Jessica Zwaan, COO at Talentful on Bringing Product Management Practices and a Commercial Focus into People Operations

Supermanagers

In this insightful episode, we sit down with Jessica Zwaan, COO of Talentful, whose impressive career journey spans roles in HR and operations across leading tech and SaaS companies. Jessica shares her transition from HR to the COO role, discussing the significant learnings and challenges faced along the way. She delves into the importance of commercial acumen within HR, the necessity of being outcome-driven, and how curiosity can shape effective leadership.

In episode 9 of season 2, Jessica provides an in-depth look at how she structures meetings to ensure transparency and accountability, including her unique approach to the weekly business review meetings. She emphasizes the need for HR to adopt a more product-oriented mindset and shares practical examples from her experience at Whereby, where innovative solutions to operational challenges significantly improved organizational efficiency.

As a hands-on Chief Operating Officer with a background scaling technology, e-commerce, and SaaS businesses, Jessica brings a wealth of experience to her roles. She is a regular panelist and speaker at local and international events, sharing her insights on business operations, culture influence, and how she thinks about companies as commercial products.

This episode is packed with actionable advice on transforming HR functions, fostering a culture of curiosity, and building strong leadership teams.

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TIME-STAMPED SHOW NOTES:

[04:30] Making the transition from HR to COO

[07:12] Purposeful career moves

[12:00] Challenges in HR roles

[17:57] The impact of organizational structures on HR functions

[22:30] The importance of open transparency and peer accountability in meetings

[27:27] Building workforce autonomy and reducing parental culture

[33:30] Incentivizing employees and practical solutions to business problems

[38:21] Being “mostly right” as a leader

👉 Check out the resources mentioned here: https://fellow.app/supermanagers/jessica-zwaan-talentful

RESOURCES MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE:

• Connect with Jessica on LinkedIn

• Read Built for People by Jessica Zwaan

• Learn more about Fellow.app - AI meeting management software

• Join the Supermanagers Slack community