HR Consulting · Executive Coaching · Toronto
Practical HR for businesses that take their people seriously.
I'm Lidia Zekorn — CHRL, CEC, and 25 years guiding Canadian companies through hiring, leadership, and culture. Fractional HR support without the enterprise overhead.
Process
How an engagement actually goes.
Listen
45-min discovery call. No pitch. Just a clear read on what's actually in front of you.
Diagnose
Two-week organizational audit. Written, short, specific. What to change first and how we'll know.
Build
Custom roadmap and execution. We ship the work — together where useful, on my own where faster.
Hand off
You keep the capability. Not a dependency. The point is decisions you can keep making after I'm gone.
Most engagements run 3–6 months. A few are ongoing fractional retainers. All start with a free consult.
Why Lidia
Why a CHRL + CEC matters.
CHRL — Full Canadian HR practice — compliance, employment law, total rewards. Canada's senior HR designation.
CEC + ICF — Certified Executive Coach. Coaching grounded in the same competencies as ICF accreditation.
25+ years across sectors — Tech, healthcare, government, non-profit. Most consultants specialize in one. Pattern recognition compounds.
Founder · Principal
Lidia Zekorn, CHRL · CEC
Insights
Recent thinking.
Why hire an HR consultant? A Canadian SMB guide to fractional HR.
When to hire an HR consultant, what fractional really means, what it costs in the Canadian market, and how to pick one without getting burne…
Read article →HiringOnboarding before you hire: a 30-60-90 plan Canadian managers actually use.
The retention math says the first 90 days decide everything. Here's a Canadian manager's playbook for designing onboarding before the offer …
Read article →LeadershipThe heart of who I am — why I started Jem HR.
After 25 years in corporate HR, I started this practice for one reason: the work is better when it's done close to the truth.…
Read article →What clients say
Plain talk from people who have sat across the table.
Named testimonials in progress — anonymized excerpts below.
Lidia rebuilt our hiring process from intake to offer. We filled three roles in six weeks and our retention since has been 100%.
Her coaching helped me step into the COO role with confidence. Practical, direct, never fluffy.
Jem HR brought structure to a culture conversation that had stalled for two years. We finally moved.
FAQ
Common questions.
What services does Jem HR offer?+
Six service lines across HR consulting and executive coaching: Fractional HR, Talent Acquisition, Employee Engagement, Workplace Culture, Executive Coaching, and Leadership Development. All led personally by Lidia Zekorn.
Can you support small businesses and start-ups?+
Yes. Most clients are Canadian SMBs and growth-stage companies between 10 and 250 employees, where the founder or leadership team is making the people calls without a senior HR partner in-house.
How do you ensure compliance with Canadian employment law?+
Every engagement is grounded in current Canadian and Ontario employment law — ESA, the Ontario Human Rights Code, OHSA, and federal requirements where applicable. We work with employment counsel where the situation calls for it.
What is your fee structure?+
Hourly retainer for fractional engagements, or a flat project fee for defined scopes. We never charge a percentage of compensation. Written estimate before any work begins.
Are services available remotely or in-person?+
Both. Toronto in person where it adds value (offsites, sensitive conversations, leadership team work) and remote where it's faster. Clients across Canada.
How quickly can we start?+
Most engagements begin within 1–2 weeks of the intro call. Workplace investigations and urgent matters can usually start within days.
Let's talk about your team.
30-minute consultation. No deck. No agenda. Just a real conversation.
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