Cheval People Operating System - Build Your People Operations Foundation With Confidence

To aid you in your choice of toolkit, think of the People Operations Lifecycle as follows:

Build

HR Operations & Administration Playbook — The back-office engine of HR. It sets out how employee records, job and pay changes, timekeeping, employment verifications and HR reporting should flow, with the forms, logs and controls to run them consistently. Includes a data dictionary, reconciliation templates and a 90-day implementation roadmap.

Employee Playbook — A framework for building an employee handbook, not just a stack of policy templates. It covers policy architecture, the core policies from conduct and attendance to leave, safety and technology use, and how to handle multiple states and keep policies governed over time. Includes an acknowledgment template and a manager escalation guide.

U.S. HR Compliance Playbook — A practical guide to the main U.S. employment-law areas an employer has to manage, from hiring and pay classification to leave, I-9s, OSHA, records and termination. Includes checklists, an employee file audit, a state and local tracker and an annual compliance calendar. General guidance, not legal advice.

HR Process & Workflow Playbook — Documents how HR work actually moves, from recruiting and onboarding through performance improvement, salary reviews and offboarding. It defines who owns each step using RACI, adds controls and service standards, and provides process maps, checklists and change-control templates to put it into practice.

Grow

Role Clarity & Job Design Playbook — Starts with the role, not the job description. It walks through job analysis, role purpose, accountabilities, decision rights and competencies, then builds the job levels, governance and sample library so descriptions stay useful across hiring, pay and performance.

Recruitment & Selection Playbook — A structured approach to hiring, from justifying the position to closing the offer. It covers selection criteria, sourcing, interviewing, candidate evaluation, references and background checks, with scorecards, interview plans and a recruiting dashboard that keep decisions consistent and measurable.

Compensation, Benefits & Rewards Playbook — Builds a pay and rewards system you can explain and defend. It covers compensation philosophy, internal equity, market benchmarking, salary ranges, merit and promotion decisions, pay equity review, incentives and benefits strategy, supported by worksheets and a rewards dashboard.

Performance & Accountability Playbook — Connects expectations, goals, check-ins, feedback and reviews into one accountability system. It includes rating calibration, development planning and the full path from informal correction to a performance improvement plan, with templates managers can use directly.

Learning, Development & Growth Playbook — Aligns development spending with business needs. It covers capability mapping, skills gap assessment, individual development plans, the 70-20-10 mix, tuition reimbursement and learning impact, then extends into career and leadership development, succession pipeline and the Equus Evolution Experience™.

Lead

Culture, Engagement & Employee Experience Playbook — Treats culture and engagement as something to design and manage rather than hope for. It covers the employee experience journey, listening through annual and pulse surveys, turning results into action, recognition, belonging and psychological safety, with tools to measure progress.

HR Metrics & KPIs Playbook — A foundation kit on which HR numbers to track and how to use them. It provides a metric dictionary, leading and lagging indicators, a recruiting funnel view, a monthly people review, data governance guidance and an executive people dashboard.

Executive & Employee HR Communications Playbook — A foundation kit of ready-to-use communication tools for HR and leadership. It covers audience and channel planning, monthly CEO/CHRO updates, manager cascade briefs, change FAQs and employee listening, with a framework for difficult and sensitive announcements.

Managers Playbook — A working guide for managers across the employee lifecycle, from the first 30 days through termination. It covers goal setting, feedback, coaching, difficult conversations, documentation, hiring, delegation, conflict and leave, and includes the "Call HR First" guide and a PIP framework.