Boly:Welch HR Consulting

Your people problems usually aren’t problems with people.

The issue you can see is often just the symptom. Our job is to uncover what’s actually driving it.

Why Choose Us?

Organizations come to us asking questions like: 

  • Is it time to let this employee go? 
  • How do we know what’s fair when it comes to raises?  
  • Why are some teams thriving while others struggle? 
  • We can’t promote a high performer, and they’ve been asking for growth. How do we keep them engaged?  
  • Why has turnover suddenly increased? 
  • How do we know whether our managers are effective? 
  • Why does burnout keep showing up despite our efforts to address it? 


That’s where we come in.
  

We help leaders get clarity on what’s happening beneath the surface, then turn that insight into action. Our SHRM-certified HR consultants ask good questions, uncover patterns, and help you build solutions that actually fit your organization — not someone else’s playbook.  

How We Help

No two organizations have the same challenges, so we don’t start with a package. We start with a conversation.   

Sometimes you need quick advice. Sometimes you need a strategic partner. Sometimes you need someone to take a project off your plate. 

We’ll figure out what moves the needle, then build the right approach together. 

Our Work Might Involve:

Employee Relations

When people issues get complicated, we’ll help you navigate them.

Compensation

Build pay practices that people trust and leaders can defend.

Leaves & Accommodations

Handle leave requests and accommodations with confidence — not guesswork.

Manager Training & Development

Give managers the tools to lead, coach, and communicate more effectively.

Performance Management

Turn difficult conversations into productive ones.

Hiring & Selection

Hire for long-term success, not just today’s opening.

Onboarding

Help new hires feel confident, connected, and productive from day one.

Terminations

Navigate departures with empathy, consistency, and legal care.

Engagement & Retention

Understand what’s driving turnover — and what will help people stay.

Handbook Updates

Create policies that work for your organization today, not five years ago.

Compliance Support

Make sense of gray areas before they become bigger problems.

Workplace Concerns

Address complaints, conflicts, and sensitive situations with confidence.

Our Offerings

Support That Fits Your Team

Whether you need an ongoing HR partner, help with a specific initiative, or expert advice when something complicated lands on your desk, we’ll meet you where you are.  

Ongoing Support

1. Your Dedicated HR Partner

Your HR partner — for the questions you expected and the ones you didn’t.  

Some issues can wait until next quarter. Others need an answer before your next management meeting. With retained support, you have an experienced HR partner who knows your business and is ready to help with everything from day-to-day questions to long-term planning. 

  • Predictable monthly pricing  
  • Ongoing strategic guidance 
  • Day-to-day HR advice and problem-solving  
  • Retained support for both immediate needs and long-term initiatives 
  • Your team asks HR questions every week — and you’re tired of Googling the answers 
  • You need a trusted sounding board before making difficult people decisions 
  • Your HR lead is stretched thin, or HR is one of many hats you wear 
  • You’d rather prevent problems than spend your time putting out fires 

Organizations that want trusted advice without friction.  

  • Occasional ($750/month)
  • Frequent ($1000/month)
  • Hands-On ($2250/month) 
2. HR Support, On Demand

Expert HR guidance, whenever you need it. 

Not every organization needs ongoing HR support. Sometimes you just need an experienced partner you can call when something unexpected comes up. We’ll be there when you need us — and out of the way when you don’t 

  • Pay-for-what-you-use support 
  • Flexible engagement with no long-term commitment  
  • Fast answers to time-sensitive questions  
  • Scale on-call support up or down as your needs change  
  • Most weeks, things are running smoothly — but every now and then you need a second opinion 
  • You’re facing a tricky employee situation and want to make sure you’re handling it correctly 
  • You don’t need a full-time HR partner, but you don’t want to navigate difficult issues alone  
  • You want expert guidance that’s available when you need it 

Organizations that want trusted advice without overcommitting.  

  • Advisor ($275/hour) 
  • Advanced Advisory ($325/hour) 

Specialized Services

1. Employee Insights & Listening

The problem you can see is often just the symptom.  

Turnover. Burnout. Low engagement. Resistance to change. Most workplace challenges have deeper causes than they first appear. Through surveys, interviews, focus groups, and facilitated conversations, we help uncover what’s really happening — and give you practical recommendations for what to do next.  

