How Jessica discovered people ops as a product

People Ops needs product thinking.

Jessica shared how she started building HR teams using squad formations and agile methodologies way back in 2016.

She started documenting her “People as Product” framework on Medium, initially getting ~400 views per post. Fast forward to 2020 - her framework went viral with tens of thousands of reads.

Why? Because she was solving a real problem:

• Traditional HR is reactive
• Product thinking makes it proactive
• Squad formations increase autonomy
• Agile methods boost adaptability​

The first time Built for People author ran HR like a product team

We asked Jessica to tell us about her first experience running an HR team like a product team.

Her approach - instead of permanent headcount, she built a flexible squad:

• Analyst during planning season (Q4)
• Contract recruiter for hiring sprints (Q2)
• Core team handling ongoing work
• Later at McCann (2000 employees), she scaled this to multiple squads working on key initiatives.

Results?

Launched an award-winning apprenticeship program in just 12 WEEKS:

• Full hiring pipeline
• Custom onboarding
• Branded program identity
• Won gold/bronze for best UK early careers program

The early skeptics of people ops as a product

The early skeptics of Jessica’s “Built for People” work?

Usually HR directors & VPs claiming "my business would never go for this".

The enthusiastic adopters? Founders, CEOs, COOs... the exact people HR thinks would push back.

She says we often create imaginary barriers around transformation. "My team can't handle it" or "We don't have resources" are usually fear talking, not reality.

When you focus on measuring impact rather than input, it's hard for any business leader to argue against that. Even Harvard Business Review is covering this shift.

Sometimes the biggest obstacle to innovation isn't your organization - it's our own assumptions about what others will accept.

Go listen to the full episode: YouTube | Spotify | Apple​
​
See you next week!

P.S. We’re launching MPL Build (with Jessica) later this week — a premium resource with guides, templates, and case studies for running your people team like a product team. Join the waitlist to be the first to know when it goes live.