Designing Work Like a Subscription Product: How to Retain Top Talent | Luke O’Mahoney

Luke O’Mahoney is one of the leaders of the movement to reframe work as a product that every company sells to employees. In particular, Luke has gone deep into the implications of recognizing work as a subscription product, and brings an absolute wealth of ideas to bear on how to create the kind of work experience product that employees want to buy every day. People don't stay in jobs because of free snacks, ping pong tables, or flashy recruiting campaigns. They stay because work works for them.

Luke is now a chief people officer - in recovery. As the founder of Sapienˣ, he helps organizations stop playing the short game and start designing work experiences that drive long-term retention and advocacy. In this episode, Dart and Luke discuss why hiring funnels are broken, what it really means to design work as a product, and how companies can build flywheels that continuously reengage employees. They also explore why transparency, not perks, keeps people invested in their roles.

In this episode, Dart and Luke discuss:
- Why work should be designed as a subscription product
- Funnels vs. flywheels in hiring and retention
- How bad recruiting leads to employee buyer’s remorse
- The role of delight in keeping employees engaged
- How hiring attracts more hiring and losing creates churn
- Why transparency in recruiting matters more than perks
- What Luke hires his job to do for him
- How to build work experiences people want to subscribe to
- And other topics...

Luke O'Mahoney is a people strategist and founder of Sapienˣ, where he helps companies design work experiences using product-led thinking. With a background in recruitment, talent operations, and startup leadership, he applies lessons from subscription business models to hiring and retention. Previously, he led people and operations at a high-growth startup, overseeing product, marketing, and GTM strategy alongside HR. His work focuses on building sustainable people strategies that drive engagement, retention, and advocacy.

Resources Mentioned:
Good to Great by Jim Collins: https://www.amazon.com/Good-Great-Some-Companies-Others-ebook/dp/B0058DRUV6
Built for People by Jessica Zwaan: https://www.amazon.com/Built-People-Experience-Management-Principles/dp/1398608025

Connect with Luke:
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/lukeomahoney 

Work with Dart:
Dart is the CEO and co-founder of the work design firm 11fold. Build work that makes employees feel alive, connected to their work, and focused on what’s most important to the business. Book a call at 11fold.com.