Services
HR Consulting Built Around What Your Business Actually Needs.
PeopleOps covers the People work that decides whether a growing company holds together: senior HR leadership, the policies and documentation behind it, the managers running it day to day, and the pay, structure and difficult conversations that come with growth. Most engagements start with the problem in front of you and expand into the systems that keep it from returning.
Fractional HR Leadership
Fractional HR & People Leadership
Senior HR leadership on a part-time basis, focused on the People decisions in front of you right now.
The problem
The company has grown past the point where HR can be handled between other jobs. Offer letters, policies, manager questions and employee issues land on whoever has time. Decisions get made one at a time, with no strategy behind them, and leadership is absorbing work that should sit with an HR leader.
What PeopleOps does
PeopleOps works as your fractional Head of People. That means setting a People strategy tied to the business plan, building the HR foundation — policies, processes, documentation, onboarding, employee lifecycle — and advising owners and executives on the decisions that carry the most risk and the most upside. Stacee works directly with your leadership and with whoever handles HR administration today.
Why it matters
HR problems compound quietly. A missing policy becomes an inconsistent decision, an inconsistent decision becomes a pattern, and a pattern becomes a dispute. Senior People leadership gets ahead of that, and it gives founders back the hours they are currently spending on employee issues instead of the business.
When to reach out
- Headcount is climbing and HR still sits with whoever has time.
- You are promoting managers faster than you are preparing them.
- Leadership spends more hours on employee issues than on the business.
- You need an HR strategy but not a full-time HR executive.
- People strategy aligned to your growth plan
- HR infrastructure review with a prioritized roadmap
- Policies, handbook guidance and core HR documentation
- Employee lifecycle processes from hire through exit
- Ongoing advising for owners, executives and managers
- Support and structure for the person handling HR admin today
Compliance & Risk
HR Compliance & Risk Management
Practical HR policies, documentation and processes that reduce risk as you grow and hire across states.
The problem
You are hiring in four states and your handbook covers one. Classifications were set years ago and never revisited. Terminations are documented differently depending on who ran the meeting. Nobody is sure which policies are current, and the answer to most HR questions is whatever the last person decided.
What PeopleOps does
PeopleOps reviews your handbook, policies, HR documentation and day-to-day practices, identifies where risk is concentrated, and builds the processes to close those gaps — multi-state policy considerations, consistent documentation standards, manager guidance, and a clear record of how HR decisions get made. Legal questions are flagged for employment counsel rather than answered here.
Why it matters
Most HR exposure does not come from bad intent. It comes from inconsistency: two employees in the same situation treated differently, a decision with no documentation behind it, a policy that stopped matching reality. Consistent process is what protects the business and the employee at the same time.
When to reach out
- You just hired your first employee in a new state.
- The handbook came from a template and has not been touched since.
- Managers ask policy questions nobody can answer the same way twice.
- An employee situation exposed how thin the documentation is.
- Handbook and policy review with prioritized gaps
- Multi-state HR policy considerations for where you employ people
- Documentation standards for performance, discipline and exits
- Repeatable HR processes managers can follow
- Risk review of current HR practices and records
- Clear escalation points for questions that belong with legal counsel
Leadership Coaching
Leadership Coaching & Development
Coaching for managers on the conversations, accountability and judgment the role actually requires.
The problem
Your managers are handling terminations by instinct. Feedback gets delayed until it becomes a bigger conversation. Underperformance goes unaddressed for months. Two managers handle the same situation two different ways, and employees notice.
What PeopleOps does
PeopleOps works with managers one-on-one and in small groups on the situations actually on their plate — a struggling employee, a team conflict, a performance conversation they have been avoiding. Coaching covers direct communication, accountability, delegation, documentation, and knowing when to escalate. Sessions are practical and tied to live work, not generic leadership theory.
Why it matters
Managers drive whether people stay, perform and trust the company. An untrained manager creates turnover, inconsistency and risk faster than any other role in the business. Developing them is the highest-return People investment most growing companies can make.
When to reach out
- Your best individual contributors were promoted into management with no training.
- Feedback only happens when something has already gone wrong.
- Two managers handle the same situation two completely different ways.
- Turnover is concentrated under specific managers.
- One-on-one coaching for managers and team leads
- Support preparing for difficult conversations
- Practical frameworks for feedback and accountability
- Group sessions on core people-management skills
- Guidance on documentation and escalation
- A shared standard for how managers lead across the company
Not sure which piece to fix first? That is usually the first conversation.
Schedule a ConsultationPerformance Management
Performance Management
Review systems, goals and feedback processes that managers will actually use.
The problem
Nobody knows what good looks like in their role. Feedback shows up once a year, or only when something goes wrong. Managers avoid rating honestly, so ratings mean nothing. When someone finally needs to be managed out, there is no record of anything.
What PeopleOps does
PeopleOps designs the performance cycle end to end: expectations by role, goal setting that connects to business priorities, review templates and cadence, calibration guidance for managers, and a performance improvement process that is fair and documented. Then PeopleOps trains managers to run it, because a system nobody uses is not a system.
Why it matters
Performance clarity is what makes the rest of People work function. It drives development, pay decisions, promotions and exits. Without it, strong performers leave because nothing is recognized and weak performance persists because nothing is documented.
When to reach out
- Reviews happen when someone remembers to schedule them.
- Nobody can say clearly what good looks like in a given role.
- A termination is coming and there is no written record behind it.
- Promotion and raise decisions are argued case by case.
- Performance review process and cadence
- Role expectations and goal-setting structure
- Review templates and manager guidance
- Ongoing feedback and check-in practices
- Performance improvement plan process and documentation
- Manager training to run the cycle consistently
Compensation & Rewards
Compensation & Rewards Strategy
Pay structure, leveling and a compensation philosophy you can explain to any employee.
