A Fractional HR
Guide for Modern
Canadian Businesses
In just 1 hour a week, Castle HR can help you smash your growth goals…just like we’ve done for 150+ other companies
What You’ll Learn In This Guide
How Fractional HR Will Change The Game At Your Company?
Implement the retention strategies the fastest-growing companies are using
Access to a Senior HR expert sooner (a Jr. HR person should NEVER be your first hire)
ONLY hire all-stars and foster a winning team culture
Delegate to elevate - HR tasks are taken off of your plate and handled efficiently (so you can get back to running your company)
And MORE.
Castle HR:
Our Vision Unveiled
We founded Castle HR with you, a modern business leader, in mind. But… We’ve also learned a lot while working with other startups and small-to-medium sized businesses (SMBs). You could say that we like to drink our own champagne here!
The concept for Castle HR was born from a personal experience – our CEO, Tom Nickalls, was terminated from his role in an unprofessional manner. While discussing this with colleagues, he came to the realization that many leaders at startups and SMBs ‘white knuckle’ HR until they hire internally.The problem is that if businesses wait until they have ~50 employees before making an HR hire, they’ll face a lot of reactivity. Issues like… Unfortunately, companies in this position typically don’t have the budget to hire an in-house HR generalist or senior-level expert until they’ve reached this level of growth.
This is where Castle HR saves the day—consider us the ‘knight in shining armour’ of small businesses and startups!
Tom’s entrepreneurial experience in building teams from the ground up shed light on the ongoing HR challenges these types of companies face. From attracting top talent, to retaining high-performing employees, to cultivating a winning culture—not to mention the costs associated with getting these things wrong. He knew that having access to a knowledgeable Senior HR professional early on could mitigate these losses, helping businesses succeed from the get-go.
This led to Castle HR’s thesis:
There's a clear demand for an HR service to guide leaders in selecting the Right People for the Right Seats, implementing proven strategies, and achieving predictable results.
What do we mean by ‘Right People, Right Seats?’
When we look at growth through the lens of HR, we focus on helping leaders understand who they need in their corner – a specific employee with skills and values that align with their business needs. And, we look at the best role, or ‘seat’ to ensure that individual’s success. We always say, “when you get the right people in the right seat, it’ll be hard NOT to be successful.” By following the Modern HR Roadmap, we help you define your values and utilize them to fine-tune your hiring and onboarding processes. At Castle HR, we firmly believe that success becomes inevitable when you have the Right People in the Right Seats, and having a dedicated HR person in your corner (without having to drop six-figures) can help achieve that.
Ready to supercharge your HR initiatives?
Is Fraction HR Right
For YOUR Business?
At Castle HR, we focus on designing and implementing HR strategies tailored to your business. This includes retaining high-performing individuals, establishing your company as a highly sought-after employment opportunity for top talent, and cultivating a winning company culture. We do this with fractional HR—a customizable process seamlessly integrated into your business’s existing operations.
Fractional HR is…
- Ideal for teams of 15 to 75
- Great for leaders looking to scale
- Perfect for businesses that aren’t ready to make an internal hire
- A step in the right direction – we help with compliance, retention, talent acquisition and more
- Affordable and accessible – for a fraction of the cost of making an internal hire, you unlimited HR advice
- Reliable – we use proven processes, and each of our Senior HR Professionals comes to us with 10+ years of experience
- A great “short-term” HR option – we set you up for success so that when you’re ready to make your first internal HR hire, it’s a seamless process
- Complimentary to any junior HR hires you may have (they won’t have the experience we do, but, we can help supercharge them!)
When deployed, our modern HR strategies establish repeatable processes to enhance a business’s productivity, revenue and profitability.
The secret to our success? We have the best Senior HR Professionals, a comprehensive Modern HR Roadmap, and a data-backed Impact Scorecard we utilize with each client.
We recognize the hours you’ve spent stressing about retaining high performers, consistently sourcing top talent, and maintaining a thriving culture. You may have already attempted various solutions, such as:
- Delegating HR tasks to a non-HR professional, often a leadership team member.
- Outsourcing a la carte HR service, relying on templates, plus a call centre.
- Hiring or promoting a Junior HR person, adept at admin but not strategy.
Navigating Modern HR
Challenges
It’s not 1995 anymore.
Imagine providing your new hires with a computer running on Windows 95… Would they feel confident about their decision to join your team? Would your top performers stay if they relied on outdated tools?
Probably not. The same can be said for how employees view HR.
You might be thinking, ‘Of course, we know it isn’t the 90s anymore!’ but you’d be surprised how much has changed in such a short time… even since 2020. The pandemic served as a catalyst, ushering in decades of change in HR strategies in just a few years.
