We have held the role
Nearly two decades in HR, every job from HR Assistant to HR Director.
Executive advisory
The decisions are big. The sounding board is small.
Some decisions you cannot test out loud with your own team, and the exec is not the right room either. We provide a senior sounding board and hands-on advisory support to HR leaders carrying more than their function was built for. For CHROs, Chief People Officers, HR Directors and Heads of People in companies of roughly 100 to 1,000 people.
Sound familiar?
You are the most senior person in your function. That gets lonely.
You are making calls on systems, structure and spend with real consequences, and the people who would normally challenge you either report to you or do not know the detail.
What is missing is not capability. It is someone who has held the role, has no stake in the outcome, and will tell you plainly what they think.
- Big calls with nobody to test them against
- A board asking about AI and expecting a clear answer
- Being asked for numbers you cannot yet defend
- A team that needs you certain before you are
- Vendors advising you on decisions they profit from
How we help
A senior pair of hands and an honest opinion
Principal-led. You get the person you met, not a team you have not.
No stake in the answer
We are not paid by any platform, so the advice stays yours.
Ready before the board meeting
Help shaping the paper, the numbers and the answers to the hard questions.
As much or as little as you need
A monthly conversation, a day a week, or cover through a gap.
How it works
How advisory usually starts
No long contract to find out whether it helps.
A first conversation
Thirty minutes on what you are carrying and where a second opinion would help most.
Agree the shape
Cadence, scope and what is in and out. Written on one page.
Work alongside you
Regular sessions, board preparation and help on the calls that matter.
What changes
What you get from having someone alongside you
Better decisions
Options tested before they become commitments.
A stronger board paper
Clear numbers and a story that holds up to questions.
Fewer expensive mistakes
A second read on systems, spend and structure.
Room to think
Space to work on the function, not only in it.
Cover when you need it
Senior capacity through a gap or a heavy quarter.
You should not have to carry this on your own.
A senior second opinion is the cheapest risk management there is.
FAQ
Executive advisory: your questions answered
What does HR executive advisory involve?
Regular senior support to an HR leader: testing decisions, shaping board papers, reviewing system and structure choices, and providing an outside read on the function. It is advisory, not delivery, though we can bring delivery support when it is needed.
How is this different from consulting?
Consulting delivers a defined piece of work. Advisory sits alongside you over time, on whatever is in front of you that month. Many clients use both, starting with a diagnostic and continuing with advisory.
Do you offer fractional HR systems leadership?
Yes. Where there is a gap or a heavy period of change, we provide part-time senior capacity on people systems and data, typically a day or two a week.
Who do we work with?
You work with the principal throughout. There is no handover to a junior team, which is the point of an advisory relationship.
Can you help us prepare for the board?
Yes, that is one of the most common asks: the paper, the numbers, the story and the answers to the two questions you would rather not be asked.
A Better Way
You should not have to carry this on your own
Take the free work design assessment, or book a diagnostic call. No pitch, just a senior conversation about what you are navigating.