Next Step Advisory

Tamsyn & Co

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• Multiple different systems, not just within people function but whole organization, creating convoluted engine underlying all activity
• Up until 18 months ago, running payroll across 17 different entities for 2,000 people on Excel spreadsheet
• Systems not fit for purpose: People HR does not connect to anything; no LMS
• Manual admin within people function: pulling data, reporting on data, understanding what data exists
• No governance around AI use in business; employees using variety of tools (Chat, Claude, etc.) with no consistent practice or understanding of safety, legality, exposure
• Fragmented culture despite rebrand: 17 entities at different maturity levels, legacy operations still siloed
• Opened Pandora's box with Family platform migration without mapping processes or understanding interdependencies; system touches HR, scheduling, payroll, absence management, billing—very challenging implementation
• Head office teams stretched thin, doing more with less, very reactionary environment; paying people well to be in the weeds
• Nursery managers experiencing role overload: asked to be all things to all people, do core childcare work AND marketing AND HR without systems or support
• Senior leadership at nursery manager level very junior compared to other sectors; field managers similarly junior
• Sector immature and growing faster than infrastructure can support; business can't keep up with building foundation and consistent practice
• No AI education or strategy; Head of Tech is infrastructure-focused (printer/router background), not strategist
• Risk of overheating growth engine: too much activity running simultaneously (Family project, 30 refurbs, career pathway, Ofsted framework embedding, new catering system) without foundational support in place
• Fragmentation across group: not cohesive; different entities at different maturity levels and stages
• For Tamsyn & Co: Business paused; unclear if will return to full independence; generalist freelancer model drained her; feast-or-famine pipeline cycle in fractional/consulting work; did not leverage technology to reduce VA costs; recreated constraints of employment when independent
• For Tamsyn & Co: Dichotomy in service offering—teaches leadership methodology, then best people leave to apply it elsewhere; positioning unclear; unclear messaging vs. other consultants; one-to-one coaching exhausting unless right energetic match