25+ years · ge, goldman sachs, meta and braze
Fractional CHRO leadership for founder-led and scaling businesses.
When headcount outpaces the HR structure built to support it, decisions start happening without anyone clearly accountable.
Where to start
Clients rarely say, “I need a CHRO”. They describe a situation.
“We’ve hired fast, and now nobody quite owns HR decisions.”
→ People & Governance Diagnostic
“Our board is asking governance questions we can’t yet answer.”
→ Meridian™ Organisational Capability Diagnostic
“We’re not big enough to justify a full-time CHRO, but we’ve clearly outgrown ad hoc.”
→ Fractional HR Leadership
What’s actually happening
Most founder-led businesses don’t lack HR activity. They lack HR architecture.
A clear operating model for who decides what, how policy holds up under scrutiny, and how the function scales as headcount and geography grow. Activity without architecture works fine until a board member, an investor, or a regulator asks a structural question, and there’s no clean answer ready.
This is rarely visible from inside. It’s usually a founder or COO who first senses that HR decisions are being made informally, inconsistently, or by whoever’s in the room, and starts looking for someone who’s built proper structure before.
The specifics change with context. A family business institutionalising for the next generation, a venture-backed scale-up, or a regional subsidiary reconciling head-office expectations with local practice, all present different symptoms for the same underlying question: has the HR structure kept pace with what the business has become.
the engagement
Most engagements begin with a diagnostic.
The People & Governance Diagnostic gives a structured read across ten domains covering decision rights, policy architecture, people-risk exposure, and organisational capability, producing a clear picture of where the structure is holding and where it’s straining, and a 90-day stabilisation plan for what needs attention first.
From there, fractional leadership can mean a fixed number of days per month steering the function, a defined project, such as a policy rebuild or governance review, ahead of a funding round, or ongoing interim leadership during a transition. The Meridian™ Organisational Capability Diagnostic is used where the question is broader than HR alone.
Background
GROW HR Consulting is a fractional and interim HR leadership practice founded by Alf Carlesäter after 13 years at GE across APAC and Sub-Saharan Africa, preceded by mobility advisory at Goldman Sachs, and followed by senior in-house roles at Meta and Braze. Engagements travel to wherever the business is, internationally as required. Most new engagements begin through a referral from a board member, investor, or past client.
FAQ
What does a fractional CHRO typically cost?
It varies by scope and cadence, from a fixed number of days a month to a defined project fee. Most conversations start with a diagnostic to establish where the priority work actually is.
How is this different from hiring an HR consultant?
A consultant is typically brought in for a defined deliverable. Fractional leadership carries ongoing accountability for decisions, the way an in-house CHRO would, just not on a full-time basis.
Can a fractional CHRO work alongside my existing HR team?
Yes, and often does. The usual model is for senior direction and governance to sit alongside an existing HR lead or team.
What size company is this suited to?
Typically, businesses are past the point where HR can be run informally, but not yet at the scale that justifies a full-time CHRO.
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