Management consulting for human capital
Human capital, matched to your organisation’s season
We help organisation leaders align structure, leadership, talent and HR systems with business needs, from understanding the problem to designing and implementing the solution.
Select a season to see what it usually needs.
Which situation is closest to yours?
Choose one. We show the specialist areas, seasons, experience and reading that connect to it, and why. It is a way into the site, not a diagnosis.
Choose the situation closest to yours
All six situations are listed below with their connections.
We are growing fast and the structure no longer fits
Units, layers and roles appeared faster than anyone could define them. Decisions slow down and responsibilities overlap.
Why these
Structure and job architecture restore clarity of roles. Human capital strategy ties headcount to the business plan, and selection design lets you hire at pace without losing quality.
Seasons that usually apply
Specialist areas
- Organisation structure and job architectureDefine layers, spans, roles, job families and grades so that responsibilities are clear and pay follows a logic.
- Human capital strategy and organisation developmentLink the workforce, the HR operating model and the change agenda to what the business plan actually requires.
- Recruitment and selectionRole profiles, structured selection and decision support, from a single senior hire to large-volume programmes.
Related experience
Related reading
No articles published for this yet.
Key people are leaving and no one is ready to step in
Critical expertise sits with a few individuals. Departures expose gaps in succession, knowledge transfer and reward.
Why these
Succession work identifies critical roles and successors. Reward and labour-relations advice address why people leave, and development builds the bench.
Seasons that usually apply
Specialist areas
- Talent, performance and successionIdentify critical roles, build successors and move knowledge before it is lost.
- HR systems and compensationDesign pay structure, benefits, performance management, policies and processes that managers can apply consistently.
- Learning and capability developmentTraining needs analysis by role, learning roadmaps and leadership development linked to what the organisation needs.
Related experience
Related reading
No articles published for this yet.
We struggle to hire specialist staff
Vacancies stay open, selection varies between interviewers, and new hires do not always match the role.
Why these
Structured selection and assessment make decisions comparable between candidates and interviewers. Analytics shows where the process loses people.
Seasons that usually apply
Specialist areas
- Recruitment and selectionRole profiles, structured selection and decision support, from a single senior hire to large-volume programmes.
- Management assessment and psychometricsEvidence-based assessment of managers and candidates against defined competencies, with feedback people can use.
- HR analytics and technologyOne reliable HR data foundation, clear metric definitions, dashboards and the requirements for the systems that hold them.
Related experience
Related reading
No articles published for this yet.
Roles and pay are unclear or inconsistent
Similar jobs carry different titles and pay, and managers and employees disagree about what a role is worth.
Why these
Job architecture defines and grades roles first. The reward system follows from it, and labour-relations advice covers the contractual and legal side.
Seasons that usually apply
Specialist areas
- Organisation structure and job architectureDefine layers, spans, roles, job families and grades so that responsibilities are clear and pay follows a logic.
- HR systems and compensationDesign pay structure, benefits, performance management, policies and processes that managers can apply consistently.
- Labour relationsContracts, procedures, dispute analysis and manager guidance, informed by hands-on experience of labour dispute resolution.
Related reading
No articles published for this yet.
We cannot see our managers’ strengths and development needs
Promotion and development decisions rest on impressions rather than comparable evidence.
Why these
Structured assessment gives evidence against defined competencies. Development plans and succession decisions then build on the same evidence.
Seasons that usually apply
Specialist areas
- Management assessment and psychometricsEvidence-based assessment of managers and candidates against defined competencies, with feedback people can use.
- Learning and capability developmentTraining needs analysis by role, learning roadmaps and leadership development linked to what the organisation needs.
- Talent, performance and successionIdentify critical roles, build successors and move knowledge before it is lost.
Related experience
Related reading
No articles published for this yet.
HR data is scattered and decisions rely on guesswork
Headcount, pay and performance sit in separate files. Leaders cannot answer simple questions without a manual project.
Why these
Analytics and HR technology start with one reliable data foundation, then dashboards on top. HR systems work defines the processes that feed it.
Seasons that usually apply
Specialist areas
- HR analytics and technologyOne reliable HR data foundation, clear metric definitions, dashboards and the requirements for the systems that hold them.
- HR systems and compensationDesign pay structure, benefits, performance management, policies and processes that managers can apply consistently.
Related experience
Related reading
No articles published for this yet.
Nine areas, one view of the organisation
Each area has a defined scope, a way of working and a set of deliverables. They are designed to be used together or separately.
- Human capital strategy and organisation developmentLink the workforce, the HR operating model and the change agenda to what the business plan actually requires.
- Organisation structure and job architectureDefine layers, spans, roles, job families and grades so that responsibilities are clear and pay follows a logic.
