Chapter 2: Building Lightweight People Systems That Scale
- Admin
- May 19
- 3 min read
Updated: May 20
Chapter 2 of Operations That Scale
Hiring the right people is just the beginning. What really determines whether your team performs (and stays) is what happens after they start.
In early-stage startups, especially those with a mission, there’s often an implicit belief that shared purpose will carry the team forward. For a while, it might. However as you grow, that alone won’t keep everyone aligned, supported and moving in the same direction.
You don’t necessarily need rigid HR processes or quarterly OKRs to fix this. You need simple, intentional systems for feedback, growth and performance that work for the humans in your team.
At Compact, we help startups design people systems that reflect their values without slowing them down. Below we have summarised our approach.
The problem: early teams run on goodwill, until they don’t
In the early days of building, culture is a side-effect. Everyone’s in the same room (or Slack channel), priorities change fast and everyone’s pulling in the same direction. However, at a certain point, this changes.
Without structure:
Feedback becomes personal, or doesn’t happen at all
People wonder how they’re doing against expectations, but are afraid to ask
Expectations stay fuzzy, and performance gaps widen
Burnout creeps in and there’s no mechanisms to course correct
This is not because leaders don’t care, but they’re busy and there are no foundational systems in place.
What good people systems look like at scaling stage
At Compact, we believe a good people system at scaling stage should:
Create clarity: Everyone knows what’s expected and how they’re doing
Enable feedback: Regular, thoughtful check-ins without HR jargon and led by leaders you work with
Reflect your values: How you manage people should match what you stand for
Protect your pace: Systems should support your speed, not stall it
This shouldn’t feel like an administrative exercise, but instead an exercise in trust and momentum.
Three rhythms every early team needs
Here’s what we recommend to every startup we work with:
1. Monthly 1:1s With Structure (Not Scripts)
Set aside 30–45 minutes monthly between manager and team member
Use a shared doc or Notion template with three simple prompts:
What’s going well?
What’s hard right now?
What do you need from me?
Focus on support, not status updates
Track themes over tasks to encourage autonomy
2. Quarterly Role Reviews
No need for ratings or complex competencies
Focus on
What does success look like next quarter?
Are you set up to achieve it?
Invite employees to share what they want to grow into, and how the company can help
Great for identifying stretch projects, unmet needs and early flight risks
3. Company-Wide Retros Every 6 Months
Gather the team to reflect on:
What’s working?
What’s not?
Where are we going next?
Reinforce the mission, share financial and impact updates and open the floor
Creates shared ownership, surfaces blind spots, and aligns cross-functionally
Our view: culture is built in the smallest systems
In mission-driven teams, the temptation is to stay informal. But informality without clarity leads to inconsistency which is an unfair environment for your team to operate within.
The best people systems are:
Human, not robotic
Clear, not complicated
Values-aligned, not one-size-fits-all
We help founders and early teams set up:
1:1 and role review templates built in Notion or Google Docs
Lightweight performance trackers that don’t require a HR system
Onboarding workflows that reinforce culture from day one
Values-based policies that support inclusive, transparent decision-making
Burnout-prevention signals: holiday tracking, hours spikes, and energy check-ins
Everything is modular, easy to run and owned by someone so it doesn’t get dropped the moment things get busy.
Mistakes to avoid
Confusing culture with being “nice” at the expense of honest feedback
Delaying people systems until a problem arises
Copying corporate HR playbooks that slow you down
Treating performance conversations like checklists
Leaving new hires to “figure it out”
Need help setting up people systems?
We can help set up your team’s feedback, growth and performance rhythm in a way that fits your culture and supports your team’s growth.
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