Case Study
Vecteris

How a Fast-Growth Startup Built the People Infrastructure to Scale, and to Survive a Founder Handoff

Vecteris
The Shift
Founder in every decision
A team that owns its work
Roles blurred by 23 years of “as needed”
4 roles, each with clear outcomes
No KPIs, no reviews, no rhythm
A full annual people system
Growth by reaction
Growth by design
12
HR functions audited
10+
Outcome Profiles built
7
People frameworks delivered
1
Co-founder handoff, structured
Engagement at a glance
Industry
Professional Services
Company size
Under 50
Location
United States
Engagement
Organizational Structure + HR Strategy + Performance & Engagement Ecosystem
Duration

The Client

Vecteris is a US-based advisory business on a mission to help companies build forward-thinking products that accelerate their growth. Co-founded by Eisha Armstrong and Nicole, the firm was in a period of rapid expansion, with ambitious plans for the year ahead, when it first connected with wattsnext.

The introduction came in October 2021 from Greg Alexander of Capital 54, who told wattsnext founder Sue-Ellen Watts that Vecteris would be “10x bigger than it is today inside of 12 months” and would need people-performance support to get there. Eisha had just spent an afternoon with her peer forum working through team development, org-chart issues, and hiring.

Before making any further HR decisions, Vecteris needed two things: an organizational structure to lead the business through its co-founder changes and growth, and a clear-eyed review of its HR foundations. wattsnext was engaged in November 2021.

Challenges

Structure outpaced by growth

Vecteris was scaling fast but had no functional organizational structure to guide recruitment, career paths, or the co-founders' shifting accountabilities. Only 45.45% of employees were clear on the existing structure and reporting lines.

Missing HR frameworks

The core people processes simply didn't exist. wattsnext found no recruitment framework, no performance-review framework, no formal salary-review process, no poor-performance-management process, and an inconsistent, largely unstructured onboarding experience.

Roles without definition

Not every role had a description, and the ones that existed carried only basic information. Employees reported their roles were 'evolving and changing,' with no outcome- or KPI-based way to measure what good looked like.

Undefined co-founder roles

With the business growing and its leadership changing, the two co-founders needed clarity on which parts of the business each would own, the prerequisite for building the management layer beneath them.

Objectives

Build an organizational structure for growth

Design a current and future functional org structure to lead Vecteris through the next two years of growth and the co-founder transition, with a clear recruitment and career plan for the team.

Establish strong HR foundations

Review all HR documentation, systems, and processes and deliver a best-practice roadmap of the frameworks Vecteris needed for internal accountability and scale.

Benchmark culture & engagement

Run a company-wide employee engagement survey to establish a measurable baseline of morale, satisfaction, and culture to guide decisions.

Design an employee ecosystem

Build an Employee Performance & Engagement Ecosystem to align Vecteris's culture, performance expectations, and feedback, and to enhance the overall employee experience.

Results

  • Conducted a company-wide Employee Engagement & Feedback Survey, establishing a measurable baseline: 8.36/10 employee morale, 8.36/10 job satisfaction, and an 8.73/10 employee Net Promoter Score with no one scoring below 6, plus 100% of employees affirming that Vecteris values them.
  • Delivered an HR Analysis & Strategy Report assessing 12 HR functions, from vision, mission, and values through culture, recruitment, onboarding, performance, policies, and reward, each with clear findings and prioritized recommendations.
  • Defined and delivered a new functional organizational structure that carried Vecteris through a co-founder leadership transition, with Eisha Armstrong moving to Co-Founder/Chairman and Nicole to Co-Founder/CEO, and supported expansion into a multi-layered team with VP-level leadership, principal and lead consultants, analysts, and operations roles.
  • Designed customized, outcome- and KPI-based Outcome Profiles for roles across the business, including Co-Founder/CEO, Co-Founder/Chairman, VP of Product & GM, Operations Director, Senior Consultant, Consultant, Senior Analyst, Product Analyst, Business Development Manager, and Office Manager, replacing basic role descriptions with a clear definition of success for each role.
  • Built and rolled out the Employee Performance & Engagement Ecosystem, including a Recruitment Framework, Integration Success Plan, Performance Review Framework, Salary Review Framework, Performance Management Guidelines and Improvement Plan, Peer Review, and Exit Interview process.
  • Provided ongoing coaching and advisory support to the co-founders and managers, helping them sustain culture and performance through a period of fast growth.

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