Senior HR leadership, shaped to your business.

Fractional & Project HR · Executive Coaching · Workforce Transformation

Tap into Director-level People & HR expertise
For CEOs, Founders, Investors & PE Firms
Designed for the Human + AI era
Let's talk — book a 30-minute call
5.0 across all engagements
5.5y
AI consultancy
Steve Thompson
Founder · Fractional HR Director
ICF · CIPD
Three shapes of the same work.

Different ways of helping organisations through workforce change in the Human + AI era. Pick a starting point — most engagements blend more than one.

Fractional & Project HR

Senior HR leadership, embedded into your business —without the full-time cost.

Ongoing fractional HR Director support

Employee relations, disciplinaries & grievances

Talent strategy & retention

HR Tech selection (Lattice, Work Smarter)

Illustration of a man in a suit with glasses standing against an abstract background with green and orange shapes.
Workforce Transformation

Senior judgment for the change projects that matter most.

Restructures, redundancies & dispute resolution

M&A people-integration & first 100 days

Scale-up HR builds & operating model design

Human + AI workforce strategy

Three people sitting around a round table having a discussion in a minimalist style.
Executive & Team Coaching

Strengths-based coaching and development for leaders and teams.

One-to-one executive coaching

Team coaching & Team Days

Leadership development & L&D programmes

Strengths-based assessments

Two women sitting on chairs facing each other having a conversation with abstract shapes in background.
Three shapes of the same work.

Different ways of helping organisations through workforce change in the ‍Human + AI era.
Pick a starting point — most engagements blend more than one.

Senior HR leadership, embedded into your business — without the full-time cost.

Challenges

Decisions without a voice. People calls being made without senior HR at the table.

Difficult cases, wrong people. ER work landing on those without the experience to handle it.

Quiet attrition. Good people leaving — and you either don't know why, or do but don't know what to do.

HR tech bewilderment. Vendor pitches and platform choices without practitioner input.

How I help

Ongoing fractional support. HR Director cover from 1–2 days a month through to 1–2 days a week.

The difficult work. Lead disciplinaries, grievances, restructures, and exits.

Talent and retention strategy. Built around what's actually happening in your business.

HR Tech selection and implementation. Vendor-agnostic; worked with many HRIS, ATS and EX tools.

Senior judgment for the change projects that matter most.

Challenges

M&A integration. Where the people side is the hardest part.

Restructures that need to be done right. Legally, commercially, and humanly.

A scale-up moment. Where the HR function hasn't caught up with the business.

AI reshaping roles. And the team needing to be brought with you.

How I help

M&A people integration. Lead the first 100 days post-deal.

Restructures and redundancies. Design, deliver, and resolve disputes.

Build scale-up HR functions. Operating model, processes, team.

Human + AI workforce strategy. Practical, real-world knowledge, not just theoretical.

Coaching for leaders navigating change — and the teams they lead.

Challenges

Senior leaders carrying weight. Decisions and pressures they can't fully discuss with team or boss.

Newly promoted leaders. Stepping into a bigger role and needing space to think.

High talent, low team. Strong individuals not firing as a group.

Leading through change. Particularly the kind AI is now driving.

How I help

1:1 executive coaching. Henley / ICF trained, strengths-based approach.

Leadership development. L&D programmes built for senior cohorts.

Team coaching and Team Days. Customised programmes built around your team.

Change leadership coaching. One-to-one support through the decisions, the comms, and the team impact.

Senior judgment, delivered directly.

Director-level expertise, embedded directly in your business — without the layers, the bureaucracy, or the borrowed playbooks.

01
Calibrated to your business

I take time to understand your
challenges, goals and culture
before recommending anything.

02
Built inside an AI consultancy

5½ years as Global People Director inside an AI consultancy. A perspective most HR consultants don't have.

03
Direct access, every time

Every conversation, every decision, every deliverable from someone who's actually doing the work.

04
Shaped to fit

From on-demand consulting to fully outsourced engagements, sized to your stage and budget.

