Fractional HR Director or an HR consultant?
A fractional HR director builds the people system: hiring, pay bands, levelling and the managers who run them. An HR consultant handles one defined matter, a dismissal, a restructure or a handbook, for a day rate or a fixed fee. The fractional seat costs £4,600 to £8,433 a month at two days a week. Use the seat for the system and a consultant for the legal edges.
Below is what each one actually owns, what they cost on the same basis, how each one fails, and when to pick the other one.
| A fractional HR Director | An HR consultant | |
|---|---|---|
| Who owns the outcome | How the company hires, pays and promotes, as one system | Employment law compliance, correctly and in writing |
| Commitment | One to three days a week, flexing with the work, no end date assumed | Per project, on a day rate or a fixed fee |
| How it is priced | £600 to £1,100 a day | A day rate or a fixed fee per project, cheaper per day than a senior seat and scoped to one piece of work at a time. |
| Typical monthly cost | £4,600 to £8,433 a month at two days a week | No like-for-like monthly figure is published here; see how it is priced |
| How it fails | Being used as an employment lawyer, which is not the seat and is the one place where getting it wrong is expensive. | Buying a policy set for a company that has no idea how it wants to pay, promote or manage people, which produces a compliant business that still cannot keep anyone. |
| Pick it when | Headcount is growing and nobody owns how people are hired, paid or promoted | The need is a single legal matter with a deadline attached |
What an HR consultant actually is
An external adviser brought in for specific pieces of work: policies, a restructure, a tribunal, a handbook.
What each one owns
| A fractional HR Director | An HR consultant |
|---|---|
| How the company hires, pays and promotes, as one system | Employment law compliance, correctly and in writing |
| The culture question, answered with structure rather than posters | A specific matter: a dismissal, a tribunal, a TUPE transfer |
| Pay bands, levelling and what stops people leaving | Policies and handbooks that stand up when challenged |
| Building the people function so it eventually runs without them | Specialist depth on the legal edges of employment |
What neither of them does
Neither is recruitment. Filling roles is its own function, and expecting a people seat to also run hiring at volume is how both jobs get done badly.
How each one fails
The fractional HR Director: Being used as an employment lawyer, which is not the seat and is the one place where getting it wrong is expensive.
An HR consultant: Buying a policy set for a company that has no idea how it wants to pay, promote or manage people, which produces a compliant business that still cannot keep anyone.
What they cost, on the same basis
A fractional HR Director charges £600 to £1,100 a day, which is £4,600 to £8,433 a month at two days a week. A day rate or a fixed fee per project, cheaper per day than a senior seat and scoped to one piece of work at a time. The monthly and annual arithmetic for the fractional side, against a full-time equivalent, is on the cost page for this seat.
Pick an HR consultant when
- The need is a single legal matter with a deadline attached
- You need documents that will be tested in front of a tribunal
- There is no people system to build yet, only a problem to close
We would rather say that plainly than win an engagement that was the wrong shape. Nobody pays us to list on the bench, so there is nothing in it for us either way.
When you want both
Frequently. The fractional seat builds the system and calls a consultant for the legal edges, which is cheaper than either doing the other's job.
Common questions
Should I hire a fractional HR Director or an HR consultant?
A fractional HR director builds the people system: hiring, pay bands, levelling and the managers who run them. An HR consultant handles one defined matter, a dismissal, a restructure or a handbook, for a day rate or a fixed fee. The fractional seat costs £4,600 to £8,433 a month at two days a week. Use the seat for the system and a consultant for the legal edges.
Is a fractional HR Director cheaper than an HR consultant?
Per day, usually not: an HR consultant is often cheaper per day than a senior seat, and is scoped to one matter. A fractional HR lead costs £4,600 to £8,433 a month at two days a week. The seat costs more because it owns the whole people system; the consultant costs less because it finishes and leaves.
When is an HR consultant the better choice than a fractional HR Director?
The need is a single legal matter with a deadline attached. You need documents that will be tested in front of a tribunal. There is no people system to build yet, only a problem to close.
Can I use a fractional HR Director and an HR consultant at the same time?
Frequently. The fractional seat builds the system and calls a consultant for the legal edges, which is cheaper than either doing the other's job.
Fractional HR director or HR consultant?
A fractional HR director if the problem is the system: how the company hires, pays, levels and keeps people, and who owns that as headcount grows. An HR consultant if the problem is one matter with a deadline: a dismissal, a tribunal claim, a TUPE transfer or a handbook. The seat is ongoing and accountable; the consultant is scoped and finished. Many companies use both.