There are overlaps between the manager's mission (1. staffing their team with the right people 2. developing these people, 3. bringing clarity, e.g., on goals), and the people team's mission (scaling managers’ responsibilities to happen holistically across the organization). This page aims to clarify this tension and give pointers to operate as effectively as possible.
At the end of the day, an organization is a group of people who work together to achieve shared goals. We measure people's efficiency through how the market responds to the output of our people's work: does it lead to outcomes, and even better, impact?
This measure is a very slow feedback cycle, so to shorten the loop, we rely on managers who have access to leading indicators of their team's output.
There are three different dynamic modes possible:
The more we operate under mode 1, the better, so the more we prioritize the work on problems perceived as important by both groups, the better. This is great for areas where people, teams, and managers are all responsible, without one being accountable.
We operate under mode 3. For duties around the KPIs, the people team is accountable for and for clearly defined, accountable areas of ownership. For example, the cost per hire that they can't execute without managers, legal risks management, legal obligations, and policy implementation.
We operate under mode 2. when mode 1. doesn't happen and the ownership isn't clearly defined. This is because from managers we get ground solutions, and from the people team, we get the systemic solution. So in doubt, it's best to introduce chaos in the system (allowing for finding new winning strategies), decentralize decisions (faster iteration), and operate closer to ground problems.
To align both managers’ and people team goals, a regular check-in meeting happens: ‣