Tap into senior HR & coaching expertise.
Smiling man with short dark hair and beard wearing a black button-up shirt on white background.
Henley · ICF · CIPD

Hi, I'm Steve Thompson — founder of Encourager. I spent 5½ years inside a London AI consultancy as Global People Director. The technology was always going to land. The human side was the real work.

Today I help PE-backed businesses, CEOs, founders, CHROs, and SMEs across the UK build modern HR functions, run people operations, and navigate workforce transformation — all designed for the Human + AI era.

Henley Business School (ICF) trained · CIPD · CliftonStrengths · Predictive Index · TalentPredix accredited.

20y
Senior HR roles + ran a £3M+ recruitment business
PE+SME
From founder-led businesses to PE-backed scale-ups
ICF
Executive coach, Henley Business School trained
Accredited
CliftonStrengths, Predictive Index, TalentPredix
HR Tech
Implementation of SuccessFactors, Lattice, Greenhouse, BambooHR and more
100%
Director-level work, no juniors, no handoffs
From first call to embedded delivery — in weeks, not quarters.

A clear, honest process.
No pitch decks. Just the work

01

Discovery call

A 30-minute conversation about what's going on and what you're trying to achieve. No pitch, no obligation.

02

Scoping

If there's a fit, I'll write a short scope — what I'd do, over what period, at what cost.

03

Engagement

Most engagements start within 2–3 weeks. Some sooner if the work is urgent.

04

Ongoing

Engagements flex up or down as the work demands. No long-term lock-ins.

What people say about Encourager
5.0 · all engagements
"Steve was instrumental in setting up our HR processes and advising on HR strategy. I'd have no hesitation in recommending Encourager for any SME looking for support in their HR/Talent function."
Louis Decuypere
CEO, Datatonic Ltd
"He brought calm, clarity and pragmatism to a complex and somewhat disruptive process. His impact on the business has been significant — he remains a trusted advisor."
Catherine Connolly 
Executive Chair, Prime Light Group
"A truly empathic leader who enables people to achieve their goals and perform at their best. Particularly valuable in tech, where unlocking soft skills is too often a barrier."
Alvaro Silva-Santisteban
AI Solution Lead, Google
"Steve provided insightful guidance that helped me gain clarity around my core strengths, while challenging me to address habits that were limiting my growth. Thoughtful, supportive, and results-driven."
Jose Luis Franconetti 
CTO & AI Strategist, Partner at SIROC
 "Steve has a natural coaching style that enables him to get the best out of the people who work with him. He has a very good sense for what areas people need to work on, and an ability to identify and help them use their strengths."
Jamie Peacock
Leadership Coach (Ex-England Rugby League Captain)
"Steve actively helps shape and bring our company vision to life — beyond standard HR consulting. Flexible with his time, generous with his advice, and proactive in his approach."
Rebecca Rose 
Director, MCA Consulting Engineers Ltd
Big consultancies vs Encourager

Senior HR without the corporate overhead.

The Big HR Agencies
Cookie-cutter offerings
Rigid hourly rates
Templated experience
Expensive entry packages
Red-tape response times
Encourager
Fully bespoke engagements
Flexible & responsive service
Personal 1-1 attention
Scalable to your budget
Direct line to a senior partner
Illustration of a man in a suit gesturing with one hand against abstract green and orange shapes.

Steady ground for leaders, when the path forward isn't obvious.

Strengths-based, person-centred coaching for executives and teams
navigating change — particularly the kind AI is now driving across most organisations.

1:1 Executive Coaching
Team Coaching
Team Days
Strengths assessments
FAQ

Answers to questions clients often ask.

What kind of HR work do you do?
How is your background different from other HR consultants?
Do you work with my existing HR team?
Do you also do executive coaching?
What does a fractional HR engagement look like?
How do you charge?
Do you require long-term contracts?
How do you tailor HR services to fit different company sizes?
Do you offer remote HR Consulting Services?
How quickly can you start?

Book a 30-minute call. No pitch, no obligation.

A focused conversation about what's going on and what you're trying to achieve.