People Management in SAFe©

Rethinking People Management in SAFe

How you and your organization perceive and perform the people management capability is a differentiating factor going forward.

Rethinking People Management Processes

Especially traditional and ‘fake agile’ HR processes are particularly harmful to your efforts and successes in the SAFe operations. A prime example that you may have come across too, is individual goals and incentives that go against collaborative value creation and discourage experimentation and innovation. Another one might be your performance management system, that is either still traditional or is run more frequently to simulate agility, but at the end of the day, you are investing time, money, and energy into a process that was initially set up to align, communicate, and rally behind goals and ensure high value contributions, something that SAFe already excels at.

You can certainly think of many more examples that illustrate the disconnect between agile ways of working and traditional people management. But we would be remiss to blame everything on corporate HR processes. While they need an overhaul here (and we will tell you what your contribution is shortly), there is also the leadership component to people management to consider.

Reexamining Reporting Lines & Managerial Setup

When you think back to the beginnings of your organization’s SAFe journey. You probably started with a virtual organization, which is a great thing to do. Your people started working in the network organization from day one without you having to alter the original reporting lines in your people management systems like SAP, PeopleSoft, or WorkDay. Now, this probably worked well at the beginning. Where it gets sticky is when it is no longer a means to an end (employees are allocated to one person in the system) but becomes a burden.

The original manager is still responsible for traditional people tasks from running though the annual performance management process, doing employee appraisals and distributing salary increases. Leading them to summon their direct reports to staff meetings and weekly 1:1s to discuss work and delivery topics that are already taken care of within their agile team or ART – wasting time and energy in the process.

It may feel like artificially keeping alive an outdated managerial structure, while being removed from the day-to-day planning and operations and yet fulfilling the vital role of people management. How often do you hear complaints about agile increasing the number of meetings? The problem is not that SAFe reconfigures how, when, and why people get together, the problem is that, that many or all of the original meetings are kept on the books.

These questions fall under two categories: ‘who’ and ‘how’. Let’s look at the ‘who’ first.

The People Developer Role: Building the People Runway

People management has traditionally been part of the responsibility of line managers, the group of leaders responsible for content, design, process, and people topics.

This was oftentimes a challenging balancing act. You may have experienced yourself, how difficult it can be to get people topics like learning sessions on the team backlog, since people topics are oftentimes not seen as important or urgent enough to win out over a delivery responsibility.

And while the consolidation of power with to one managerial role was a successful model in the past, it is no longer a recipe for success in the age of fast changes. Agility, that thrives on creating and managing change, and diverse views and perspectives are needed to ensure learning and speed.

Therefore, SAFe gives us a leadership team consisting of the different authorities of the ART, who act as experts and advocates for their area of responsibility.

Product and Solution Management for content, System and Solution architect/engineering for design, and RTE/STE for flow and relentless improvement. This leaves the people topics and the core question of: Who has people as their first priority? Enter the role of the People Developer, who serves as the people authority on the ART. Together they form the Tactical Square (or Triad).

As a strategic partner within the Tactical Square, however, you provide expertise and advocacy and drive organizational success by building a robust talent pipeline through:

• Engaging in Talent Enablement
• Cultivating Performance Acceleration
• Conducting strategic Workforce Management
• Spearheading people matters
• Acting as People Advocate and Culture Champion
• Driving Resilience & Change Readiness

As outlined before, the new reporting structure shifts away from functional clusters and previous reporting lines, instead focusing on assigning People Developers to specific agile teams within a single ART. Each People Developer will be responsible for approximately 25-30 individuals, encompassing three to five agile teams. This focused approach aims to enhance your ability to build deeper relationships, understand team dynamics, and provide personalized guidance. By assigning entire teams within the same ART, the structure facilitates direct observation of team dynamics and enables effective translation of ART needs into strategic workforce planning, ultimately empowering People Developers to excel in their roles.

As a People Developer, you are a leader and champion for people, dedicated to fostering a culture of collaboration, learning, and adaptability. You act as a talent enabler, employee advocate, culture champion, and strategic partner. You may be called a People Manager or Agile People Leader, but at the end of the day you are not there to manage people. Instead, you have the critical task to help the people under your care reach their full potential, ensuring they are resilient and change-ready and well-equipped to navigate the challenges of a dynamic environment.