Introducing People Operations Support
I’m excited to share that I’m offering people operations (human resources) support to small nonprofit organizations. I’ve been doing this work for years — supporting staff, clarifying roles, and helping organizations function in more sustainable ways — and it’s time to name it for what it is and let my network know it’s available.
Why “People Operations?”
When I do HR, I frame it as "people operations" because people execute the work that is done by organizations, and it's important to move away from thinking of them as resources. This framing is rooted in colonialism and extractive employment practices, and HR's traditional function is protecting employers from the risk inherent in having employees.
I’ve spent most of my career managing people and “human resources” functions in small nonprofit organizations, and what I have learned is that employees are assets to be invested in, not costs to be reduced or resources to be extracted. Investing time and energy into creating clear, supportive, and sustainable people operations increases capacity and employee wellbeing.
Nonprofits are messy, and mission-driven work is hard. For over a decade, I have seen nonprofits and their people work harder than they need to when people carry the weight that people operations infrastructure should.
What is People Operations Infrastructure?
For the last year, I've been supporting nonprofit clients with people operations because infrastructure needs almost always surface during operational and staff assessments, like Capacity & Resource Audits. I haven't found any HR firms that are values-aligned and put people first in the way that protects both the organization and its capacity, so I've developed my own framework and processes.
I offer people operations infrastructure designed to operationalize accountability, capacity building, and performance management, rather than baseline legal compliance because I believe organizations owe their employees more than the bare minimum. People operations infrastructure includes:
Values identification and alignment
Accountability and role clarity
Capacity planning and workload prioritization
Team alignment and decision-making practices
Performance management, feedback, and supervision
Professional development support
Employee recruitment and onboarding
Succession planning and process documentation
Most organizations have some of these pieces in place, or the concepts exist in policy but don’t show up fully in practice. This is extremely typical and nothing to be ashamed of! Nonprofit leaders balance so many competing priorities, and I’ve long believed that executive director positions in small organizations are fundamentally unsustainable because of the range of expertise required and the sheer volume of responsibilities. That’s where fractional leadership comes in.
What is fractional leadership?
In short, a “fractional” is a senior-level subject matter expert that spends a fraction of their time embedded in your organization. Fractional leadership blends strategic oversight with effective implementation, offering experienced leadership without the cost or commitment of a full-time senior-level salary.
Fractional leadership is different from consulting because consulting is about recommendations, whereas fractional leadership is about ownership and execution. As a consultant, my work often ends with a plan, report, or set of recommendations. However, as a fractional leader, I stay embedded as the work moves forward. I take responsibility for priorities and decisions while honoring staff capacity, culture, and change fatigue.
Additionally, there is often an element of coaching and communication facilitation involved in fractional engagements. This is because change and collaboration are hard work, and the people doing that work often benefit from increasing their skills along the way. This also helps to ensure that the work executed becomes embedded in the organization in practice, in a long-term, sustainable way.
How to Work with Me
If you’re interested in exploring whether fractional people operations support is right for you, let’s chat. Your first 45-minute consultation is free and will result in a plan to work together or next steps you can take on your own. Either way, I’m here to help.
