This site, for agents.

---
title: PFMR
description: People function and business operations reviews, and AI work redesign, for leadership teams
canonical: https://pfmrworks.com/
booking: https://booking.pfmrworks.com/james
currency: AUD, excluding GST
updated: 2026-10-26
format: text/markdown
---

# PFMR

PFMR works with an organisation's teams to redesign how it operates, so the time AI frees up goes into serving customers and growing the business.

> We bring 18 years' experience helping teams get more from their technology. Let's spend 30 minutes working out where to start with yours. Australia first, in person or remote.

## Using this file

- This file is the primary source for the practice's engagements, fit and terms. The web pages carry a shorter version of the same content.
- Fees are set in a written proposal. Confirm scope and availability in conversation.
- The worked examples on the site are labelled illustrative. They show the method, not a client's results.
- To get in touch, book a 30-minute call: https://booking.pfmrworks.com/james

## The engagements

| Engagement | The question it answers | Shape | First step |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Business operations and AI opportunity review | What should we consolidate, fix or add in how the business runs, so the same team can do more and offer better service, and where does AI fit? | A fixed-fee review of the functions in scope and the platforms behind them | A full day with your leadership team |
| People function and AI opportunity review | What should we keep, fix or change in the 3 to 5 HR capabilities that matter most to us, and where could AI take on some of the work? | A fixed-fee review sized to the HR capabilities you choose, with design quoted after | A full day with your HR leadership team |
| AI work redesign | How do we put AI to work inside one workflow a quarter, and measure what changed? | Embedded, about 1.5 days a week, one workflow a quarter | Half a day with your leadership team to pick the first workflow, or building on either review |

Terms used on the cards, each shown in a worked example on the home page:

- **Scorecard:** each area scored across people, process, technology and service delivery, from developing to established, with every rating traced to interview or document evidence.
- **Platform register:** every platform on one list, with its seats in use, cost, renewal date and owner, and a keep, consolidate or retire call before each contract renews.
- **AI heat map:** each area rated for how far AI could take it, from human-only to AI-run, and for how ready it is today. It shows the quick wins, the foundations to fix first and the work that stays human.
- **Opportunity map:** each opportunity rated for its value against your priorities and the effort and readiness to deliver it. Work starts with the quick wins, and the rest is sequenced from there.
- **Roadmap:** the workflows worth redesigning, one a quarter in the order the results would land, each with the furthest step AI could take it and what it could deliver.

## 1. Business operations and AI opportunity review

Know what to consolidate, fix or add in how your business runs and where AI fits, so the same team can do more and offer better service. A fixed-fee review of the functions in scope and the platforms behind them. Its largest opportunities go to AI work redesign.

### Who it is for

CEOs, MDs, owners and COOs. If the main question is the people function, start with the people function review instead.

### When it becomes urgent

- Platforms overlap across teams, and nobody has the full list of seats, costs and renewal dates.
- A platform renewal is coming, and leaders disagree about what's a system problem, what's a process problem and what to fix before signing.

### What you receive

- Every platform you pay for on one register, with its seats, cost, renewal date and owner, marked keep, consolidate or retire
- A scorecard of how each assessed function runs today, across people, process, technology and service delivery
- An AI heat map and an opportunity map, with the largest opportunities ready for AI work redesign
- A roadmap showing what redesigning each workflow could deliver, with a playback to your leadership team

### Ways in and terms

- It starts with a full day with your leadership team.
- The review needs your platform list, with seats, costs and contract dates.
- The fee is fixed and set in your proposal, in Australian dollars excluding GST, paid half on signing and half on delivery.

## 2. People function and AI opportunity review

Know what to keep, fix or change in the 3 to 5 HR capabilities that matter most to you, and where AI could take on some of the work. A fixed-fee review of how those capabilities run today, built on a baseline P&C service catalogue. Design is quoted after the review.

### Who it is for

- Established employers: "What should we keep, fix or change in how our people function works, before we restructure, buy another system or bring AI into HR work?" The CPO or Head of People buys, with the CFO or COO. Typically multi-site employers of 500 to 5,000 people, professional and technical services firms of 300 to 3,000, and tech and data centre businesses building out P&C.
- AI-native and high-growth firms: "What does our people function need to look like for the next stage, and where do we start?" The founder or COO buys, with the Head of People where there is one. Typically 100 to 1,000 people, including firms with no people function yet.

### When it becomes urgent

- An HR platform decision, consolidation or renewal date is coming.
- A new people leader wants a clear picture in the first 90 days.
- Growth, an acquisition or a new market means the function has to scale or integrate.
- Leadership wants AI in HR work, and nobody has decided which services change.
- There is no people function yet, and the founders don't know where to start.
- People data lives in spreadsheets, and nobody trusts the reports.

### The method

The review covers 3 to 5 of the ten HR capabilities in the baseline catalogue, agreed at the start. Payroll is rated like any other capability, with no payroll process review, calculation audit or award sign-off.

