Executive HR Consulting for Leadership Teams
Strategic HR advisory for CEOs, owners and executive teams in Houston and nationwide. When a people decision carries real risk or real money, you want counsel from someone who has sat in the chair, not a policy memo from a service desk.
Who Executive HR Consulting Is For
This work is built for the leaders who own the outcome of people decisions, not for the HR back office.
KNS Associates advises CEOs, owners, CFOs, COOs and presidents of small and medium-sized businesses, typically $1M to $500M in revenue. These are companies large enough that people decisions carry serious consequences, and lean enough that there is no seasoned Chief Human Resource Officer down the hall to pressure-test them.
Executive HR consulting fills that gap. It is senior counsel, on demand and at a leadership cadence, for the decisions that keep owners up at night.
If any of the situations below sound familiar, this is the right page.
- A leadership decision is stuck because the people implications are unclear
- Your HR team is capable but has never operated at the executive level
- A sensitive issue involves an executive, a partner or a key employee
- Growth, acquisition or restructuring is changing who does what
- You want a standing advisor who already knows your business when issues surface
What Is Included
Advisory scope is shaped around your business, but most engagements draw on these areas.
Strategic People Advisory
Direct counsel to the CEO and executive team on organization, leadership and workforce risk, grounded in Fortune 500 practice and adapted to your scale.
HR Function Assessment
A clear-eyed review of what your HR team does well, where it is exposed, and what the business actually needs from it over the next stage of growth.
Employee Relations Counsel
Guidance through the sensitive, high-stakes workplace matters that land on the leadership table, covered in depth below.
Labor Relations Counsel
Union environment strategy, negotiations readiness and disciplined contract administration, informed by Cornell trained labor relations expertise.
Retention and Engagement Strategy
Practical plans to keep the people your business cannot afford to lose, built on what actually drives commitment rather than perks.
Decision Support on Demand
A senior sounding board before you act. Many clients call before a termination, a restructure or a difficult conversation, not after.
Employee Relations
Most workplace issues become expensive at the moment leadership handles them badly. The work here is judgment, process and prevention.
At the leadership level, employee relations is not about complaint forms. It is the termination of a long-tenured manager, a conflict between two executives, a credible complaint against a top performer, or an investigation that must be handled fairly and documented properly. These moments test a company's culture and its legal exposure at the same time.
Ken advises leadership directly through these situations: framing the decision, keeping the process fair and consistent, involving the right people at the right time, and coordinating with your employment counsel where legal exposure exists. The goal is a resolution the company can stand behind, reached in a way that treats people with respect.
Just as important is prevention. Serious employee relations problems almost always telegraph themselves early. KNS helps you build the management habits and escalation paths that surface issues while they are still small, so leadership hears about problems when they are cheap to fix instead of when they are in a demand letter.
- Counsel through sensitive terminations, investigations and executive conflicts
- Fair, consistent process that protects the company and respects the people involved
- Coordination with your employment counsel where legal exposure exists
- Prevention systems that surface issues early, at the leadership level
Labor Relations
Few areas of HR punish inexperience like labor relations. This is where Ken's training and career were built.
Ken holds a Master of Industrial and Labor Relations from Cornell University and has led HR across union and non-union environments through 30+ years of leadership, including HR leadership roles at Honeywell and Cummins. That background matters because labor relations rewards preparation and consistency, and punishes improvisation.
For leaders operating in union environments, KNS provides negotiations readiness, disciplined grievance handling, sound contract administration, and help building a working relationship with union leadership that does not trade away management's ability to run the business.
For non-union employers with questions about organizing activity, Ken provides clear-eyed, lawful counsel: understanding what genuinely drives organizing interest, fixing the legitimate issues underneath it, and preparing leaders to communicate honestly and within the law. No theatrics, no shortcuts, just experienced judgment.
- Negotiations readiness and bargaining preparation for leadership
- Grievance handling and contract administration done consistently
- Lawful, practical counsel in union, mixed and organizing environments
- Cornell trained labor relations judgment applied to your situation
Imagery on this page is representative. Client photography replaces it once brand assets are approved.
Why Leaders Bring These Decisions to Ken
Advisory work is only as good as the judgment behind it. Ken's judgment was built where the stakes were highest.
Over a career spanning global companies and complex workforces, Ken Sensanbaugher has seen a version of almost every situation a leadership team can face. That pattern recognition is what clients are buying: the ability to tell you quickly what matters, what does not, and what to do next.
Proof, Not Promises
- 30+ years of HR leadership in demanding global companies
- Master of Industrial and Labor Relations from Cornell University
- HR leadership at Honeywell and Cummins
- Led global HR transformations
- CHRO and VP of HR and Administration at JB Poindexter
How an Advisory Engagement Works
Simple to start, structured enough to rely on.
- 01
Consultation
Bring the situation as it stands. Ken will tell you honestly whether executive HR consulting is the right tool, and what he would look at first.
- 02
Assessment
A focused review of the organization, the HR function and the issue at hand, so counsel is grounded in your reality rather than a generic playbook.
- 03
Advisory agenda
Agreed priorities and a working cadence with the leadership team, on site in the Houston area or remote nationwide, matched to the pace of your business.
- 04
Standing counsel
Ongoing access to senior judgment as decisions arise, so the advisor in the room already knows your people, your history and your risk.
Frequently Asked Questions
It is senior-level HR advisory delivered directly to the CEO and leadership team, focused on the people decisions that carry real business consequences: organization, leadership, employee relations, labor relations and workforce risk. It is strategy and judgment, not administrative support.
With KNS you work with one senior advisor who has actually held the top HR job, most recently as CHRO at JB Poindexter. You get direct counsel from experience, not a framework delivered by a rotating project team.
Yes, and it usually works best that way. Executive HR consulting complements your team rather than replacing it. Ken advises leadership on the decisions above your team's experience level and mentors your HR staff along the way.
KNS Associates is based in the Houston area and works on site with Houston-area clients, and serves clients nationwide through remote advisory and travel when an engagement calls for it.
Scope drives the answer, so pricing is confirmed during the consultation. Engagements are structured so you get executive-level HR judgment at a fraction of the cost of employing a full-time executive.
Related Services
Get Executive Counsel Before Your Next People Decision
Tell us what you are facing. Ken will tell you honestly whether and how KNS Associates can help.