A Senior HR Head for Part of Each Month
Fractional HR management is an arrangement in which an experienced HR professional works for your company part of the time, on a continuing basis, instead of being employed full time. They sit in your leadership discussions, carry the HR agenda between them, guide your managers through difficult conversations, and supervise whoever handles HR administration day to day.
Fractional HR Management in brief
Fractional HR management is an arrangement in which an experienced HR professional works for your company part of the time, on a continuing basis, instead of being employed full time. They sit in your leadership discussions, carry the HR agenda between them, guide your managers through difficult conversations, and supervise whoever handles HR administration day to day.
- GullyHR is an HR consulting, HR services, training and software company based in Bengaluru, working with Indian startups and small and medium businesses.
- This is a continuing advisory arrangement rather than a project: a named senior consultant carries your HR agenda for an agreed part of each month.
- The mandate is written before work starts, naming the decisions the fractional HR head takes part in, what stays with you, and what is out of scope.
- GullyHR advises, prepares and drafts. Employment decisions, meaning hiring, pay, confirmation, discipline and exit, remain yours.
- The arrangement is built to end. When the work justifies a full-time HR head, we define the role, help you interview for it and hand over.
The starting point
Do You Need HR Judgement Without a Full-Time Head?
There is a stage between running HR from the founder's chair and justifying a full-time HR head. In that stage, records and payroll inputs may be well handled while the judgement calls, the difficult conversations and the structural decisions land on the owner.
We put a named senior consultant on your leadership team for an agreed part of each month, working to a written mandate.
You may be experiencing:
- Being the person employees approach about leave, increments and their manager, at the expense of customer time.
- An HR executive who keeps records clean but cannot be handed a key resignation or a complaint about a manager.
- A full-time HR head at the market salary sitting among your largest fixed costs, with doubt about a full week of work.
- An HR manager having resigned, with open items now a folder in your inbox you avoid opening.
- An investor or customer asking for policies and an organisation chart, and your sending what you could find.
- Two managers escalating the same kind of problem, handled differently because there was no rule to follow.
- A second location or shift opening, with nobody having worked out how HR will run there.
- Warning letters, confirmations and offers drafted by whoever has time, in different formats and tones.
- Employee matters that wait for the next day you are free to look at them.
- A senior hire being planned with nobody to define the role or sit in the interview beside you.
- Doubt over whether the HR work you carry is a few hours a week or a full job, with nothing recorded to tell.
What we can help with
Our Fractional HR Services
Senior HR Leadership
A named consultant acting as your HR head for an agreed part of each month: in leadership discussions, carrying the people agenda between meetings and answering for it, without joining your payroll.
Board-Level Counsel
Chief human resources officer level counsel for owners and boards, where the conversation is structure and senior people rather than HR administration.
HR Oversight
Where there is no HR person, the mandate states which recurring work is done to what standard, so HR keeps running to a standard even with nobody sitting in your office.
Manager Support
Someone for managers to call before a performance discussion, a warning, a team complaint or a resignation, rather than after the conversation has gone wrong.
Monthly Leadership Review
One fixed meeting a month where people decisions actually get taken, with a prepared pack showing what has moved on the agenda and what is stuck.
Decision Testing
The decisions that are hard to reverse tested before you take them: a restructure, a senior hire, a pay correction, closing a team or converting contract roles.
Mentoring Your HR Person
A standing session with your HR executive or admin-HR person, reviewing the work and explaining the reasoning, so the person you already employ has someone senior to learn from.
Workforce Reading
Headcount, joining and leaving, attendance and leave patterns and open positions read each month, with a written note of what the numbers mean rather than only a table.
The scope
What the Consulting Covers
A fractional HR arrangement covers the senior judgement and oversight that a growing business needs between founder-run HR and a full-time head. These are the parts of the work that can sit in the mandate. The scope is agreed with you and can take all twelve areas or only some.
HR Diagnostic and Workload Baseline
How much HR work the business generates each month, and what sits with whom today.
Written Mandate
The consultant's role, reporting line, rhythm, decisions they take part in and matters that stay with you.
People Agenda and Priorities
A live list of items with owners and review dates, in an order agreed with leadership.
Monthly Leadership Review
A standing meeting with a prepared pack and a log of the decisions taken.
Organisation Structure and Role Clarity
Advice on structure, reporting lines and role definitions as the business changes shape.
Hiring Guidance for Senior and Critical Roles
Role definition, interview structure and recommendation support for the roles that matter most.
Manager Coaching on People Matters
Preparation for performance discussions, warnings, complaints and resignations, before and after the conversation.
Employee Relations Guidance
Process and record guidance on employee matters, with qualified professionals coordinated where a matter requires them.
Policy, Letter and Document Review
Drafting or review of policies, letters and records the agenda calls for.
HR Operations Oversight
Supervision of day-to-day HR work, such as records, joining and exit steps and the HR calendar, to an agreed standard.
Workforce Reporting and Reading
A monthly note on headcount, joining and leaving, attendance and leave patterns and open positions.
Mentoring and Handover to a Full-Time Head
Development of your HR person, and role definition, interview support and handover when you appoint full-time.
