01
We fix things in order, not all at once
Scale-ups typically need four or five systems and try to build them simultaneously. We establish the order: structure and decision rights first, then performance and levels, then the rules for pay.
Who We Help
Scale-ups
Growth is rarely the problem. The problem is that the organisation kept the assumptions it started with while everything around them changed.
The problem
A company that doubles headcount does not double complexity, it multiplies it. The practices that worked at forty people — a shared context, informal coordination, decisions made in the room — quietly stop working somewhere between eighty and a hundred and fifty. Nothing announces the change. Coordination cost simply rises, and each function starts solving it locally.
- 01Every function invented its own performance process because none existed.
- 02Onboarding a manager takes three months of absorbing undocumented context.
- 03Compensation decisions are made deal by deal and are increasingly hard to defend.
- 04Meetings multiplied to compensate for structure that was never redesigned.
- 05The leadership team is spending its time on coordination rather than direction.
How it works
How we approach it
02
We build for the size the company is heading for
A framework designed for today is obsolete in two quarters. We design for the organisation you expect within eighteen months and keep the implementation proportionate to the company you are now.
03
We keep it usable for managers who are already stretched
Every system is built as something a manager can run: templates, guidance and a calendar, not a policy document and a hope.
What changes
Management infrastructure that holds through the next stage of growth instead of being rebuilt at every headcount milestone.
- One performance approach instead of five departmental variants
- Levels and ranges that survive the next hiring wave
- Clear ownership at the interfaces between fast-growing teams
- A leadership team back on direction rather than coordination
Services usually relevant here
Performance Cycle
A consistent way to set expectations, give feedback and evaluate.
Leadership & People Management Routines
The same way of managing across every team.
Careers & Compensation
Levels, progression and pay with rules you can explain.
Policies & Benefits
The written rules of the company, and the benefits that sit inside them.
Your company has changed. Has your organisation caught up?
The People Diagnostic establishes where the organisation is constrained, and what to fix first.