Look at any successful business, and you’ll find a watertight HR strategy at the core. But for fast-growing startups and scaleups, the budget or work volume often doesn’t offer the flexibility needed to hire a seasoned professional full time. That’s where fractional HR comes in, bridging the gap by giving you access to expert guidance at a portion of the cost.
Although, if you think fractional HR is a mere admin fix, think again. While it can take care of the essentials (like keeping everything legally sound and helping you with day-to-day HR operations), it also delivers so much more. For businesses keen to think bigger, it adds strategic HR firepower to help build a healthier, happier workforce, strengthen culture, and fuel unstoppable growth. Discover how we add extra creative oomph where it matters most, and how this brings measurable benefits across every stage of growth.
What is fractional HR?
Instead of hiring permanent HR staff, fractional HR involves integrating an external partner to take on dedicated HR tasks – minus the full-time costs and administrative hurdles. Think of it as HR leadership on your terms. Beyond the financial and logistical wins, this flexible approach offers a whole host of benefits that supercharge every business, including:
Flexible HR leadership that scales up or down depending on business needs
Access to senior-level HR talent at a fraction of the cost of a permanent hire
High-impact people strategies destined to make a difference and drive growth
Pragmatic problem-solving, with experienced professionals who step in, understand your challenges, and implement solutions that work for your unique business context
Embedded support, working alongside leadership teams to bring clarity, insight, and action where it’s needed most
In other words, fractional HR gives you the weight and experience of senior HR leadership, right when you need it, at a fraction of the cost.
Moving beyond the HR essentials
As your company evolves, so do your people-related challenges. Communication that once felt effortless slowly begins to falter, leaders who were brilliant at managing five people suddenly struggle to unify 20, and culture – previously organic and close knit – can begin to strain under pressure. This is when fractional HR becomes more than contracts and compliance.
You need someone who can cut through the noise, understand what’s really happening on the ground, and design creative solutions tailored for your business. That’s what we do at hoomph. We don’t follow a formula, because no two businesses grow in the same way. Instead, we listen, embed ourselves, and work closely with leaders to curate strategies that make a difference. Through pragmatic problem solving and future-focused ambition, our senior HR specialists know exactly what it takes to help you scale successfully, with the right people.
The real-world impact of our fractional HR
We can talk at length about the benefits of fractional HR and the creative flair it can bring to your business. But sometimes, it’s better to let our results do the talking. Here’s a look at how we’ve helped businesses at different stages of their growth journey:
Creating a happier, healthier workforce for GV Health
GV Health, specialists in infection prevention and hygiene solutions, had experienced rapid expansion and a shift to hybrid work. Keen to understand how employees were really doing – and avoid falling into the cycle of making generalised assumptions – they wanted a clear picture of current practices along with guidance on where to focus next. Already acting as the company’s fractional HR, hoomph was perfectly placed to bring in extra strategic firepower through a workplace wellbeing audit.
With honest feedback from employees and a clear picture of strengths and challenges, GV Health could act fast and:
Introduced wellbeing perks including water coolers, fresh fruit, flexible holiday buying, and new mental health benefits
Added inclusive policies around neurodivergence and menopause to make sure every team member can thrive
Delivered neurodiversity training to strengthen empathy and understanding and improve overall team management
Addressed workplace dynamics that were impacting culture, creating a more respectful and conscious environment
Following the audit and implementations, employees felt heard, supported, and empowered to thrive at work. GV Health could continue scaling with confidence, knowing its culture was keeping pace with growth. And, with a repeat process to come next year, they’ll have a benchmark to keep moving in the right direction.
Embedding people strategy in high-growth tech for VoCoVo
VoCoVo, a fast-growing tech company transforming retail team communication, already had a strong people and talent function. But with bold growth plans, the business knew it needed experienced HR leadership at the top. As VoCoVo’s fractional HR director, hoomph worked two to three days a week alongside the executive team to set the people agenda. Together, we:
Designed a people strategy aligned to its three-year growth goals
Built a remuneration framework to attract and retain top talent
Led organisational design and blueprinting, mapping out structure, skills, and growth triggers
Cultivated a performance-focused culture with new review processes, skills mapping, and manager training
Upskilled leaders to lead change and build high-performing teams
With a stronger structure, clearer roadmap, and a culture built for growth, we helped VoCoVo unlock its next stage of growth with clarity and confidence, without the commitment or overhead of a full-time hire. As VoCoVo’s CEO put it: “hoomph brought senior-level input that could zoom out, challenge our thinking, and help us tweak the dials in all the right places. They’ve been instrumental for our business, providing highly experienced expertise to empower our leaders, bring clarity for employees, and implement crucial strategies that aid long-term growth.”
Add extra creative oomph where it counts
More than a tickbox task to keep the wheels turning, HR is about adding powerful human oomph to the moments that matter most. Whether it’s strengthening leadership at the top, listening deeply to what employees need, or building unique creative strategies that move confidently with the business, our embedded, pragmatic, and people-first approach gives you a powerful catalyst to grow.