Structuring Role Growth at A+: Developing Talent to Build Collective Performance
Blog post written in collaboration with Mélanie Roy, Director of Talent and Culture at A+.
At A+, we asked ourselves a question that often comes up in growing organizations: how can we offer genuine career paths to our teams in a context where talent is scarce and collective performance sits at the core of our model?
Why structure role growth?
For a long time, career progression relied mainly on seniority, opportunities that happened to appear at the right time, or the creation of management roles. These models work up to a point, but they quickly become limiting in an organization like ours, where expertise, autonomy, and the ability to manage complexity are essential drivers of performance.
We wanted to go further.
We wanted to offer everyone on our teams real career paths that are concrete and visible. To value expertise and individual contribution as much as leadership. To provide predictability, transparency, and clear reference points. And above all, to recognize the real impact individuals have on the collective.
A structure inspired by the Radford approach
It was through this reflection that we chose to implement a role growth structure inspired by the Radford approach, a model widely used in the technology industry, but one that proves powerful in an integrated construction context like ours.
What appealed to us in this approach is its logic, which is deeply aligned with our culture: the more someone progresses within the structure, the more their impact goes beyond their individual role to influence the organization as a whole.
The dimensions that define progression at A+
At A+, progression is not measured only by a title or formal responsibilities. It is based on several dimensions we consider fundamental: the level of autonomy within our participative leadership context, the ability to manage complexity and ambiguity, contribution to the development of others, and real impact on collective performance.
From a certain level of maturity, especially at the senior level, what truly makes the difference is no longer only execution quality. What matters is the ability to raise the collective level. Being a reference for others in complex and ambiguous contexts, positively influencing teams, and passing on, day to day, our integrated approach and our culture.
That is exactly the type of impact we wanted to recognize and develop.
Transparency and visibility into career paths
At A+, transparency has always been at the heart of how we work. It is an integral part of our culture and our leadership model. It was therefore natural for this transparency to also be reflected in how we structure role growth.
We wanted everyone to be able to know where they stand, clearly understand what is expected at their current level, identify their next level, and, above all, know what they need to develop to get there.
This visibility profoundly changes the dynamic. Career conversations become richer and more structured. Motivation is supported by clear and concrete reference points.
We are no longer talking about theoretical growth, but about real progression paths that are accessible and measurable.
Measuring performance with consistency
To support this structure, we chose to rely on a performance management tool that allows us to assess both alignment with our values and the achievement of measurable objectives, supported by the level of mastery of the key competencies specific to each role.
Concretely, this enables us to accurately position each person within the structure, identify competency gaps, build personalized development plans, and track growth over time in a consistent and objective way.
Developing talent on the ground with the 70-20-10 approach
But beyond tools, our conviction is very simple: development happens first and foremost on the ground.
That is why we structured our pathways around the 70-20-10 approach. Most development happens through real projects, complex mandates, expanded responsibilities, and exposure to new challenges. Another part happens through the network, coaching, mentoring, continuous feedback, and peer-to-peer learning. Finally, a more targeted portion happens through structured training, technical upskilling, and leadership development.
Recognition and compensation aligned with the market
Lastly, a clear pathway only has value if it is supported by fair and transparent recognition. That is why our salary ranges are directly aligned with market data. We rely on Payfactors for real-time data, on local compensation firms, and on our candidate data. This combination allows us to stay consistently competitive, support progression, and continuously adjust our practices.
An approach that translates well to integrated construction
The Radford approach was born in tech. At A+, we are demonstrating that it translates remarkably well to construction, particularly in an integrated management model where collaboration is essential, complexity is high, autonomy is critical, and collective performance makes all the difference.
We firmly believe that structuring role growth is not a luxury.
It is a strategic choice. A growth lever. A performance driver. And a pillar of our organization’s long-term sustainability.
Frequently asked questions
In the traditional model, you sign separate contracts with the architect, engineers and contractor, each defending their own interests. With integrated project delivery, a single team designs and builds your space under one contract, with a shared target budget and open-book transparency. You make the decisions; we coordinate execution from start to handover.
Coordinating the architect, engineers and trades yourself means juggling multiple contracts, multiple invoices and shared blame when something goes wrong. With one contract, you have a single point of contact accountable for budget, schedule and outcome. The expertise is already aligned and used to working together, which removes the coordination errors that drive most delays.
We set a target budget at the drawing stage using real data from comparable projects, then design within that budget instead of discovering the price at the end. The agreed price does not change unless you request modifications or different materials. Any hidden condition we uncover along the way is on us.
No. The total cost is usually lower and, above all, more predictable. Bringing design and construction under one contract removes stacked margins, the change orders that come from conflicting drawings, and rework. Open-book transparency shows you where every dollar goes. You pay the real cost of the work, not a chain of middlemen.
Timelines depend on size and complexity, but the integrated approach shortens them because design and construction advance in parallel rather than in sequence. As an example, we delivered the 14 Red Bull Music Academy studios in 18 days. By the second meeting you already have a preliminary budget and drawings to plan around.
Far less than with several vendors to coordinate. You have one point of contact who manages the architect, engineers and trades for you. You keep the important decisions; we handle the daily coordination, follow-ups and on-site surprises. In practice, your role comes down to approving key milestones on an agreed communication routine.
We fit out commercial spaces of every kind: offices, medical clinics, restaurants, retail and industrial spaces, across Greater Montreal and up to roughly 90 minutes from the surrounding region. Our projects run from about 2,000 to 60,000 square feet. Our work includes studios, clinics, factories and pre-built suites for landlords and brokers.
The budget agreed at the drawing stage is guaranteed: any overrun that does not come from a change you requested is on us, not you. Hidden conditions uncovered on site are our responsibility too. For schedule, phased planning and one integrated team cut delays at the source. We deliver turnkey, so your teams can move in the next day.
