Fractional HR for growing companies
Growing pains are normal. HR chaos isn't. We fix misaligned teams, bad hires, and messy processes so you can get back to leading (without Googling "how to fire someone nicely").
Most clients start at $3,500 a month on one flat fee.
"Highly recommend Bill as a senior People Ops partner."
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Free · 8 yes or no questions · about 2 minutes
Most owners I talk to are paying for the wrong kind of HR help. Some have a PEO that runs payroll beautifully and leaves the real HR undone. Others have a help line for problems that need one person to own them. Pick wrong and you pay for it every month, in fees or in your own nights.
Sound familiar?
You hired HR help to take it off your plate. So why are you still the one fixing it?
S
HR software and a help line
Forms and answers
M
A PEO
Payroll and benefits
L
A part time senior HR leader
Someone who owns the hard calls
Most owners are wearing the wrong size.
Built from 20+ years in HR, 7,000+ hires and 300+ organizations.
Think People.Culture is Fractional HR for startups and growing companies with 12 to 350 employees and no HR person. You get a senior HR consultant, what some companies call a Fractional CHRO or Fractional Chief People Officer, without a full time hire. We work with companies anywhere in the USA, from Hawaii to New York, and we specialize in California.
You get Fractional HR Leadership, Recruiting Under Your Brand, Termination Support, Manager Training and Culture Development on a 3, 6 or 12 month agreement. Most clients start at $3,500 a month, one flat fee with nobody counting hours. Hiring a full time VP of HR in California instead runs about $247,000 a year before benefits, so even a bigger engagement with us comes in at about a quarter to a third of that.
I'm Bill Brown, and I wrote the books Don't Suck at Recruiting and Don't Suck at Culture. I've spent 20+ years in HR, hired 7,000+ people and worked with 300+ organizations.
We've helped organizations of all sizes improve their people strategies
"Bill was a joy to work with for all things People Operations. We partnered with Bill to help fill the gap as interim Head of People Ops while we had some turnover on our People team. Highly recommend Bill as a senior People Ops partner."
"Hiring a dedicated 'culture' officer, a trusted third party who can listen, understand, and synthesize, has already proven valuable in creating alignment and providing an outlet for frustrations."
"Bill did an amazing job sourcing, recruiting, and advising. He was a great communicator and very patient. I would recommend Bill to anyone and everyone."
This isn't boring corporate HR. It's practical solutions that actually work.(And won't make your team roll their eyes.)
Get Executive Level HR expertise without the full time cost. Perfect for growing companies that need strategy but aren't ready for a full HR team.
See How Fractional HR WorksCreate a workplace where people actually want to show up (shocking, I know). We help build Cultures that boost both happiness and profits.
See How We Build CultureTurn your managers into actual Leaders. Because let's face it, managing spreadsheets is not the same as inspiring humans.
See Our Leadership TrainingStop scaring away great candidates with your painful hiring process. We'll handle the recruiting while you focus on running your business.
See How Our Recruiting WorksAlign your People practices with business goals. Because random HR initiatives are about as effective as herding cats.
See How We Build Your HR StrategyThe stuff owners search at 11 PM, answered by someone who's handled it for 20+ years.
Step one isn't Googling it from the parking lot.
Read the California firing guideLess than a full time HR hire, and nobody's asking for a corner office.
See what it really costsIt isn't. Running 60 people out of your inbox just feels like it should be.
What to do with no HR personWorth a look if you've explained your business to a new rep for the third time.
Compare Bambee and fractional HRA PEO runs payroll beautifully, right up until someone files a complaint.
Sort out PEO vs fractional HRWrite it before the worst day, not during it.
Read the California plan guideFounder of Think People.Culture and author of "Don't Suck at Recruiting" and "Don't Suck at Culture," Bill is an experienced HR executive with a passion for helping organizations build exceptional workplace cultures.