- HR systems and compensationDesign pay structure, benefits, performance management, policies and processes that managers can apply consistently.
- Talent, performance and successionIdentify critical roles, build successors and move knowledge before it is lost.
- Management assessment and psychometricsEvidence-based assessment of managers and candidates against defined competencies, with feedback people can use.
- Recruitment and selectionRole profiles, structured selection and decision support, from a single senior hire to large-volume programmes.
- Learning and capability developmentTraining needs analysis by role, learning roadmaps and leadership development linked to what the organisation needs.
- Labour relationsContracts, procedures, dispute analysis and manager guidance, informed by hands-on experience of labour dispute resolution.
- HR analytics and technologyOne reliable HR data foundation, clear metric definitions, dashboards and the requirements for the systems that hold them.
An organisation does not need the same help all year
We use six seasons to describe the state an organisation is in and the kind of intervention that fits. It frames the first conversation. It is not a diagnosis, a score or a test.
- GrowthBuilding capacity for expansion.
- TransformationRedesigning the organisation and the way it works.
- SuccessionSecuring leadership continuity and knowledge transfer.
- TurnaroundCorrecting performance problems and reviving capabilities.
- IntegrationAligning companies, teams and systems.
- ExcellenceRaising maturity and continuous improvement.
Industries where human-capital decisions carry operational weight
A marker shows where team members have documented experience. The other industries are target sectors: the pressures are real, our own record there is still to be built.
- Oil and gasRemote sites, rotating crews and safety-critical roles turn staffing decisions into operating decisions.Documented team experience
- Petrochemicals and chemicalsProcess knowledge sits with a generation of operators and engineers close to retirement, while plants depend on them for start-ups and shutdowns.Documented team experience
- Steel and metalsThousands of roles across melting, rolling and support, with continuous operations and inconsistent job definitions between plants.Documented team experience
- Mining and mineralsSites are far from urban labour markets, so capability has to be built, not simply hired.Documented team experience
- Power and utilitiesContinuous operations depend on licensed operators and control-room staff who are hard to replace quickly.
- Automotive and industrial manufacturingProductivity depends on shift systems, plant-level labour relations and a supplier network with its own skill gaps.
- EPC and constructionProject teams must grow and shrink with the order book without losing control or institutional knowledge.
- Financial services and capital marketsRegulated roles, competition for talent and expectations of professional conduct shape every appointment.Documented team experience
- Public sector and holdingsMany subsidiaries, one owner: governance is only as consistent as the people policies beneath it.Documented team experience
Selected experience of the team
These engagements were led by members of our team before HR Season was formed. Client names are withheld.
- Steel and metalsA steel complex in southern IranTraining needs analysis across about 490 job titles, delivered as a training atlas and a multi-year development roadmap.Team experience before HR Season
- Petrochemicals and chemicalsA petrochemical complex in western IranAssessment, HR capability building, and succession, performance and reward systems.Team experience before HR Season
- Financial services and capital marketsA national capital-markets associationLabour-relations advisory, dispute resolution and management training.Team experience before HR Season
Figures, with their owners
Each figure is a statement by the team member who led the work, in a previous role. They overlap in time and subject and are not added together.
Screened more than 200,000 candidates and selected more than 4,500 professionals for 19 refining and petrochemical companies.
Dr. Ali Abdoli, Previous role at a national petrochemical holding
Led the design of a succession model covering 1,100 managers.
Abolfazl Azizi, Previous role at a national petrochemical holding
Adjudicated more than 2,000 labour-dispute cases as a member of dispute resolution boards.
Alireza Agahi, Previous public role
Ran 24 assessment centres covering 300 managers.
Farid Azimi, Previous roles in telecommunications, technology and consumer industries
The people you would work with
Practice leaders who have run these systems inside industrial and financial organisations.
Board and leadership
Practice leaders
Three stages, then continuation
Every engagement follows the same logic, sized to the problem.
Diagnosis
We establish what is actually happening, using interviews, documents and data, before proposing anything.
What you receive A written diagnosis with the evidence behind each finding.
What we need from you A sponsor, access to people and records.
Architecture
We design the structures, systems and decisions that fit your industry, size and situation.
What you receive A design you can test with your own managers before it is adopted.
What we need from you Decisions on principles, and managers to test the design.
Development
We help your people put the design to work, so that capability stays inside the organisation.
What you receive Tools, procedures and trained owners.
What we need from you Named owners and time for them to learn the system.
After an engagement, a structured follow-up period (HR Season Continuum) can keep the work on track. It is optional.
Bring us the problem as you see it
The first meeting is for understanding the problem and deciding whether we can help. Please keep sensitive employee data out of your first message.