The problem
Two people doing the same job are paid very differently because of when they were hired and how hard they negotiated. Titles do not map to anything. Raises happen when someone asks. Nobody can explain the logic behind pay, which makes every compensation conversation uncomfortable.
What PeopleOps does
PeopleOps builds your compensation framework: a pay philosophy tied to how you compete for talent, job leveling and role architecture, ranges by level, a process for offers and increases, and incentive or bonus structure where it fits the business. PeopleOps also helps leadership plan the transition when current pay does not match the new structure.
Why it matters
Compensation is where inconsistency becomes most visible and most expensive. A clear structure controls payroll growth, makes offers faster, reduces internal inequity, and lets managers answer pay questions with a real explanation instead of an apology.
When to reach out
- Offers are negotiated from scratch every time.
- A new hire is paid more than someone who has been there two years.
- You are hiring across states with one pay range in mind.
- Employees ask how pay is decided and there is no answer to give.
- Written compensation philosophy
- Job leveling and role architecture
- Pay ranges by level and function
- Offer and increase decision process
- Incentive or bonus structure where appropriate
- Transition plan for bringing current pay into structure
Org Design & Workforce Planning
Organizational Design & Workforce Planning
Structure, roles and hiring priorities matched to where the business is actually going.
The problem
Responsibilities overlap and some work has no owner. One manager has fourteen direct reports and another has two. Roles were written around the people who happened to be available. Every hiring request feels urgent and nobody can say which one matters most.
What PeopleOps does
PeopleOps maps how work actually flows today, identifies gaps and overlaps, and designs a structure that fits the next 12 to 24 months: role definitions and ownership, reporting relationships, span of control, leadership structure, and a workforce plan that sequences hires against business priorities and budget.
Why it matters
Structure decides how fast decisions get made and how much sits on the founder. Poor structure shows up as burnout, duplicated work, unclear accountability and expensive hires that do not relieve the pressure. Getting it right before a growth push is far cheaper than reorganizing after.
When to reach out
- Reporting lines grew by accident and nobody wants to redraw them.
- You are planning a hiring push and are unsure which roles come first.
- A restructure or reduction is on the table.
- Two teams are doing overlapping work and neither owns the outcome.
- Current-state org and role mapping
- Recommended structure with reporting relationships
- Role definitions and clear ownership
- Leadership and management layer design
- Workforce plan with sequenced hiring priorities
- Change and communication plan for structural shifts
Most of this work starts with one problem that will not wait.
Schedule a ConsultationEmployee Relations
Employee Relations & Investigations
Experienced support for employee concerns, workplace conflict and internal investigations.
The problem
A complaint has been raised and nobody is sure who should look into it. A conflict between two employees has been running for months. A manager already had a conversation that made it worse. The company wants to do the right thing and has no process for what that looks like.
What PeopleOps does
PeopleOps assesses the concern, recommends the right level of response, and runs or guides the internal investigation: planning the scope, interviewing the people involved, gathering documentation, and delivering findings and options to leadership. PeopleOps also coaches managers through employee conversations and conflict before they escalate.
Why it matters
Employees judge a company by how it handles the hard situations. A process that is fair, prompt and documented protects the business, treats people with respect, and gives leadership a defensible record. An unmanaged concern almost always gets more expensive with time.
When to reach out
- A complaint came in and nobody is sure who should look into it.
- Two people on the same team cannot work together anymore.
- A manager wants to terminate someone this week.
- The same conflict keeps resurfacing in a different form.
- Initial assessment of the concern and recommended response
- Investigation plan, scope and interview approach
- Structured interviews and evidence gathering
- Written findings with options for leadership
- Manager coaching through employee conversations
- Documentation and follow-up plan after resolution
Recruiting
Recruiting & Talent Acquisition
A hiring process that finds the right people, moves at a sane pace, and treats candidates well.
The problem
Roles get posted before anyone agrees on what the role is. Interviews run differently depending on who is in the room. Feedback sits in someone's inbox for a week, strong candidates take another offer, and the hire that finally happens is the one who was still available.
What PeopleOps does
PeopleOps defines the role and the hiring bar with the people who will manage it, builds a sourcing and screening approach that fits the market, structures interviews around what the job actually requires, and keeps the process moving with clear owners and timelines. That includes scorecards, interviewer guidance, offer strategy and the candidate communication in between.
Why it matters
A bad hire costs far more than an open seat, and a slow process quietly loses the candidates you most wanted. A defined process makes hiring decisions comparable, defensible and faster, and it protects your reputation with everyone you did not hire.
When to reach out
- Several roles are open at once and none of them are moving.
- A search has been running for months with no shortlist.
- Every interviewer is evaluating something different.
- You are hiring your first leaders and cannot get those seats wrong.
- Role definition, scope and hiring bar agreed with the manager
- Sourcing and screening approach for the role and market
- Structured interview plan, questions and scorecards
- Interviewer guidance and calibration for your managers
- Offer strategy, candidate communication and close support
- Hiring process documentation your team can reuse
How We Work
A clear process, start to finish.
Understand
Start by understanding the business, the team, the challenges and the priorities. That means talking with leadership and looking at how People work actually happens today.
Prioritize
Identify the highest-impact People issues and build a practical plan. The plan is sequenced by risk and value, not by what is easiest to check off.
Implement
Work directly with leadership to put the right systems, processes and practices in place. Managers get the training and support to keep them running.
Let's Build the People Side of Your Business to Scale.
Whether you're dealing with an immediate workforce challenge or building the HR infrastructure for your next stage of growth, PeopleOps can help.