Working together
Ways to Work With Us
Fractional HR Diagnostic
A short assessment before you commit to anything continuing: how much HR work your business actually generates each month, and what a sensible rhythm would be.
Monthly Fractional HR Management
A named consultant on an agreed rhythm each month, working to a written mandate: the leadership review, the people agenda and manager support.
Fractional CHRO Advisory
Senior counsel for a leadership team whose operational HR is already covered but which needs judgement on structure, people and risk.
Transition Cover
Continuity while an HR head position is vacant or a newly appointed one is settling in: the calendar kept running and live employee matters handled.
The arrangement is meant to change shape as the business does, and eventually to end. More time during a hiring push or a new location, less when things settle, and a clean handover when you appoint full-time.
The deliverables
What You Receive
Depending on the scope of your engagement, deliverables can include:
- A written mandate naming the consultant, the reporting line, the working rhythm, the decisions they take part in and the matters that stay with you.
- A baseline HR note covering records, letters, policies, the HR calendar and open employee matters, with priorities marked.
- A people agenda for the period, with the item, the owner and the review date against each line, kept live.
- A monthly review pack and a decisions log, so a decision taken in one month can be found and applied in the next.
- A monthly workforce dashboard with a written reading of what changed.
- The documents the agenda calls for, drafted or reviewed: policies, letters, role definitions and the organisation chart.
- A development plan for your internal HR person, naming the work being handed over and the expected standard.
- A handover file and, when you move to a full-time head, the role definition, interview structure and induction plan.
- A workload baseline showing how much HR work the business generates each month and which items need a senior person.
- A matters tracker for open employee cases, with owner, status and next step against each.
- A quarterly review note on whether the rhythm and the mandate still fit the business.
Step by step
How We Work
Write the Mandate
Before anything starts we write down what the arrangement is: which decisions the consultant takes part in, who they report to, the rhythm, and which matters stay with you.
Read the Baseline
We read what exists: the structure, employee records, letters, policies, the attendance and leave arrangements and the open employee matters, and mark which items need attention first.
Agree the People Agenda
You and the consultant agree the agenda for the period: which items are addressed, in what order, and which are deliberately left for later.
Run the Monthly Rhythm
The leadership review sits in the calendar, the dashboard pack is defined, manager sessions are scheduled, and the route for anything urgent between visits is agreed.
Review and Step Back
At fixed points we review what has moved, what has not and whether the mandate or rhythm should change. When you appoint a full-time head, we define the role and hand over. Where it is included in the engagement, we support the transition to a full-time head through an overlap period, and refine the handover file from your new appointee's questions.
The difference
What a Fractional Arrangement Gives You
A senior HR presence helps you:
We do not promise outcomes. We record a baseline before work starts, covering how much HR work the business generates each month and how long matters take to resolve, and report against it, so you can see what changed and what did not.
- Get a decision on an employee matter from someone senior in the week it arises.
- Give managers a person to call before a difficult conversation rather than after it has gone wrong.
- Let your existing HR person take on more, because someone senior reviews the work and explains the reasoning.
- Test decisions that are hard to reverse, with the consequences laid out for the rest of the business.
- Have a written answer ready to a board, investor or customer people question before it is asked.
- Appoint a full-time HR head on evidence rather than exhaustion, with the role defined and the work visible.
- See how much HR work the business actually generates, and use that to size the arrangement.
- Keep a record of open employee matters with an owner and a next step against each.
- Review at fixed points whether the rhythm, the mandate or the time given should change.
- Hand over to a full-time head with the role defined and the work documented.
Find your fit
Who This Service Is For
Founder-Run Businesses
Companies where the owner or managing director is still the final stop for every employee matter.
Companies Too Big for the Founder's Chair
Businesses too large to run HR personally and too small to justify a full-time HR head at the salary that role commands.
Businesses With a Reliable HR Executive
Companies employing someone dependable on records who has never had anyone senior to learn from.
Companies Between HR Heads
Businesses needing cover and continuity while the position is filled and the new person settles in.
Businesses About to Change Shape
Companies opening a second location or shift, taking funding, or bringing professional managers into a family business.
Companies Facing Board or Customer Questions
Businesses whose board, investor or largest customer has started asking people questions with no written answer.
Businesses Setting Up HR for the First Time
Companies with no HR function yet that want a senior person to set the structure before hiring.
Companies With Several Locations or Shifts
Businesses where HR practice has drifted between sites and needs one standard.
Leadership Teams Planning Their First HR Hire
Owners who want the role defined, and the interview run well, before appointing a full-time head.
Good to know
A Clear Monthly Rhythm
Through the month
- Prepare: the agenda, matters tracker and workforce note are updated before the review.
- Review: leadership meets, decisions are taken and recorded in the log.
- Support: managers book sessions and use the urgent route when something cannot wait.
At fixed points
- Check: we review what has moved and what has not.
- Adjust: the rhythm, mandate or time given is changed where the business needs it.
- Hand over: when you appoint full-time, the role and work are transferred.
Each step has an owner and a date, and the mandate states what each side does.
