A Chief Human Resources Officer to build the organisation behind the growth

A fractional CHRO is a senior HR leader who runs your people function on a part-time basis. Growing SMEs use one because they cannot justify a full-time HR director, employment law needs expert handling, and solid HR systems head off costly people problems before they escalate.

A full-time HR manager costs a substantial monthly salary, and a senior HR director costs far more, before benefits. Our fractional CHRO engagements give you that senior expertise for a fraction of the cost, typically 30 to 60% less than a full-time hire, on 4 to 24 hours a week. You get strategic HR leadership, compliance and proven systems without the overhead of full-time employment or a long-term commitment.

A fractional CHRO covers the full people function for an SME: HR policies and employee handbooks, employment-law compliance and risk management, retention and engagement programmes, better recruitment and hiring, performance-management setup, compensation benchmarking for the local market, workplace culture for small teams, and HR technology for growing businesses.

Consider a fractional CHRO when your business has 10 or more employees and is growing, high turnover or recruitment struggles, no formal HR policies, employment compliance concerns, a founder spending more than 20% of their time on people issues, recurring conflicts or performance problems, or plans for rapid growth or investment. Early HR guidance prevents expensive mistakes and builds stronger foundations.

An HR consultant works on a defined project, like creating policies or running a compliance audit, then hands it back. A fractional CHRO embeds in your team and takes ownership of culture, engagement and organisational development, aligning people strategy with growth rather than just delivering reports and recommendations.

Yes. Senior HR leadership through a fractional CHRO costs far less than a full-time hire, and you get strategic depth a junior HR manager cannot offer. Most owners find it pays for itself through lower turnover, better compliance, higher productivity and fewer costly HR mistakes, and packages scale as the business grows.

A fractional CHRO embeds in your team and works directly with the founder on people strategy. They coach managers through people issues, set up clear processes and communication, stay reachable for urgent employee-relations matters, and keep every HR activity tied to business goals and budget. The aim is to professionalise your people management without adding bureaucracy.

An HR manager handles day-to-day people administration and process; a fractional CHRO is a senior people leader who owns hiring strategy, culture, performance, organisational design and compliance at leadership level. The role is delivered on flexible part-time terms, and it builds the people function rather than just running it.

There is no lock-in. Engagements are contracted business to business with one month's notice either way, so you can end one if it is not working. In practice most run six to twenty-four months, because that is how long it takes to fix the underlying problem rather than the symptom, and the scope is reviewed as the business changes.

Most engagements run 4 to 24 hours a week, which is half a day to three days. The right number is set at the scoping stage by the work rather than by a package: a turnaround or a funding round takes more time than steady-state oversight. The time is agreed up front and reviewed as the business changes.

Usually within weeks. We scope the brief with you, search our collective of 350+ vetted executives for the closest fit, and introduce a shortlist; you choose, and your fractional CHRO embeds. After the brief the pace is set by your side of the process, the meetings and the diligence you want to run before an appointment.

Yes. The engagement is scoped in hours a week rather than sold as a fixed package, so it moves within the 4 to 24 hour range as the business changes. Most start heavier while the people function is being built, then settle into a lighter rhythm once the systems and the team are running properly.

Yes, and it is the usual shape. The fractional CHRO sets the people strategy, the policies, the reward framework and the compliance position; your HR or office manager runs the administration, onboarding and records against it. The engagement typically leaves the in-house administrator working to a proper framework for the first time.

No. An interim CHRO is a full-time appointment covering a gap. A consultant delivers a piece of work and leaves. An outsourced provider processes HR administration. A fractional CHRO joins your leadership team part-time, sits in the leadership conversation, and owns the people outcomes rather than the paperwork.

Most of our clients turn over between USD 2 million and 40 million: large enough that the people decisions carry real consequences, and too small to justify a full-time CHRO on the payroll. Below that band the work is usually still founder-led; above it, a permanent appointment normally makes sense. The test is the weight of the decisions, not the headcount.