I'm Dr Justin Holmes. I help boards and leadership teams make hidden workforce risk visible, measurable and governable, before it reaches the P&L.

Request a briefing· justin@holmes-chiro.com· About the practice
Dr Justin Holmes, founder of HOLMES Occupational Performance, at the Harley Street practice
Dr Justin Holmes  —  Founder & Director
Why this exists

Every organisation carries workforce risk. Most cannot see it until it has already cost them.

Working on Harley Street with people under real occupational pressure, I kept meeting the same problem from the other side. By the time workforce strain becomes visible, as absence, turnover or a grievance, the risk has usually been building quietly for months, unmeasured and unmanaged.

I built HOLMES to close that gap, turning years of frontline insight into how work demands, stress, pain and culture drive rising absence and falling performance into clear risk, financial-exposure and ESG-ready intelligence a board can act on.

The scale of it
£100bn
The estimated annual hidden cost of employee sickness to UK employers, much of it invisible presenteeism rather than absence.
IPPR, 2024
The work

A structured, repeatable read of where risk sits, and what it is costing.

The HOLMES audit stays strictly non-clinical and governance-led throughout. In practice, the work moves through three quiet steps.

IMeasure
I translate workforce data into measurable risk-exposure across the organisation, focusing on the real drivers of risk rather than sentiment alone.
IILocate
I identify where risk sits, where performance is being lost, and where hidden cost, including presenteeism, is concentrated.
IIIAct earlier
Leadership receives a forward-looking, prioritised signal, so attention and investment can be directed before risk becomes cost.
To be clear
What it is

Decision support and assurance: measurable, governance-led risk intelligence, built for the board.

What it isn't

A clinical service, wellbeing delivery, an engagement survey or a compliance check.

The cost most reports miss

“The bigger loss is the one that never shows up on a report.”

Organisations focus on absence because it is visible and easy to measure. Presenteeism is not. It is the quiet loss of productivity when people are present but not performing at full capacity.

Absence, turnover and grievances are lagging indicators. By the time they move, the risk has often been present for months. HOLMES exists to surface it while there is still time to act.

Who I work with

Organisations where people are the performance.

I work with CEOs, CFOs, HR directors, boards and risk leaders, particularly in banking, law and fintech, where workforce pressure directly shapes productivity, resilience and margin, and where boards are held to a higher standard on governance.

  • iSee where hidden cost and performance loss are sitting, and what they are worth.
  • iiUnderstand the real drivers behind the risk, rather than assuming them.
  • iiiStrengthen workforce resilience and reduce avoidable absence.
  • ivSupport Social-pillar ESG reporting with measurable evidence.
On ESG

Increasingly, organisations are expected to show how they manage workforce wellbeing, resilience and human-capital risk.

HOLMES provides measurable workforce intelligence that supports the Social component of ESG, moving reporting from narrative toward evidence: employee wellbeing, human capital management, workforce resilience, health and safety culture, and risk governance. It is evidence, not narrative, and organisations use the insight freely alongside their own HR, occupational health and trusted partners.

A few questions

Answers to what leaders usually ask.

It is the practice of identifying and quantifying hidden risks inside a workforce, such as presenteeism, fatigue, psychosocial pressure and performance drag, before they surface as absence, turnover or lost productivity. HOLMES turns that risk into measurable exposure, so leadership can act on forward-looking signals rather than lagging indicators.

No. HOLMES is strictly non-clinical and governance-led. It is a decision-support and assurance tool, not HR service delivery, wellbeing delivery or clinical intervention. Organisations use the insight alongside their own HR, occupational health and trusted partners.

An engagement survey measures sentiment. HOLMES measures risk. It is a structured, repeatable audit focused on the real drivers of workforce risk, translated into financial exposure and governance-ready metrics.

CEOs, CFOs, HR directors, boards and risk leaders, particularly in banking, law and fintech, where workforce pressure directly shapes productivity, resilience and margin.

Say hello

Let's talk about what your workforce risk is really costing you.

A confidential, no-obligation conversation, board to board. No wellbeing sales pitch.

Or reach me directly at justin@holmes-chiro.com.

Treated in strict confidence. I'll reply personally, usually within one working day.