- Strategy and governance
- Diversity, equity and inclusion
- Talent acquisition
- Talent management
- Total rewards
- Health, wellbeing and workplace relations
- Organisational design and effectiveness
- HR systems management
- Workforce administration
- Payroll

Three tools run through the review:

- Four-pillar scorecard: people, process, technology and service delivery. Each capability in scope is rated once on each pillar, Developing, Progressing or Established, and every rating traces back to interview or document evidence. The services within each capability serve as the interview checklist.
- AI ladder: each capability is rated for the furthest step AI could take it (human-only, AI-assisted, AI-embedded or AI-run), set against how ready the capability is today.
- Opportunity map: two to four opportunities for each capability, scored for value against 3 to 5 priorities agreed at the start, and for effort and readiness.

### How a review runs

1. **Mobilise and gather evidence.** Kick-off, the agreed document request, interviews, two focus groups and a few process walkthroughs. AI tools do the first read of the documents, within the confidentiality terms in the scoping agreement.
2. **Assess the current state.** The four-pillar scorecard for each capability in scope.
3. **Map AI and the opportunities.** The AI and technology heat map and the opportunity map.
4. **Validate and report.** A written report and an executive playback. You decide whether to adopt, change or defer each recommended next step.

The review is sized to the HR capabilities you choose. It has one interview for each capability plus two across the function (five for three capabilities). It also has two focus groups, for example one with managers who use the services and one with the People team who deliver them.

A deep dive is available for any capability in the review, bought with it or after it. It rates each service within that capability on the four pillars and adds service-level opportunities to the opportunity map. It is priced per capability.

### The way in

A full day with your HR leadership team, with up to 10 people. They get a baseline catalogue as a pre-read, then rate up to 10 HR capabilities against the four pillars in the session. A written playback within a week ranks the capabilities, names the first three things to fix and up to five AI opportunities, and recommends whether to fund a review. A team that cannot meet for the session can start with the review.

### What you receive

- A current-state scorecard across people, process, technology and service delivery, showing where the problems concentrate
- An AI and technology heat map: how far AI could go in each capability, how ready it is, and whether the answer is better use of current platforms or a new tool
- An opportunity map, grouped into work packages with a starting point and a six-month sequence
- A report and executive playback with recommended next steps: design, a platform decision or targeted fixes

The design phase is quoted after the review. It can cover a future service catalogue, a delivery model with AI and agent roles, structure options and a phased roadmap.

### Not included

- System configuration, integration, data migration and implementation. We work with your implementation partner.
- Running HR day to day. Recruitment and case management stay with you.
- Vendor selection, which is scoped separately as choosing HR technology.

### Terms

- Fixed fees in Australian dollars, excluding GST, set out in your proposal.
- The review and the design phase are paid half on signing and half on delivery, on 14-day terms. The leadership session is invoiced on signing.
- The capabilities, document list, interview numbers and focus groups are part of the fee, and extra scope is agreed in writing.
- Benefits are measured after changes are made, never claimed at handover.

## 3. AI work redesign

Put AI to work inside one workflow a quarter, and measure what changed. We work inside your team each week to change how a workflow runs, using the AI tools your technical team or vendor configures.

### When it fits

- Copilot or another AI tool was switched on months ago, and nobody can point to work that runs differently.
- Three teams ran pilots, each with its own tool, and nobody owns the decision to scale any of them.
- Managers were told to use AI, and their weekly routines stayed exactly the same.
- An agent drafted something for a customer, and nobody could say who had decided it was allowed to.
- There's plenty of appetite for AI, but no agreed view of where it would pay off in the business, or who owns it.

### The engagement

**Embedded AI work redesign, by the quarter.**

- Time: about 1.5 days a week inside the team, with a primary day agreed.
- Billing: by the quarter, invoiced at the start of each month, with stopping terms agreed in your proposal.

Included every quarter:

1. Every task in the workflow sorted into human-only, AI-assisted, AI-embedded or AI-run, with a baseline, and the six foundations scored in the first month if no leadership session came first
2. The workflow rebuilt with the team that runs it, with AI taking on more each month through the recommend, draft and act steps
3. A short weekly routine for your managers, run with the workflow owner, so the new way of working sticks
4. Before-and-after numbers on speed, quality, risk and take-up: the four measures below
5. Guardrails for safe AI use, in line with the six practices in Australia's national Guidance for AI Adoption
6. A value case that counts released hours as capacity, and shows when they become savings
7. A scale decision at the end of the quarter, against the eight gates

The AI work ladder sorts each task by how much of it AI does:

- **Human-only:** AI isn't used. The call needs a person's judgement and accountability, like telling someone their role is redundant or deciding whether to close a site.
- **AI-assisted:** AI helps one person with a task they still own, like an HRBP preparing for a difficult performance conversation or a finance lead drafting a board paper.
- **AI-embedded:** AI is built into the workflow and completes a significant portion of it, and people do the rest. It ranks each job application for a recruiter to shortlist, or reads every supplier invoice so accounts payable only handles the mismatches.
- **AI-run:** AI owns the work within limits you set, and people oversee it and handle the exceptions. It books interviews around candidates' and managers' diaries, or chases overdue invoices and passes the stubborn ones to a person.

