HR Advisory for small business & startups

Senior HR Judgment, Without the Full-Time Price Tag

You’re growing fast enough to need real HR strategy — but not big enough to justify a full-time HR executive. That’s exactly the gap fractional HR consulting is built to fill.

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Who This Is For

  • Startups making their first few HR-related hires and decisions

  • Small businesses (typically 10–150 employees) without a dedicated HR leader

  • Companies that have outgrown “HR by spreadsheet” but aren’t ready for a full executive hire

  • Founders who need a trusted advisor for a sensitive personnel issue, restructuring, or compliance question — now, not in three months

What We Help You Build

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Foundational HR Infrastructure

Employee handbooks, hiring and onboarding processes, performance management frameworks, and compliance basics — built right the first time.

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Manager Enablement

Most small-business managers were promoted for being good at the job, not for managing people. We equip your managers with the coaching and HR skills to lead effectively — without you having to referee every conflict.

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Strategic HR Partnership

For founders and leadership teams who need a thinking partner on org design, comp strategy, culture, and the people decisions that shape what kind of company you’re building.

Scalable Engagement Models

HR needs aren’t static, so our engagement isn’t either.

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Project-Based

A specific deliverable (handbook, standard operating procedures, templates, workbooks, workshops) on a defined timeline.

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Monthly Retainer

Ongoing, scalable access to HR strategy and support as you grow.

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Project-Based

Pay-as-you-go support for the moments that can’t wait.

Why Fractional & Why Right Now

Hiring a full-time HR executive often doesn’t make financial sense until a company reaches real scale — but the cost of not having HR judgment shows up early: bad hires, compliance exposure, manager turnover, and culture that forms by accident instead of design. Fractional HR gives you senior-level support sized to where your business actually is today, with room to scale as you grow.

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FAQS

  • Most startups don't have the volume or budget to justify a full-time HR executive early on, but they still face real HR risk — compliance gaps, unclear policies, poor manager practices, and culture issues that get harder to fix the longer they're left alone. Fractional HR advisory gives founders senior-level HR judgment without the full-time cost, and builds the foundation a future HR hire can scale from.

  • Common scope areas include foundational people policies and handbooks, compliance basics (classification, leave, wage and hour), performance management design, compensation philosophy and structure, manager training, employee relations support, and org design as the company scales headcount.

  • The earlier the better, but the most common trigger points are: approaching 15–20 employees, preparing for a funding round (where HR due diligence matters), experiencing first real employee relations issues, or scaling quickly enough that "figuring it out as we go" is creating risk.

  • Yes — that's the advantage of a fractional model. Engagement scope can flex from a few hours a month of advisory support to a more intensive, project-based build-out (e.g., standing up an entire HR infrastructure ahead of a raise or acquisition).

  • Karen Hilton holds a PCC (Professional Certified Coach) credential through the International Coaching Federation and is a SHRM Senior Certified Professional (SHRM-SCP), backed by 30+ years of HR leadership experience across healthcare, technology, finance, higher education, and entertainment.

  • Most engagements start with a short discovery conversation to understand your goals, context, and constraints. From there, we recommend the right scope rather than defaulting to a one-size-fits-all package.

  • Yes. While T.A.P. is based in Woodstock, Georgia, engagements are conducted virtually as well as in person, and clients span multiple industries and regions.

  • Pricing depends on scope — coaching engagements are typically structured as monthly retainers over a defined term, while advisory work can be scoped as monthly retainers or project-based fees depending on the complexity of the engagement. Specifics are discussed during the discovery conversation.

  • Healthcare (including physician and anesthesiology practice leadership), higher education, government and municipal agencies, and enterprise organizations across technology, logistics, and entertainment.

  • Reach out to schedule an introductory conversation. We'll talk through your goals, answer any questions, and map out the engagement structure that fits your needs.

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