  • Employee surveys and workforce feedback 
  • Focus groups and listening sessions 
  • Stay interviews and exit interview analysis 
  • Findings, themes, and recommendations 
  • Turnover has increased, and you’re not sure why 
  • Employee morale feels different than it used to 
  • You’re hearing conflicting feedback from different parts of the organization 
  • You want to make decisions based on data, not assumptions  

Organizations experiencing turnover, burnout concerns, communication challenges, culture shifts, or other people-related questions that need deeper understanding. 

Custom project pricing, typically ranging from $2,500-$15,000+ based on scope and participant count. 

2. Project-Based HR Support

Some challenges need more than a quick answer. 

Whether you’re tackling a major initiative or navigating a complex people issue, we’ll jump in as an extension of your team. From compensation projects to handbook updates and performance systems, we bring the expertise, structure, and follow-through to keep the work moving.  

  • Clearly defined scope, timeline, and deliverables 
  • Senior-level HR expertise from start to finish  
  • Extra capacity for your internal team  
  • Your HR team doesn’t have the bandwidth for a major project 
  • You know something needs to change but aren’t sure where to start 
  • You need experienced HR leadership without adding permanent headcount 
  • You want someone to own the project from beginning to end  

Organizations taking on high-impact HR projects that require dedicated expertise and execution.  

Varies by service.  

3. Training & Development

Great managers aren’t born — they’re supported.  

The skills that make someone a strong individual contributor aren’t always the same skills that make them an effective manager. We help leaders build confidence through practical, real-world training they can apply immediately.  

  • Performance and coaching conversations 
  • Managing underperformance 
  • Difficult conversations and employee feedback  
  • Tailored content built for your team’s needs 
  • Every manager handles employee issues differently 
  • Performance conversations are being avoided 
  • Your managers need more confidence — not more theory 
  • You want to build stronger leaders from within  

Organizations investing in stronger managers, healthier teams, and long-term employee growth.  

Flat rate range: $200-$500/person; $2000+/session

HR support doesn’t always have to start with a consulting project. Sometimes you need an answer to a quick question.

Sometimes you’re trying to think through a people issue before it becomes a bigger one. And sometimes you just want practical tools and fresh ideas from people who have seen it before.  

B:Side is our membership community for HR professionals, managers, and business leaders who want ongoing access to the insights, frameworks, and real-world guidance our consulting team uses every day — without engaging us for a project.  

  • Monthly webinars and an on-demand resource library 
  • Ready-to-use templates, guides, and practical tools 
  • Timely insights on workplace trends and HR challenges  
  • Opportunities to learn alongside other HR professionals  
  • Access to experienced HR experts 
  • SHRM Professional Development Credits (PDCs) 
  • You want practical HR guidance before a problem becomes a crisis 
  • You like solving problems yourself — but appreciate a trusted second opinion 
  • You’re an HR team of one (or one who wears many hats) 
  • You want to keep learning without hiring a consultant every time a question comes up  

Organizations experiencing turnover, burnout concerns, communication challenges, culture shifts, or other people-related questions that need deeper understanding. 

  • Standard Membership ($79/month)
  • Plus Membership ($249/month with monthly access to real-time guidance) 

Don't See What You Need?

We meet you where you are, with services and solutions tailored to what your team (and budget) needs. Reach out and we’ll work together to understand what will help most.

Case Studies

The Problem Behind The Problem

Organizations often come to us with one challenge in mind. But the obvious explanation isn’t always the right one. Here are a few real examples of what happened when we looked beneath the surface.  

CASE STUDY

When a Market Pricing Problem Isn't Actually a Market Pricing Problem

The question: A growing organization asked us to review its compensation strategy after leaders noticed experienced employees seemed to be falling behind market pay — even though they’d been receiving regular raises.  
 
What we discovered: The salary structure wasn’t broken. New hires were coming in at competitive rates, but employees’ pay wasn’t progressing through the salary ranges quickly enough to keep pace with the market. Over time, long-tenured employees were earning salaries that no longer reflected their experience or contributions.  
 