In other words, many businesses with outdated HR practices were exposed and struggling in a post-pandemic world. In the words of Warren Buffett, 'Only when the tide goes out do you learn who has been swimming naked.'.
A new generation has entered the workforce, bringing fresh ideals and expectations from leaders. Today, leaders must consider things they didn’t have to before:
Flexible and remote work strategies
Prioritizing skill and career growth
Cultural alignment is as important as salary
We’ve observed leaders who cling to ‘old-school’ HR practices struggle to retain A-Players; sometimes unknowingly, and other times because they have no HR help. As a result, they are falling short of their growth objectives – that is, if they’re still around.
In contrast, those who adapted are thriving.
What does ‘old-school’ HR look like?
- Templates and policies found online that aren’t tailored to a specific business
- Out-of-date policies that put businesses at legal and financial risk
- Annual performance reviews (Pssst! Quarterly reviews = modern retention strategy)
- Approaches to culture and leadership that don’t meet the expectations of today’s workforce
- Reliance on recruiters – results in poor hires, high turnover, and low productivity
“One of the most striking results we’ve found is that, across all income levels, the top predictor of workplace satisfaction is not pay: It is the culture and values of the organization, followed closely by the quality of senior leadership and the career opportunities at the company.” -HBR
Fortunately, we have the solution: a more modern approach to HR (and on a fractional basis). Castle HR aims for your company to join the ranks of the highly successful. The secret to success lies in extracting greater output from their teams, a seemingly simple concept that’s challenging in practice.
How Castle HR Works
We’ve collaborated with hundreds of leaders in situations similar to yours, lacking the capacity or resources to make an immediate senior HR hire, but needing somebody with HR expertise in their corner to focus on growth, retention and profits.
This is the very gap that Castle HR expertly addresses with Fractional HR. Our solution is specifically designed and priced accordingly to bridge the chasm between the pressing need for Senior HR support and the expense of making an internal hire.
Our three pillars, essential to a successful Fractional HR partnership, are:
Senior HR
Professionals
Excellence through
experience
Proven
Processes
Delivering battle-tested
strategies
Quarterly
Scorecard
Demonstrating our
impact with data
Grow With Our Senior HR Professionals
At Castle HR, we are highly selective when hiring our Senior HR Professionals.
Every member of our HR team embodies the following:
The top 3% of Canadian HR talent
Over 10+ years of experience (averaging 15.9 years)
A passion for driving company growth and success
Hands-on experience in building HR strategies for multiple startups or SMBs
The capability to strategically plan and execute those plans
We understand that a strong working relationship is crucial to the success of our partnership. Several principles have proven to make a significant difference:
Continuity is Key
Your dedicated HR Professional handles all aspects of your HR needs; we do not delegate tasks to junior staff. Our team consists exclusively of Senior HR Professionals.
An Integrated Team Member
Our HR Professionals become an integral part of your team, committed to your success, actively engaging in team events, and continuously supporting your business goals.
Over 200 Years of Combined Experience
There’s no HR challenge our expert team hasn’t overcome, no matter the industry you operate in.
Now that you understand what to expect when partnering with our exceptional HR team let’s explore Castle HR’s deliverables…
Your Modern HR
Roadmap To Success!
We recognize that your company has unique goals; thus, we understand the importance of charting a customized path through our Modern HR Roadmap.
This is why we begin each partnership by profoundly understanding your company’s objectives and operating principles to craft a personalized Action Plan that prioritizes the most impactful deliverables.
We work in 3-4 month sprints but remain flexible, adjusting our approach after each sprint to ensure continued alignment with your evolving goals and needs.
5 Steps to a Successful HR Roadmap with Castle HR
Allow us to introduce you to the essential components of the Modern HR Roadmap, each finely tuned to your unique needs and goals. These aspects are designed to revolutionize your HR strategy and drive your company’s success:
- Access Unlimited Expert HR Advice from the moment you partner with us.
- Our philosophy is simple: “There are no bad questions.”
- Assessing and establishing your company values to reflect your business’s identity and operational principles.
- Creating an Accountability Chart to provide clarity and ownership of critical business functions.
- Reviewing relevant data to identify areas that require attention and benchmark for future improvements.
- Optimizing your HR Tech Stack to automate processes, creating repeatable routines.
- Crafting a Custom Employee Handbook that not only protects your team and company but also sets clear expectations.
- Regular surveys provide a powerful feedback mechanism, enabling you to address issues before they escalate.
- A quarterly Modern Performance Review ensures you have the ‘Right People in the Right Seats’ – this keeps your team aligned and constantly working toward specific goals throughout the year.
- Providing career mapping and skill development to ensure employees have a clear internal path, reducing the likelihood they look externally.
- Highlighting your company story, culture and mechanisms like the Modern Performance Review will turn your company into a destination that attracts top talent.
