Talentsmith · HR without the handbrake

The handbrake

Most HR shows up as process. We show up as leverage.

When you are scaling, the wrong people decisions cost you months. Most HR support reacts with policy and process. We give founders the systems and the judgement to hire well, keep good people, and build a team that grows with the company.

Lean systems, built to scale

Hiring, onboarding, performance and comp, set up to run without you.

AI does the heavy lifting

Work that used to take an HR team months, done in days for a fraction of the cost.

Decisions tied to the business

Who to hire, who to grow, where to invest. Based on data, not a handbook.

A denser, stronger team

Better hires and better leaders, so the company performs as it grows.

How we help

A lean ladder of fixed-fee products.

Start with a fast read, then go as deep as you need. No lock-in, no bloat.

Start here

Handbrake Audit

A fast, fixed-fee read on your people setup. What is working, what is exposing you, and what to fix before it slows your growth, with a clear 90-day plan.

from $2,500

Flagship

People OS

The people operating system for a scaling company. Hiring, onboarding, performance, comp and role clarity, set up fast and documented so the team runs without you.

from $9,000

Essential

Compliance Foundations

The legal and compliance basics done right and kept light, so you stay covered as you grow without drowning in policy.

from $8,000

Your edge

AI People Ops

Put AI to work across hiring and people ops. Faster screening, sharper decisions, and the guardrails to use it safely.

from $5,000

Your edge

Talent Density Engine

Behavioural profiling, sharper hiring and stronger leaders, building a high-performing team as you scale.

from $3,000 / module

Ongoing

Fractional CPO

A Chief People Officer on tap. Strategy, hiring, the tricky calls and a priority line, without a full-time hire.

from $4,000 / month, or $300 / hour

Also available: Policy Pack (from $1,500) and the AI for People Leaders workshop (from $2,000). All fees plus GST.

Get my free handbrake score

Previously at Apple, Nike, Wesfarmers and Kaufland MSc, Human Resource Development & Consultancy Accredited in PRISM Brain Mapping & Predictive Index 30 years across the UK and Australia

About

I'm not an HR person who learned business. I'm an operator who fixed HR.

Hey, I'm Paul, and I want to be straight with you. I have been working since I was fifteen, and I came up through operations, not HR. For years I watched HR pile on process instead of adding value, never speaking the language of the business, and it frustrated me. So I went and changed it. I went back to study and earned an MSc in Human Resource Development and Consultancy, and over a career spanning more than 30 years I have built and led people across some of the most demanding brands in the world, from Apple and Nike to Wesfarmers and Kaufland, in the UK and Australia, from startup to global scale.

Talentsmith is the result: people strategy built by someone who thinks like an operator first. Commercial, lean, AI-augmented, and grounded in the behavioural science that makes teams work. Compliance gets handled quietly in the background. The focus is on building the team that lets your company scale.

Get a senior hire wrong and it can cost two to three times their salary to put right. Getting people right is the highest-return decision a growing company makes. That is the entire point of Talentsmith.

Commercial first. People strategy tied to growth and the P&L, not box-ticking.
AI-augmented. Modern leverage that makes senior support fast and affordable.
Built to scale. Systems and a team that hold up as the company grows.
Lean by default. The support you need, none of the bloat.

Get started

Take the handbrake off.

Start with the free Handbrake Scorecard, or book a fixed-fee audit to see where your people setup stands.

hello@talentsmithconsulting.com.au

0495 004 445

Talentsmith Consulting · ABN 90 119 567 849 · Melbourne, Australia

HR without the handbrake.