Services
We Have All The HR Experience You Need
Wise Owl HR covers all aspects of human resource management. We offer management coaching, support through disciplinary & grievance procedure and organisational restructuring, redundancy and change support.
We can also supply short term HR cover and advice on employment law updates, as well as providing workshops for all aspects of performance management.
Coaching Managers
With over 30 years of experience coaching managers across a wide range of industries and challenges, I understand what it takes to lead with confidence, clarity, and compassion. Whether you’re supporting a newly promoted supervisor or developing an experienced senior leader, tailored coaching can unlock real behavioural change and improved performance.
I offer both one-to-one and group coaching sessions, each designed to be practical, engaging and focused on real workplace issues. From handling difficult conversations and managing performance, to navigating change or building team engagement, coaching provides a safe space to explore challenges, reflect on approach and build the skills to lead effectively.
Whether you need support for an individual manager or a full leadership cohort, I’ll work closely with you to shape coaching that fits your organisation’s goals and culture and delivers results.
- Personality profiling/ 360 feedback
- Creating personal development plans
- How to manage their employees
- Performance management
- Confidence building
- Personal mentoring.
People Planning
I create bespoke People Plans tailored to align seamlessly with your Business Strategy. Each plan is thoughtfully designed to include the right people-focused interventions that help you achieve your business goals.
You’ll also receive expert advice and hands-on support to:
- Develop and implement effective workstreams
- Build practical tools to monitor progress
- Regularly review and adapt your plan to stay on track.
Let’s make sure your people strategy works with your business plan, not alongside it.
Short Term HR Cover
Need flexible, short-term HR support to keep things moving?
Whether you’re facing a temporary gap in your team or experiencing a spike in workload, I offer adaptable HR cover that fits your specific needs.
- Is a key team member about to go on maternity leave or extended absence?
- Do you have a major project coming up that requires extra HR expertise?
- Are people-related issues increasing and you need additional capacity fast?
- Or perhaps you just need an experienced HR professional to step in for a while?
I can integrate quickly into your business, providing hands-on support for an agreed period ensuring continuity, stability and expert guidance without the long-term commitment.
From day-to-day operations to strategic input, I’ll bridge the gap so your people priorities stay on track.
Employment Law Updates
Employment legislation is ever-evolving and can be complex to navigate, however, staying compliant doesn’t have to be overwhelming.
I can deliver clear, engaging updates to your leadership teams or wider business; breaking down the latest legal changes into practical, easy-to-understand insights. You’ll gain guidance on:
- What recent and upcoming changes in employment law mean for your business
- How to adapt your policies and procedures to remain compliant
- Best practices for managing risk and staying ahead of legal obligations.
Disciplinary & Grievance Support
When disciplinaries and grievances arise, they can quickly become complex, time-consuming and emotionally draining for everyone involved. It’s a space where many managers feel uncertain and where getting it right is absolutely essential.
I’m here to guide you through the entire process, whether virtually or in person, from start to finish. With the right support, you can handle these situations fairly, confidently and in line with both legal obligations and your organisational values.
Let’s ensure that every step you take is clear, consistent and constructive, protecting your people and your culture.
Restructures, Redundancies & Change
Is your current structure no longer working for your business or department?
Are you looking to reduce payroll costs or realign roles to better meet future demands?
Organisational change, including restructures and redundancies can be complex, sensitive and legally challenging. I’m here to help you plan and deliver these changes with clarity, care and compliance.
From redesigning your structure to managing the difficult steps such as redundancies, redeployments or changes to terms and conditions, I’ll guide you through the process from start to finish, ensuring everything is handled fairly, legally and with respect for the people affected.
Let’s work together to make change the right way, supporting both your business goals and your people.
- Advice on restructuring businesses or department functions
- Coach and advise on redundancy situations from consultation, scripts and letters to dismissal
- Advice on managing change with your employees: when change is happening you need to have your people on the journey with you or it just will not land properly
- Talent and Succession planning: save money on recruiting and promote the right people.
Performance Management
Workshops
When disciplinaries and grievances aren’t handled fairly and lawfully, the consequences can be serious, leading to costly and time-consuming employment tribunals. In fact, this is often one of the most significant financial and reputational risks a business can face. I help businesses avoid these pitfalls by training managers to confidently and compliantly handle workplace issues. With the right knowledge and support, your managers can address problems early, fairly, and in line with legal requirements, protecting both your people and your business.
Objectives of Workshop
- Understand why we have disciplinary and grievance procedures
- Explain the role of ACAS and their code of practice
- Understand and explain what employee ‘conduct’ and ‘capability’ mean and the difference in managing them differently
- Explain and understand the law around disciplinary and grievance procedures and the importance of following them properly
- Feel confident to be able to prepare and conduct a thorough disciplinary investigation
- Feel confident to be able to prepare, manage and conduct a disciplinary hearing
- Understand how to take notes effectively
- Understand the difference between misconduct and gross misconduct
- Explain and understand the Appeal Procedure
- Understand how to use all the correct documentation and where to obtain it from
- Understand the 5 fair reasons for dismissal
- Feel confident to be able to manage a grievance in the workplace
- Understand what discrimination, bullying and harassment are within the workplace and how we view and deal with it.
