HR Advisory
Expert guidance for complex leadership and workforce decisions that matter most.
When people decisions carry risk
Some leadership and people decisions can't be solved by a policy, a procedure, or a standard HR process.
When organisational culture is under threat, when leadership behaviours are impacting trust, performance, or accountability, or when the Board requires independent advice on the people implications of a strategic decision, experience makes all the difference.
These are the moments that demand more than technical HR expertise. They require trusted strategic counsel from someone who has led through complexity, advised Boards and executives, and understands how to navigate difficult people decisions with clarity, confidence, and integrity.
The work is confidential, practical, and grounded in organisational psychology. Paula works alongside Boards, executives, and internal HR teams, bringing an independent perspective that complements existing capability. She provides objective, strategic counsel, helping leaders navigate complex people decisions with confidence, free from organisational bias and grounded in commercial reality.
Whether preparing for a Board discussion, supporting a sensitive leadership conversation, or working through a complex organisational challenge, Paula equips leaders with practical insights and clear, actionable advice they can confidently put into practice.
Workforce Transitions
Partnering with organisational leadership teams to navigate workforce transitions through strategic planning and a people-centred approach.
Sensitive ER
Complex employee relations matters requiring confidential diagnosis and careful handling.
Leadership Capability
Empowering organisations to build enduring leadership capability by developing leaders who confidently navigate complex people decisions, strengthen organisational culture, and lead sustainable change.
Culture Reviews
Confidential organisational diagnostics that provide an independent perspective on culture, leadership, and team performance.
Decision Lens
Four questions before a sensitive people decision
Paula helps leaders work through these diagnostic questions before any recommendation is made.
What is the real risk here?
Separating the structural risk (legal, regulatory, financial) from the people risk (culture, trust, morale) that often drives the decision but goes unnamed.
Who is in the room, and who should be?
Mapping the stakeholders, the dynamics and the perspectives that need to be heard before a path is chosen.
What would good look like in 12 months?
Defining the outcome in practical terms: what the leader, the team and the organisation need to see for the decision to have worked.
What is the sequence of moves?
Turning the decision into a practical sequence: who speaks to whom, in what order, with what language, and when.
Core advisory areas
Paula's HR advisory practice spans the full breadth of strategic people operations. Every engagement draws on 25+ years of experience across these six domains.
Compliance & Risk Management
Regulatory audits, Fair Work Act guidance, legally compliant employment contracts, policies and handbooks.
Strategic Workforce Planning
Talent strategy, organisational design, succession planning and the 6B workforce strategies - buy, build, borrow, bind, bounce, boost.
Employee Relations & Performance
Conflict resolution, performance framework design, disciplinary support, and investigation of complex workplace matters.
Training & Development
Leadership workshops, technical skills training, structured onboarding workflows, and learning program design.
Compensation & Benefits
Market benchmarking, salary band design, total rewards strategy, and competitive benefits packaging.
HR Analytics & Technology
People analytics dashboards, turnover and engagement monitoring, HRIS selection and implementation advisory.
Experience
Workforce planning, end to end
Twenty-five years across the full employee lifecycle. When Paula advises on workforce strategy, the recommendation rests on this sequence of work.
Workforce analysis and supply
Building the baseline: auditing current skills, experience and demographics across the organisation.
Demand forecasting
Mapping future talent needs against business goals - new products, new markets, new structures.
Gap analysis and scenario planning
Naming the discrepancies between current capability and future need, and modelling the futures the organisation must be ready for.
Strategy implementation
Bridging the gaps through the 6Bs: buy, build, borrow, bind, bounce or boost.
“It was honestly one of the most valuable sessions I have attended in recent years. I could not speak any higher of our facilitator, who was not only knowledgeable and insightful but particularly personable and engaging.”
The advisory method
Every engagement begins with careful listening and diagnosis before any recommendation is made.
Learn about Paula's approach
A confidential initial consultation
Whether it's leadership, culture, performance, change, or workforce challenges, it starts with a conversation. No cost. No commitment. Completely confidential.
Start a confidential conversation