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helping churches navigate people operations

People Operations – or People Ops as it’s often called – is simply the staff management principle of putting people first. 

What is People operations?

People Operations is a strategic business function that focuses on putting the employee first by humanizing impersonal systems and continuously improving employee engagement, development, and retention.

The term was coined by Laszlo Bock—former HR Director at Google—who explored this in more depth in his book, Work Rules!

We believe that churches should be the obvious front-runners in the move from Human Resources to People Ops. 

 

People Operations responsibilities include:

• Managing the employee journey

• Developing a people strategy

• Increasing employee value

• Updating HR systems

• Analyzing metrics

• Helping to achieve the wider goals of the organization

 

It’s about creating a culture and environment that makes employees feel happy and proud to work at their organization.

A successful People Operations department improves company culture, increases employee dedication and diversity, and fuels business growth. So, if you don’t yet have a People Ops team, it may be time to invest in one.

How do People Operations differ from Human Resources?

Although People Operations may sound the same as HR, there are some key differences, especially compared to traditional HR departments.

Traditional HRPeople Operations
Focused on enforcing compliance and reducing liability.Focused on maximizing the value of employees.
Informed about decisions and told to execute.Consulted on strategic decisions and part of the conversation.
Works within narrow boundaries of “traditional HR.”Takes a wider, holistic view of the business and uses People tools to achieve goals.
Responds to issues as and when they arise.Proactively creates new systems and programs to improve ways of working.
Updates and maintains the employee database and inputs pay changes as requested by managers.Creates goal-based reward systems that encourage employee initiative and dedication.
Hire a replacement when a position is vacant.Support the current workforce so that there is less turnover.
HR departments tend to operate separately from all other departments.People Operations connect all departments together.

Many large companies, including Google, Buffer, and IBM, are moving away from traditional HR teams in favor of a People Ops model, which takes a more holistic approach to business.

 

Why Shepherd Staff?

Testimonials

"Start to finish, I thought it was very thorough with good analysis up front, consistent communication, and a team approach. It was a very effective and easy experience."
RichardExecutive Pastor
"We appreciated how well The Shepherd's Staff got to know us in order to find the perfect candidates for our senior pastor position."
MeganSearch Team Chairperson
"Start to finish, I thought it was very thorough with good analysis up front, consistent communication, and a team approach. It was a very effective and easy experience."
DavidSenior Pastor
The Shepherd Staff team are great at partnering with churches to find the best candidates possible and connecting candidates to those churches. What impressed our leadership was their relational approach to this process and their genuine desire to partner with us in helping to recruit and develop a healthy staff team for effective ministry. Their vetting process allows them to really get to know both the local church and the pool of candidates they are connecting with to help facilitate great partnerships. They found a way to come alongside us in a way that balances their role as a consultant while honoring the church leadership's process and final call in making the hire.
MatthewSenior Pastor
I just wanted to take a minute to thank you and your team for the awesome job you did in bringing Pastor John to Five Stones Church! We love him! He's such a great fit!
BarbStaff Member
It's been hard coming out of Covid to find candidates, let alone candidates that fit our unique constraints as a rural, multi-site church. Fortunately, our search consultants were not only inquisitive when it came to learning the nuances of our culture, they were diligent when it came to finding us great prospects. Each week in our live updates, they brought us compelling data and practical insights. We learned about the market, the candidate pool and how our search was progressing. Shepherd's Staff helped us upgrade our marketing materials, tap new pools of talent and, ultimately, find the right candidate. We will continue to partner with The Shepherd's Staff team!
Chris R. Executive Pastor
From the very first exploratory call with our consultant, we have been impressed.

The team at Shepherd Staff is the most thorough group we have ever worked with. They go out of their way to not only clearly define the role we were hiring for, but to learn about the church and the needs of the congregation. Several calls, a multi-day visit, and consistent weekly check-in appointments during the search.

Pete H.Search Team Chair
We thought we were making a wise investment in a search firm, but what we gained was decades of expertise, caring relationships, expert insight into ministry, coaching, and plenty of grace in areas that we didn’t even identify as potential roadblocks to the position we had open.
Pete H.Search Team Chair
The screening process, written communication and clarity that our committee and staff had about candidates before they were brought forward for the first round of interviews was beyond excellent.
Pete H.Search Team Chair
In just 4 short months from exploratory visit to a hired candidate, our church staff and hiring committee gained a new level of expertise from a caring, kind, and Jesus-led team at Shepherd Staff.
Pete H.Search Team Chair
Expectations, boundaries, and cost were all clear from the very beginning. No surprises, just dedicated support.

We can’t thank you enough for truly shepherding us through the process!

Pete H.Search Team Chair