New Orleans  ·  On site or remote

Expert People Operations.
Without the executive hire.

Outsourced HR and senior leadership for businesses that take their people seriously. Ongoing, by project, or as needed.

Services

Where I can help

The work runs from startups setting up their first HR function to established organizations a couple hundred people in, across nonprofits, manufacturing, and professional services. Every engagement is scoped to your business and its goals. Three areas are at the core of my practice:

Outsourced HR & Leadership

Ongoing retainer

Senior direction at the top and the day-to-day HR function running underneath it, scoped to what your business actually needs.

  • Fully Outsourced HR Services
  • Onboarding & Offboarding
  • People Strategy
  • Org Design & Workforce Planning
  • Executive & Leadership Advising
  • Performance Management
Explore Outsourced HR & Leadership →

HR Foundations & Infrastructure

Project based

The infrastructure a growing team needs to operate efficiently, stay compliant, and scale without surprises.

  • Handbooks & Compliance
  • HR Risk Evaluations
  • Org Structure & Change
  • Employee Lifecycle Design
  • Performance Management Design
  • New Manager Training
Explore HR Foundations & Infrastructure →

Talent, Culture & Development

Retainer or project

Building teams that perform and workplaces people want to stay in, including when things get tense.

  • Employee Training & Workshops
  • Leadership & Manager Development
  • Hogan-Certified Talent Assessment
  • Engagement & Retention Strategy
  • Employee Relations & Conflict Resolution
Explore Talent, Culture & Development →
Ongoing

Retainer

For businesses that want an outsourced option that acts as an extension of your team. A set monthly engagement, scoped to your needs, for ongoing support.

Defined scope

Project

For work with a clear beginning and end. A handbook, a risk assessment, an onboarding redesign, a training. Fixed scope, clear deliverable, done right the first time.

When it comes up

On Demand

For the moments in between. A small block of hours each month with an advisor who knows your business, for the sensitive situation, the hard termination, the question you would rather not guess on.

Explore On Demand →
How I work

What happens when you reach out

I scope your work, and I am still there when the decision gets made. This is the process I would want if I were on your side of the table.

01

We talk

Every engagement starts with a 30-minute conversation, no pitch. You tell me what is going on, and I tell you what I actually think, including when that is difficult to hear.

02

You get a plan

A recommendation you can act on, not a menu of options for you to decide between. Scoped to your goals and your budget. If I am not the right fit, I will say so and point you toward someone who is.

03

We get to work

Your account is owned by the person who scoped it, and that does not change. The day to day gets handled without you managing it, and the judgment calls come back to me. You are never re-explaining your business to someone new.

About

Why I started this practice

I got into this work because nothing makes me happier than seeing people who love their job. You notice it as soon as you step into any workplace. The organizations that create those spaces are the ones where people are paying attention.

I have also seen the opposite. Organizations that are failing but do not know why. But the answer is already in the building. People closer to the work can see it plainly, and some of them try to say so. What stops them is the culture. That is how a problem protects itself.

That is the failure I have spent eighteen years trying to prevent, and it is not a compliance failure. The paperwork can be fine. It is a failure of information. Nobody inside could tell them, and they had no one outside their building who knew the organization well enough to tell them instead. That second part is what I actually do.

Good HR is not just paperwork.
It is the discipline of noticing.

Read the whole story and my background →

Jake Dufour, SHRM-SCP, founder of Dufour HR Consulting
Jake Dufour, SHRM-SCP
  • Credentials
  • SHRM Senior Certified Professional
  • Hogan Assessments, Certified Analyst
  • Predictive Index, Certified Analyst
  • Certified Mediator
  • B.B.A. HR Management, The University of MS
  • Board President, N.O. Speech and Hearing Center
  • 2025 Human Resources Power List, New Orleans CityBusiness
Contact

Let's talk it through.

If you don't know where to start, or if something is keeping you up at night, that's enough to begin. Tell me what's going on. No charge, no pitch, no pressure.

Based in New Orleans, LA · Available nationally