🤔 How much process is too much?
July 2, 2021
What's your gut reaction when you hear the word process? Burden or relief?
When it comes to people processes, it is possible to have too much of a good thing – or too little.
The problem with too little process: Without some basic processes in place, you may run into legal issues, from data breaches to discrimination claims. The employee experience will also be a black box that's vastly different from team to team. Without structured data from a process, it's tricky to reliably improve moments that matter to employees.
The problem with too much process: Mapping out detailed processes for every possible scenario is a time-consuming investment that 1) takes time away from work that directly benefits employees and 2) may quickly become obsolete as the work environment changes.
Whether or not you opt for a robust process, be intentional and transparent about it.
A lightweight process that matures over time is better than leaving everything to chance or being buried in bureaucracy.
All the best,
Maresch from Back
All the best,
Alex from Back
New from Back
OPERATIONS
Why it’s worth investing in scalable operations early on
Startups are inherently fast-paced, but that can also be our downfall. In the race to build the best company possible, we're often drawn toward quick execution rather than pausing to set up a solid process. When we skip this investment (of both time and resources) at the beginning, it becomes much more difficult to design operations that scale with your business. In this article, we run through some consequences of inaction and what your people ops team needs during growth.
HIRING
5 benefits of formalizing your job requisition process
A job requisition is a form or document that requests the hiring of new employees, usually from a department manager. While some may see this as a burdensome extra step during hiring, it's one of the processes you'll definitely want to implement. Why? Because hiring the wrong people costs you time, money, and unnecessary risk. The requisition process doesn't need to be ultra-complex, but you'll at least want something basic in place.
What we learned
It's a good idea to re-onboard employees who started remotely. It'll take everyone some time to adjust to being back in the office, but "it will be an entirely new experience for remote hires." Re-onboarding ideas: company swag, welcome gift on the desk, office tour, team building activities, etc. [HBR]
Be aware of proximity bias. Managers should be evaluating people based on objectives and results, says Betty Larson, BD’s Chief Human Resources Officer, “not who happens to be in the office most often.” [Quartz at Work]
There are no shortcuts to building a great company culture according to Katie Burke, Chief People Officer at HubSpot. There's only "continued empathy, continued listening, and continued action on that listening." [Lattice Podcast]
Coloradans are having a hard time landing remote jobs. A new state law requires job postings to include the expected salary range, so some companies are excluding applicants from Colorado. [SHRM]
Are we witnessing "The Great Resignation"? Millions of workers are quitting their jobs "in search of more money, more flexibility and more happiness." People teams, take note. [NPR]
Overheard on LinkedIn
People ops jobs
🇺🇸 People & Culture Manager at Too Good To Go (Austin)
🇺🇸 VP People at On Deck (Remote)
🇺🇸 Director, People US at SoundCloud (New York)
🇺🇸 People Operations Manager at parcelLab (New York/ Remote)
🇸🇬 HR Manager APAC at Remerge (Singapore)
🇬🇧 People + Culture Partner at Unleashed (UK remote)
🇪🇸 Senior HR Business Partner (Engineering) at Typeform (Barcelona)
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See you next time 👋
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