, programs, processes, and policies are your product features. Employees are your users. And the employee experience determines whether they’ll become loyal customers and employer brand advocates. In this article, we run through the adoption of product thinking and product management techniques in HR departments, within the context of the employee experience era.
BENEFITS
Parental leave policies around the world
Whether you live in the United States (no guaranteed parental leave) or somewhere like Estonia (very generous parental leave), these policies can improve work-life balance, gender disparities in the workplace, and economic development. Local labor laws and company-internal policies have to go hand-in-hand. In this article, we run through examples of parental leave policies around the world and offer thoughts on the importance of getting them right.
What we learned
How do you determine if your hybrid work plans are successful? In this piece, seven People leaders shared how they measure hybrid work success, from regular pulse surveys to leadership roundtables and more. [Protocol]
It turns out commuting has mental health benefits. During the pandemic, many people were missing this healthy ritual that facilitates the physical and psychological shift between work and off-work roles. [The Atlantic]
Your most pressing coronavirus and HR questions, answered. Can we require employees to get the COVID-19 vaccine? What do we need to consider before bringing employees back to work? Should we mandate face masks in the office? [SHRM]
Underperformance could indicate post-pandemic trauma. Keep an eye out for signs like hypervigilance, longer or more frequent breaks, and spikes in sick days. To help, start an open dialogue, offer flexibility, and share helpful resources. [Fast Company]
You know that specific kind of joy we've been missing during COVID-19? It's called "collective effervescence" – the joy that can only spread through a group, like the "synchrony you feel when you slide into rhythm with strangers on a dance floor" or with "colleagues in a brainstorming session." [The New York Times]
Overheard on Twitter
People ops jobs
🇺🇸 VP of People & Experiences at Clearbit (San Francisco/ US remote)
🇺🇸 People Operations Generalist at Thumbtack (US Remote)
🇩🇪 Head of People at Cosuno (Berlin)
🇩🇪 Director of People Operations at Infarm (Berlin)
🇩🇪 HR Manager at CODE (Berlin)
🇮🇪 EMEA Employee Experience Team Lead at HubSpot (Ireland remote)
🇪🇸 Lead HR Business Partner (US) at Typeform (Barcelona)
🇪🇸 People Operations Specialist at Choco (Barcelona)
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See you next time 👋
This newsletter is brought to you by Back. Back helps companies provide a seamless employee experience by giving them easy access to the support they need – from onboarding journey to parental leave request to payroll question.
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