Jessica Z.

G'day. 

Before connecting: I love getting to know new people (and a connection request without us having previously met is fine) but please write a short note on 'the why' you'd like to connect. I get quite a lot of invitations without comment or context, and I am sorry to say they are likely to be overlooked.

I’m Jessica Zwaan, and I organise my thoughts by thinking and then writing down the bits that feel helpful - to me, and hopefully to you reading this. One of my favourite things to write about is how humans organise themselves into “work”: the mess, the meaning, and all the strange systems we build to make sense of it.

Outside of writing, I help companies notice what they’re doing (not the aspirational version, the real one) and redesign it so people can move with more meaning and less friction. It’s part anthropology, part product thinking, part structured nosiness.

Sometimes the work becomes a book.
Sometimes it becomes a new way to design work.
Sometimes it becomes a tool, a ritual, a way of seeing things differently.

I also write poems for fun, blogs, non-fiction, and occasionally stand on stages to talk about it all. Mostly, I’m just looking for ways to make life make more sense for myself (and, if I can, for anyone else I meet along the way).

Chief Operating Officer

It’s time for a change. 

Over the last few months, something in me has shifted. I've been feeling the work I care about most moving to the edges of my days. 

I've spent years thinking seriously about what makes work fulfilling. I went and wrote a book about it. 

It turns out I ought to apply that thinking to myself.

So I've made the decision to step away from my position at Talentful. I'm genuinely proud of what we built together, but I've reached the point where staying would mean continuing to drift from the things that matter most to me: writing, speaking, building things that sit at the intersection of human experience and work, and (critically!) travelling to be present with the people I love.

I recently read this paragraph from my new book at a dinner in New York. I felt, for the first time in a while, completely clear about what comes next.

I'll share what that is soon.

There's a lot of joy on the horizon. 

I can't wait. 🌅

Jessica Zwaan

Author of 📚 Built for People and 📚 Purpose and Work | Substack: mplbuild

What job is your job doing for you? Why do you go to work every day?

These questions have followed me for years. They sound simple, but they're not.

Work is a huge part of the front line of human experience. Almost everyone, everywhere, participates in some form of labour for most of their waking lives. And yet we've normalised the idea that finding it meaningful is a bonus... a nice-to-have, not a design requirement.

I wrote Built for People because I believed organisations could be built differently. I kept writing and published Purpose and Work because I realised the harder question wasn't structural. It was this: do people actually know what they're looking for? And does anyone at work create the conditions for them to find it?

That's what my second book is about. And I'm really proud of it.

The skill that got me from CHRO to COO wasn't people strategy.
It was working in a way that truly unified HR and Finance data.

Thinking int his way let me show trade-offs and strategy the the language of revenue impact, not just 'engagement' or 'culture'.

Instead of defending HR best practice or big bets, I could propose commercial solutions that happened to involve people.

New HiBob data shows only 2% of organisations have this visibility. Which explains why:
68% say lack of relevant or timely data contributes to bad outcomes at least half the time.
65% say they cannot ensure fair pay decisions without a unified view of people and budget data.
63% worry about inconsistent metrics across teams

Whether you want to move into a more senior role across Ops or just want to speak the same language as your board as a CHRO, you need commercial fluency. And that requires seeing the full picture: people AND finance, together.
I've written about how I actually built this (and why it matters more than any certification) over in the HiBob community. Link in comments.

What's your biggest barrier to unified visibility? Systems, access, learning, or just priorities?

Download the full report here: https://lnkd.in/eDuVMCvd

Thank you so much to HR magazine for listing Purpose and Work as a top 5 new publication! So grateful to be listed amongst some other fab titles including friends of mine like David! 

I'm really, very proud of the work I've put into this new book, and I'm looking forward to all of the upcoming events where I can meet all of y'all who are already reading it.

Congrats to the other newly minted titles by Anne-Maartje Oud, Jen Fisher and Lily Zheng!

