Support your People, Strengthen your Culture

Our human resources team will help you better manage your people and culture

Executive Performance On Demand.

When We’re Needed.
For As Long As We’re Needed.

Engaged employees are more productive, stay longer and strive to enhance the client experience. They look for ways to improve the organization and work together to meet a shared vision and mission.

The Osborne Group’s human resources principals work closely with organizational leaders to develop customized people management strategies and processes that encourage engagement and enhance the ability to meet the organization’s goals.

We provide support in:

Change Management
Compensation and pay equity reviews and implementation
Employee and labour relations
Employment contracts
Collective agreement negotiation
Leadership development
Occupational health & safety
Pension and benefit reviews
Performance management
Succession planning
Policy review and development
Recruitment
Talent management
Workplace investigations

The Osborne Group, a dynamic team of highly experienced executives, has been helping organizations succeed since 1993. We provide a wide range of professional interim management, consulting, planning, and project management services. Our clients are small, medium size and multinational companies in for profit, not-for-profit and government agencies.

We have experience across many nonprofit sectors, including:

Charities and foundations
Community and social services
Child welfare and developmental services
Arts and Cultural agencies
Healthcare services
Housing agencies and property managers
Animal service agencies and humane societies
Professional associations
Provincial & national sports organizations
Universities and colleges
Legal aid organizations
Provincial government agencies

Our principals have leadership experience and in-depth knowledge in all areas within nonprofit organizations. We get to work quickly and get the job done to the highest standards.

On every assignment we:

Focus on our client’s needs first
Collaborate to develop the best solutions
Work with integrity
Provide excellent quality service
Commit to outstanding results

How healthy is your organization? We will help you find out with an assessment of your overall organizational health that identifies opportunities to optimize organizational effectiveness and employee engagement:

Advising and coaching executives on people management issues and practices;
Building organizational alignment to your goals through HR strategies, policies, practices and culture;
Developing leaders that will take your organization to the next level
Attracting, retaining and motivating employees with best in class talent management strategies and practices;
Providing compensation, benefit and pension solutions that recognize and reward behaviours that allow employees to be successful and encourage their success;
Establishing policies and procedures that are legally compliant and enhance the organization’s ability to deliver superior results.

A comprehensive total rewards and pay equity review can ensure your organization is fully compliant with pay equity legislation, maintains internal equity and provides a competitive wage to attract, retain, engage and motivate employees.

In a recent review, we trained a five-person job evaluation team of employees who then completed job evaluations for all non-union and management roles. We confirmed compliance with pay equity legislation, developed a pay equity plan, completed an external market review of the various positions and developed appropriate salary grids.

For a full external market review of compensation, we obtained comparator salary rates through surveys, established salary grids to meet clients’ compensation philosophies, developed implementation strategies and provided estimates of full implementation costs.

A full HR policy review and audit can be invaluable when your organization is facing a major transition or considering how to minimize risk and improve performance. The review and audit will focus on factors influencing how HR is managed and overseen, identify shortcomings, gaps and risks, and, operational and practical matters, including policies, procedures and processes, documents and forms.

Our HR audits will include a review of the following:
Organizational charts and descriptions
Job descriptions for all roles
Compensation structure
Overview of any scheduling program or the approach to scheduling
A list of any outsourced HR functions
HR policy manual and associated procedures
Other documents which may provide information on HR practices and their impact on employees

In most cases, we will conduct interviews with staff, asking questions from an interview template to ensure consistency. Staff input provides rich information on the perceived impact of current HR processes and any process gaps.

The Osborne Group principals have extensive experience in leadership training, development and coaching in the nonprofit and business sectors. We have a solid understanding of the many common service needs organizations struggle with as they adapt to new circumstances, changing public expectations and funding uncertainty.

We custom design the approach to employee development to meet each client’s needs. The range of topics include::

Building effective teams
Coaching for performance
Delivering feedback and handling difficult conversations
Communicating for high performance
Problem solving for high impact outcomes
Best practices for program delivery

Contact us to discuss your training needs and develop a program to help your organization better serve its clients and customers.