Good to know
Track What the Arrangement Is Doing
Workload and responsiveness
- Matters opened and closed: how much employee work arises and how quickly it is resolved.
- Urgent requests: how often the urgent route is used and the response time.
- Manager sessions: which teams use the support and which do not.
Agenda and workforce
- Agenda completion: which items moved and which are stuck, and why.
- Joining and leaving: headcount movement by team and location.
- Attendance and leave patterns: where behaviour suggests a process gap.
- Open positions: roles pending and how long they have been open.
Measures use agreed definitions and reporting periods.
Good to know
Scope and Service Boundaries
Your engagement defines
The days or hours each month, the mandate, the locations covered, the reporting line, the route for urgent matters and the review points.
Requires a separate agreement
- Running HR as a full department, offered as GullyHR's separate outsourced HR management service.
- Payroll computation and processing.
- Recruitment for specific roles, offered as GullyHR's separate talent acquisition service.
- Statutory filings and registrations.
- Legal opinions, representation and statutory appointments.
- Formal investigations, which are coordinated through a qualified professional.
Hiring, pay, confirmation, discipline and exit decisions remain with management. Specialist review is advised for policies and formal actions.
Good to know
Timeline and How to Prepare
Timeline
We usually start with a short diagnostic, then write the mandate and begin the rhythm. The schedule depends on your size, locations and how much agenda is already waiting. We confirm it after agreeing the scope.
Useful inputs
- Organisation chart and headcount by location.
- Current policies, letters and templates, however basic.
- A list of open employee matters.
- Names of your HR executive and key managers.
- Your existing HR, payroll and attendance arrangements.
- The decisions you expect to take in the next quarter.
Sensitive matters can be shared in summary at first.
Good to know
Confidentiality and Employee Information
Handled by agreement
A fractional consultant sees complaints, pay and exit matters. Before work begins we agree what the consultant may see, who else is party to a given matter, the confidentiality terms and retention arrangements.
Access in the design
The mandate limits system access to what the work requires. Employee records remain yours, and you decide what is shared with the consultant.
Good to know
Frequently asked questions
An arrangement in which an experienced HR professional works for your company part of the time, on a continuing basis, instead of being employed full time. They sit in leadership discussions, carry the HR agenda, guide managers through difficult conversations and supervise day-to-day HR.
A project has a start, a deliverable and an end. This is continuing involvement: a standing monthly review, an agenda carried between meetings and a person managers can call. Projects are often taken up within it, but it is the rhythm that makes it different.
You do. The mandate states which decisions the consultant takes part in and which stay with you. They advise, prepare, test and carry out what is agreed, and the final decision on an employee matter remains with the business.
No. The arrangement is designed so the person you employ takes on more, with a senior reviewer explaining the reasoning behind each month's decisions. A development plan names the work being handed to them and the standard it should meet.
Usually a mix, agreed in the mandate. The leadership review and manager sessions are often in person at an agreed rhythm, and between visits matters are handled remotely. The balance depends on your locations and what is arising.
The route for urgent matters is agreed at the start, including who you call and what turnaround to expect. Live matters such as a key resignation or a grievance are handled between reviews rather than saved for the next meeting.
We guide the process and the records, and brief managers on what to do and not do. We are not a legal practice and do not state a legal position, and formal enquiries are coordinated through a qualified professional. Please confirm legal points with one.
As long as it is useful, which is deliberately open. Many run until a full-time head is appointed, and the arrangement is reviewed at fixed points, with the option to reduce, extend or end it. It is built to change shape as the business does.
After a short diagnostic of how much HR work the business actually generates. The proposal states the rhythm, the mandate, what is included between visits and the review points, and is agreed in writing before the arrangement starts.
Usually when the owner has become the final stop for every employee matter, or when the HR executive is reliable on records but cannot be handed a resignation or a complaint. It also suits businesses that are changing shape faster than the owner can decide alone.
It depends on the mandate, which is agreed after the diagnostic. The rhythm can change as the business does, for example more time during a hiring push and less afterwards.
No. Outsourced HR management is our separate service in which GullyHR runs HR operations. Fractional HR is a senior person carrying your agenda and supervising your own HR work. Some businesses start with one and move to the other.
Yes. A diagnostic is usually the first step. It shows how much HR work the business generates, and you decide whether to continue.
Under a signed confidentiality agreement, with system access limited to what the mandate needs. We agree in advance who inside your business is party to complaints, investigations and pay discussions.
Yes. Where you employ an HR executive, the consultant supervises and mentors rather than displaces. We work inside the HR, payroll and attendance arrangements you already have.
The consultant can define roles and join interviews for senior hires. Running a recruitment search is GullyHR's separate talent acquisition service, agreed separately.
Pricing depends on the size of the workforce, the locations, the rhythm and time each month, and the support required. Share your requirements and we will send a tailored proposal.
Senior HR Judgement, Sized to What You Need Now
Put a named HR head on your leadership team for part of each month, with a written mandate, a standing review and a person for your managers to call.
Prefer to talk first? Call +91 80958 58589 or write to hello@gullyhr.com.
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