Fractional & Interim HR Leadership
Senior people leadership for organizations building an HR function, navigating growth, covering a vacancy, integrating operations, or managing a sensitive transition.
People & Compliance
U.S.-based · Global reach
People, HR & Workplace Investigations
People issues become business risks when leadership lacks a trusted HR function, investigations are delayed, policies are inconsistent, or managers are left to improvise. Cole provides senior-level HR leadership and independent support across workplace investigations, employee and labor relations, compliance, workers’ compensation, leave and accommodation administration, payroll and benefits oversight, recruiting, performance management, organizational design, and difficult transitions. The work is practical, confidential, evidence-led, and built for multi-site, union, non-union, and globally connected organizations, with qualified employment counsel engaged whenever legal advice or representation is required.
What this work is designed to deliverCredible fact-finding, stronger compliance, better-supported managers, fairer employee processes, controlled claims, and a people function leadership can trust.
Discuss this capability How we help
Senior expertise.
Practical execution.
We can serve as an independent investigator, a project-based HR specialist, or an embedded and fractional people leader. Each assignment starts by defining the mandate, decision authority, confidentiality, records, stakeholders, and legal boundaries. We then establish the facts, protect due process, give managers usable direction, coordinate required specialists, and leave behind the policies, documentation, controls, training, and operating rhythm needed to reduce repeat problems.
Our operating approachNo seagull management. We can enter at the diagnostic, planning, implementation, stabilization, or ongoing-advisory stage—and remain accountable through execution, adoption, and a sustainable handoff.
Provide fractional or project-based HR leadership, workforce planning, organization design, role clarity, succession coverage, change support, and executive people advice.
Conduct independent third-party workplace investigations using defined allegations, neutral interviews, document and digital-record review, credibility assessment, chronology, evidence control, and clear findings.
Handle employee-relations matters involving harassment, discrimination, retaliation, bullying, misconduct, conflicts, ethics concerns, grievances, attendance, performance, discipline, and separation.
Audit handbooks, policies, acknowledgments, I-9s, wage notices, classifications, timekeeping, breaks, leave, accommodation, personnel files, required postings, training records, and retention practices.
Coordinate workers’ compensation, incident intake, carrier and TPA communication, investigation, documentation, medical restrictions, return-to-work planning, claim review, and recurring-loss prevention.
Strengthen recruiting, compliant job descriptions, selection records, offers, background screening, onboarding, payroll, benefits, total rewards, performance management, engagement, retention, and manager development.
Support EEOC, ADA, unemployment, agency, audit, and counsel-response preparation by organizing facts, records, timelines, ownership, and corrective action without substituting for legal advice.
Build practical dashboards across vacancies, time-to-fill, turnover, attendance, overtime, claims, complaints, training, promotion, diversity, engagement, and manager effectiveness.
Complete people capability
From everyday HR to the matters that cannot be mishandled.
Cole can strengthen an existing team, provide independent capacity for a defined matter, or operate as a fractional HR function. The scope is built around the business need—not a narrow menu of disconnected services.
Independent Workplace Investigations
Neutral third-party intake, investigation planning, witness interviews, document review, chronology, credibility assessment, findings, and a defensible work file.
HR Compliance & People Audits
Practical review of policies, files, classifications, wage-and-hour practices, I-9s, leave, accommodations, posters, training, retention, and manager execution.
Employee Relations & Performance
Support for complaints, conflict, attendance, conduct, coaching, documentation, performance plans, discipline, separation, and consistent manager decision-making.
Workers’ Compensation & Claims
Claim intake, fact development, carrier and TPA coordination, restrictions, return-to-work planning, claim reviews, documentation, and recurring-loss prevention.
Talent, Onboarding & Retention
Workforce plans, job descriptions, sourcing, structured interviews, selection controls, offers, background screening, onboarding, succession, engagement, and retention.
Payroll, Benefits & Total Rewards
Oversight of payroll and timekeeping controls, benefits administration, compensation structure, enrollments, vendor performance, employee communication, and issue resolution.
Labor Relations, Training & Culture
Union and non-union employee relations, grievance support, CBA administration, supervisor training, respectful workplace standards, leadership development, and people-first culture.
Independent fact-finding
When the facts, fairness, and credibility matter.
We define the allegation and scope, identify conflicts, preserve relevant records, interview the right people, test competing accounts against evidence, document limitations, and distinguish substantiated facts from assumption.
Findings are communicated clearly so leadership and qualified counsel can make informed decisions. The process is confidential, respectful, timely, and independent of the reporting chain wherever practical.
Connected people risk
HR does not operate in a silo.
Workforce decisions touch payroll, safety, security, insurance, technology, operations, finance, and governance. This page brings those dependencies together while the specialist capability pages provide the deeper operating detail.
Payroll, Timekeeping & Wage-Hour
Classification, overtime, breaks, tips, deductions, approvals, payroll funding, reconciliations, exceptions, and employee inquiries.
Explore connected capabilityUnion, CBA & Arbitration
Collective bargaining preparation, costing, negotiations, ratification, grievances, contract administration, mediation, and arbitration support.
Explore connected capabilityWorkplace Safety & Claims
OSHA-facing programs, incident response, injury investigation, workers’ compensation, return to work, corrective action, training, and evidence.
Explore connected capabilityEnterprise People Risk
People-risk registers, control ownership, escalation thresholds, workforce continuity, succession, crisis response, insurance coordination, and board reporting.
Explore connected capabilitySecurity & Workplace Violence
Threat awareness, access, incident reporting, response protocols, evidence preservation, employee training, and coordination with qualified specialists.
Explore connected capabilityEmployee Data & AI Governance
Responsible use of employee data and AI in recruiting, scheduling, performance, training, communications, analytics, and management decisions.
Explore connected capabilityLeadership & Customer Training
Supervisor coaching, communication, accessibility, cultural awareness, de-escalation, service recovery, documentation, and decision authority.
Explore connected capabilityFractional Executive Coverage
Immediate senior ownership for a leadership vacancy, transformation, integration, restructuring, opening, rapid growth, or critical people mandate.
Explore connected capabilityDetails that protect the work
What clients cannot afford to discover too late.
Requirements vary by jurisdiction and operating model. We identify the dependencies early, assign ownership, maintain the evidence, and coordinate licensed specialists wherever professional authority is required.
Coordinate jurisdiction-specific employment review for wage and hour, classification, tips, leave, accommodations, EEO, discipline, and separation.
Maintain I-9s, notices, acknowledgments, training, certifications, investigations, personnel records, retention, and confidentiality correctly.
Address workers’ compensation, unemployment, benefits, payroll tax, background checks, workplace safety, harassment, violence, and emergency response.
For represented teams, protect bargaining obligations, past practice, grievance timelines, supervisor consistency, and counsel coordination.
When to bring us in
Before a decision.
During a transition.
When performance slips.
Build or launch
Get the structure, economics, people, systems, and controls right before opening or expansion.
Fix or stabilize
Step into an urgent gap, stop leakage, restore accountability, and protect the business.
Improve or grow
Strengthen the operating platform before scaling, transacting, refinancing, or adding leadership.
Flexible engagement
Focused project
A defined issue, deliverable, timeline, and implementation plan.
Fractional leadership
Hands-on senior ownership without adding a permanent full-time executive.
Ongoing advisory
Regular operating review, decision support, accountability, and governance.
Cole provides hospitality operating, transaction-preparation, and coordination support. Legal, real-estate brokerage, lending, securities, tax, and other regulated services are performed by appropriately licensed professionals where required.
Step in where it matters