{"id":4031,"date":"2018-04-12T11:29:04","date_gmt":"2018-04-12T15:29:04","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-us\/blog\/?p=4031"},"modified":"2026-02-12T05:26:02","modified_gmt":"2026-02-12T10:26:02","slug":"7-characteristics-of-a-people-company","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-us\/blog\/7-characteristics-of-a-people-company\/","title":{"rendered":"7 characteristics of a People Company"},"content":{"rendered":"
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\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tPeople & Leadership<\/a>\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t
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\n\t\t\t\t\t\t7 characteristics of a People Company\t\t\t\t\t<\/h1>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t

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\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\"Paul\t\t\t\tPaul Burrin<\/span>\n\t\t\t<\/a>\n\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

SkyScanner, Huddle and Just Eat. They\u2019re some of the world\u2019s fastest-growing and innovative companies. But they also have one thing in common critical to their success: how they value their people. They put their employees first<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We call companies which do this \u2018People Companies\u2019<\/a>; when it comes to the crunch, they truly put the success of their people at the top of the list for company success.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But what are the secrets to these high-growth, progressive companies that put people first? We think there are seven things to look out for.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

People Companies create meaningful, positive workforce experiences<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Someone who has wholly positive experiences at work, and finds their work engaging and meaningful, is going to be a greater asset to a company than someone who doesn\u2019t.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We\u2019re not talking about ping pong tables and free food \u2013 we\u2019re talking about organizations where employees feel truly engaged, empowered and inspired. For example, giving employees projects that reflect their passions and values, and empowering them to own it and deliver the best outcomes as a result.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Meaningful workplace experiences are different for each employee, and companies which put their people first get this; they understand their employees\u2019 motivations and tailor their approaches to each employee as a result.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

People Companies understand, and use, the power of their employer brand<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Ask yourself: is your company a great place to work? That\u2019s the question potential candidates will ask themselves. They\u2019ll follow your company\u2019s Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, Instagram and LinkedIn feeds to see if you\u2019re a good organization to work for. And they\u2019ll search the internet to see how your brand compares with your competitors and other leading brands as a workplace.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Companies like Pebble {code} and Shopify know this<\/a> \u2013 and are prepared. They apply customer marketing strategies to how they recruit and retain people. They understand that they can attract the best, by marketing themselves to the best.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

People Companies make decisions based on People Science<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

In a People Company, leaders get insight on what drives their workforce through People Science. They use data to develop stronger insights about their people and motivations. This can be used to make more informed evidence-based people decisions \u2013 and used for predictive purposes so that managers can start to make more proactive decisions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

People Companies use insights from People Science in everything they do. They use it to design workforce experiences, market themselves to candidates, and understand employees\u2019 behavior and motivations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

People Companies have continuous conversations instead of annual appraisals<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

The days of annual appraisals are over. People Companies know this and instead, have continuous conversations. They provide regular feedback throughout the year. And they use approaches like peer-led \u2018shout outs\u2019 to reward performance. Instead, they capture feedback in a much more frequent and iterative manner, which drives quicker improvements in performance.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Many forward-thinking, fast-growth and innovative companies are agile in their approach to building a product or managing a project \u2013 the same goes for how they manage their people and feedback, too.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

People Companies embrace mobile and on-demand working<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

With the ever-growing skills crisis and war for talent, People Companies know that workplace flexibility is vital to attracting, engaging and retaining the best people. As the makeup of work, teams continue to evolve, and the modern workforce becomes more tech-savvy, more mobile and more dispersed, fast-growth companies are embracing new ways of working.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We live in an on-demand world where employees, as consumers, can do their grocery shopping, order dinner, and hail a cab on mobile. Employees expect this kind of immediacy at work too.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

People Companies automate HR processes and design better ways of working<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

People Companies give their employees autonomy to do things themselves, such as booking holiday, setting objectives, or managing their teams. They use people systems<\/a> that are designed for their employees and provide better experiences.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

People Companies are getting ahead by automating transactional processes and leaving their leaders free to focus on people. They get quicker feedback and take remedial action. By continually redesigning better ways of working in this iterative manner, People Companies see a quicker impact on engagement and productivity.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Our recent research, supports this. It found that fast-growth companies are performing better than others on this; typically, 80% have embraced HR automation versus 53% in lower growth businesses.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n

People Companies have Chief People Officers<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

In a People Company, the HR function is evolving quickly to embrace new skills and roles, such as People Scientists, business psychologists, designers, and marketing and communications specialists \u2013 and are led by a Chief People Officer.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This role is typically found in forward-thinking fast-growth companies such as the likes of Skyscanner, Huddle, and Just Eat.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

However, having a Chief People Officer does not simply make an organization a People Company.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

To be a People Company, HR leaders (or people leaders!) need to think about how they leverage new approaches, new roles and new ways of design to create truly great workforce experiences for their people.<\/p>\n\n\n

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