About
Lidia Zekorn, CHRL, CEC.
25 years building HR functions that outlast the consultant.
My story
I started Jem HR after 25+ years inside Canadian businesses — tech, healthcare, government, and non-profit. I was lucky in my career: bosses who let me make decisions, mentors who told me when I was wrong, and enough variety to learn that there is no universal HR playbook.
What I noticed across all of it is that the work is better when it's done close to the truth. Close to the team. Close to the founder's actual fears. Close to the conversation people are afraid to have. The further HR sits from that, the worse the advice gets.
Jem HR is the practice I built so Canadian businesses can get senior HR thinking from that kind of proximity, without carrying a full executive on the payroll.
I work fractionally and project-based. I refuse percentage-of-comp recruiting fees. And I'll tell you when you don't need me — about a third of first calls end with "here's what I'd actually do, and you don't need to hire anyone for it."
Credentials
Certified, accountable, accredited.
CHRL — Certified Human Resources Leader
HRPA Ontario. Canada's senior HR designation. Full Canadian HR practice including compliance, employment law, and total rewards.
CEC — Certified Executive Coach
ICF-aligned. Canadian coach credential grounded in the same competencies as ICF accreditation.
HRPA Member in Good Standing
Bound by the HRPA Rules of Professional Conduct.
25+ years across sectors
Tech, healthcare, government, non-profit. Pattern recognition that compounds.
Philosophy
What I believe.
Practical over performative
Decisions you can keep making, not slide decks you'll forget.
People before process
Process exists to serve people, not the other way around.
Build capability, don't create dependency
If you still need me in five years for the same work, I failed.