Kelton McMains: “The real challenge now isn't building textbook-perfect systems but creating something built to last.”

Five years ago, Kelton McMains joined Nua Group to help companies figure out how to take care of their people. During this time, the world of work went through a big shakeup, and on a personal note, Kelton became a dad. 

To celebrate Kelton’s 5-year "Nuaversary," we sat down with him to get his honest take on what organizations are getting wrong (and right!) right now, how overly complicated corporate processes are weighing on people, and how his own view of "good work" has shifted from "always being available" to focusing on what matters and moves the needle.

You’ve worked closely with clients navigating change. What’s a pattern you’re noticing now that you weren’t seeing a few years ago?

At this point, companies are exhausted by how complicated everything has become. A few years ago, everyone was willing to build highly customized, detailed programs to fix a specific issue. Now, there is a need to make things simpler.

But there’s a big catch. While companies want simple systems that work everywhere, their people want totally different things than they used to, and the job market keeps shifting. You see that tug-of-war everywhere right now, whether you're looking at pay, promotions, or how companies talk about change. Leaders want a playbook that works for the whole company, but they also need the flexibility to hire completely different types of talent. The real challenge now isn't building some textbook 'perfect' system but creating something built to last: something normal employees can understand, managers can use, and the company can realistically maintain in the longer term.

There’s a lot of focus right now on efficiency and scale. Where do you think organizations risk losing something important in that pursuit?

The biggest risk is that companies forget what it feels like for the employees to show up and do the job every day. Right now, I see many organizations trying to centralize everything and make every process look the same across the board. But this can negatively impact the employee trust, communication, and managers’ ability to use their own judgment and common sense. Ironically, those are the exact things that keep a workplace running smoothly.

I see this happen all the time with how companies handle pay and promotions. They spend months building sophisticated and complicated models and rules, but employees end up more confused about how to get a raise or what’s expected of them. Organizations that get this right know that 'simple' doesn't mean making everything rigid or strict. They figure out the few areas where everyone absolutely has to follow the same rule, and then they trust their managers and teams with the freedom to handle the rest.

What’s one question you find yourself asking clients more often now than you did five years ago?

I find myself asking much more often: 'What problem are we actually trying to solve?'

It sounds obvious, but companies today are under a lot of pressure to react to everything at once, whether it's AI, budget cuts, hiring shortages, or changing employee demands. Because of that, projects quickly get bloated.

The best projects we work with clients on are the ones where we work as partners and stay disciplined. Instead of trying to fix every single issue at the same time, we work as a team to focus our energy on solving just two or three meaningful problems.

Looking at how your own life has evolved — becoming a parent, building a longer-term career — how has your definition of “good work” changed?

Becoming a dad has been an incredible lens for my career, making me sharper, more focused, and more driven than ever. I’ve always poured my energy into being highly responsive and available for my clients. Having a family has simply pushed me to dig even deeper into clients’ problems so we can make every single hour count and deliver the most meaningful, lasting change possible.

It has also given me a firsthand look at what employees navigate on a daily basis. Going through things like parental leave, health insurance nuances, and the general logistics of balancing work and family has made the human side of these programs even clearer to me. It really highlights the difference between a policy that sounds great on paper and one that works smoothly for a person in real life.

If you could give one piece of advice to organizations trying to navigate this current wave of change, what would it be — and what would you tell them to ignore?

My biggest piece of advice is to take time talking to the employees, supporting the managers, and making sure it’s clear how day-to-day decisions are made. When a new initiative falls apart, it’s rarely because of a bad design but rather because keeping things fair and running smoothly every single day is hard work.

As for what to ignore? I’d recommend leaders to stop chasing the newest corporate trend or buying expensive, over-engineered software. You don’t need a hyper-complicated system to succeed, but get the fundamentals right instead. If your employees don't get it, your leaders can't explain it in plain English, and your managers get a headache trying to use it, it's not going to work. Keep it simple.

Whether he’s helping a client cut through corporate red tape or navigating the daily logistics of parenthood, Kelton keeps his focus on the real, lived experience of the people doing the work. Over the last five years, he’s proven that the best workplace solutions are the ones that make sense, build trust, and make people's jobs easier. And if you need Kelton’s help to figure things out at your organization, get in touch - we’d be happy to help!