- Crafting job descriptions that define the ‘Right People’ and the ‘Right Seat.’
- Creating compelling job postings that attract ideal candidates while deterring others.
- Developing targeted interview scorecards to save time and enhance diversity, equity, and inclusion.
- Launching an Employee Referral Program to tap into your A-Players’ networks.
- Developing a Modern Onboarding Playbook to expedite ramp-up and acclimation for enhanced productivity.
- Harnessing ‘new hire energy’ for a strong start and culture alignment.
- Ensuring employee exits are handled consistently with a repeatable routine is crucial to reducing risk profile and minimizing impact on the business.
The development of our Modern HR Roadmap is highly customizable based on the unique elements that make your business tick. Each key aspect of our comprehensive suite of services is meticulously tailored to enhance your HR strategy and propel your company toward continued growth and success.
Now, let’s delve into the critical role of data validation in our journey.
Analyze Your Quarterly Results
Making impactful changes to your HR strategy is not just about hoping it works; it’s about quantifiable results.
While HR is full of great ‘intent,’ it often falls short when measuring ‘impact.’
We wanted to ensure that every facet of our Modern HR Roadmap translates into a tangible and positive influence on our partner companies.
How else can you be confident you're receiving a positive ROI from us?
With data-driven results, you can be confident you’re on the right path, making decisions based on facts rather than guesswork. Here are some of the ways Castle HR quantifies success:
Revenue per employee
Headcount growth on target trajectory
Assessing turnover rate and understanding associated costs
Compliance document audits to ensure your business is always protected
Adoption and usage of tools launched from the Modern HR Roadmap
Survey data over time and compare it against peer data
Evolving strategies rely on data; we acknowledge that results may not manifest overnight. That’s why we emphasize reviewing the data on our Quarterly Scorecard.
This tool enables us to reflect on successes, pinpoint areas for improvement, identify trends, and detect patterns throughout our collaboration. It’s all part of our commitment to your long-term success.
Fractional Subscription
vs. Everybody Else
You already subscribe to streaming services and meal plans… why not add HR into the mix?
How does Fractional HR compare to other outsourced models or doing HR in-house?
Castle HR
Everybody Else
(Call-Center Style Outsourcing, or Junior or Non-HR Staff):
- Reliable – we never quit, and you work with the same HR Professional each week
- Inconsistent – you’ll either get a new person every week, or, an individual with minimal HR knowledge
- Senior-level – we do this all day, every day, and have decades of experience 15.9 years of experience (on average)
- Unknown skill level– we all start somewhere, but do you want an inexperienced person building out your HR strategy?
- Focus on customization– you’re a unique organization, so your processes should reflect this
- Focus on templates– your handbooks and processes may be identical to another company and miss opportunities for you to truly communicate your values, expectations and mission
- Compliance is our strong suit – we’re up to date on all legislation and want to help protect you
- Outdated legislature and missing policies– using whatever is on Google may put your business at risk
- Retention and Talent Acquisition experts – we teach you how to find the Right People, put them in the Right Seats, and nurture their growth
- Recruiters – they might help you find people with appropriate qualifications, but there’s no guarantee they’ll thrive in their role, and contribute to your winning culture and profits over time
- Proactive approach – we want to help you mitigate and avoid issues before they happen
- Reactive – they react to issues that are already occurring
Frequently Asked Questions
We request a standing weekly call, typically lasting an hour, for you to connect and collaborate with our Senior HR Professional. This call provides the necessary information and insights for them to build your HR strategy each week.
Our subscription model is flexible and operates month-to-month, with prices ranging from approximately $3,000 to $4,000 per month, covering our entire Modern HR Roadmap. For a fraction of the cost of hiring an internal HR Generalist, you gain access to a dedicated Senior HR Professional who works on your HR strategy weekly, offering unlimited advice whenever you need it.
Grow Your Business with Castle HR
Let’s Connect! Schedule a
Complimentary Consultation with Us.
You already subscribe to streaming services and meal plans… why not add HR into the mix?
+240%
Headcount Growth
From 35 to 120 people …and the #3 spot on The Globe and Mail’s 2022 list of the fastest-growing companies in Canada.
+70%
In just one year with us… which translates to hundreds of thousands of dollars saved in hiring and onboarding costs.
+240%
Positive Outlook
Over our 3+ year partnership building ThinkOn into a destination employer with a team bought into the future.
Let’s Get Started
Schedule a call with our CEO, Tom Nickalls, to discuss your current HR landscape, your challenges, and your growth aspirations for the next 12-24 months.
This complimentary call aims to leave you better informed than when you started. We eagerly await the opportunity to meet you, learn more about your company, and explore your growth goals! Ready to start your HR journey?