EXECUTIVE ADVISORY
Strategic HR and leadership guidance for growing companies that need ongoing expert support but aren’t ready for a full-time executive. Your outside perspective on people challenges — delivered with the context of someone who knows your business.
You need a strategic HR leader — but you’re not ready for a $300K+ executive.
Your company has grown past the point where one HR generalist can handle everything. Leadership is spending too much time on people issues. Decisions about hiring, terminations, compensation, and culture are being made without expert guidance. A fractional CPO gives you the strategic leadership without the full-time cost.
Advisory Retainer Packages
- No dedicated HR leadership — founders making people decisions without expertise
- HR generalist handling tactical work but no one thinking strategically
- People issues consuming leadership bandwidth that should go to business growth
- Reactive hiring, unclear career paths, and no retention strategy
- Leadership team struggling with difficult conversations and performance issues
| Package | Monthly | What’s Included |
|---|---|---|
| Advisory Light | $8,500 | 2 strategy calls/month + email support + document review |
| Advisory Standard | $12,500 | 4 calls/month + quarterly planning session + 1 annual assessment |
| Fractional CPO | $18,500 | 8 calls/month + quarterly on-site + team meetings + crisis support |
6-month minimum commitment. Month-to-month thereafter with 30-day notice.
How It Works
Discovery Call
Understand your current situation, people challenges, and what level of support you need.
Onboarding Sprint
Deep dive into your organization in the first 30 days — meet key stakeholders, review existing systems, and identify quick wins.
Ongoing Advisory
Regular strategy calls, quarterly planning sessions, real-time guidance on people decisions, and crisis support when needed.
[Placeholder: Add a testimonial from a CEO or COO about the fractional CPO engagement — what changed in how they handle people decisions, how it freed up leadership bandwidth.]
Related Executive Advisory Services
A Fractional CPO retainer is one of several ways to bring senior HR leadership into a growing organization. Depending on your situation, one of these may be the better fit:
- Interim CPO — When your CPO seat is actually empty and the function needs a near-full-time leader for a defined transitional period. A fractional retainer is part-time advisory alongside your existing leadership; an Interim CPO occupies the seat. If the seat is vacant, that is the service you want.
- Organizational Design & Restructuring — When the people-strategy work surfaces a need to redesign reporting lines, roles, or the shape of the organization itself.
- Change Management — When a specific organizational change needs the people side managed deliberately — a system rollout, a restructuring, an integration.
Common Questions
How is this different from an Interim CPO?
A Fractional CPO is a part-time, ongoing strategic advisor who works alongside your existing leadership — the right choice when you need senior HR strategy but cannot justify a full-time executive. An Interim CPO is the near-full-time, temporary head of the function, brought in when the CPO seat is actually empty. The simplest test: do you have a CPO? If the seat is filled and you want strategic depth alongside your existing leader, a fractional retainer fits. If the seat is vacant, you want an Interim CPO.
How is this different from an HR consultant?
A consultant gives you a report and leaves. A fractional CPO becomes part of your leadership team — attending meetings, advising on real-time decisions, and building people infrastructure with you over months. You get ongoing partnership, not project deliverables.
What’s the time commitment?
Advisory Light is ~4 hours/month. Advisory Standard is ~8 hours/month. Fractional CPO is ~16 hours/month. Most growing companies find Advisory Standard is the right starting point — enough depth to make real progress without the overhead of a full-time role.
Can this work alongside our existing HR person?
Absolutely — that’s the most common setup. Your HR generalist or manager handles day-to-day operations, and the fractional CPO provides strategic direction, mentors your HR team, and handles the complex issues that require senior expertise.