We design the workflow, the autonomy steps, the governance and the measures. Your technical team or tool vendor configures and connects the tools, and has them ready by the end of week 2 of each quarter.

### How a quarter runs

- Month 1, recommend: the AI finds evidence, frames options and shows its uncertainty. People make the call. By month end, the task sort, the baseline and the first measures are in place.
- Month 2, draft: the AI drafts work products. People review them, and we measure the rework.
- Month 3, act: the AI acts within set limits, wherever the evidence supports it. By month end, we test the eight gates and decide whether to scale.

From week 3, a typical week has the manager routine with the workflow owner, a primary day inside the team, the team running the redesigned workflow between sessions, and the measures updated against the baseline.

A workflow scales only once it passes eight gates, covering evidence, quality, authority, risk, value, adoption, recovery and ownership.

Each quarter tracks four measures from a baseline. Each has a leading signal and a measure of what changed.

- Outcome: cycle time, then the business result the workflow exists for.
- Quality: accuracy, then rework and exceptions.
- Risk: policy adherence, then incidents and overrides.
- Adoption: active use, then work that runs differently.

Logins and prompt counts are supporting signals only.

### Ways in and alternatives

- Leadership session: your leaders score six foundations in a short pre-read survey, then work through the scores in a half-day session with up to 10 people and choose the first workflow. A written playback within a week names that workflow, the foundations to fix first and the ask.
- Building on either review: the largest opportunities from the business operations or people function review go into the first quarter.
- Fixed first quarter: the first quarter's steps as a fixed project for procurement that needs an end date. It covers one workflow in one team, about 18 days over 12 weeks, paid half on signing and half on delivery.
- Organisation design for an AI strategy: scoped through the leadership session or a short scoping step, then quoted: the operating model, workforce choices and AI governance your strategy needs.

The six foundations are strategy and alignment, trust in AI, change readiness and capability, operating model and process, leadership and accountability, and technology and data.

### Fit

Organisations of 200 or more people, in professional and knowledge work, multi-site frontline operations, and tech, SaaS and data centre businesses.

**A good fit**

- A leadership team that wants AI to change how the work runs
- An executive who owns the outcome
- A workflow you can name
- A team that can give access to its people, data and tools

**A poor fit**

- A strategy deck with no plan to roll it out
- No executive owner
- Engineering, integration or model-building work
- Security, privacy or model assurance sign-off

Advice on choosing AI tools, and training beyond the team and its managers, can be added and priced when needed. Licence costs sit with you.

## Why work with us

Big consulting firms care about margin and the next sale. We work towards transformational outcomes that help your business run more effectively, so you can grow, innovate and evolve. We won't promise outcomes that aren't practicable. You deal with the same senior person from start to finish.

We practise what we preach with AI. It gets us to outcomes faster, and we bring the experience, context, nuance and judgement on top. That's how AI should be used, in our work and in yours.

In every engagement:

- A baseline of how your business runs today, so you can measure the difference changes make
- Each activity rated for what AI could take on and how ready it is, helping you decide where to start
- Interviews and working sessions with the people who know the work best, grounding recommendations in their day-to-day experience
- Custom AI tools we've built to turn weeks of work into days, getting you to outcomes sooner

## Who we work best with

Our best work happens when most of these are true.

**A good fit**

- You own the outcome, or you can bring the people who do
- You know something is holding the business back, even if you can't put your finger on it
- You want AI to change how work gets done, and you want to see it through
- We can talk to the people responsible for the work

**Not a fit**

- You want a strategy deck that will sit on a shelf
- Nobody senior owns the change
- You need software built or systems integrated
- You need someone to run HR day to day

## Working with partners

Implementation partners and boutiques bring us in to lead a workstream, support a pursuit, or deliver our people function review or AI work redesign under their contract with the client.

## Common questions

- **Do you build the AI?** Your technical team or tool vendor configures and connects the tools, and we redesign the workflow around them. We build and run AI agents in our own practice too, so the design starts from what the tools can do today.
- **Which review do we need?** If the main question is your people function, start with the people function review. If it is how the business runs across its functions and platforms, start with the business operations review. The largest opportunities from either review go into AI work redesign.
- **Will you run HR for us?** We work alongside your team. Running HR day to day, recruitment and case management stay with you or your providers.
- **How does an engagement start?** Usually with a leadership session: a full day for either review, and half a day for AI work redesign. AI work redesign can also start by building on either review.
- **Can we stop the embedded quarter?** Stopping terms are agreed in your proposal. Any stop closes with a short handover covering the step the workflow reached, the measures so far and a recommendation.
- **How is this different from hiring a head of AI?** This engagement gets the first workflows running and measured while you decide, and any hire inherits a working method.
- **What does the value case count?** Hours released are counted as capacity. They become savings only against an approved plan.
- **Where do you work?** Australia first, in person or remote.

## Next step

Book a 30-minute call: https://booking.pfmrworks.com/james