Should your People Leader be in-house or In Residence? Fractional or full-time?

How can you make the best choice for you and your organisation?

There’s no way around it, a human resources director is a must-have in any growing organisation. From strategy to policy and the everyday business of… running a business, People is a core function that must be top of mind as early as possible, and not an afterthought. At the risk of creating HR debt.

Depending on the size, stage and ambition of a company, the topic of hiring a HR Director leads many CEOs to wonder: do I need someone full-time, in-house in this role? Or could a fractional (or part-time) HR Director in Residence be a better fit??

Each option has its advantages, and indeed some companies may opt for both: an internal hire, and a fractional HR Director - for example, when specific expertise is required and/or a specific piece of work. In general though, companies pick one path or the other. How to choose? That’s exactly what we’re here for, to help you compare the options, and decide which is best for you and your company.?

Part-time HR Leader: benefit from more experience and greater flexibility

Why use a part-time (or fractional) HR Director? First and foremost, using a part-time People Leader can give you access to a more senior profile than your organisation could potentially afford to hire full-time. All of the experience, for a fraction of the cost. Or perhaps you need short-term assistance on a specific topic that requires niche expertise, but it wouldn’t make sense to have that expertise on the team full-time. Or, perhaps your HR Director left the organisation suddenly, or is on extended parental or sick leave. In which case, a HR Director In Residence can step in and bridge the gap, all while ensuring the strategic and day-to-day People needs of your organisation are met with no interruption of service. These are all great use cases for a part-time HR Leader.?

The advantages of a part-time HR In Residence:

• Cost-efficiency: in a small or earlier stage company, a fractional HR In Residence can help reduce fixed costs and let you focus only on what’s truly essential.?
• Flexibility and adaptability: you’re in the driver’s seat, you decide how long the project is, how many days of work you need. What’s more, since a fractional People leader works with many different companies and industries, you’ll automatically benefit from all of that exposure and expertise, and can avoid making costly errors.
• Expertise: Bringing greater seniority to your team with a HR Leader in Residence can help in a myriad of ways such as levelling up a more junior internal People team or bringing management coaching to new managers.
• Business acumen: a senior HR leader is used to quickly understanding how HR can help achieve core business needs to bring value to the entire company.

Hire an internal HR Director to set your company up for the long-term

The definition of a fractional or part-time HR Director in Residence is someone who brings temporary help to a company. When a company reaches a certain size or rate of growth, internalising the People function makes a lot of sense. HR is a core strategic function of any ambitious company, and must be treated as such.?

The advantages of hiring an internal HR Director:

Business acumen: Even if a part-time HR Director in Residence is used to quickly getting up to speed on your specific company culture and challenges, nothing can replace being fully integrated in the team for truly driving culture and understanding deeply your challenges.

Availability: of course, having someone working full-time internally means greater coverage for a greater range of topics, both well-defined and ad hoc.?

It’s important to keep in mind that a part-time or fractional HR Director should be treated as a temporary solution; used to lay a solid foundation to build upon, to conduct an audit or to fill a gap, but shouldn’t replace a full-time internal HR Director hire as the company’s size, growth and ambition increase. A part-time HR Director in Residence can even help you find the right long-term internal hire, by assisting you in defining the must-haves for the role and interviewing prospective candidates. One thing is for certain, having an exceptional HR Director on board, whether internal or in Residence, part-time or full-time - is key to your company’s growth and future success.?