Build HR Right from the Start; No Shortcuts, No Shortcuts' Consequences
We help startups and growing companies establish the essential HR infrastructure that protects the business, supports the team, and scales with confidence.
HR Foundations for Growing Teams
What This Is
The early HR decisions a company makes tend to echo for years. An offer letter teamplate that misclassifies employment status. A handbook assembled from internet templates that doesn't reflect the company's actual practices; or the law in the states where employees work. A performance review process that was built in an afternoon and breeds more anxiety than insight. These are the kinds of gaps that feel manageable at 15 employees and genuinely costly at 60.
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Silver Fern HR Consulting's HR Foundations service is specifically designed for startups and growing SMBs; typically in the 10 to 100 employee range, who are formalizing HR for the first time and want it done correctly from the outset. We build the essential infrastructure: the policies, documents, processes, and compliance frameworks that every employer needs, designed to protect both the company and the people it employs. We build it to scale so the foundation you establish today does not require a full rebuild when you double in size.
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This service also includes advisory support for founders and leadership teams making their first HR hire; helping them define the role correctly, set the new HR leader up for success, and understand what they should reasonably expect that first hire to accomplish. Getting this first hire right accelerates everything that follows. Getting it wrong can set HR back by years and cost far more than the savings of moving too quickly.
What We Do
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Develop a comprehensive, legally compliant Employee Handbook tailored to the company's actual policies, culture, and operating states
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Create an HR Compliance Starter Kit; including required federal and state postings, I-9 process, record retention guidelines, and new hire documentation checklist
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Draft essential standalone policies: remote and hybrid work, time off and leave, anti-harassment and complaint procedures, accommodation, and disciplinary process
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Build legally sound offer letter and employment agreement templates appropriate to the company's employment structure and applicable state law
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Design a new employee onboarding workflow that creates a consistent, welcoming, and compliant experience from day one
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Create a performance review and feedback process appropriate to company size and culture; practical, fair, and capable of scaling
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Advise on the first HR hire: role scope, hiring profile, compensation benchmarking, and transition planning from founder-managed HR to dedicated HR leadership
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Identify and address any immediate compliance gaps in current employment practices before they become embedded problems
Who Is This For
This service is designed for founders, CEOs, and leadership teams of startups and growing companies; typically in the 10 to 100 employee range, who have reached the point where informal, ad hoc HR is no longer sufficient and want to build something real. It is for companies where HR has been handled by an office manager, a COO, or the founder themselves, and where everyone knows it is time to do it properly. It is also for companies preparing for their first dedicated HR hire who want to establish a strong foundation before that person walks in the door; and for those who want to be a company where employees are treated well, feel protected, and trust that HR reflects the values leadership claims to hold.
What You Can Expect
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A complete, customized HR infrastructure; not templates pulled from the internet, but policies and processes built specifically for your company, your states, and your people
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Compliance confidence from day one, with employment documentation practices that protect the business and demonstrate care for employees
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A scalable foundation that grows with the company; structured to accommodate headcount growth, new states, and increased complexity without requiring a full rebuild
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A first HR hire set up to succeed; joining an organization with functional infrastructure in place and leadership that understands what great HR requires
Why Silver Fern HR Consulting
Silver Fern HR Consulting brings executive-level HR expertise to the early-stage challenge; which means the infrastructure we build reflects what best-in-class HR actually looks like, not what is minimally sifficient. Founders and leadership teams who work with us leave with more than documents; they leave with a clear understanding of what they've built, why it matters, and how to use it. We build for the company you are becoming, not just the company you are today.
