What is it?

Charlie Embedded is a dedicated People Partner who gives you 14 hours worth of time across each month, every month, woven into how you work rather than crammed into one block.

They sit in your meetings, back up your managers and your people, handle the HR admin, and give you senior HR confidence for a fraction of the cost of hiring. A hands on People Partner, without the full time hire.

How you use those 14 hours is up to you, and it'll look different for every business. One month it might be getting your handbook and contracts compliant. Another, it's coaching a couple of new managers, sitting in your leadership meeting, or running an engagement survey and acting on what comes back. We'll help you decide where your time has the most impact, and adjust as your needs change.

If you're an Advice customer, your People Partner and your Charlie Advice team work as one, so the answers and the hands on work join up seamlessly.

How does it work?

Register your interest in the form below

Alisa and the team will reach out to talk you through Charlie Embedded

Together we'll map your priorities

Get Charlie embedded in your team!

What your People Partner can help with

There's no fixed checklist here. We'll work with you to prioritise on a rolling basis, because we know your needs change month to month. Expect us to stay close, checking in regularly on where an embedded HR person can have the most impact right now, and building the plan around that with you. Here's the kind of work we can take on together:

A named People Partner, in your Slack so it feels like they're in the business with you

A seat in your leadership or team meetings, the People voice in the room

Manager support and coaching: performance reviews, 1:1s, and training on things like cyber security and harassment

Engagement surveys, run, analysed and presented back with clear recommendations

A confidential point of contact for your people, with sensible escalation to founders

Recruitment support: job descriptions, CV sifting, interviews and the hiring process

A People dashboard and a quarterly report to leadership

Stay interviews to catch flight risks early

Offboarding and exit interviews, with the insight fed back to you

Your handbook, policies and contracts, built and kept compliant

Day to day HR, from everyday questions and admin to the hard cases: performance, conduct, grievances and exits

Investment

Charlie Embedded works out at roughly a third of the cost of a first HR hire, with senior, embedded support from day one and no recruitment or employer costs.

Option

Typical UK cost

Full-time first HR hire
(HR Manager)

~£40-44k salary
~£4,000/month all-in

Full-time Head of People

~£60-137k salary

Traditional fractional HR
(~2 days/month)

~£2,500/month

Charlie Embedded – People Partner (~2 days/month)

£1,500/month

FAQs

Can you really do all of this in 14 hours a month?

No, and we don't try to. The list above is a menu, not a checklist. At the start we agree your priorities together and set them in a simple service plan, so your People Partner's time goes to what matters most right now. As things change, we re-prioritise month to month. Think of it as a senior HR person you direct - not a fixed package you tick off. See the next question in regards to how we decide what we focus on.

How do we decide what to focus on?

In onboarding we'll agree on a handful of priorities for the first stage - say, getting your handbook compliant, training or coaching some managers or being hands on with a live case and build them into your service plan. We review regularly so the focus flexes as new things come up.

What if we need more support in a busy month?

Some months are heavier, e.g. running lots of stay or exit interviews, a hiring push or helping you create a clear progression framework from scratch. We'll always try to flag early if your priorities won't fit the 14 hours and you can have the option to add extra hours so nothing critical gets dropped.

Will we get the same person every time?

Yes. You'll have a named People Partner who gets to know your business, your team and your context - that continuity is the whole point. When they're on leave, a briefed colleague covers, so you're never left without support.

What can employees share confidentially and what comes back to us?

Your People Partner acts as an internal HR lead would - sharing the themes, risks and anything leadership needs to know to run the business well, while handling individual conversations with appropriate discretion (with the usual exceptions where there's a safeguarding or legal risk). We agree the exact boundaries up front so your team and your leaders both know what to expect.

How is this different from the Advice service?

With Advice, you get in touch when you have a question. Embedded is proactive and hands-on: a People Partner in your meetings and your Slack, doing the work with and for you against the goals you set.

What's the commitment?

A 3-month minimum term, so the relationship has time to add real value. Advice customers must keep an active advice subscription for the duration.

**When is Embedded not the right fit?**

If you need daily, full-time HR presence or have very high-volume casework, a permanent hire may serve you better and we'll tell you honestly if so. Embedded is built for companies that need senior HR confidence and hands-on support, but not a full-time head.