People strategy for scaling companies

Growing fast is a good problem. Outgrowing your people strategy isn't.

For companies scaling past what founder-led instinct can carry — a senior outside partner who both sets the people strategy and makes it real.

Curious what you could reclaim?See how I work

The Misalignment Tax

1–2 days

of every manager's week is lost to misalignment and the friction it creates.

Coleman & Ferguson · CPP Global

See yours

The problem

Your best people are losing a day a week — and you can't see where it goes.

As a company scales, the gaps stop being about effort and start being about alignment. It rarely shows up on a dashboard — but it shows up in the results.
Put a number on it
  1. 01

    Leaders pull in different directions

    Same company, different maps. Every decision below them pays for it.

  2. 02

    Decisions get re-litigated

    Settled questions reopen. Momentum leaks out in meetings about meetings.

  3. 03

    Good people quietly check out

    Not dramatically. Just a little less each quarter, until they leave.

Lauren Catenacci, PhD

Lauren Catenacci, PhD

Organizational Psychologist · Founder

What I do

One partner. Strategy and execution.

Most people-and-culture help is either big-picture or hands-on. I'm both — an organizational psychologist who designs the people strategy your growth demands, and rolls up her sleeves to make it real.
  • 1

    Strategy and execution in one person.

    The rare combination — I set the direction and do the work to get there.

  • 2

    An outside perspective you can trust.

    I'm not inside your politics or your blind spots. I see the whole system, and I say what I see.

  • 3

    Practical, not academic.

    I know the science. I also know when not to lead with it. What I design fits your business, not a textbook.

How we might work together

Four ways in. One partner throughout.

How the pieces fit

People Advisory

An embedded people & culture partner for the long haul. The strategy of a Chief People Officer, without the full-time hire.

Team Design Studio

Designed offsites, resets, and new-team launches that get a team pulling in the same direction.

Executive Coaching

Deep, sustained coaching that grows your best leaders into the roles you need them in.

Assessment & Debrief

A fast, low-risk way to get clear insight into a leader and a plan to act on it.

In practice

What it looks like when it works.

When the skills that got them here aren't the ones the role needs

A high-performing manager stepping into senior leadership.

The technical excellence that earned the promotion wasn't the same as leading — and the gap was self-awareness: they couldn't yet see their own impact on the people around them. We started with an assessment and an honest debrief, then moved into coaching.

Result

They grew into the role — and, just as importantly, could finally name what leadership meant for them beyond the technical work.

Assessment & Debrief → Executive Coaching

Building the foundation for scalable growth

A company scaling fast with no real people infrastructure.

Growth was outpacing the systems meant to support it. As an embedded partner over several months, I built the spine — job architecture, performance systems, and operating norms — so the organization could carry its own weight.

Result

The before-and-after showed up where it counts: more engagement, more clarity, more accountability.

People Advisory → Embedded Partner

A leadership team, finally rowing in the same direction

An exec team pulling in different directions.

Smart, capable people — moving on different maps, which quietly taxed every decision below them. Through a designed alignment experience, we surfaced the real differences, worked them through, and rebuilt how the team makes decisions together.

Result

They left aligned and moving as one.

Team Design Studio → Strategic Offsite

25–40%

of a manager's week lost to misalignment and the friction it creates.

The cost of standing still is bigger than it looks.

Research on workplace conflict puts it at 25–40% of a manager's time (Coleman & Ferguson). For a scaling leadership team, that's hundreds of thousands of dollars a year — recurring, and mostly recoverable.

Estimate your Misalignment Tax

Let's talk about what your growth is asking for.

A real conversation, no pitch. Tell me where your company is and what's getting in the way.

Start a conversation

What clients say

In their words.

Her deep expertise, remarkable ability to ask the right questions, and non-judgmental coaching style were instrumental in preparing me for a top management position at a global company.
Lukas S.Chief Digital Officer (EMBA, IMD Business School)
Lauren brought a wealth of expertise in implementing people operations that truly put both people and processes at the forefront.

COO

Social Impact Agency

She embraced my team, challenged our thinking, and delivered what she promised.

CHRO

Medical Devices & Engineering Firm

She opened my eyes to things I hadn't seen and pointed me in a direction to really improve my business… I cannot recommend her services enough.

Justin W.

Broker

Unquestionably an expert in change management, her adaptive style makes evidence-based practice accessible for any client need.

Executive Director

Non-Profit

A trusted network

Senior attention that scales with you.

I work with one or two clients deeply at a time, drawing on a trusted network of partners when a project calls for it — so you get senior attention that scales up or down as you need.

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