Executive People Strategy Advisory

Growth creates complexity.

As your business expands, informal ways of managing people stop working. Risk increases. Culture becomes harder to protect. Leadership capacity stretches. You know your organisation needs a stronger people strategy.

You’re not ready for a full-time Chief People Officer - WorkTheory exists to close that gap!

 

Designed for Growing Businesses

 

WorkTheory partners with founders, boards and leadership teams to design high-performing, future-ready organisations.

 

We move beyond traditional HR support, aligning people strategy, governance and intelligent strategies so your business can scale with clarity and confidence.

 

Design intelligent systems that scale

Strengthen culture, engagement and retention

Improve performance and productivity

Reduce legal and governance risks

Future-proof your workforce for AI and change

 

When your people systems are designed well, everything else moves faster.

What We Deliver

Fractional executive people leadership that is practical, commercially grounded and built for New Zealand conditions.

Our focus includes:

  • Workforce and operating model design

  • Governance, risk and employment frameworks

  • Responsible AI and workforce readiness

  • Leadership and culture strategy

  • Organisational change and growth transitions

We are not outsourced HR but an executive-level people strategy, delivered flexibly when and where you need it most.

 

Fractional, Flexible, Strategic

Whether you require a focused strategic reset or ongoing executive partnership, we tailor engagement to your stage of growth.

You gain:

  • Clear direction

  • Reduced governance risk

  • Scalable systems

  • Stronger leadership foundations

  • Time to focus on leading your business

Without prematurely building a full executive function. strategic intensives to ongoing fractional CPO support, we tailor our engagement model to your stage of growth. You gain clarity, direction and governance strength without unnecessary complexity.

 

WorkTheory's Design Methodology

Good design means better outcomes. We listen deeply. We design inclusively. We deliver with a commercial lens because we value your trust, and we know strategy works best when it’s built with people, not just for them.

1. Discover

Listen widely

Understand the real shape of the problem before naming it.

2. Define

Clarify what matters most.

Name the challenge with precision and honesty.

3. Design inclusively

Co-create solutions.

Then test with those closest to the work.

4. Deliver commercially

Implement with care.

We build organisational capability with a commercial lens, without ongoing dependency.

About WorkTheory

 

WorkTheory Co. is a founder-led executive people strategy advisory firm supporting growing New Zealand organisations navigating complexity, governance risk and workforce transformation.

We partner with founders, CEOs and small boards who require executive-level people leadership but are not yet ready to build a full internal executive function.

Our work sits at the intersection of:

  • Executive People Leadership

  • Governance & Workforce Risk

  • Workforce Design & Intelligent Systems

We operate with commercial discipline, governance awareness and a long-term view of sustainable growth. WorkTheory is designed to provide strategic clarity

 

Founder, Principal Consultant & People Strategist

WorkTheory was established by Phillipa Gimmillaro, a former Chief People Officer with executive leadership experience across complex, multi-site service organisations.

Her background includes:

  • Leading organisational transformation and operating model redesign

  • Providing board-level governance and compliance oversight

  • Designing workforce inclusion and pipeline strategy

  • Aligning culture, brand and leadership accountability

  • Integrating responsible AI thinking into people systems

  • Working with leaders in the public and private sectors

 

This experience informs the fractional executive advisory support delivered through WorkTheory. Phillipa’s leadership has been recognised nationally for advancing equity, inclusion and sustainable workforce design. She holds professional workplace inclusion accreditation and has undertaken postgraduate study exploring responsible AI for business and workforce governance.

 

Phillipa's testimonals 

"Phillipa believes that a diverse and inclusive workplace brings out the best in our people, enabling us to provide superior products and services to the communities we serve.

Phillipa recently designed a new initiative to support Māori rangatahi and Pacific youth not in paid employment, education or training (NEET). It’s an initiative which will further strengthen our objectives"

Sudesh Jhunjhnuwala ONZM

Founder/CEO Sudima Hotels

& Hind Management

"A regular contributor to the New Zealand Disability Employers’ Network, Phillipa has played a pivotal role in driving initiatives that champion the employment and workplace inclusion, her efforts have transcended local boundaries, influencing practices and policies on an international scale"

Phil Turner

Chief Executive,

NZDEN

"Phillipa's not afraid to tackle challenging topics, she has that rare ability to make everyone in the room feel like their perspective matters, while challenging us to think more deeply about how we can do better. She’s pushed me to examine my own assumptions and blind spots."

Iftikhar Hussain

NZ Country Manager, 

Sudima Hotels

Let's start the conversation

If your organisation is growing and people complexity is beginning to slow progress, a short conversation can clarify your next step. Book a 15-minute discovery call to explore whether fractional people strategy is right for your organistaion