Book Your Call
One call. Clear direction. Faster execution.
How a 90-person startup went from no HR to a working people function in 60 days.
A Skillfi fractional CHRO closed the compliance gaps, wrote the handbook and core policies, built onboarding and hired the company's first HR generalist, so the founders could get back to building the business.
Founders running HR on nights and weekends.
The company had grown from 25 to 90 people in a year after its Series A, with employees in three states. HR was whatever the founders could fit in between product, fundraising and customers. There was no handbook, no written policies and no onboarding. New hires were sent a laptop and a calendar invite.
Then came a near miss. A role had been classified as exempt from overtime when it shouldn't have been, and it surfaced only when an employee asked about overtime pay. It was caught in time, but the founders realised they had no idea what else they were missing, and they were spending around 12 hours a week on HR questions they weren't equipped to answer.
We were building a climate company and spending Friday nights looking up overtime rules.
Co-founder & CEO, client
Get compliant, get organised, then hand it over.
We started with risk, because that's what keeps founders up at night. A full compliance audit ran first, with employment law questions reviewed by our legal and compliance partners. Then we built the foundations and hired the person who would own them.
14 compliance gaps found and fixed
Worker classification, required state notices, I-9 records and payroll practices checked across all three states, with every gap closed in priority order.
Handbook, policies & onboarding
An employee handbook, 22 core policies, a structured onboarding program and an HR calendar for every recurring deadline.
The first HR hire
We hired and onboarded an HR generalist, with playbooks for every process, so HR ran without the founders.
Sixty days, step by step
From founders improvising HR to a people function with an owner. Here's how the engagement unfolded.
- Day 1–1014 gaps found
Compliance audit
Classification, state requirements, I-9s, payroll and records reviewed across all three states.
- Day 11–20All 14 closed
Urgent fixes
The highest-risk gaps closed first, including role classifications and missing state notices.
- Day 21–3522 policies
Handbook & policies
An employee handbook and core policies written in plain language, with acknowledgements tracked for every employee.
- Day 30–4030-60-90 plans
Onboarding program
A pre-day-one checklist, a 30-60-90 day plan with each manager and a buddy for every new hire.
- Day 36–4512-month calendar
HR calendar
Every review cycle, filing, renewal and benefits deadline on one calendar with owners and reminders.
- Day 46–60HR generalist hired
First HR hire & handover
An HR generalist hired and onboarded, with playbooks for every process and the founders stepping back.
Four things every growing startup needs from HR
Startups don't need an HR department on day one. They need to be compliant, organised and welcoming, with someone clearly in charge. The kit covered exactly that.
Compliance basics
- Worker classification checked
- State notices & postings
- I-9 & payroll records fixed
Handbook & policies
- Plain-language handbook
- 22 core policies
- Acknowledgements tracked
Onboarding program
- Pre-day-one checklist
- 30-60-90 plan with the manager
- A buddy for every new hire
HR operations
- 12-month HR calendar
- Process playbooks
- First HR generalist owns it
Six months later
New hire onboarding satisfaction
New hires now start with a plan, a buddy and everything ready on day one.
We finally have someone who owns our people, a playbook for everything, and the founders got their evenings back.
Co-founder & COO, clientFounders still doing HR?
A fractional CHRO will get you compliant, write the policies and build onboarding, then help a fractional recruiter hire your first HR person. We can set it all up in an HRIS so it scales with you.
- A compliance audit & fix plan
- A handbook & core policies
- An onboarding program new hires love
- Your first HR hire & handover playbooks
30 minutes. No obligation.
Related Case Studies