People Advisory for CEOs
You're trying to grow the business without losing the culture you set out to build.
Carrying every people decision alone can be isolating. Groundwork People serves as a fractional people advisor on your side — the experienced, objective partner you bring in before a decision becomes a crisis.
What we do
From building a first HR function to resolving a conflict that's already escalated — every engagement starts with what the organization actually needs, and grows from there.
For founders who haven't built an HR function yet: deciding what to build first, how to sequence it, and whether to hire, promote, or bring in interim support.
Structured leadership interviews and data analysis — turnover, engagement scores, and related metrics — ending in a clear diagnosis and a prioritized roadmap.
Facilitated resolution for team conflict, interpersonal tension, or breakdowns in working relationships — addressed directly, before they affect performance or retention.
When culture challenges trace back to manager capability, working directly with line managers to build core leadership fundamentals.
Performance systems designed to drive genuine development and engagement, not merely satisfy compliance requirements.
Structured monthly touchpoints, plus direct access between sessions, as your dedicated resource for people-related decisions as they arise.
In their words
"I worked closely with Kim for six years, and what stands out most is her ability to make hard human moments go well. Layoffs, difficult separations, tense negotiations — the situations most leaders dread — are where she's at her best: clear and direct about what the organization needs, while making sure people keep their dignity and feel genuinely cared for. That combination is rare.
Kim was a real thought partner to me. She challenged my thinking, spoke up for what she believed, and had the hard conversations that actually moved us forward rather than the comfortable ones that don't. She was central to a full cultural reset — reshaping our values and helping build a place where people felt welcome, connected, and held to a high standard at the same time.
She pairs sound judgment with genuine care, and she reads people better than almost anyone I've worked with. Whether it was recruiting, a delicate personnel situation, compensation, or managing real legal risk, I trusted how she'd handle it. And she never stopped learning — she has a growth mindset that shows up most in the hardest conversations, which is exactly where it matters."
— Robert G, CEO
"Kim walks her talk. She is deeply committed to creating workplaces where people love working. That's an important statement in an era where the pressure on workers and their companies is only increasing. If that is her talk, then Kim backs it up with the skills and experience to make it happen. I've seen her create processes that give employees useful feedback to improve their skills, identify the stars and the laggards and give each what they need to improve, align individual efforts with key organizational goals. Kim has been through the fire, riding the roller coaster of a tech startup, making the tough personnel calls in a timely manner, and doing it all in an efficient and human-centered manner. Kim is a battle-tested systems thinker who never forgets the people inside the systems she creates."
Tim P, Executive Coach
"Working on the People Team with Kim was a joyous and real time. The behind-the-scenes work of holding space for humans — if you know, you know. People skills take both natural instinct and hard-won experience: trial and error, a willingness to learn, unlearn, and do better. When those come together, even when the process is messy, the outcome is hard earned magic. It's a special chemistry, and my time with Kim will always be a highlight of my career journey. Whatever Kim is a part of, magic will follow."
Thoey B, Director of People Ops
"As a CTO, it's easy to hyper-focus on the day-to-day execution of making a great product. Working with Kim as our VP of People Operations, I loved how much she zoomed me out, bringing every conversation back to what we were going to communicate to our teams and whether a decision actually aligned with the company's values."
Matt D, CTO
The cost of inaction
Difficult personnel decisions get deferred. Managers lead without the coaching to do it well. Engagement erodes quietly until it surfaces in turnover, missed targets, and a culture shaped by default instead of by design.
Getting started
No long onboarding, no generic package — just a conversation, a plan built around your organization, and a partner who sticks with it.
A 30-minute conversation to understand what's happening in your organization and whether we're the right fit. No cost, no commitment.
Not a generic package — a clear, prioritized plan based on what's actually going on, whether that's a single decision or an ongoing need.
Structured touchpoints, direct access when something comes up, and adjustments as the organization's needs change.
A short conversation to confirm fit — what's going on in your organization, and how Groundwork People can help. Complimentary, no ongoing commitment required.
Not ready to book a call yet? Send a brief note outlining your situation, and Groundwork People will follow up soon to schedule a Discovery Call.
Kim Harris founded Groundwork People to give CEOs the strategic people partner many are navigating without. She understands the challenges that come with making high-stakes people decisions.
Kim stepped into people leadership 11 months after moving from higher education into tech — then helped lead the company through a founder transition, a Great Resignation-era talent exodus, and a stretch of hyper growth that added 30+ headcount in a single year. When the market turned, she led two reductions in force. Then she rebuilt: attrition and regretted attrition fell well below industry benchmarks, and trust across the organization was restored. Engagement recovered from a steep post-executive transition dip, performance management moved from an annual to a quarterly cadence, and average time-to-hire came down to 30-35 days. She provides the kind of range CEOs need: steady in a crisis, disciplined when things are calm.
Kim believes people do their best work when they have the right environment, leadership, coaching, and resources — and when people thrive, businesses create outsized impact. Groundwork People brings that philosophy to CEOs and senior leaders, helping them make better people decisions, build stronger teams, and create cultures that drive business performance.
