Designing the five-year target operating model first, then working back to an immediate design and an interim state, let a fast-growing, PE-backed platform add capacity to scale ~3x without overbuilding ahead of need.
Trigger-based sequencing tied each new role to objective growth and scenario-based signals rather than fixed dates, turning a one-time reorganization into a disciplined, multi-year investment roadmap with built-in M&A considerations.
Pairing the structure with clarified C-suite mandates, new leadership roles, role descriptions, and a change-management plan made the design actionable and earned buy-in from the Steering Committee and sponsors.
The situation
Our client is a private equity-backed commercial landscaping company offering maintenance, enhancements, and snow removal services across a multi-branch platform spanning the U.S. and Canada. After a period of rapid, acquisition-led growth, the leadership team recognized that the organization’s current structure was beginning to limit its ability to execute ambitious growth plans that were expected to roughly triple in size over the next five years. Spans of control had grown too wide, decision-making remained heavily founder-dependent, and accountabilities and career paths across leadership levels had become unclear. Leadership saw real risk in scaling further on the existing model. Without a more deliberate structure, the company would struggle to integrate acquisitions repeatably, make timely decisions, and sustain consistent performance across a widening network. They engaged us as an objective, hands-on partner to redesign the organization and build an investment roadmap with the right structure, capabilities, talent, and integration capacity to support continued growth.
The approach and solution
Burnie Group began with a detailed diagnostic of the existing structure and operating model. We analyzed available data, interviewed key leaders and their direct reports, observed field operations, and ran working sessions with senior stakeholders. We then conducted a detailed review of spans and layers across each part of the organization, benchmarked the structure against best practices, and built a headcount and cost baseline, pinpointing where the current model was creating bottlenecks and where it would break under further growth.
Rather than designing only for today, we first defined a five-year target-state operating model, then worked backward to an immediate, current-year design and an interim state that sequenced the journey toward it. We clarified the top-of-house mandates of the C-suite and defined new and materially changed leadership roles across operations, sales, finance, people, and integration, each with clear accountabilities, decision rights, and growth-based triggers for when to invest.
We pressure-tested and refined the regional support operating model, using scenario-based resourcing, scaling metrics, and cost implications to confirm the design would hold across different growth paths. We developed role descriptions for the new and changed roles, an execution roadmap, and a change management plan, including a clear change story and communication approach, to drive employee buy-in and effective implementation. The defining feature of our approach was disciplined, trigger-based sequencing. Build the foundation now and let objective growth signals set the pace of further investment, avoiding the cost of overbuilding ahead of need.
The result
The engagement gave leadership a clear, phased blueprint to add leadership capacity and enterprise infrastructure to scale roughly threefold toward the long-term growth target without overbuilding the organization ahead of need. The immediate design focused on the highest-impact moves, clarifying C-suite mandates and establishing dedicated leadership across operations, sales, and integration, with a modest first-year investment, as part of a sequenced multi-year plan governed by clear growth triggers rather than fixed dates.
The work also surfaced meaningful near-term savings opportunities, including through centralized procurement, and equipped leadership with role descriptions, an execution roadmap, and a change management plan. The recommendations were reviewed and endorsed by the Steering Committee, including the private equity sponsor, setting the company up to absorb future growth with confidence.
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