Want to grab a copy?
🇬🇧 https://lnkd.in/eMZrut7U
🇺🇸 https://lnkd.in/eS5Kmdc7

Gosh it feels good to be out in the world talking about my new book!!

Today is the day! Publication of my newest book in the US! 

Very excited to see it out in the world. 

Thank you to everyone who has pre-ordered, and if you've got your copy already I cannot wait to hear your feedback.

Co-Founder @ Calyptus | High Performance Talent at Scale | Blockchain & AI

Jessica Zwaan calls it “purpose theatre”

Companies craft big purpose statements… then run People like a helpdesk and cut the budget that actually builds the employee experience.

In this People Protocol:
- what founders do differently when building world-class teams
- why scale = “temporary incompetence” (and how to survive it)
- what AI has actually changed in People Ops

Read it here 👇

Jessica Zwaan has built people functions at some of the most fast-moving companies in tech, from Whereby to Talentful, navigating the high-stakes work

Open article: "AI hasn't fundamentally changed what good People Operations looks like" - Jessica Zwaan on the Reality of AI in HR by Callum Crombie • 7 min read

"AI hasn't fundamentally changed what good People Operations looks like" - Jessica Zwaan on the Reality of AI in HR

The easiest way to make an impact on people is to care about what you're doing without apology or restraint. 🧡 

Explore your interests wholeheartedly. Share how you feel about things that matter to you... be that work, people, or ideas that seem niche or uncool or too much.

The best teams I've been a part of felt the same way.... people who light up talking about their passions, who tell each other directly what they mean to them, who bring their enthusiasm into the conversation. That's where energy comes from.

Performed indifference doesn't leave a mark. 

Energy cast outward into the world always finds somewhere to land. 🌎

A kind of massive deviation from my usual content, but here goes...

This is something I wanted to share as I continue on my never-ending mission towards a deeper sense of fulfilment and purpose in this world. 🧡 

Context: I have a bit of an "extra" friendship group. We love creating experiences for each other, and being intentional with how we spend our time, conversation, and energy.

So, why not, lately I've been working on an unofficial "Master of Fine Art" at the School of... The City of New York. 🗽 

The Central Premise...

A real MFA develops three things simultaneously: technical literacy, critical thinking, and personal artistic voice. This version aims to do the same, the only difference is the classroom is the city itself. Gonna be a good Summer!

I’m going to catalogue and plan ahead of time, treating free museum entry, cheap theatre tickets, gallery openings, public performances, and community concerts as a sort of curriculum so that it’s almost free/very accessible. 

Before each event, I’ll get a brief to sharpen our thinking. After each one, hold a conversation where we genuinely interrogate what we experienced. Then, we end with a fun night of “graduation” to celebrate ourselves, art, New York City, life, wine (probably), and each other. ♥️ ♥️ ♥️

What we need for this MFA is simple...
Journal or sketch book which you will make weekly reflections and notes in
Ticket costs amounting to around $250-300 all inclusive if you wish to attend all events
Your time across 14 weeks of events, with around 3 to 6 hours per week, including discussion 

Interested? Come along! Or, if you're not in New York...maybe you could do your own in your city, I'd love to read what you'd do in London, Amsterdam, or your home town!

Open article: The Unofficial NYC MFA: Syllabus by docs.google.com

When I read things now I take a natural position that it was written by AI, and then I just... stop reading... if I find it lazy, polemic, unconvincing, or poorly written.

Whereas before I assumed a person wrote it and then... stopped reading... if it was lazy, polemic, unconvincing, or poorly written.

Sure, the quantity of content is higher, and the distribution of bad writing is higher (woof), but my behaviour hasn't significantly changed with the introduction of AI.

The filter was always there; AI just moved it further to the front.

All y'all who come along to one of my upcoming book launch events (dates coming soon!) will be treated to some special sticker packs to celebrate Purpose and Work's birthday! 🥳 

Events upcoming in:
📍 London
📍 New York City
📍 Berlin
📍 San Francisco
📍 and more...

Want to know more? Drop your name (or tag a friend) in the comments!

