A fractional HR Director can give it to you straight… but not all leaders want the truth.
I was recently asked: “Why would I hire a fractional HR Director when I have a full time HR function?”
My response: “It depends what kind of business you want to be.”
Fractional leadership is a relatively new term but the concept has been around for decades. The logic is simple. Why pay for a full-time Director when you could engage one for just the time you need – dialled up or down as required?
I’ve served over 20 years in senior HR leadership positions across financial and legal services, technology, and equity-backed, high growth startups, and rarely was more than 20% of my time ever spent doing what I deemed to be true HR Director work.
That’s because in most businesses, particularly smaller or growing ones, the HR Director is pulled into administrative tasks like data management, employee onboarding or compliance oversight… rote work that should be done by others.
I’m not downplaying the importance of administrative HR and the professionals that deliver it, far from it. But in a high growth environment, a business needs something a transactional advisor can’t usually offer, either because they lack the time or the expertise to do it. For me, that broadly falls into three areas:
- Objective advice to business leadership on people issues
- Representation of the employee voice at the executive table
- A guiding hand to ensure people and business strategies align
The concept of fractional HR exploded during the pandemic when businesses needed specialist advice to navigate a new normal. Now it’s become a popular model for high growth businesses. Their legacy HR functions often aren’t set up to manage rapid expansion, and people strategy decisions need one eye on a future where the business looks completely different. In this environment, short-term thinking creates avoidable problems down the road.
You want the truth?
I’ve worked with leaders who would actively seek my input. Were they right to handle a situation the way they did? Could it have been communicated more effectively? Conversely, I’ve worked with leaders who never looked to HR for guidance. In both scenarios, a HR Director adds value by speaking the truth.
And that’s the catch. It’s not talked about enough, but I know many full time HR Directors feel pressured to toe the line for their employer. To tell the boss what they want to hear or bite their tongue when they see something they don’t agree with. I’ve done it myself.
As a fractional HR Director, I don’t feel that pressure. I’m upfront about my remit. If that means hard truths and uncomfortable conversations, I will deliver what’s required, sensitively but unapologetically. My focus is people strategy for future business success.
Fractional HR leadership isn’t for everyone; not if you have the resources for a full time HR Director to focus all their time on driving value, for instance. Or if you’d prefer a people leader who won’t rock the boat – maybe a more traditional model will suit you better.
But if you plan to grow quickly, Netiro People can help you lay the building blocks you’ll need to deliver your objectives now and in the future.
Some of those building blocks include future proofed talent acquisition, reward, and engagement strategies, clarity on organisational culture, employee engagement and leadership development.
We’ll tell you what you need to hear, not what you want to hear. That’s true HR Director work.
Jay Williamson, People Partner, Netiro People