Assignments for coaching and performance management are deeply personal and interactive between the consultant and our clients.

To develop and deliver effective coaching, we:

Liaise as appropriate to analyze the coaching client’s current state
Collaborate with the employee to identify areas of focus
Work together to develop a strategy to address the focus areas
Support the employee to implement the strategy and achieve goals.

Performance management also requires in-depth conversations with the leader and staff member before structuring an engagement. Contact The Osborne Group to explore how we can help.

Talent Management is an all-encompassing approach to managing and developing the people and the culture in your work environment.  It includes performance management, employee relations, succession planning and talent acquisition to attract, retain and engage current and potential employees.

Companies need a talent management strategy that addresses elements of culture, mission and vision. What will the employee experience be from their very first conversation with you? How will potential employees be treated? How will they be treated when they join your organization? When they are working in your organization do they feel the company’s values are being lived daily in the work environment?

Principal Anne Bloom writes how talent management applies when conducting future performance evaluations.

Contact us to discuss your needs with one of our human resources experts.

Get in Touch

Our Clients Say It Best

Faced with challenges related to governance, organizational culture, and a leadership transition, we required a consulting firm that could support both our day-to-day operations and long-term strategic priorities. The Osborne Group helped us navigate these complexities by delivering practical solutions tailored to our organization, while also considering the external factors that impact our environment.

Their reputable principals bring deep expertise and a high level of professionalism across their respective disciplines. They took the time to work closely with our team, providing coaching and mentorship that helped build the skills needed for sustained success. As a result, we are now on a clear path to stability and growth made possible through The Osborne Group’s trusted guidance.

Volletta Peters, PhD

Executive Director, Sistering

As a start-up, we had to build everything from the ground up. As a company working in all Canadian provinces, that meant understanding HR standards in each province, developing new policies and implementing a system to hire and retain staff.

Over the years, The Osborne Group has supported us in developing a clear HR strategy, establishing employee standards, and improving our approach to recruitment and retention. The Osborne Group gave us individual, curated support while at the same time providing broad team resources when needed. As a result, we’ve built a strong foundation. We have high staff retention, clear employee standards, and are widely recognized as a great place to work.

Barry Friesen, P.Eng.

Executive Director, Cleanfarms Inc.

Our organization was operating without the systems, procedures, and policies needed to support efficiency, transparency, and productivity. We were extremely busy and lacked the time to reflect and map out where we wanted to go. The biggest challenge was managing change while determining what was truly valuable and what was not.

The Osborne Group helped us develop a strategic plan tailored to our organization. Their approach was not cookie-cutter or based on a standard toolkit. It reflected our workplace and executive board culture and long-term aspirations. As a result, we now have a multi-year plan with clear direction and the confidence to pivot as needed. We are very pleased with the work The Osborne Group did and the thoughtful approach they brought to the process.

Glenn Wheeler

COPE Ontario

Homepage – Waterloo Minor Hockey Association

Our organization lacked clarity around board governance, defined roles, and how each position fit within the overall structure. Entrenched habits and inconsistent practices made it difficult for directors to understand their evolving responsibilities. The Osborne Group provided practical insight into our challenges and a clear path forward. The principal worked to build trust quickly, adapted the approach as needed, and met individually with each director to address the key challenges. As a result, we now operate with clear governance guidelines, structured onboarding for new members, and strong checks and balances to ensure accountability. Overall, the engagement was professional, straightforward, and highly effective.

Tracey Williams

Director of Operations, Waterloo Minor Hockey Association

Our organization needed a strategic plan to enhance our professionalism, establish clear direction, and define our goals. The Osborne Group guided us in creating this plan. Their approach was professional, organized, and structured, enabling full team participation. As a result, we now have dynamic policies, procedures, and sub-committees in place, allowing us to take a proactive approach.

Doug Morrison

President, Board Member, The Table Soup Kitchen Foundation