Rapid growth is always good news: it proves that a company has found its market, won clients, and attracted talent. But behind this exciting momentum lies a more complex reality: growth creates instability. Every new project, every hire, every reorganization temporarily weakens internal systems.
A company that grows without managing this instability risks losing its most important asset: the performance of its people.
At COREMATIC, we invest as much in people as we do in processes. Because what really makes the difference is not just the technologies deployed or the methods applied, but the ability of high-performing teams to stay aligned, engaged and capable of delivering sustainable results.
This article explores how to keep high-performing teams on track despite the turbulence of growth.
Why fast growth disrupts team performance
At first glance, hiring quickly and at scale sounds like a good thing. More talent = more skills = more results, right? In reality, the mechanics are far more subtle.
Every new hire acts like a shockwave. Roles are redistributed, boundaries become temporarily blurred and communication patterns must be integrated (if not reinvented). It’s a bit like retuning an orchestra each time a new musician arrives: the sound gets messy before harmony is restored.
Research confirms this: on average, it takes 12 months for a new hire to reach full productivity. And without proper integration, 28% of new hires leave within the first 90 days.
COREMATIC is no exception. Like many companies, we have experienced these turbulences firsthand. That is why the tuckman model has become an indispensable framework for us.
The Tuckman model: understanding team development
The Tuckman model, introduced in 1965 by psychologist Bruce Tuckman, is now a global reference for understanding group dynamics. It shows that team performance is not decreed; it is built step by step, often through uncomfortable phases.
It distinguishes four essential stages:
- Forming: The team meets, everyone discovers each other, and looks for their place. Energy is spent understanding the context rather than producing.
- Storming: personalities assert themselves, disagreements emerge. This sometimes tense phase clarifies roles and responsibilities.
- Norming: common rules appear, trust builds, and the team begins to function as a cohesive unit.
- Performing: the team reaches its full potential, collaborates fluidly, innovates, and delivers results effectively.
In a stable context, these stages follow one another progressively. But in times of rapid growth, the cycle repeats itself endlessly. Every new hire restarts forming and reactivates storming. Even experienced teams must constantly relearn how to collaborate and rebuild their team cohesion after each change in composition.
At COREMATIC, we use this model as a compass to navigate human dynamics during growth. It reminds us that with every new hire, the team re-enters the cycle and must regain its balance before it can perform again.
Why the storming phase is inevitable
Many managers try to avoid conflict and friction. But according to the Tuckman model, the storming phase is not only inevitable, it is essential for progress.
This phase brings the real issues to the surface: clarifying who decides, how communication flows, and where to focus energy. These are all strategic points that ensure smooth operations.
The role of management is not to eliminate conflicts — that would be illusory — but to create conditions that make them as short and productive as possible. A well-managed storming phase does not weaken a team; it actually accelerates its future alignment.
“Every time you add someone, you lose performance, at least temporarily.”
Three pillars to manage high-performing teams at scale
For COREMATIC, maintaining momentum and performance over time requires clear commitments and consistent practices, especially when the company is scaling up.
1. Employee engagement as a competitive advantage
Employee engagement may sound like an empty buzzword. Yet its effects are measurable: engaged teams are on average 17% more productive and 21% more profitable than disengaged ones.
We treat employee engagement as a true strategy, built on concrete practices:
- Listening with intent: taking time to detect weak signals, concerns, and aspirations
- Making contributions visible: highlighting even subtle efforts to reinforce a sense of usefulness
- Protecting continuity: avoiding unnecessary structural changes to preserve trust
- Building loyalty: retaining people through recognition and career progression, not through perks or superficial bonuses
2. Great onboarding to build team cohesion
Onboarding a new hire is much more than a logistical formality. It is a critical step in building team cohesion.
An effective onboarding process has a clear goal: to make the new hire autonomous quickly, while fully integrating them into the team.
At COREMATIC, beyond the usual well-known onboarding steps, we focus on:
- Preparing the team in advance: every arrival is announced and planned into the collective schedule
- Setting up communication shortcuts: from day one, we favour direct transmission and simple checklists
- Assigning real tasks quickly: learning by doing builds trust and creates value from the very first days
The result: team cohesion builds faster, storming is shortened, and the team regains its performance level in weeks rather than months.
“Onboarding is not about handing out a branded water bottle. It’s about giving someone the means to be autonomous quickly.”
3. A results-driven culture without losing the human side
Performance should never come at the expense of people’s well-being. A culture focused too heavily on numbers inevitably leads to burnout and turnover.
Yet a results-driven culture is indispensable: it gives the team a shared direction, sets clear priorities, and establishes the collective rhythm. The challenge is not to oppose well-being and performance, but to find the balance that enables sustainable results.
As Jonathan Legault often says: “Change your plans, never your goals.”
Managing engagement like an industrial process
In industry, growth rarely means comfort: production speeds up, volumes increase and clients demand both speed and quality. This pressure cascades directly onto teams. In this context, stability is an illusion. What matters is the ability to manage collective engagement with the same rigor as an industrial process.
Why engagement must become a strategic KPI
In a factory, you don’t just measure output at the end of the line: every machine is equipped with sensors, every stage is tracked to avoid deviations.
Why should it be any different with teams?
Employee engagement plays the same hidden role: it determines the speed, quality and innovation capacity of the collective. An engaged team absorbs pressure and delivers on time. A disengaged team, on the other hand, becomes a bottleneck: deadlines slip, errors multiply, and the entire organisation feels the impact.
That’s why at COREMATIC we track engagement as a strategic KPI, as important as the output of a production line.
Which indicators really measure engagement
At COREMATIC, we treat employee engagement as a critical system that requires the same precision as a production line. Our metrics go beyond revenue and track the health and resilience of the collective:
- Retention and turnover: the equivalent of equipment reliability
- Integration curve: the speed at which a new hire becomes autonomous and productive
- Delivery speed: a reflection of collective flow and resilience under pressure
- Peer feedback: a human quality check, revealing trust and real engagement
- Internal mobility: proof that growth also benefits employees through development and progression
These data points allow leaders to adjust pace, redefine priorities, and maintain the performance of high-performing teams even in fast-changing environments.
Conclusion
Growth is synonymous with turbulence. Believing you can stabilise a company in full expansion is an illusion.
The real skill lies in keeping people at the heart of this instability. It is a challenge we face every day at COREMATIC and it raises an open question: is acrobatic management the key leadership skill of tomorrow?
1. What is the Tuckman model of team development?
The tuckman model describes the four stages that every team goes through: forming, storming, norming, and performing. It shows that high-performing teams don’t emerge overnight but evolve by clarifying roles, resolving conflicts, and building trust before reaching their full potential.
2. How do you maintain performance in a growing team?
Maintaining performance during growth requires recognizing that each new hire resets the team’s dynamics. Leaders should shorten the storming phase through clear communication, structured onboarding, and continuous feedback. Engagement and alignment become the foundation for sustainable performance.
3. What are the best team performance metrics during scaling?
Beyond revenue, the most useful team performance metrics include retention and turnover, integration curve (time to productivity), delivery speed, peer feedback, and internal mobility. These indicators help leaders track both output and the resilience of high-performing teams.
4. How can employee engagement be improved during growth?
Employee engagement improves when contributions are visible, continuity is protected, and loyalty is built on recognition and development rather than perks. Listening with intent and offering real career progression foster trust and long-term commitment.
5. What is team cohesion, and how do you build it quickly
Team cohesion is the ability of individuals to function as a united group with shared priorities and trust. It can be built quickly through thoughtful onboarding: preparing the team in advance, establishing communication shortcuts, and giving new hires meaningful tasks from day one.
