How to Navigate Rapid Growth

Extractive Summary of the Article | Read | Listen

As new employees enter an organization with their own work norms, values, and assumptions about how things should be done, the cohesion of the once unified team often begins to strain. This transformation introduces two key challenges that we have observed firsthand in our work with growing businesses.

The first challenge is the rise of division among employees in the form of subgroups. Employees break into factions based on shared experiences or characteristics. In many of the organizations the authors studied, these fault lines emerged prominently between early joiners and newcomers.  The second challenge is a lack of shared understanding of the organizational reality across early joiners and newcomers.

Those two challenges pose significant risks to organizations navigating the transition from small, cohesive teams to larger, more complex ventures. As the authors have observed in numerous cases, this transition phase often comes with high costs, including the departure of both early joiners and promising newcomers, a loss of momentum, and a diminishment of the very innovation and agility that growth is meant to amplify.  For organizations to thrive amid rapid growth, they must address these challenges head-on. Here’s how.

1. Create a Shared Language.  Founders often believe that newcomers will intuitively pick up on informal norms and implicit rules, and they avoid formalizing processes to maintain what they see as a culture of flexibility. However, as the workforce grows, this approach frequently leads to misunderstandings and conflicts. Managers often turn to informal bonding activities, such as offsite retreats or social events, hoping to spark new cohesion. While well meaning, these activities can unintentionally amplify cultural and behavioral differences, further deepening divides.  Instead, the first priority for managers should be to establish a shared organizational language that aligns employees around consistent understandings of processes, norms, roles, and goals. Much like an architectural blueprint enables varied professionals to collaborate on a construction site, a shared language ensures that early joiners and newcomers can work together effectively.  Various tools to do this could be: develop lists of appreciated actions and unwelcome actions; employ three C’s planning approach i.e., records processes, goals, and priorities in a way that is comprehensive, complete, and consistent.
2. Foster a Shared Identity.  The fast-paced nature of high-growth organizations often pushes issues of cohesion to the back burner until a crisis demands attention.  To avoid such scenarios, managers must address their audiences in distinct ways.  First, as the shared vision that once defined the organization gives way to growth and change, managers should reconnect with early joiners and recognize their frustration. Managers must address this situation by crafting a refreshed story that reflects the company’s larger, more heterogeneous structure.  Second, managers need to focus on integrating newcomers. Managers should emphasize the unique value newcomers bring, framing their differences as assets that enhance team success. Integration begins with creating deliberate opportunities for cross-functional collaboration and shared work-related rituals that unite employees around common goals.
3. Encourage a Culture of Dissent.  A shared understanding of organizational reality and a shared identity lay the foundation, but to benefit from the full spectrum of ideas that heterogeneity brings, organizations must go further.  Harnessing differences requires a culture of dissent, where disagreements are not only respected but encouraged and rewarded. Such a culture brings differences to the forefront, transforming them into opportunities for growth and innovation.  Promoting a full range of conversation, including views opposed to those expressed by the stronger voices in the room, requires intentional leadership. Managers must lead by example, actively seeking out and welcoming a variety of opinions. Structured feedback mechanisms, such as anonymous channels or dedicated forums, enable employees to voice differing views. Recognizing and rewarding thoughtful disagreement, such as by publicly acknowledging employees who challenge ideas constructively and by incorporating such behavior into performance reviews and promotion criteria, signals that such contributions are both valued and essential to organizational success. Transparency in decision-making is equally important.