This subject can be complex and yet another subject that can land businesses in ‘hot water’. Let me help you and your employees navigate this subject and make your workplace safe and free from workplace disputes and an environment that is healthy and free from discrimination, bullying and harassment and most importantly in a tribunal. Last year there was a record award to someone in a sex discrimination case that was awarded £995000!
Objectives of the Workshop
- Understand the different types of discrimination in the workplace the law and best practices
- Understand what ‘banter’ is and is not. So important to know your audience and unknowingly offend someone
- Understand what bullying and harassment are. Let me eliminate this in your workplace and protect you from unwanted tribunals and a toxic environment
- Understand what whistleblowing is. Have you a policy or helpline? How to manage a whistleblowing issue
- How to create a healthy and dignified environment within the workplace. Leadership belief / Values/ Forum meetings etc.
These are so crucial to ensuring people hit goals and deadlines and encourage ideas and to talk about any issues. Your employees achieve their goals you achieve yours. You might not want formal reviews and that is ok because you can do them informally and just as effective.
Objectives of the Workshop
- Understand the benefits and barriers of appraisals/reviews
- Understand the different types of documentation. (I can design this for you or enhance/simplify your existing ones)
- Understand how to prepare for and conduct an appraisal/review
- Demonstrate how to set S.M.A.R.T objectives. Specific Measurable Achievable Time bound
- Understand how to review high/average and poor performers. Each one is different, so a different approach is required
- Describe the different questioning techniques and listening skills that can add value to an appraisal/review.
“Not so fun fact” – workplace sicknesses and absence cost workplace businesses £100bn a year. Yes, that’s correct. As well as costing in sick pay, you must pay overtime to cover the absence and it can affect productivity and morale of others having to work harder to cover whoever is off work. I can help you to manage it.
Objectives of the Workshop
- How to manage ‘sporadic’ absence. A member of staff who is off work constantly with varied reasons
- How to have an effective ‘return to work’ conversations, so essential to help you manage that person’s absence and send a ‘psychological’ message
- Understand the difference between genuine and non-genuine absence. We will meet the characters “Tommy Truthful” and “Sammy Shirker“ and how we tell the difference and manage them both
- How to use absence data to help you and your employees
- Understand the different methods to reduce absence. Keep it on the agenda/have it as a measure (KPI) etc
- Understand the process of managing long term absence. A minefield to navigate but I have solutions and methods.
The one thing managers tend to avoid is having an initial conversation with an employee who isn’t performing or have a bad attitude. Having what I call a ‘Golden’ or challenging conversation can avoid a disciplinary and have immediate benefits. Let me train your managers to ‘nip the situation in the bud’ and deal with it.
Objectives of the Workshop
- Understanding the barriers to challenging conversations and how to overcome them
- Understand what a poor performer is and how to manage them
- Understanding the difference between capability and conduct. They are different and need managing accordingly
- Build the structure of the conversation: how to manage the start/middle and end of the conversation
- How to prepare for a challenging conversation: fail to prepare/prepare to fail what you need to do beforehand
- How to use effective coaching methods and questions: using clever questions so that your employee gives detail and you can get to the crux of the problem
- How to give and receive effective feedback: essential to avoid negative emotion and motivation effectively
- How to manage negative reactions: manage employees’ emotions/anger and insecurities
- How to build an employee’s personal development plan: simply and effectively get them from A to B
- Understanding a PIP (performance improvement process): essential for employees with capability issues
- How to create a supportive environment for the employee.
In 2026, all employees will have day one rights to unfair dismissal. Not 2 years anymore … 1 day! So, it is even more essential to recruit the right people, train them, look after them and review them. Also, every time someone leaves it costs you money to recruit/train and embed someone into the business. How do we then retain them? Let me help you with this.
Objectives of the Workshop
- Designing a recruitment process: from advertising, CV screening and setting up interviews
- Designing job descriptions. How do you interview, if you do not know what you are looking for?
- Coaching managers on interviewing skills-individual workshops or coaching on interview structures, questions, competencies and avoiding discrimination
- Designing competency frameworks. These help you describe what you need technically and behaviourally when filling a vacancy
- Designing an employee induction. Let me help you with the all-important employee induction. Helping your new starters get to know your business and things they need to know
- Designing and delivering new starter reviews. It is so important that we understand how a new starter is getting along. Are they settling in? Have they had enough training? Engaging with them. 1 in 5 people leave their job in their probationary period. Let’s retain them.
So What Are You Waiting For?
We will fulfil all your HR requirements to enable you to concentrate on what you do best – your business!
Contact us today to find out how we can help you.