SOPEOPLE
Expert HR advice and support, when you need it.
Senior thinking, on demand. No retainer, no long-term commitment... Just the right help at the right moment.
Not every people challenge needs a programme. Sometimes you need someone senior, experienced and available to handle an employee relations case properly, support a redundancy process, review a contract, or deliver a six-week project with a clear outcome.
That's what On-demand is built for.
THE PROBLEM
You don't always need a strategy.
Sometimes you need someone good, fast.
On-demand is for organisations that have a specific, bounded people challenge, and need senior HR input to resolve it properly. It's not a retainer. It's not a programme. It's the right person available when something needs handling well.
SITUATION 01
An employee relations case
Disciplinary, grievance, performance management, sickness absence - handled properly, documented correctly, resolved without unnecessary escalation or cost. Confidential, senior-led throughout.
SITUATION 02
A redundancy / restructure
Individual or collective redundancy, TUPE, consultation processes. Legally sound, commercially sensible and handled with the care people involved deserved. No shortcuts that cost you later.
SITUATION 03
A short project
Six to eight weeks. Defined scope, clear delierable. A job description framework, a recruit process design or delivery, an onboarding review. Work that needs doing well and getting done.
SITUATION 04
Recruitment / Assessment
Senior hire support, interview design, assessment framework, offer management. The rigour of an experienced CPO brought to your most important hiring decisions without the overhead of a retained search.
SITUATION 05
Policy and compliance
An employment contract audit, a handbook review, new legislation... Making sure you're covered without spending three months on it. Practical, proportionate, done.
SITUATION 06
Settlement
Navigating exits that need to be handled with precision, care and the right commercial instinct. Protecting the business, treating the individual well. Both at the same time, every time.
HOW IT WORKS
Brief us, we start.
Three steps. No process overhead. The whole point of on-demand is that it's fast, so the way we engage has to match that.
1
Tell us what you need
A quick call or email. Tell us what's happening, what you need, and when. We'll tell you honestly whether it's something we can help with and how quickly we can move.
2
Fixed scope, fixed price
We'll come back with a clear scope and a fixed price. No day-rate ambiguity, no scope creep. You know exactly what you're getting, and what it costs before we start.
3
We deliver
We work quickly and to a high standard. Where a piece of work has a natural end point, we deliver it cleanly. Where something runs longer - an ER case, for example - we keep you updated throughout.
Essential is designed to be accessible.
You shouldn't have to sign a long-term agreement to get senior HR help with something that's happening right now.
Senior throughout - you work with a CPO-experienced person, not a junior.
Fast to mobilise (typically within five working days).
Confidential - always handled with discretion.
Fixed price agreed before we start, not after.
No retainer required. Minimum commitment of 1/2-day required.
WHO IT'S FOR
Essential works for businesses at different stages; what they share is a specific challenge that needs senior attention, resolved properly, without a long-term commitment.
You may recognise one or more of these:
The business without an HR function
Founders · CEOs · Office Managers
You're 30, 50, 80 people. No dedicated HR. When something comes up — and something always comes up — you handle it yourself or you call a lawyer. Neither is ideal. Essential gives you senior HR input for the moments that matter, without the overhead of a permanent function.
The HR team that's stretched
HR Directors · Heads of People · CPOs
You have an HR function but it's stretched thin. A complex ER case, a restructure, a senior recruitment process - the kind of thing that needs dedicated senior attention that your team doesn't have capacity for. We come in for that specific piece of work, and step back out when it's done.
The leadership team facing something unfamiliar
CEOs · MDs · CXOs/Leadership Teams
You've not done a collective redundancy before. You've not handled a TUPE situation. You've not had a grievance at a particular level. You want someone in the room who has - someone whose instinct you can trust and whose judgement you can rely on when it matters.