Latisha Newby in conversation across a table.

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Some decisions don’t need a training program. They need an experienced outside perspective.

Strategic HR Advisory gives senior leaders and HR professionals a confidential thinking partner for complex workplace, leadership and people decisions. This is targeted strategic guidance, not outsourced HR administration or an on-call HR department.

Book a conversation

Thirty minutes. No pitch. I will tell you if I am not the right fit.

Education and leadership development are the main work now.

I still take on a small number of advisory engagements each year, where senior HR judgment or an independent pair of eyes is what the situation actually calls for. There is no form and no proposal deck to work through first: book a conversation and I will tell you whether I am the right person, including when the answer is no.

Ongoing

Fractional HR leadership

A trusted advisor for your executive team. I partner with leaders to navigate complex people decisions before they become costly organizational or legal problems.

Who it is for. Organizations between 40 and 400 people with an HR generalist or a small team, and no senior HR voice above them.

What it involves. A set number of days each month, not an on-call arrangement; Board and executive reporting on people risk; Escalations, investigations and the decisions that cannot wait; Policy, classification and compliance reviewed before it becomes a problem; Building the HR function as headcount grows.

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Engagement

HR compliance and employment law support

Most compliance problems aren’t discovered during an audit. They’re discovered during a claim, when someone asks for a document you assumed existed, or when a workplace issue exposes a gap. Our work helps organizations identify and address those gaps proactively, before they lead to investigations, litigation, or unnecessary risk.

Workplace investigations

Some workplace issues are too sensitive, too senior, or too close to the reporting line for the internal team to handle alone. I provide independent support for workplace investigations and other high-risk employee matters, including allegations involving senior leaders, discrimination or harassment concerns, retaliation claims, conflicts of interest, executive conduct, and situations where neutrality may reasonably be questioned. Each engagement is handled with a consistent process, clear documentation, reasoned findings, and a written report or executive summary designed to help leadership act with confidence.

Policies and handbooks

Liability usually lives in the gap between what your handbook says and what your managers actually do. I draft and review policies so the two match, in language a supervisor can follow at speed — not paragraphs written to be defensible and never read.

HR audits

A structured review of the records and practices that get requested when something goes wrong: I-9 and work authorization files, personnel file practices, exempt and non-exempt classification, hiring and separation documentation, and whether your handbook still reflects current practice. You get a prioritized findings list — what to fix now, what can wait.

What this is not. This is employment-law-driven HR compliance. It does not cover workplace safety or OSHA — for that you want a safety specialist, and I will happily say so.

How it works. Scope is agreed in writing before anything begins, and you get findings you can act on — not a list of everything imperfect.

What organizations ask before they call

How is fractional HR leadership different from a consulting project?

A consultant delivers a project and leaves. Fractional HR leadership holds the seat — attends leadership meetings, carries the people agenda between them, and is accountable for the same things a full-time CHRO would be. The difference is days per month, not depth of responsibility.

Are you acting as our lawyer?

No. I am a licensed attorney, and that background is why my advice is different, but I am engaged as an HR advisor. No attorney-client relationship is created, and nothing I provide is legal advice or covered by privilege. Where a matter needs counsel, I will say so plainly and work alongside yours.

Can you investigate a complaint against a senior executive?

That is the situation independent investigation exists for. When the subject sits above your HR team in the reporting line, an internal process is difficult to defend regardless of how carefully it is run.

Do you handle OSHA and workplace safety?

No. My compliance work is employment-law driven — records, classification, policy, documentation and investigations. Safety is a genuinely different discipline and you are better served by a specialist. I would rather tell you that now than take the engagement.

What does it cost?

It depends entirely on scope, and I would rather quote you accurately than post a number that turns out to be wrong. Every engagement is priced in a written proposal after the first conversation. That conversation is free and carries no obligation.

Do you work outside North Carolina?

Yes. Advisory work is largely remote, and I travel for investigations and in-person training. Employment law here is federal-first, with state variation flagged where it matters.

Tell me what is happening.

Thirty minutes, no obligation, and a straight answer about whether this is something I should be involved in. If it is not, I will usually know who should be.

Book a conversation

Or email latisha@cultivatehrconsulting.com.