Fractional CHRO · HR Operations
A full HR department, without the full headcount.
Fractional CHRO leadership plus day-to-day HR administration, HRIS, and employee lifecycle management — run by Helix, on your behalf.
You need HR leadership and operations now, not after a six-month search for a full-time CHRO. Founders are stuck as default HR, managers have nowhere to go, and admin work is eating trust. You want the function run, not another advisory memo.
What changes
Outcomes you can hold, not slides you file.
Named fractional leadership with a clear weekly operating rhythm
Employee lifecycle handled end to end: joiners, movers, leavers
Managers have a real place to escalate people issues
Option to build toward an in-house team when the business is ready
How it works
A clear path from first conversation to delivery.
Scope the function
What Helix owns versus what stays with founders or managers. Clarity before kickoff, not scope creep later.
Stand up the rhythm
Office hours, escalation paths, tools, and monthly leadership reviews so HR becomes predictable.
Run the operations
Lifecycle, admin, policy application, hiring coordination, and helpdesk executed week to week.
Evolve or hand back
Scale the engagement up, specialize it, or hire in-house with Helix supporting the transition.
Week in the life
What a fractional CHRO actually does
Not a vague “people support” promise. A weekly operating rhythm your managers can rely on.
Mon
Leadership pulse
Priorities with founders or GM. Open people risks, hiring load, and decisions that need a call.
Tue–Thu
Operate the function
Joiners, movers, leavers. Policy application. Manager escalations. Recruitment coordination.
Fri
Helpdesk & hygiene
Employee queries, documentation, and loose ends so Monday does not start in chaos.
Monthly
Leadership review
Headcount, risk, culture signals, and what needs board or founder attention next month.
Ownership split
What Helix runs vs what stays yours
Helix typically owns
- Fractional CHRO counsel
- HR admin and lifecycle
- Policy application and handbook updates
- Manager coaching on people issues
- Hiring process coordination
- HRIS hygiene and reporting
You typically keep
- Final hire / fire decisions
- Comp budget authority
- Company culture and values ownership
- Board-level strategy calls
- Entity-level legal sign-off
- Day-to-day line management
What's included
Scope of the practice
Core workstreams we run under HR Outsourcing. Engagements are scoped to what you need — not a forced package.
- Fractional CHRO services
- HR administration
- HR operations
- HRIS implementation
- Recruitment management
- Employee lifecycle management
- Payroll coordination (where applicable)
- HR helpdesk and advisory
Who it's for
- Startups and SMEs that need HR leadership before a full team
- Companies expanding into India without local HR infrastructure
- Businesses that want HR operations run for them, not just advised on
- Teams between CHROs or building toward an in-house function
Who should choose another path
- Clients seeking a one-hour policy chat with no ongoing ownership
- Fully staffed HR teams that only need a single specialist project (see Consulting)
- Pure payroll processing with no people leadership requirement
Questions
Straight answers before you book.
Is this full-time on-site?
Typically fractional and remote-first with scheduled leadership time. On-site presence can be scoped for key moments (off-sites, investigations, India setup).
How is this different from HR Consulting?
Consulting designs systems and hands them over. Outsourcing runs the function for you on an ongoing basis. Many clients use both: design, then operate.
Can you manage hiring as part of outsourcing?
Yes, recruitment management can sit inside the outsourced function. High-volume or senior searches can also route through Talent Acquisition with clear fee terms.
What does pricing look like?
Retainer-style, scoped to hours and ownership. Discovery defines coverage (fractional CHRO only vs full ops). We quote before you commit.
Often paired with
Related practices
HR Outsourcing
Ready to talk hr outsourcing?
Book a discovery call. We will define what Helix runs versus what stays with you.