The problem
Under 50 employees is the hardest place to be.
Too big to wing it. Too small to staff it. The gap lands on whoever is closest.
CEO Founder / CEO
You did not start this company to run HR and operations.
- 01 The founder is the HR department. Offer letters, terminations, and benefits questions all land on the same desk that owns revenue.
- 02 Process lives in people's heads. Nothing is documented. When someone leaves, the way it gets done walks out with them.
- 03 Nobody owns the number. People decisions get made without anyone modeling what they cost or what they return.
OPS Operations leader
You are not behind. You are covering four jobs.
At this size the operations role absorbs everything that does not have an obvious owner. One person. Six functions. No backup, no peer, and nobody to escalate to.
Our partners
You get our bench, not just us.
- Employee benefits
- Bookkeeping
- Employee benefits
- Bookkeeping
- Employee benefits
- Bookkeeping
What we are
An HR and operations department for companies under 50.
We sell operational outcomes, not hours of activity, reported back to you in the language you already use to run the business: cost, risk, capacity, and speed.
People
Who you hire, how they perform, how you keep the ones you cannot afford to lose, and what happens when one has to go.
Process
How work moves, who owns each handoff, and what is written down. The test is simple: does the work survive the person leaving?
Profit
What your people decisions cost and what they return. Headcount, comp, and turnover modeled as line items, not gut feel.
Three pillars, one system. Most firms sell one of these. We refuse to look at them separately.
In our clients' own words.
Where we've already worked
Different industries. The same operational gaps.
Tech teams scale headcount quickly, and handbooks, comp bands, and compliance rarely keep pace.
We build the systems that let hiring stay fast without the paperwork falling behind.
Agencies grow in bursts. Win an account and the team has to grow overnight.
We set up hiring, onboarding, and roles so growth does not break the work.
Law firms are held to a higher standard, and people mistakes carry a heavier cost.
We keep policies, investigations, and compliance tight so partners can stay focused on clients.
Busy season stretches every team, and people problems wait until it is over.
We build the capacity plans and processes that make the next season easier than the last.
Field teams, multiple states, and safety rules make compliance a moving target.
We keep multi-state HR and documentation current, wherever the work happens.
Your people are the product, so every hire and every exit matters.
We give you the structure to grow the team without losing what makes it good.
How we work
Your first thirty days.
We take it
We look under the hood to find out what's actually broken, not just what's loudest.
We fix it
Policies, systems, pay structures, hiring, and the paperwork that survives when someone leaves.
We run it
Until your team can carry it, or indefinitely. Your call, and you can change your mind.
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Week 1
Intake with you
We learn what you already know before we form a single opinion. No leadership interviews yet.
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Week 2
Assessment, pre-filled
We complete everything observable. You confirm and correct. About two hours of your time, total.
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Week 3
You read the gap report first
Before anyone else sees it. Flag anything you want reframed, removed, or given more context.
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Week 4
Plan built together
You choose what moves off your desk first. We size it against the retainer and start.
Want the full breakdown by tier?
See exact rates for HR Administration, Fractional HR Consulting, and Executive Services.
Common questions
Answers to what people usually ask first
If something isn't covered here, just reach out. We're pretty easy to talk to.
What is fractional HR?
Fractional HR means you get senior HR and operations expertise part time, on a retainer, instead of hiring a full-time HR leader before you need one. You get the experience of a seasoned team, sized to what your company actually needs right now.
How is this different from just hiring an HR person?
A full-time HR hire at the senior level costs $150,000 or more annually before benefits, equity, and overhead. For most growing businesses, that's not the right investment at the right time. With Operationary, you get that same level of expertise working directly in your business for a fraction of the cost.
You also get a whole team, not one person's knowledge. Depending on your needs, you might be working with a fractional CHRO, a recruitment specialist, and a payroll expert simultaneously, each doing what they're actually best at.
What kinds of businesses do you typically work with?
Most of our clients are in that 10 to 50 person range, growing faster than their internal infrastructure can keep up with. They've usually got strong founders and a solid product, but the operational and people side of things has started to feel like it's running behind everything else.
We work across a wide range of industries, though we tend to attract service businesses, agencies, and mission-driven organizations. If you're not sure whether you'd be a good fit, the easiest thing to do is just have a conversation.
How does pricing work? Is it a monthly retainer?
Yes, we work primarily on a monthly retainer basis, and the scope is tailored to what you actually need. Some clients bring us in for a focused engagement around hiring or a specific HR challenge. Others work with us on an ongoing basis across multiple functions.
We'll put together a proposal after our discovery conversation. Pricing depends on the services included and the hours involved, and we'll be direct about what things cost.
Do I get a dedicated person or does it rotate?
You'll be matched with specific people from our team based on what you need. In most cases you end up working with the same one or two people consistently. We think that consistency matters, and our clients do too.
You won't be passed between different contacts every few weeks or handed off to someone who needs to be caught up every time. The person handling your work knows your business.
What happens if our needs change over time?
That's actually how most of our client relationships evolve. A company might start with us for recruitment support, and six months later they're also using us for HR compliance and fractional operations leadership. Or the other way around.
We do regular check-ins specifically to talk about whether the scope still makes sense, and adjusting it isn't complicated. We're not trying to lock you into something that stops fitting.
How quickly can you get started?
Usually within one to two weeks of signing, depending on what we're starting with. We do a proper onboarding to understand your systems, your team, and the context we need before diving in. That upfront investment pays off quickly.
If something is genuinely urgent, tell us in your initial message. We'll figure out what's feasible and be straight with you about timelines.
Still have questions? We're happy to talk through anything.
Get in touch