20+ years of HR Leadership experience
Respected HR Thought Leader
English, Portuguese, Spanish
Strategies and Techniques for Creating a Better Candidate Experience
Most hiring goes wrong long before the offer. The job post is vague, the interviews wander and great candidates get left hanging, so they take the other offer. This is the guide to fixing that, written for owners, hiring managers and HR people who are tired of hiring the wrong person twice.
Your Guide to Building a Kick Ass Company Culture
From the author of Don't Suck at Recruiting (4.8, 120+ reviews)
Most culture advice is a ping pong table and a mission statement nobody reads. This is the playbook for hiring for Culture Add instead of "culture fit," building the kind of trust where people actually speak up, onboarding people so they stick, and turning your values into how work gets done.
Includes the Culture Add Toolkit, ten worksheets you can use on Monday.
Fractional HR leadership brings CPO or CHRO level judgment into a company that doesn't need, or isn't ready for, a full time HR executive. A senior leader diagnoses what's really wrong, builds the plan and does the work with you, and you pay a fraction of what the full time seat costs.
For most startups, fractional wins early. You get senior judgment without carrying a full time executive's salary, bonus and search fee. When the daily work really does fill a seat, I'll write that job description and help you hire for it, even though it means you'll need me less.
Think People Culture does. Bill Brown works directly with Series A and Series B founders as a fractional CHRO, building the people function, the Compensation Philosophy and the managers who run it, so the company scales without the HR chaos.
Many fractional HR providers sell a set block, often 10 to 30 hours a month, and bill more when you go over. I don't count hours. You pay one flat monthly fee for a defined scope we agree on up front, and I put in what the build needs, which in a heavy stretch can be up to about 25 hours a week.
Companies with roughly 12 to 350 employees, usually white collar teams with no HR person, or an HR gap because the last one left. They need executive level HR judgment but don't need, or can't justify, a full time HR executive yet.
What I'd tell you over coffee about hiring, letting someone go and every other employee question that lands on your desk.
What to include in an Employee Handbook: the key sections, the state laws most employers miss and what to leave out. A plain checklist from an HR pro.
Read the Full Post about Small Business Employee Handbook
A Fractional CHRO, Chief People Officer and Head of People are the same work under three titles. Here is how to pick the level your company needs.
Read the Full Post about Fractional CHRO, Fractional Head of People or Fractional HR: Which One Do You Need?
How to run a culture assessment step by step: what to measure, a short anonymous survey, listening sessions, how to read results and what to fix next.
Read the Full Post about How to Run a Culture Assessment: A Step by Step Guide for Growing CompaniesMy free newsletter for owners with no HR person, with plain answers sent when there's something worth reading.
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Hand the hiring, the handbook and the hard conversations to a senior HR leader with 20+ years in the room, who wrote the books on recruiting and culture. You get a 90 day plan, real work done and a reply within four business hours when it's urgent.
A fractional HR leader is a senior HR person who works with your company part of the week or month instead of full time. I handle HR strategy, manager training, culture, California compliance like the Workplace Violence Prevention Plan, recruiting, and terminations, so you get senior HR help without a full time hire.
No. I work with companies that have 12 to 350 employees anywhere in the United States, from Hawaii to New York.
Book a 25 minute chat with me. It's a screening call to see if we're a good fit. You can book it here: https://bookme.name/thinkpeopleculture/lite/hr-brainstorm-25-min-chat-with-bill
Yes. I set your managers up with scripts, steps and answers before the meeting, and I join by video when you need me there. If it can't wait, put "urgent" in your message and you'll hear back within four business hours. I'm an HR pro, not a lawyer. This is my read of the law as of October 2026, so run your own situation by an employment attorney.
It's for a company with 12 to 350 employees that has an employee situation in front of it, like a firing, a complaint or a contractor who works like an employee. You tell me what's going on and send the paperwork tied to it, like agreements, pay records and emails. You get a written summary of your real risk, what it could cost and your smartest move within one business day of me having everything, then one call to talk it through.