Separate leadership, employee support, administration, and project work before opening a role.
Inventory the actual work
Review the last ninety days of people work and the next twelve months of business plans. Sort the demand into administration, employee support, manager enablement, compliance, recruiting, and strategic design.
Volume, risk, and required judgment matter more than the title currently handling the work.
Match the model to the gap
A full-time generalist can create continuity across recurring work. A fractional leader can set direction and coach executives. A contractor can clear a bounded backlog or cover leave. A PEO or ASO can absorb recurring administration.
- Ongoing and broad: consider an internal hire
- Senior but part-time: consider fractional leadership
- Bounded and execution-heavy: consider a contractor
- Repeatable administration: compare outsourced models
Design ownership before hiring
Name the executive sponsor, the decisions this role can make, and the systems it owns. External support still needs an informed client-side owner; an internal hire still needs specialist partners and executive access.