Your people problems are growth problems. Solve them.

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You're scaling fast but your team is fracturing. Great people are leaving. New hires aren't working out. Your culture is becoming toxic. And you're spending more time managing people drama than building your business.

Here's the thing: every hypergrowth company hits this wall. The difference between those that break through and those that crash? They get serious about people strategy before it's too late.

Enter fractional Chief People Officers: people leaders who've scaled teams from 10 to 1,000+ while maintaining the culture and performance that drives growth.

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What a Fractional Chief People Officer Actually Does

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Our fractional CPOs aren't HR administrators with new titles. They're strategic people leaders who:

• Design hiring systems that scale with your growth and attract A-players
• Build performance management that drives results without destroying morale
• Create compensation frameworks that motivate without breaking budgets
• Develop leadership at every level so you're not the bottleneck for every decision
• Establish company culture that survives hypergrowth and remote work
• Implement people analytics that predict performance and retention issues
• Navigate complex employment law across multiple jurisdictions
• Design equity programs that align incentives without diluting founders
• Build diversity and inclusion strategies that actually work
• Handle sensitive people issues before they become legal problems

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When You Actually Need a Fractional Chief People Officer

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You're ready if:

• You're hiring 5+ people per month and struggling to maintain quality
• Great employees are leaving and you don't know why
• Management overhead is consuming founder time
• You're scaling beyond 30-50 people and losing culture
• Remote work is creating communication and performance challenges
• You need proper HR processes for compliance and investor due diligence

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You're not ready if:

• Your team is under 15 people and founders can manage everything
• You're not actively hiring or planning significant team growth
• Your biggest people challenge is finding candidates (hire a recruiter instead)
• You have a strong Head of People who just needs more resources

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What This Actually Costs

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• ‍Typical Engagement: 1-3 days per week, $1,500-$2,500/day depending on experience
• ‍Sweet Spot: $4K-12K monthly vs. $25K+ for a full-time CPO
• ‍ROI Timeline: People improvements typically visible within 30-90 days
• A full-time Chief People Officer costs $200K-350K+ plus equity. The retention and performance improvements alone usually justify fractional investment.

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Real Problems Fractional Chief People Officers Solve

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• ‍"Our best people keep leaving for competitors" A fractional CPO analyses why people leave, implements retention strategies, and builds compensation and culture systems that keep top talent.‍
• "Hiring is taking forever and we're still getting bad fits" They design scalable hiring processes, improve interviewing techniques, and create systems that identify cultural and performance fits quickly.
• ‍"Our managers don't know how to manage" They develop leadership training programs, implement proper performance management, and coach managers to become effective leaders.
• ‍"Our company culture is disappearing as we grow" They codify culture values, design systems that reinforce culture at scale, and ensure new hires understand and embrace company values.

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Common Engagement Types

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• ‍The Scaling Foundation (6-12 months): You're growing fast but people processes are breaking. They build hiring systems, performance management, and culture frameworks that scale with growth.
• ‍The Retention Recovery (3-6 months): Great people are leaving and you need to stop the bleeding. They analyze retention issues, implement fixes, and build systems that keep top performers.
• ‍The Leadership Development (6-9 months): Your team is growing but management skills aren't keeping up. They develop leadership programs, coach managers, and build systems that create leaders at every level.
• ‍The Remote Work Optimisation (3-6 months): Remote work is creating performance and culture challenges. They design remote-first processes, communication systems, and culture initiatives that work across distances.

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Why Shepherd People Leaders Drive Results

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• ‍They've scaled teams before: Our CPOs have taken companies through hypergrowth phases and know which people practices matter at each stage.
• ‍They're performance-focused: They measure success through business outcomes: retention, performance, hiring speed, and cultural health metrics.
• ‍They understand startup constraints: They build lean people systems that work with limited budgets and resources, not corporate HR bureaucracy.
• ‍They're strategic business partners: They align people strategy with business goals, not just HR compliance and administration.

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Typical Engagement Timeline

Most engagements run 6-18 months, with many continuing as ongoing people strategy advisors. Here's what a typical engagement looks like: 

• ‍Month 1: People audit and immediate issue resolution
• ‍Month 2-3: System design and implementation
• ‍Month 3-6: Training and process optimisation
• ‍Month 6+: Strategic people leadership and culture development

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