Organizational Assessment · M&A People Risk
Human capital assessment for acquisitions and organizational change.
We help acquisition buyers and organizational leaders understand the people, working relationships, and critical knowledge their plans depend on. Confidential interviews and careful analysis turn complex people issues into practical recommendations.
"You're the first person who's really listened."
what employees tell us
For acquisition buyers and advisers
Understand the people and working practices your deal depends on.
Our interview-based M&A assessment examines retention concerns, critical knowledge, leadership friction, and barriers to integration below the executive layer.
It can complement financial, legal, HR compliance, and executive assessment work. You receive a practical account of the issues, supporting evidence, uncertainties, and recommended next steps.
The Real Problem
Most organizations don't have
a people problem.
They have a diagnosis problem.
Employee complaints. Toxic culture. High turnover. Leadership conflict. Burnout. Teams that won't work together. Those symptoms matter - but they rarely tell the whole story. Our work begins by uncovering what others have missed. Only then do we help leaders decide what needs to change.
Organizational Assessment
Understanding recurring turnover, leadership friction, and operational barriers through confidential interviews.
Leadership Transition Support
Guiding executive teams through changes in leadership without losing stability or trust.
Culture Recovery
Moving a damaged culture from surviving to genuinely functioning again.
Team Facilitation
Bringing divided teams back into honest, working relationship with one another.
What Makes Us Different
We don't just resolve
workplace issues.
We diagnose them.
- We don't start with assumptions. We start by listening - through confidential conversations, leadership interviews, and organizational assessment.
- Different people tell different stories. Patterns emerge, and we identify what is supported and what needs further checking.
- Only once we understand the real issue do we help leaders decide what needs to change.
- Lasting change doesn't come from managing symptoms. It comes from understanding the system that's creating them.
"You're the first person who's really listened."
Schedule a ConversationResults That Matter
The story underneath
the story.
Every engagement starts with what everyone already sees. It ends somewhere else entirely.
The Chemotherapy IV
Everyone saw: Interpersonal conflict.
We found: A patient safety issue rooted in leadership dysfunction.
Read Client Feedback ↗ Executive CoachingThe Muffins
Everyone saw: An open-door policy nobody used.
We found: A trust gap - rebuilt until people were bringing muffins to her office.
Read Client Feedback ↗ Team FacilitationTwo Teams, One Organization
Everyone saw: Difficult employees.
We found: Years of leadership-driven division. Today, they work as one.
Read Client Feedback ↗ Leadership TransitionThe Wrong Manager, Not a Bad One
Everyone saw: A bad manager.
We found: A leadership mismatch. A better fit meant everyone succeeded.
The People Behind the Work
Our Team
Helena Goto
MBA · USC Marshall School of Business · Master of Dispute Resolution · Pepperdine Straus Institute
Helena holds dual master's degrees - an MBA from USC Marshall School of Business and a Master of Dispute Resolution from Pepperdine University's Straus Institute - and brings 12+ years of ER experience from roles at Capital Group and Tahoe Forest Health System. She also taught Alternative Dispute Resolution at the USC Sol Price School of Public Policy.
Tina Birungi
Master's in HR Management · USC
Tina holds a Master of Science in Human Resource Management from the University of Southern California and a career marked by building ER infrastructure from the ground up. Her work spans diverse industries, with a reputation for thoughtful, equity-centered leadership that translates complex people challenges into practical, lasting solutions.
David Childress
Executive Master's · USC Price School of Public Policy
David leads our workplace investigations after three decades conducting investigations and interviews where the stakes were about as high as they get. He knows how to run a structured interview, how to handle evidence so the chain holds, and how to stay neutral in a way that stands up to scrutiny later - harassment, discrimination, retaliation, workplace violence, all of it.
How We Work
The Goto Diagnostic
Framework™
Disciplined accountability, paired with genuine care.
Listen
We begin by listening without assumptions - through confidential conversations, leadership interviews, and organizational assessment.
Diagnose
Patterns emerge. Symptoms become root causes. Different people tell different stories - but we identify what is supported and what needs further checking.
Align
Leadership develops a shared understanding of what's really happening, and agreement on what needs to change.
Restore
Trust. Communication. Accountability. Leadership. We work through the specific interventions each situation calls for.
Sustain
Coaching, leadership support, and organizational habits that keep the change from unwinding after we leave.
Let's Talk
Ready to uncover what's
really happening?
Helping leaders uncover the truth, rebuild trust, and move organizations forward. Let's start with a conversation.