Fractional HR & Talent Development Package
Fractional HR & Talent Development Package
Why This Package
As Earlystone has grown, HR responsibilities that could previously be handled alongside other executive and operational responsibilities have become more complex. Payroll, benefits, retirement-plan administration and employee questions still require day-to-day attention, while issues such as parental leave, onboarding, offboarding, compensation and employee development increasingly benefit from dedicated HR expertise.
Earlystone does not necessarily need to build a full internal HR department. Instead, this engagement is designed to provide an integrated HR function that can manage the firm's recurring HR responsibilities, provide employees and management with direct access to experienced HR support, and address more strategic HR and talent needs as they arise.
The engagement is structured around three areas:
Five Core HR Service Areas covering Earlystone's recurring HR responsibilities
Dedicated HR Contact Services, including direct HR conversations and guidance
Five Strategic HR & Talent “Wildcard” Initiatives that can be deployed throughout the year as needs arise
This structure provides consistency around day-to-day HR while preserving flexibility for the strategic, seasonal and unexpected people needs that naturally arise throughout the year.
Onboarding & HR Transition
We will begin by learning Earlystone's existing HR systems, processes, vendors, policies and allocation of responsibilities so that the transition of ongoing HR responsibilities is organized and efficient.
This may include review of:
Existing payroll, benefits and retirement-plan processes
Current HR systems and vendor relationships
Employee records and recurring HR administration
Existing policies, procedures and employee materials
Current allocation of HR responsibilities
Employee and management support processes
Existing workflows with TriNet and other HR-related providers
Immediate HR priorities and upcoming employee needs
The purpose of this phase is not to determine whether the five Core areas will be provided. Those areas are already defined below. Rather, onboarding allows our team to understand how Earlystone currently operates and establish the appropriate workflows, ownership and transition plan for each area.
I. Five Core HR Service Areas
The following five Core HR Service Areas will be supported throughout the 12-month engagement.
These areas are designed around the recurring responsibilities Earlystone identified as currently requiring ongoing management and support. Earlystone specifically described payroll and benefits as responsibilities currently being handled internally, along with employee questions and increasingly complex HR needs.
Normal fluctuations in activity throughout the year are contemplated within these Core areas.
1. Payroll Administration
Ongoing administration and coordination of Earlystone's recurring payroll needs, including:
Biweekly payroll processing and coordination
Payroll review and reconciliation
Routine payroll changes and adjustments
Multi-state payroll administration, as applicable
Coordination with TriNet and applicable payroll providers
Payroll discrepancy and issue resolution
Routine payroll-related notices and administrative matters
2. Benefits Administration
Ongoing administration and coordination of Earlystone's existing employee benefit programs, including:
Medical, dental, vision and ancillary benefit administration
Employee eligibility and enrollment
Routine benefit-election and life-event changes
Annual open enrollment administration and employee communications
Coordination with TriNet, benefit brokers, insurance carriers and applicable providers
Routine benefit issue resolution
These responsibilities directly reflect the benefits administration Earlystone provided, including enrollment, employee questions, open enrollment and carrier/broker coordination.
3. Retirement Plan / 401(k) Administration
Ongoing administration and coordination of Earlystone's existing retirement plan, including:
Employee eligibility and enrollment
Contribution elections and routine participant changes
Employee deferral and employer-match coordination
Coordination with Betterment and applicable retirement-plan providers
Required notices and annual administrative processes
Coordination of annual testing and Form 5500 processes, as applicable
These are also directly reflected in Earlystone's submitted responsibilities.
4. Employee Records, Policies & Routine HR Administration
Ongoing administration of Earlystone's established HR processes, including:
Employee personnel-record maintenance
Routine employee-information changes
Record-retention processes
Administration and communication of existing HR policies
Routine maintenance of existing policies and employee materials
Recurring employee HR communications
Coordination of routine HR information requested by accountants, auditors and other professional advisors
5. Recurring HR Compliance & Existing Vendor Coordination
Ongoing coordination of Earlystone's established HR compliance requirements and existing HR-provider relationships, including:
Required HR notices and routine compliance paperwork
Employment poster coordination
Workers' compensation administrative coordination
Unemployment claim coordination, when applicable
Coordination with existing HR-related providers
Routine follow-up and issue resolution with TriNet, Betterment, Ameriflex, benefit brokers, insurance carriers and other applicable existing providers
Earlystone's submitted list specifically included workers' compensation audits, unemployment claims, labor-law notices, employment posters, advisor requests and coordination with its existing HR providers.
II. Dedicated HR Contact Services
In addition to execution of the five Core HR Service Areas, Earlystone employees and management will have direct access to an experienced HR resource for individualized questions, conversations and guidance.
The engagement includes up to 30 hours annually of Dedicated HR Contact Services, including time spent responding to questions and providing guidance by email, phone, video conference or other direct communication.
This may include:
Answering employee questions regarding payroll, benefits and existing HR policies
Helping employees understand HR processes and next steps
Directing employees to the appropriate provider, resource or point of contact when needed
Answering questions related to life events, benefits eligibility and available programs
Responding to management questions regarding employee and people-related matters
Helping managers prepare for employee conversations
Providing guidance regarding performance or compensation questions
Responding to employee concerns and workplace questions
Helping employees and management navigate sensitive or unfamiliar HR situations
Where a question or conversation develops into a larger project, formal process, leave administration, termination, investigation or other substantive HR initiative, that work may be addressed through a Strategic HR & Talent Wildcard.
