Jake Dufour, SHRM-SCP
Not sure which shape you need?
Whether you need direction, the whole function, or something in between is exactly what the first conversation sorts out. Thirty minutes, no charge, no pitch.
Book a 30-minute conversationMost businesses under 200 employees have real executive-level people questions long before they can justify an executive-level people hire. How should the org be structured for the next stage? Who is ready to lead, and who needs development? How do we keep the people we can't afford to lose? At the same time, someone still has to run the function day to day: the recruiting, the onboarding, the policies, the manager who needs help with a hard conversation this afternoon.
A Retainer covers both, scoped to what you actually need. For some clients it is senior direction layered over an HR coordinator who is already handling administration, and I become their strategic partner rather than their replacement. For others it is the entire function, run from the outside: your HR department, without the department.
Scope is built around what your business needs. Some engagements draw on all of this, others on a few pieces.
The function itself, run for you: recruiting and hiring, employee relations, policy application, documentation, onboarding and offboarding, and the manager who needs help with a hard conversation before end of day. Your HR department, without the department.
Open enrollment run on a calendar instead of a scramble, broker and carrier relationships managed, and the leave questions that carry real risk. FMLA, ADA accommodation, and state leave rules that differ by where your people actually sit.
A people plan tied directly to your business goals. Where the organization needs to be in 12 to 24 months, what talent it takes to get there, and the sequence of moves that closes the gap. Strategy that fits on a page and actually gets executed.
Structure, roles, and reporting lines built for the business you're becoming, not the one you were. Includes restructuring support, role clarity work, and planning for growth, contraction, or transition.
A standing sounding board for owners and executives on the decisions that keep them up at night: difficult personnel calls, leadership team dynamics, compensation questions, and the conversations no one wants to have alone.
A performance system your managers will actually use. Goal setting, review cadence, feedback practices, and the link between performance and pay, designed for your culture rather than imported from a template.
The systems your people function runs on, selected and implemented properly. Payroll, HRIS, applicant tracking, and the connections between them. Most of the expensive mistakes happen at selection, when the only person in the room who knows the product is the one selling it.
If you have internal HR staff, I develop them rather than work around them. Your coordinator or manager gets a senior mentor, and your business gets a function that keeps improving after every engagement cycle.
This work runs on an ongoing monthly retainer scoped to your organization's size and needs. Typically that means regular check-ins, dedicated working sessions on the current people priorities, and direct access between sessions when something comes up.
Engagements typically begin with a structured assessment of your people function so the first ninety days are spent on your highest-leverage gaps.
Whether you need direction, the whole function, or something in between is exactly what the first conversation sorts out. Thirty minutes, no charge, no pitch.
Book a 30-minute conversation