At some point in the growth of most Australian businesses, the question of HR support becomes unavoidable. You have enough people that managing them informally is starting to create risk. Onboarding is inconsistent, leave records are patchy, and nobody has reviewed your employment contracts in years. Something needs to change.
The traditional answer is to hire a people and culture manager. But increasingly, Australian SMEs are asking a different question: do we actually need a full-time hire, or is there a better way to get the capability we need right now?
Fractional HR is that alternative. This article compares the two options honestly, so you can make the right call for your business at its current stage.
A full-time people and culture manager is entirely dedicated to your business. They are across every hire, every performance conversation, every policy change, and every piece of team culture work you undertake. Over time, they build deep institutional knowledge of your people, your history, and your operating context. For a business of sufficient size and complexity, that depth is genuinely valuable.
A full-time hire also signals internal commitment to your team. Having a dedicated HR person in the business sends a message that people matters are taken seriously. That can matter for culture and for how the business presents itself to prospective employees.
The trade-offs are cost, time to hire, and fixed overhead. A full-time people and culture manager at mid-market salary levels in Australia costs between $120,000 and $150,000 in the first year when you include super, leave, and recruitment. You carry that cost regardless of whether the workload justifies full-time attention, and you take on the ongoing responsibility of managing that person.
A fractional HR arrangement gives you access to a dedicated HR professional on an embedded, part-time basis. Unlike a consultant, they are not parachuting in for a project. They are active in your business continuously, available via Slack and Zoom, managing your Employment Hero platform, coordinating your hiring, running your onboarding processes, and handling the day-to-day people operations that keep a growing business compliant and functional.
The difference from a full-time hire is that this professional works across a small number of clients rather than dedicating 100% of their time to you. In a well-structured fractional model, you typically get the equivalent of one to two days per week of dedicated HR capacity, plus senior oversight on complex matters, for a fixed monthly retainer.
The advantages are cost, speed, and flexibility. You avoid the first-year recruitment and onboarding cost, there is no leave liability or super obligation, and you can scale the engagement up or down as your needs evolve. A fractional engagement can typically be live within a week or two, compared to three to four months for a full-time hire when you account for recruitment and onboarding.
The trade-off is depth. A fractional professional has less total time in your business and is managing other clients simultaneously. For most SMEs in the 10 to 60 employee range, that trade-off is entirely acceptable because the actual volume of HR work does not justify full-time coverage. But at a certain size or complexity, you will reach the point where a dedicated hire makes more sense.
A full-time people and culture manager at $100,000 base salary costs approximately $150,000 to $160,000 in the first year all-in, and $120,000 to $130,000 per year from year two. A fractional HR arrangement from Scale Suite costs $3,750 per month, or $45,000 per year, with no additional employment-related costs.
That is a saving of $75,000 to $85,000 per year compared to a full-time hire, delivered by a two-person team that covers both day-to-day operations and senior strategic oversight.
A full-time hire is likely the right call if you have more than 60 to 80 employees and people management is consuming more than two days per week of senior leadership time, if you are in a period of very high hiring volume such as scaling from 30 to 80 people within 12 months, or if your culture and people strategy is a core competitive differentiator that requires full-time dedicated attention.
A fractional arrangement is likely the right call if you have between 10 and 60 employees and your current people management is handled informally or is falling on an operations manager or founder who has too many other responsibilities, if you need HR capability quickly and cannot wait three to four months to hire and onboard someone, if you want to test and build out your HR function before committing to a full-time hire, or if cost is a genuine constraint and you need to be thoughtful about how you allocate headcount budget.
It is also worth noting that fractional and full-time are not mutually exclusive in sequence. Many businesses use a fractional model to build their HR function, establish the systems and processes, and understand the true scope of the role before hiring internally. That approach reduces the risk of a misaligned full-time hire significantly.
Scale Suite delivers embedded fractional HR to Australian SMEs through a monthly retainer model. Your engagement is delivered day-to-day by a dedicated HR professional who is active in your business. We cover recruitment coordination, onboarding and offboarding, Employment Hero administration, leave management, people policies, pulse surveys, and culture initiatives.
We do not handle Fair Work legal matters or formal workplace investigations, which are referred to specialist providers.
Our engagements start with a mapping session to understand your current HR processes, priorities, and immediate gaps. From there we move quickly into delivery. Most clients are fully operational within two weeks of signing.
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What is the difference between fractional HR and hiring a people and culture manager?A full-time people and culture manager is entirely dedicated to your business. A fractional HR professional works across a small number of clients on an embedded, part-time basis. Fractional HR provides comparable capability at significantly lower cost, typically $45,000 per year versus $120,000 to $150,000 for a full-time hire.
Is fractional HR the same as HR consulting?No. HR consulting is typically project-based and advisory. Fractional HR is ongoing, operational, and embedded. A fractional HR partner is active in your business daily, not engaged for a specific project.
How much does fractional HR cost compared to a full-time hire?A fractional HR engagement typically costs $2,500 to $6,000 per month, or $30,000 to $72,000 per year. A full-time people and culture manager costs $120,000 to $150,000 per year including super, leave, and recruitment. The saving is typically $75,000 to $85,000 per year.
When should I hire a full-time people and culture manager instead of using fractional HR?A full-time hire makes more sense when you have more than 60 to 80 employees, when people management is consuming more than two days per week of senior leadership time, or when you are in a very high-volume hiring period.
Can I switch from fractional HR to a full-time hire later?Yes. Many businesses use fractional HR to build their HR function and understand the true scope of the role before hiring internally. A good fractional provider will set up the systems, processes, and documentation that makes that transition smooth.
How quickly can a fractional HR engagement start?A fractional HR engagement can typically be live within one to two weeks of signing, compared to three to four months for a full-time hire when you factor in recruitment and onboarding.
Scale Suite delivers embedded finance and human resource services for ambitious Australian businesses.Our Sydney-based team integrates with your daily operations through a shared platform, working like part of your internal staff but with senior-level expertise. From complete bookkeeping to strategic CFO insights, we deliver better outcomes than a single hire - without the recruitment risk, training time, or full-time salary commitment.
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