High attrition, poor culture, and employment risk are not HR problems — they are leadership failures with commercial consequences.
People problems are commercial problems. A 30% annual attrition rate is not just disruptive — it is a direct tax on every commercial relationship and operational process in the business. A toxic culture does not just affect morale — it drives away the exact senior talent you cannot afford to lose. An HR function that is reactive, compliance-focused, and disconnected from commercial strategy is not managing people risk — it is storing it up.A fractional HR Director from Leadership Services is a board-level people and culture leader who takes ownership of the full HR agenda — talent strategy, retention, culture development, organisational design, and employment risk management. They are not a generalist HR manager operating from a policy manual. They are a senior leader who understands the commercial consequences of every people decision, who has designed leadership teams for scale-ups, restructured organisations through periods of growth and change, and built the cultures that attract and keep the people ambitious businesses need.
The first 90 days establish clarity on the people risks and opportunities that matter most commercially — and begin building the people infrastructure that supports growth rather than constraining it.
People audit: assessment of attrition data, engagement indicators, organisational structure, employment risk exposure, and current HR capability. Identification of the three highest-risk people issues and the talent gaps most likely to limit commercial delivery. First board-level people strategy review.
Priority interventions live: the most significant employment risks addressed, a retention programme designed for the roles with highest attrition impact, and a structured people KPI framework established. Management capability review completed and development priorities identified.
People strategy operational: a 12-month people plan aligned to business growth strategy, a talent acquisition framework for priority roles, and the management processes and culture initiatives most likely to improve engagement and retention. The HR function is now a commercial enabler — not a compliance function.
Within 90 days, the board will have a clear view of its highest people risks, an active retention programme for critical roles, and an HR Director who is accountable for people outcomes — not just process compliance.
A commercially grounded people strategy aligned to your business plan — covering workforce planning, talent acquisition priorities, development investment, retention programmes, and the organisational design required to deliver commercial objectives. Presented to the board as a strategic investment, not an overhead cost line.
Strategic oversight of talent acquisition — defining the roles your business needs, building rigorous hiring processes, and developing an employer brand that attracts the best people in competitive talent markets. Creates sustainable, scalable hiring capability rather than reactive responses to immediate vacancies.
Structured programmes to develop your leadership team’s capability — identifying gaps, building individual development plans, establishing coaching frameworks, and planning succession for critical roles. Ensures your management layer has the skills and judgement to support the scale and complexity your business is heading towards.
Active diagnosis and purposeful development of your organisational culture — identifying what drives or undermines employee engagement, designing the leadership practices and management behaviours that strengthen it, and measuring progress against meaningful, leading indicators of cultural health and employee commitment.
Senior ownership of your employment framework — ensuring contracts, policies, and procedures are legally compliant, commercially appropriate, and consistently applied across the organisation. Manages complex or senior-level employee relations issues with the expertise, authority, and commercial judgement those situations require.
Expert leadership of organisational redesign — building the right structures, roles, and accountabilities to support business strategy at your next stage of growth. Manages change sensitively and effectively, significantly reducing the people risk that accompanies major restructuring or strategic transitions.
Leadership Services
per month — no recruitment fees, no long-term contracts
Full-Time Hire
per year plus benefits, recruitment fees, and on-costs
A fractional HR director provides board-level people leadership on a part-time basis. They own your people strategy, talent management, organisational design, culture development, and senior HR governance. Unlike an HR manager focused on administration and compliance, a fractional HR director operates strategically — advising the CEO on people-related decisions, managing complex employee relations at senior level, and ensuring your people practices directly support your commercial objectives.
A fractional HR director or part-time CHRO from Leadership Services ranges from £1,500 to £4,500 per month, depending on the number of days required and the scope of your people agenda. This compares to a full-time HR Director or CHRO salary of £100,000 to £160,000 per year in the UK, plus employer on-costs, benefits, and recruitment fees. For most SMEs, the fractional model provides expert people leadership at a significantly lower investment.
An HR consultant typically delivers a specific project — a policy review, a restructuring, a training programme — and then leaves. A fractional HR director is an embedded member of your leadership team. They attend board meetings, advise the CEO, manage ongoing people challenges, and take strategic ownership of your people agenda. The key difference is accountability and continuity: a fractional HR director has a stake in the long-term health of your people function, not just the completion of a project.
Yes. Restructuring and redundancy processes are among the most sensitive and legally complex challenges any business faces. A fractional HR director brings the experience to manage these processes correctly — ensuring legal compliance, protecting the business from tribunal risk, communicating clearly with affected employees, and maintaining morale and trust among the wider team. Having senior HR leadership through a restructuring is not optional; the risks of getting it wrong are significant.
Most engagements begin within one to two weeks. Following an initial consultation to understand your people priorities, business stage, and immediate challenges, Leadership Services matches you with the right fractional HR director from our network. There is no recruitment process, no lengthy onboarding, and no notice period to wait out. Your part-time HR director joins the leadership team and can begin contributing to people decisions immediately.
For most UK SMEs and scale-ups with up to several hundred employees, a fractional HR director provides the senior people leadership they need. A full-time CHRO is typically justified when the business has a large, complex workforce, a substantial dedicated people team requiring daily senior oversight, or is navigating an exceptionally high-velocity period of hiring. Until that point, a part-time HR director delivers the same strategic expertise and board-level credibility at a fraction of the permanent cost.
Book a free, no-obligation discovery call. We’ll match you with the right director within 5 business days.
