01
Entry
A short diagnosis and a set of priorities agreed with the CEO: what the People function has to produce in the next six to twelve months, and in what order.
Service
Fractional Chief People Officer
There is a stage when a company needs senior People judgement well before it needs a full internal function. Hiring too early buys an expensive generalist; waiting too long means building the systems twice.
The problem
Signals you will recognise
- 01People decisions are all escalating to the CEO.
- 02There is a People team, but it is operational — nobody is setting priorities.
- 03The company is about to grow, restructure or raise, and there is no senior People voice at the table.
- 04Hiring a Head of People has come up, but the role does not yet justify a full-time salary.
How it works
What we do
02
The monthly rhythm
Fixed days per month, a seat in the leadership meeting, and ownership of the decisions and the projects — not advice from the sidelines.
03
Build
The priority systems get built during the engagement — performance, careers, pay, management routines — with the internal team, so capability stays when we step back.
04
A planned exit
When the function justifies a permanent leader, we prepare the hire: the role, the profile, the process — and a function that is already built for them to run.
Topics covered
- People strategy and priorities
- Advice to the CEO
- Leadership team participation
- People projects, led
- People metrics and board reporting
- Developing the internal team
Deliverables
- A seat in the leadership team and direct counsel to the CEO
- The People strategy and plan, with agreed priorities
- The main People projects, led end to end
- Decisions on organisation, team sizing and talent
- People metrics and reporting to the board or investors
- Development of the internal People team
- Preparation of the permanent leadership hire, when it is time
Typical outcome
The company gets senior judgement in its People decisions — and reaches the Head of People hire with the function already built, instead of handing someone a blank page.
A fixed monthly commitment — typically one to three days per month — with a minimum term agreed in the proposal.
How it is delivered
01
Diagnose
02
Benchmark and principles
03
Design
04
Validate
05
Implement
06
Support
Questions we are asked
No. We do not run payroll or administration. It is the senior role — strategy, decisions, the leadership table — exercised part-time.
Until the function justifies a permanent leader, which the engagement itself brings closer. The minimum term is agreed up front; the exit is planned, not abrupt.
That hire is part of the job. We help define the role and the profile, support the process, and hand over a function that is already running.
It leads them. Most internal teams at this stage are strong operationally and missing the senior layer — that layer is what this provides, while developing the team underneath it.
Your company has changed. Has your organisation caught up?
The People Diagnostic establishes where the organisation is constrained, and what to fix first.