Calibration is a science and an art... but there is one tool trying very hard to push it closer to science. 🧪 

As we step into calibration season at Talentful I'm reminded of the amazing work happening at Incompass where they've just released a brand new free-tier where you can try their performance assessment and calibration tool with no sign-up friction! 🎉

If you lead a small, fast-growing team and want real visibility into performance, this is worth checking out. With the free plan you can launch your first feedback cycle, use structured rating and reporting workflows, and get immediate performance insights for up to 10 participants.

No commitment - just jump in and see the work the team has done around incentive compatible scoring and some real science behind peformance ratings. https://lnkd.in/dWyVtBP6

Last month I asked a question out loud to some friends: what would an arts education look like if you used the city itself as the classroom?

The conversation that followed made one thing clear... a lot of people are hungry for this, and not just in New York.

So: Living City MFA is now a real thing. www.livingcitymfa.com

14 weeks. 5 focus areas. Free museums, gallery openings, public performances, and cheap theatre treated as structured curriculum, with pre-event briefs, journal reflections, and genuine group dialogue after each one.

Roughly $300 all-in. Open to friends, strangers, and anyone curious enough to show up.

And if you're not in New York: what would this look like in your city?
I'm asking seriously. I'm also going to work on building a free, open-source guide to running a Living City programme anywhere in the world... any city, any season, any budget. Drop your ideas in the comments.

This post is exactly the kind of thing that my new book Purpose and Work has surfaced, and it brings me so much joy to see this kind of narrative out in the world (as opposed to intense "you have to love your company's mission and have that be your sole source of fulfilment")

I write ‘By Popular Demand’, a newsletter about marketing and pop culture 💕 Join #PopChat every Friday at 1pm ET 🎉

Saw this tweet and had to cross-post it on LinkedIn because this woman’s perspective is too good 🩷





credit: Iamivy05 on X

Absolutely gutted to be missing this one as I am heading to Vegas for TransformHR that following week... Londoners, go along!

“I've said it before, I'll say it again, these are the best PX events everrrrr. If you haven't been to one of these yet, you need to get there in 2026!” - Adam Horne

“Ahhh my heart. 🧡 I'm back in London with some of the UK's most brilliant People & Talent Leaders thanks for organising the incredible People Experience Live event.” - Jessica Zwaan

“Absolutely PUMPED! I've learnt so much and seen so many incredible people my tank is full ❤️ Today was exhilarating.”  - Marie Krebs

Just some of the beautiful reflections from some of my favourite PX People (and friends!) from the last PX Live event 💜

What an incredibly uplifting and enriching day it really was 🙌🏻

🫂 Friends were made  - seriously, deep connections turned to friendships that have endured well beyond the event.

💡 Aha moments were had - Oh, so THIS is what product-led PX really looks like - I get it now!

💜 Community was formed - for many, the first in-person meeting of virtual peers and connections - we came together and in doing so, we found our people.

☕️ Coffee was drunk - lots of it, and the good stuff! Speciality coffee for all to try - I like to share my passion for coffee, seems like a good excuse!

All of these things will be available in abundance when we run it back for SapienX presents: PX Live | London, on 20th March! 🥳

Only 4 weeks to go! 😱

It's going to be a day of connection, community, and a whole lot of product-led PX insights 🙌🏻

I am particularly looking forward to sharing the stage with Chris Metcalfe and sharing our vision for the way forward, a Product Operating Model for People Teams 🚀

Check out the full agenda and grab your ticket, today! 👇🏻 

https://lnkd.in/dSadz7tB

Be in the room!!

... or don't, I guess 😆 

That is an option too... 

But you will wish you had been, so why take the risk of missing out?! 😉

-------------------------

Huge thank you to our Headline sponsor: Humaans 💜

Thanks also to HowNow, our partner sponsor 🙌🏻

And to our feature sponsor Huggg 🎁

Couldn't do these events without the support from incredible brand partners who put their investment into the People and HR community 🙏🏻

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