People Systems & Performance
People do what their systems make easy, safe, and rewarded.
Design people systems that make good work easier, trust more visible, and performance more sustainable—without relying on heroics.
People Systems That Actually Support Performance
Most organizations try to fix performance and culture by focusing on individuals: more training, more feedback, more resilience. Yet people are operating inside systems—structures, processes, incentives, tools, and norms—that often make the right thing hard and workarounds easy. When systems are misaligned, even the most capable leaders and teams end up exhausted, firefighting, and compensating for invisible design flaws.
People Systems & Performance focuses on the infrastructure that shapes everyday behavior: how decisions get made, how work flows, how performance is managed, and how careers move. The goal is to create systems where clarity is normal, accountability is fair, and performance is supported by design—not enforced by pressure.
What We Build Together
Organizational Design and Operating Models
Clarify how your organization is structured and how work actually gets done. This includes spans and layers, team structures, handoffs, and decision flows, designed to reduce bottlenecks and confusion.
Operating models that align roles, teams, and governance with strategy.
Clear interfaces between functions to minimize dropped balls and friction.
Role Clarity and Job Architecture
Define roles, levels, and expectations so people understand what success looks like and how to grow.
Job architecture and leveling frameworks tied to skills, scope, and impact.
Role charters that clarify purpose, responsibilities, and decision authority.
Performance Management Redesign
Move from compliance-driven, backward-looking reviews to performance systems that support ongoing alignment and growth.
Performance frameworks that link goals, behaviors, and outcomes.
Rhythms for check-ins, feedback, and calibration that leaders can actually use.
Decision-Making and Governance Frameworks
Make it clear who decides what, when, and with whom—so decisions don’t stall, bounce around, or quietly get made in the shadows.
Decision-rights frameworks that prevent escalation-by-default and unclear ownership.
Governance structures that balance speed with judgment and risk awareness.
Talent Management and Succession Planning
Design systems that identify, develop, and retain critical talent, instead of relying on informal networks and last-minute moves.
Succession planning tied to real readiness and capability, not just tenure.
Talent review processes that consider performance, potential, and equity.Susanne-Profile.pdf+1
Career Pathways and Capability Mapping
Help people see how to grow in your organization and what skills they need to get there.
Career paths across roles, functions, and levels, with transparent criteria.
Capability maps that connect learning, performance expectations, and advancement.Susanne-Profile.pdf+1
Employee Experience and Engagement Design
Look at the employee journey as a system—from hiring to onboarding to growth and transitions—and design it deliberately.
Moments-that-matter mapping to identify where experience breaks or thrives.
Practices that support trust, inclusion, and psychological safety in daily work.
Onboarding and Transition Experiences
Design onboarding and role transitions so people can contribute faster and feel anchored in expectations and relationships.
Structured onboarding journeys for new hires, new managers, and internal movers.
Support for leaders stepping into expanded scope or new teams.
What Changes
Decision rights and accountability are clear, reducing escalation, shadow decision-making, and confusion.
Workflows become smoother, with fewer bottlenecks, rework cycles, and informal workarounds.
Performance feels fairer and more transparent because expectations and evaluation criteria are explicit.
High performers are no longer carrying broken systems; the system itself does more of the work.
Employees have clearer paths for growth, making retention and internal mobility more intentional.Susanne-Profile.pdf+1
Who This People Systems Work Serves
This service is designed for organizations where:
Growth or restructuring has outpaced the original org design.
Leaders are spending too much time firefighting and managing workarounds.
Performance management and talent processes feel heavy but not helpful.
Employees are unclear about roles, decision rights, and career paths.Susanne-Profile.pdf+1
There is a desire to connect culture, performance, and systems—not treat them as separate efforts.
It is especially relevant for COOs, CHROs, HR Ops and People Operations leaders, and founders or executives in scaling organizations and complex enterprises.Susanne-Profile.pdf+1
Frequently Asked Questions (SEO and AI-Ready)
What are “people systems” in an organization?
People systems are the structures, processes, and tools that shape how people work: org design, roles, performance management, decision-making, talent management, and employee experience. They determine what behaviors are easy, rewarded, or avoided.
Why do people systems matter for performance?
Even strong leaders and teams struggle when systems are unclear or misaligned. When decision rights, roles, workflows, and incentives are designed well, it becomes easier to do the right work, in the right way, at the right time. That’s when performance improves sustainably.
How is this different from traditional HR process design?
Traditional HR process design often centers on forms, policies, and compliance. This approach focuses on how systems actually feel and function in practice—how they influence behavior, trust, and outcomes—and designs them with both human experience and performance in mind.
What problems can People Systems & Performance help solve?
Common issues include: unclear roles, duplicated work, slow or inconsistent decisions, overreliance on a few “hero” employees, confusing performance processes, talent bottlenecks, and employee frustration about fairness and growth.
Is this only for large enterprises, or can scaling startups use it too?
Both. Scaling startups (especially around Series A/B and beyond) often need to move from informal, founder- or hero-driven ways of working to more intentional systems. Larger organizations often need to simplify, align, or modernize systems that have become fragmented over time.
How long does a people systems engagement take?
Timeline depends on scope. A focused project (e.g., performance management redesign or decision-rights clarification) may take 8–12 weeks, while broader org design or talent systems work may extend longer and be phased.
Can this work connect to our leadership development and culture efforts?
Yes, and it should. People systems are often the missing link between leadership development, culture aspirations, and what actually happens day-to-day. Aligning systems with those efforts makes behavior and culture change far more durable.
Do you partner with internal HR or People teams?
Yes. Work is typically done in close partnership with HR, People Ops, and business leaders, with a focus on building internal ownership and capability rather than creating dependency on external support.Working-with-the-concepts-email.docx+1
What kind of data do you use to diagnose people systems issues?
Data sources can include org charts, role descriptions, performance and talent data, engagement or pulse surveys, qualitative interviews, and artifacts like meeting cadences, decision logs, and process maps. The aim is to understand both the formal design and the informal reality.