Putting People First: Building a Human‑Centric Operations System

Introduction

Operations is still often seen as a purely technical role, yet the real challenge lies in improving the overall quality and motivation of operations staff. Recent major incidents have sparked industry reflection on the human side of operations.

Operations staff chase ever‑changing technologies while companies push for automation, hoping all problems will disappear.

People‑Centric Operations Framework

The framework consists of three layers from bottom to top: framework (the skeleton), blood (processes and policies), and interface (service mindset and skills).

ITIL splits operations into People, Process, and Technology, but rarely discusses the “people” aspect in depth.

Some models describe operations as organization,制度 (rules), and means, which aligns with the framework: “framework” equals organization, “blood” includes rules and means, while the unique “interface” emphasizes service awareness and techniques.

What Is People‑Centric?

People‑centric means understanding, respecting, leveraging strengths, encouraging growth, and starting from fundamental human needs. Humans naturally seek freedom, recognition, and love, yet can also be lazy or avoid responsibility.

Operations staff, though often introverted, still have basic needs such as love and care, and these must be considered when designing processes.

Key questions to evaluate a people‑centric approach:

Is there an “interface person” to shield technical staff from direct business pressure?

Can processes be streamlined to reduce pain points?

Do policies truly get internalized rather than just posted on walls?

Does automation account for human weaknesses?

Japanese entrepreneur Kazuo Inamori’s “flammability theory” classifies people as self‑igniting, ignitable, or non‑flammable, highlighting the importance of fostering enthusiasm.

Why Adopt a People‑Centric Approach?

Operations staff are knowledge workers; their motivation directly impacts productivity. Unlike manual labor, their value depends on creativity and initiative.

Physical workers follow repetitive steps; operations staff must continuously apply intelligence.

Automation alone cannot replace human judgment; without skill growth, automation can increase risk.

How to Implement People‑Centric Practices

Operations can be divided into organization,制度, and technology. Below are practical examples.

People‑Centric Processes

Processes often become barriers. For example, server‑provision requests may require multiple approvals, slowing urgent work.

Streamlining approvals—allowing the operations lead to approve low‑cost or low‑quantity requests—reduces delays.

Similarly, CDN requests often mandate a domain name, adding unnecessary steps. Embedding domain provisioning within the platform can simplify the workflow.

People‑Centric Technology

Voice alerts can replace constant SMS notifications, reducing anxiety for on‑call staff.

Integrate Zabbix with services like Nexmo to trigger automated voice calls, with escalation rules that call secondary responders after missed attempts.

Nexmo offers cheap, reliable Chinese voice messages with no missed alerts in our year‑long use.

The voice‑alert platform can be built with Python and includes multi‑level escalation.

Continuous integration and deployment (CI/CD) further reduce reliance on manual operations, allowing developers to push code and have it automatically deployed.

Docker provides isolated environments and seamless code delivery; a simple

git push

triggers automatic deployment without human intervention.

People‑Centric Organization

Building an organization that continuously develops staff capabilities and fosters genuine service awareness is essential. Earlier articles in this series cover detailed strategies for cultivating such a culture.