The Reframe
You don't need more HR. You need alignment.
I don't parachute in with a deck and disappear. Whether it's an ongoing fractional role or a scoped project, I work inside the business, on the same timeline as everyone else, and I'm accountable for how it turns out.
WHAT I DO
Fractional leadership across the full people & operations function
Available as ongoing fractional leadership or a defined consulting project, same embedded approach, different scope.
Most HR consultants are hired to handle things: a policy, a hire, a complaint. This is a different job. Each of these is structural work, changing how decisions get made so the same problem stops coming back. The handbook matters less than who has authority to enforce it.
Recruitment
Full-cycle recruitment
Most bad hires trace back to a rushed job description and a gut-feel interview. I scope the role, run the search, and manage the hire properly. I built these recruitment systems from scratch at a fast-scaling cannabis startup.
01
POLICY
Policies & compliance
A downloaded handbook template protects nobody. I build policy and compliance documentation around how your business actually runs. I rebuilt a stalled performance review process and got completion up 46% in six months.
02
TRANSITION
Leadership transitions
Promotions stall and exits get messy without a plan. I map the transition before it happens so the business doesn't lose a step. I built succession planning frameworks that gave a clear next-in-line before a seat ever opened.
03
PEOPLE
Organizational design
The org chart that worked at 15 people usually breaks by 40. I redesign structure, capabilities, and talent to match business priorities, whether that means a rebuild or starting from nothing. I redesigned roles at a national law firm and cut compensation costs 13% with no performance trade-off.
04
SYSTEMS
People & culture strategy
Performance and pay decisions made on the fly erode trust. I build systems so those decisions stop feeling arbitrary. I've built compensation structures that support pay equity, not whoever asked loudest.
05
PROJECT
Advisory & project work
An HR audit, a due-diligence review, or a critical conversation. Scoped, fixed, done. I supported the C-suite through an international market listing, coordinating compliance under real regulatory scrutiny.
06
TESTIMONIALS
In their own words.
"Kristy built our HR and Operations function at Sugarbud from the ground up — hiring, onboarding, and the policies and structure we needed to scale into a fully operational team. When the Board of Directors made the decision to wind the business down, she managed the wind down, managing the people side of it fairly and professionally. Having the same person manage the start-up, the company growth, and the wind-down, gave us a continuity we would not have had otherwise. If you need someone who can build a team from scratch, guide a team through operations, or guide a team through a difficult ending, she has proven she can do both well."
Dan Wilson
Former Chairman of the Board, Sugarbud Craft Growers.
- Former colleague, Sugarbud Craft Growers
"I brought Kristy in to assist with our company's leadership restructuring, not just patch the symptoms. As we grew, we needed a dedicated Finance Director to keep up with increasing demands and processes, while keeping a capable, well liked Controller in a strong role rather than pushing her out. That's a tricky balance to strike. Kristy helped me build two clearly defined roles with real accountability and enough crossover to keep the team running and morale intact. She assisted with the staffing transition, put together an effective onboarding schedule and documents, and handled some genuinely challenging staff discussions along the way, finding solutions to problems I hadn't even thought of. All on a tight budget and timeline, without losing momentum on our growth. If you're dealing with a leadership or structural change of your own, she's someone I'd bring in again without hesitation."
Kevin Duguid
President, 604 Real Estate Services Inc.
 - Cohere People Client
HOW IT WORKS
Three steps. No retainer mystery.
01
Diagnose
I sit down with you and your team. Not a survey link you fill out alone. I go through your org chart, your policies, and the friction everyone's stopped mentioning because they're used to it.
02
Build
You get a written plan with real dates. Recruitment, policy, restructuring, or all three, laid out so nothing about what happens next is a guess.
03
Operate
Embedded, fractional leadership that stays until the structure holds on its own, then hands off cleanly. No dependency by design.
About
Kristy Reynolds, founder
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20 years in HR & Operations
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Built and led HR functions in law and cannabis; earlier career in energy and mining operations
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13% reduction in annual compensation costs, without cutting performance
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46% increase in performance review completion in six months
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CPHR designation in progress, expected 2027
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Most fractional HR consultants have worked in one or two industries. I've built and run people functions inside a national law firm and a cannabis startup, and before that worked in investor relations, communications, and office management in energy and mining. Four industries with almost nothing in common, which means whatever your business looks like, I've likely worked on something adjacent to it.​
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Here's what that looked like in practice.
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Before founding Cohere People, I was an embedded HR & Ops leader. Not a consultant brought in to advise, but the person actually running the function. I built HR from scratch at a fast-scaling cannabis startup and led the people and operations side of a national office expansion for a law firm. Earlier roles in investor relations, communications, and office management in energy and mining had me working on operational improvements from the inside, which is where I saw how differently business runs across industries. I bring that same embedded approach here: direct about what's broken, structured about what to do next. My degree is in psychology, which is probably why I start with why a process broke rather than what broke.
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I've worked in both British Columbia and Alberta and take clients in both provinces. Employment standards, hiring markets, and workplace norms differ on either side of the Rockies, and I know both, whether your team sits in one province or spans the two.
THE NAME
Cohere: to stick together, to form a consistent whole.
A business runs on people and the systems that hold them together. When roles are clear, policy is sound, and decisions get made with intention, the organization holds its shape under pressure. That's the work. That's what cohering looks like.
Let's build what comes next
Serving clients across British Columbia and Alberta