Interim and fractional CHRO in short
An interim or fractional CHRO leads the people function through a change in the organisation: growth that outpaces the HR set-up, a restructuring or redeployment, or a departure at the head of HR. The seat holds employee relations, the development plan, the pay review, equality and crisis organisation until a permanent HR leader takes over.
Carry the people function through the change in the organisation.
The organisation changes faster than its people function. A scale-up outgrows the set-up it started with, a restructuring calls for redeployment, or the HR director leaves while the change is under way.
An interim CHRO leads the people function through that change: the dialogue with employee representative bodies, the development plan, the pay review, equality commitments and the organisation of a crisis. The seat suits scale-ups and mid-sized companies that need senior HR leadership now.
When to bring in an interim CHRO
- A scale-up has outgrown the HR set-up it started with: policies written for a team, applied to a company that now spans several sites.
- A restructuring or a redeployment has been decided, and the people affected need a process that is fair, documented and carried through.
- The HR director has left while a change in the organisation is under way, and the decisions it requires cannot wait for a recruitment.
- Employee representative bodies, the pay review and equality commitments all fall due while nobody senior owns the people agenda.
When it is the wrong answer
- The need is a single HR project, a recruitment drive or a policy rewrite, rather than leadership of the function. The People expertise covers work of that kind.
- Nobody yet knows whether the problem is the organisation, its management or its HR set-up. Begin with an Assessment before anyone takes the seat.
- No change is under way: the organisation is large and stable, and a strong HR team lacks only a title holder. A permanent search fits better than an interim.
What the CHRO holds
- Employee relations: the dialogue with representative bodies, what is consulted on, and how agreements are prepared and kept.
- The development plan: which skills the organisation builds, for whom, and how it follows what was delivered.
- The pay review: the rules, the envelope leadership sets, and how decisions are explained to the people concerned.
- Equality: the commitments the company makes, the measures behind them and who answers for each.
- Crisis organisation: who decides, who informs and who supports the people affected when an event hits the organisation.
The first 90 days
Days 1 to 30
- Confirm what was agreed before the seat was taken: the people decisions it holds, the indicators that will show success, the executive it reports to and the terms of the handover.
- Read the calendar of obligations: the consultations, the pay review, the equality commitments and the plans already promised.
Days 31 to 60
- Meet the representative bodies and the managers who carry the change, and agree how they will be informed.
- Restate the HR policies that no longer fit the size or shape of the organisation.
Days 61 to 90
- Run the pay review or the redeployment process on the restated rules, with the managers who apply them.
- Hand each HR process to a named owner in the team, with the calendar it follows.
What you keep
- A calendar of employee relations obligations, with an owner for each.
- A development plan linked to the skills the organisation actually needs.
- Pay review rules applied the same way across teams and explained to the people concerned.
- Equality commitments with measures and named owners.
- A crisis organisation that names who decides, who informs and who supports.
We leave when the function can run without us: an identified permanent owner, a roadmap they hold, and a team that no longer routes through the interim.
Experience behind the seat
- Part-time HR leadership and HR advisory for small and mid-sized companies.
- Multi-site HR management at a digital scale-up: employee representative bodies, pay review, gender equality and crisis organisation.
- HR project work on the redeployment of employees after a restructuring in retail.
Questions
- What does an interim CHRO do?
- An interim CHRO leads the people function while the organisation changes and the HR seat has no permanent owner: employee relations, the development plan, the pay review, equality commitments and crisis organisation. The interim decides inside the client's reporting line and leaves HR processes the team runs without the interim.
- When is an interim CHRO the wrong answer?
- When the need is a single HR project, the People expertise covers it without a seat. When nobody knows whether the problem is the organisation, its management or HR, an Assessment should find out first. And when no change is under way and a stable organisation only lacks a title holder, a permanent search fits better.
- What does the CHRO hand over at the end?
- The hand-over follows the HR calendar: the permanent HR leader takes over before the next consultation or pay review, not after it, so the representative bodies meet one counterpart throughout. Open cases, commitments made to employees and the crisis organisation are handed over in person, case by case.
- Which organisations is this seat suited to?
- Scale-ups and mid-sized companies whose organisation changes faster than their HR set-up: growth across sites, a restructuring, a redeployment or a leadership departure. The experience behind the seat comes from part-time HR leadership for smaller companies, multi-site HR in a digital scale-up and redeployment after a restructuring in retail.
- How does the CHRO carry a redeployment?
- By setting the process before the first conversation: the criteria, the positions open, the support offered and the calendar agreed with the representative bodies. Managers are prepared for each conversation, every decision is documented, and the people affected know at each stage what happens next and whom to ask.