What we recommended: Instead of rebuilding the compensation program, we recommended targeted salary adjustments for long-tenured employees, clearer expectations around salary progression, and a multi-year plan to close gaps over time.  
 
The takeaway: Compensation concerns aren’t always about market pricing. Sometimes the issue is how employees progress through an otherwise healthy pay structure. 
The question: A growing organization couldn’t seem to get major initiatives across the finish line. Projects started well, but timelines kept slipping as they neared completion. Leadership assumed they needed better project management.  
 
What we discovered: The projects themselves were well planned. The real issue was that multiple initiatives relied on the same people at the same time — marketing, technical experts, executive reviewers, and quality assurance. The organization kept bottlenecking at the same shared resources.
 
What we recommend: Prioritize projects earlier, map resource needs before work begins, and coordinate shared capacity across initiatives instead of managing each project independently.  
 
The takeaway: As organizations grow, bottlenecks often come from competing priorities — not poor project management.  

CASE STUDY

When Delays Aren't a Project Management Problem

CASE STUDY

When a Communication Problem Isn't Really About Communication

The question: After a senior leader left the organization, leadership wanted to understand what had happened. Was it communication? Performance? Unclear expectations?  
 
What we discovered: Communication wasn’t the real issue. Over time, the role itself had changed. What began as a hands-on, relationship-focused position had evolved into one requiring strategic leadership, independent decision-making, and greater organizational ownership.
 
The employee continued to excel in mentoring and program leadership. The organization increasingly needed someone focused on budgeting, prioritization, and long-term strategy. Neither side was wrong — they were simply working from different definitions of success.
 
What we recommended: Rather than focusing on communication alone, we helped redefine the role, clarify decision-making authority, and establish clear expectations before beginning the next search. 
 
The takeaway: Communication can clarify expectations — but it can’t solve a mismatch in the expectations themselves.  
The question: An organization came to us asking for a handbook update after years of adding new policies, exceptions, and revisions. Managers wanted one clear, consistent handbook everyone could follow. 
 
What we discovered: The number of policies wasn’t the problem. Over time, well-intentioned decisions had created an ad hoc system that was increasingly difficult to navigate. PTO, leave policies, hybrid work guidelines, and exceptions all made sense individually — but together they created confusion for both managers and employees.
 
What we recommended: Rather than simply rewriting the handbook, we redesigned several key policies to better align with the organization’s values while making them simpler and more consistent to administer.  
 
The takeaway: Many policy challenges aren’t caused by bad policy. They’re caused by years of good decisions that were never evaluated as a complete system.  
 

CASE STUDY

When a Handbook Update Isn't Really About the Handbook

B Corp logo

We Love to Work with B Corps and Nonprofits! 

We share your values and understand your unique needs.   

Please reach out for courtesy pricing; we’ll even answer one quick HR question for free!  

Meet Our Team

HR Consulting Team

Abby is Director of HR Consulting at Boly:Welch, leading a bench of HR Consultants to help our clients solve their HR, hiring, and retention pain points. Building relationships and making work inclusive and fulfilling are what drives her — enough to leave her job as an attorney to pursue a career in HR. She’s a graduate of the University of Oregon’s School of Law and has been working in HR and recruiting since 2015.

Cory is a Senior Recruiter in the HR division of Boly:Welch, who has been working with business leaders to recruit HR professionals for over 15 years. He is known to be a trusted advisor in providing current and nuanced insight into job market trends and the hiring landscape, and specializes in filling HR leadership positions. A proud native of Portland (born and raised), Cory is a graduate of Willamette University.

Karen is Chief People Officer at Boly:Welch, where she’s led Human Resources and Operations by prioritizing inclusion and fun (an official company value) for over 25 years. She knows that a commitment to client success must be matched by a commitment to empowering each member of the internal team to do their best work. With deep experience in and connection to the Portland business community, Karen has seen it all — and continues to keep a finger on the pulse of current best practices and what’s needed to face forward as a thriving organization. She’s a proud alum of Central Washington University and the Portland State University Human Resources Management & Services program.

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1050 SW 6th Avenue, Suite 1425, Portland, OR 97204

503.242.1300 | [email protected]

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