Is It a People Problem or a Foundation Problem? A 5-Question Check for HR Leaders
Before you coach, retrain, or replace someone, check what they're standing on.
It usually starts with a name. "I'm not sure our head of sales is the right fit." Or, "Our ops lead used to be great. Now everything feels harder."
If you lead HR at a growing company, you hear these conversations all the time. And it's natural to start with the person. But at companies that are growing fast, many people problems turn out to be foundation problems wearing a person's name tag.
Here's the short answer. Before you invest in coaching, training, or a replacement, check the structure around the person. If the foundation is the problem, fixing the person won't stick.
What is a "foundation problem"?
Your foundation is the operating system underneath your org chart. It's how decisions get made, how feedback flows, and how managers run their teams.
At 20 people, most of that runs on hallway conversations. At 150, it needs to be built on purpose. When it isn't, good people start to struggle. They look like they're underperforming. Often they're working inside a system that was built for a much smaller company.
Is it the person or the structure?
Here's a side-by-side to help you tell the difference.
Signs it may be the person | Signs it may be the foundation |
The struggle is specific to one person in a role others have done well | Several people in similar roles struggle in the same way |
The issue follows them across teams or managers | The issue shows up wherever work crosses teams |
Clear expectations and feedback haven't changed anything | Expectations are unclear, or feedback is so gentle it doesn't land |
They have the authority they need and still don't act | They're accountable for results but can't make the calls |
Most real situations are a mix. The point isn't to let anyone off the hook. It's to fix the right thing first.
A 5-question check
Run through these before you decide the answer is a new person or another training.
Does this person know who decides what? If decision rights are fuzzy, strong people either overstep or stall.
Has anyone told them, clearly, what "good" looks like now? Expectations often stay the same while the role quietly changes.
Does feedback actually reach them? Feedback that's too soft, too late, or only shared with HR can't change behavior.
Was their management rhythm built for today's company? 1:1s, team meetings, and planning cycles built for a team of 20 often never get rebuilt.
Is anyone else struggling in a similar way? If yes, you're probably looking at the foundation, not the person.
If you answered "no" or "not sure" to two or more of the first four, or "yes" to the fifth, start with the foundation.
Why training doesn't stick on a weak foundation
A 2016 Harvard Business Review article by Michael Beer, Magnus Finnström, and Derek Schrader, "Why Leadership Training Fails (and What to Do About It)," makes this point clearly. Companies spent about $356 billion on training globally in 2015. Yet much of it didn't produce lasting change, because people went back to an organization that hadn't changed.
The authors name six barriers that quietly undo development efforts. They include unclear strategy and competing priorities, a senior team that isn't aligned, and people who are afraid to raise problems with leadership. Their advice: fix organizational design and management processes first. Then train.
That's not an argument against leadership development. It's an argument for doing it in the right order.
The good news: you don't have to start over
Fixing your foundation doesn't mean tearing down what you've built. It means evolving the foundation you already have. Keep what works. Rebuild the pieces that were designed for a company you no longer are.
This is also where the CEO has to be part of it. Decision rights, strategy, and how the leadership team works together sit with the CEO. As the HR leader, your role is to name the pattern and bring it into the room. An outside partner can help diagnose what's really going on and design the fix, so no one has to guess.
A facilitated leadership team retreat is one good place to surface these issues. If that's on your mind for Q4, I wrote more about what leadership team retreats are and why they matter.
Try this: pick one process
Choose one process at your company. It could be how decisions get escalated, how feedback gets delivered, or how a new manager gets ramped up. Ask one honest question: was this built on purpose for the company we are today, or is it left over from when we were half this size?
Most HR leaders find at least one answer that makes them wince. That's useful. It points straight at your foundation work.
Frequently asked questions
How can I tell a people problem from a foundation problem?
Look for patterns. If several people in similar roles struggle the same way, or problems show up wherever work crosses teams, it's likely the foundation.
Why does leadership training fail?
According to Beer, Finnström, and Schrader in HBR, it often fails because people return to an organization that hasn't changed. Fixing design and management processes first helps training stick.
Who should fix a foundation problem?
The CEO and HR leader together, with an outside partner to help diagnose and design the fix when it's useful.
Where to start
If you're not sure whether you're facing a people problem or a foundation problem, that's exactly the kind of question I help leadership teams answer through formal leadership development. Whether you're the HR leader or the CEO, I'm happy to talk it through. Book a 30-minute call with me here.
Kristen Illes is the Principal of 3D Leadership Solutions, where she partners with founders and executive teams at growth-stage companies to build the leadership practices that let them scale.
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