III. Strategic HR & Talent Wildcards
Five Wildcard Initiatives
Earlystone will receive five Strategic HR & Talent Wildcard Initiatives during the 12-month engagement.
Wildcards are designed for important HR, talent and organizational needs that arise during the year but are not predictable recurring responsibilities.
Because hiring, onboarding and offboarding needs are typically episodic rather than recurring, these initiatives are addressed through the Wildcard portion of the engagement, providing Earlystone with dedicated support when those needs arise without incorporating them into the ongoing Core HR scope.
Wildcard initiatives can include, but are not limited to:
Recruiting & Talent Acquisition
Job description and success-profile development
Job posting strategy and execution
Candidate screening
Initial candidate interviews
Interview guides and scorecards
Recruiting-process development
Employee Onboarding
New-hire onboarding support
Pre-boarding and orientation
Onboarding-process development
30-, 60- and 90-day onboarding frameworks
Employee onboarding experience improvements
Offboarding & Terminations
Employee offboarding
Exit interviews
Termination planning
HR participation in termination conversations
Separation-process coordination
Manager preparation for difficult employee conversations
Leave Management
Parental leave administration
Paid Family Leave coordination
Disability leave administration
Extended employee leave coordination
Coordination with applicable vendors and providers
Compensation
Compensation benchmarking
Salary recommendations
Compensation structure review
Compensation strategy development
Incentive compensation design
Bonus structure development
Performance Management
Performance-review framework development
Goal-setting processes
Performance improvement processes
Manager review processes
Recognition programs
Talent Management & Employee Development
Career-path development
Competency development
Succession planning
Talent risk assessment
Employee-development planning
Strategic workforce planning
Talent strategy development
Leadership & Management Development
Individual manager coaching
Senior-team coaching
Leadership development
Manager training
Communication coaching
Professional-development initiatives
Culture & Employee Experience
Culture and core-values development
Employee-experience initiatives
Stay interviews
Engagement surveys
Engagement data analysis and strategy
Rewards and recognition programs
Employer-brand strategy
HR Policies & Compliance Projects
Development of new HR policies
Employee handbook development or significant enhancement
Parental leave policy development
Compliance-calendar development
New compliance initiatives
Employee-facing HR materials
Significant regulatory or policy-change projects
HR Infrastructure & Organizational Design
HR system review and selection
PEO or HR vendor evaluation
Organizational structure design
HR process and SOP development
Communication-platform and rhythm design
Change-management initiatives
Benefits & HR Program Strategy
Benefit design and selection
Evaluation of existing benefit programs
Employee-benefit communication strategy
Development of employee benefit guides
Evaluation of new employee programs
Because HR and talent needs evolve, Wildcards may also be applied to other mutually agreed-upon HR, talent, leadership, employee-experience or organizational initiatives identified during the engagement.
The Wildcard requirement for an initiative will be determined before work begins based upon its scope and complexity. A larger or more complex initiative may require more than one Wildcard or a separate scope.
How the Engagement Works
The engagement is intentionally structured to balance consistency and flexibility.
The five Core HR Service Areas establish clear ownership of Earlystone's recurring HR responsibilities.
The 30 annual hours of Dedicated HR Contact Services provide employees with direct access to an experienced HR resource for questions, conversations and guidance.
The five Strategic HR & Talent Wildcards preserve capacity for projects, employee events and organizational priorities that cannot always be predicted at the beginning of the year.
Dedicated HR Team
Earlystone will have designated HR resources serving as primary points of contact, supported by Select Advisors Institute's broader team as appropriate.
This structure provides Earlystone with both hands-on HR operational support and access to senior HR, talent-development and leadership expertise depending upon the nature of the need.
Select Advisors Institute will maintain strategic oversight of the engagement and coordinate the appropriate resources across Earlystone's Core HR Services, Dedicated HR Contact Services and Strategic HR & Talent Wildcards.
Package Terms
Investment: $6,200 per month
Commitment: 12-month agreement; after the 12 months, the package becomes month to month, unless a new engagement is executed.
The engagement includes:
Five Core HR Service Areas
Up to 30 hours annually of Dedicated HR Contact Services
Five Strategic HR & Talent Wildcard Initiatives
Scope Assumption
This engagement and pricing are based upon Earlystone maintaining a workforce of fewer than 15 total employees and contractors during the engagement.
If Earlystone's workforce materially exceeds this level, Select Advisors Institute may review the scope and pricing of the engagement to ensure the level of support remains appropriate for the organization's size and HR requirements.
Wildcard requirements will be determined based upon the scope and complexity of each initiative prior to commencement.
Why Select Advisors Institute
Select Advisors Institute brings together HR operations, talent development, leadership, compensation, organizational strategy and financial-services expertise within a single engagement.
Rather than adding another vendor that performs isolated administrative tasks, Earlystone gains an integrated extension of its team capable of handling recurring HR responsibilities while also providing experienced guidance to employees and leadership and addressing the strategic people priorities that emerge as the organization continues to grow.
The result is an HR function designed around the needs of a sophisticated but intentionally lean organization, with the ability to provide both day-to-day execution and higher-level expertise without requiring Earlystone to build a full internal HR department.