People Operations as Part of Revenue Operations

In my experience, companies that don’t know who they are culturally, what they want from their people, or know why they’re having problems with unmet goals, will come up with a lot of reasons to be displeased with what they have. You may be saying to yourself, “Business owners and managers always know what they want – they want to sell their products or services.” Or more specifically, they want to sell more of their products and services. But at what expense?

Unfortunately, most companies do not have widespread internal collaboration, and departments are siloed, so reaching companywide goals is impossible because customer advocacy cannot be achieved. It seems to be a big mystery why companies are displeased with revenue results while at the same time struggling with employee retention and hiring. This is no coincidence.

Profitability has everything to do with your PEOPLE. People make the world go ‘round and they can make or break a business.

Only People Can Deliver Personalized Exceptional Customer Service

C-suites, owners, and managers, without motivated, dedicated workers your company cannot help customers solve their problems. It’s as simple as that. All the spreadsheets and KPIs and quarterly objectives mean nothing without happy employees, contractors, and vendors who deliver quality work and exceptional customer service. 

If you’re not caring for your people FIRST, all the plans, goals, and printouts that back up your profitability objectives can go out the window because your goals will not be reached. If you’re not valuing your employees, top talent will leave or not come to work for you in the first place. 

So what’s the solution?

People Operations as Part of Revenue Operations – Growing Your Business for the Benefit of the People

Rather than the headaches, costs, and frustrations of dealing with the employee revolving door –– hire a person, onboard, lose another, hire one, onboard, lose another –– and more human resources paperwork, it’s time to get on board with a people operations approach. The stiff, impersonal, mechanized human resources model of attracting, hiring, and onboarding is a thing of the past. 

Embracing post-pandemic here-to-stay employee empowerment, attracting people who fit your culture and get your customers, and keeping them long-term is the key to a successful revenue operations strategy that leads to customer advocacy, which leads to profitability. When you grow your business for the benefit of the people, happy employees become your community, and their positivity leads to productivity in everything they do.

Where revenue operations aligns your people, process, technology, and data to profitability across every function of your business, people operations is solely focused on valuing your people — they are what makes your company’s success possible.

How to Adopt a People Operations Approach

Employee happiness has been studied around the world and proven to be a key driver to higher productivity, more creativity, better collaboration, and superior customer service. Read that again. This is not a generational thing or molly-coddling. People of all ages have shifted their mindset and will only do what’s best for them and those they love, and if that means leaving an employer and job searching for a place where they’re appreciated, they will do it.  

In one study, Tanner Learning Group found that 79% of people who left their job did so because they didn't feel appreciated. In a Harris Poll, 70% of US employees say they're at least somewhat likely to leave their current company and accept an offer with a new company that's known for investing in employee learning and development.

How do you adopt a people operations approach and truly care for your people? 

Identify the gaps and gain clarity on who works for you and what they need to be their best, whether they are good for the company and fit the culture, and if they work hard to achieve their goals is a great place to start. 

• Ask yourself if you have the right people in the right seats or are you simply putting warm bodies in positions to fulfill a need? 
• How is that working for you? 
• Are new hires leaving? 
• Are long-term employees leaving?
• Do you have a thorough understanding of how your people play a role in customer outcomes and what they need to operate at their best? 
• Do you have active employee retention initiatives and personal outreach programs?
• Do you have any idea what your company’s reputation is like when it comes to employment?

Once you know who you need to hire (and just as importantly, who needs to be let go or moved), implement Atomic Revenue’s 25 Talent Acquisition & Retention Strategies for Business Success in the New Labor Market to attract, hire, onboard, and retain top talent; talent that will help you grow your business while you help them grow personally and professionally. 

Facing Profitability Roadblocks But Not Sure Where the Issues Are?

When leadership suspects something isn’t quite right, they try a multitude of strategies to fix it, and finally, realize they need an objective third party to get to the bottom of it. If this sounds familiar and you’re facing roadblocks but you’re not sure what to do, we can help. 

Atomic Revenue has a proven process to diagnose, resolve, and optimize B2B revenue operations. What does that mean for you? When we work with you and your team, we identify early in the process what’s causing the mysterious misalignment or squeezing profits and show you how to make positive, lasting change that drives revenue.

In the diagnose phase of our program, using immense detail, we carefully walk through and analyze your go-to-market (GTM) strategy, lead generation tactics, sales conversion strategy and numbers, and customer advocacy programs. We also assess your people operations methods and how your people are influencing profitability. Once we discover the gaps in any of those areas, we provide you with a depth of understanding of those gaps and data-driven clarity in the solutions. 

We might find your revenue roadblock could be overcome by something as simple as pushing buttons to move numbers where before you might have been pulling a lever. It may be several specific tactics that need realignment, or you may find you don’t have the right people in the right seats and need a fractional executive to fill in the gaps.

With metrics-driven objectivity, our subject matter experts (SMEs) provide a plan and tools for your people, process, technology, and data to work together.

With metrics-driven objectivity, our subject matter experts (SMEs) provide a solid plan and tools for your people, process, technology, and data to work together with digital operations and business operations. Every step in the process that keeps your company’s lights on –– end-to-end revenue production –– must support your people and the people you do business with so they can move through the seven-stage buyer journey successfully and impact your company’s success together.

People Operations is at the Heart of Every Successful Business

At the end of the day, it's the human connection and true understanding of why your company does what it does to benefit other businesses and their people. It’s about how you do business with each other and the derived value from the exchange of “money for goods or services."

When you care for your workers, treat them with respect, acknowledge their values, and help them grow personally and professionally, they will stay, and they will be your biggest advocates. When employees are inspired to do their jobs well and help others, there is a direct effect on customer advocacy and business growth.

Contact Atomic Revenue to Learn More

The secret is out! People operations is at the heart of every successful business. Of course, streamlined, accurate processes, technology, and data play a large role in driving revenue, but it’s a company’s people skills that create differentiation and provide an exceptional customer journey. Interested in learning more about people operations aligned to revenue operations? Contact Atomic Revenue today for a no-obligation conversation.

About the Author

Lauren Fast is the Brand & Exposure Manager for Atomic Revenue and co-owner of Fast Bryant Consulting. Her specialty is managing and implementing content development while creating clients’ brand strategies. Lauren has a proven history of developing successful public-facing content and brand-building that fosters lead generation, sales conversion, and customer advocacy. She also has comprehensive social media, website, public speaking, coaching, and content marketing experience and a proven record as a top-performing Senior Sales Director.