Case Study

As told to us by Lena Trudeau, CEO and Jen Broderick, COO

Key Background Info

Inclined partners with public sector and public good clients to create lasting progress and transformative results using advanced technology.

Company Size: 45-50 employees
Partnership length: 15 months, with plans to indefinitely retain
Collaboration tools: Slack, Google Workspace, Zoom, Miro.

Client Relationship Timeline

The Challenge

Our HR practices were really informal. As we charted our growth plans, we knew we needed to bring standardization and accountability to our processes - everything from hiring, to job classifications and pay structures, to how we measure performance. We also needed to add another layer of management and reporting structures. I couldn’t continue to process 45 performance reviews. That doesn’t scale.

Why we
chose verge

Like many leaders, we don’t have a lot of free time. You proposed an approach that indexed on short, frequent working sessions that focused on our highest needs - what were the problem statements? Where should we start first? It’s not meetings about who did this, who did that, let’s keep an open action item. We dive right into the work, and that’s our favorite way of working.

We didn’t consider partnering with anyone besides Verge. We already knew Verge to be competent, responsive, and focused on delivery. We knew we could trust you to always follow-up and do what you say you will do. And we were right :).

Results

Foundational HR Program Builds

Together, we’ve delivered a lot of work that will last us in perpetuity:

  • A standard job architecture and enterprise-wide job descriptions

  • A compensation plan aligned to the job architecture, with performance incentives

  • A proper performance review cycle, that was adopted by our team

  • A standard hiring process, enabling us to hire the right people for key roles

Culture Shift

Our team is stepping into a new chapter—one defined by ownership, accountability, and growth. Whether serving as managers or individual contributors, our people are actively shaping their career paths and seeking out the training and development they need to succeed. That kind of self-driven momentum is powerful. And having a fractional Verge leader as a partner in this journey is helping to accelerate that transformation.

Money well spent

If we had to take all the money and time we spend with Verge and compare that in time and money we would spend without Verge, there is a clear ROI. I don’t think that would change if we insourced HR, at least at this moment in time.

Lena Trudeau
CEO, inclined

Jen Broderick
COO, inclined

Verge is a trusted partner who cares about your business as much as you do. 

Our fractional leader fits right in as a member of our team. She is willing to do what’s asked and she’s also willing to push back when she doesn’t agree. That’s important. We don’t want her to just “yes” everything. She also brings a wealth of experience and practices across sectors that helps us elevate our own HR practices.

At the same time, we have the ability to reach back into a variety of HR and hiring skill sets, all coordinated through our Verge lead. That kind of flexibility is really, really valuable. 

We can see growing together in the relationship for some time to come. We’d need to be larger to justify an internal hire. Even if we do go that route, we would forever want to remain in partnership with Verge to advise us as we grow.

Interested in working with us?