An HR leader on retainer, at the level you need
Steady firms that want a regular touchpoint and someone to call.
- ✓Monthly 60-minute HR strategy callAgenda built around what's live in your firm that month
- ✓Employee issue consulting as it comes upUnlimited message and email support between calls
- ✓Full access to the NOL document template libraryOffer letters, PIPs, separation agreements, written warnings, handbooks
- ✓Ongoing compliance monitoring and alertsEmployment law changes, filing dates, state-specific updates
- ✓Annual employee handbook review
- ✓One quarterly deliverable, built for youYour pick each quarter: handbook rebuild, JD refresh, comp benchmark, onboarding checklist, or policy build
- ✓Compensation reasonableness checks and job description reviewBenchmarked to your market, firm size, and AUM stage
- ✓FINRA-adjacent HR guidanceU4 considerations, supervision structure, registered vs. non-registered roles
- ✓The First 90 Days Guarantee
Not in this plan →
- Active hiring management on each role — see Growth
- Full compensation plan design — available as a project
- Manager and leadership coaching — see Growth
- Workforce and capacity planning — see Growth
- M&A or advisor transition support — see Strategic Partner
- Org design and reporting structure work — available as a project
- Same-day priority response — see Growth
Firms in motion — hiring, restructuring, building systems.
- ✓Everything in Foundation
- ✓$2,500 project credit every quarter — $10,000 a yearUnused credit rolls forward one quarter
- ✓Twice-monthly 90-minute strategy sessionsStructured around active priorities, not a check-in
- ✓Active hiring support on every open roleJob description, interview guide, offer strategy, onboarding checklist
- ✓Workforce and capacity planningWho you'll need in 12–24 months, and when to move
- ✓Compensation benchmarking as roles changeEvery new role or promotion gets a data-backed number
- ✓Manager and leadership coachingUp to 2 sessions monthly — feedback, conflict, culture
- ✓Performance review framework and annual cycle support
- ✓Same-business-day response on everything
Not in this plan →
- M&A and advisor transition support — see Strategic Partner
- Firm-wide compensation restructuring — see Strategic Partner
- Multi-state compliance expansion — see Strategic Partner
- Priority phone and direct-line access — see Strategic Partner
- Recruiting execution, sourcing and screening — available as Single Role Recruiting
Complex or fast-moving — acquisition, restructure, or rapid team growth.
- ✓Everything in Growth
- ✓M&A and advisor transition support — no project surchargePeople-side due diligence, integration planning, retention risk, communication framework
- ✓Custom session cadence set at kickoffWeekly, bi-weekly, or on-demand
- ✓Compensation restructuring across the full firmEvery role, every tier, including partner-level comp
- ✓Multi-state HR compliance support and monitoring
- ✓Priority phone access to Bryan during business hours
- ✓Same-day response on urgent situations
- ✓Recruiting strategy and process design for every roleHiring frameworks, interview architecture, offer strategy
- ✓Succession planning and long-term org advisory
- ✓HOV participation, virtual or in personTravel reimbursed for in-person visits
- ✓Listed on your website as part of your teamOptional — yours to use as a recruiting and credibility asset
Always separate, any tier →
- Candidate sourcing and recruiting execution — available as Single Role Recruiting
- Legal counsel and attorney representation — referrals provided; NOL identifies the issue, counsel handles the filing
- Payroll processing and benefits administration — handled through tHRive, our co-employment arm
Needs the other three tiers don't fit — multi-entity groups or non-standard scope.
- ✓Scope, deliverables, and fee fixed in writing before commitment
- ✓Any tier coverage plus project work under a single monthly fee
- ✓Session cadence and response commitment set at kickoff
- ✓Coverage across multiple entities or states where needed
- ✓The 15% project discount and the First 90 Days Guarantee
Month-to-month. No onboarding fee. Move up or down as your firm changes. Custom is not a discount tier — it is priced to reflect the actual work. If a retainer isn't right yet, a single project is a perfectly good place to start.
One problem, one price, one deliverable
“You want your team thinking like owners, and right now pay is a number you picked.”
- ◦ Written comp structure for every role
- ◦ Market benchmarks for your state and firm size
- ◦ Bonus and revenue-share framework
- ◦ Script for presenting it to your team
Price moves with: Headcount, number of roles, and whether partner comp is in scope.
“You're reasonably sure you're compliant, and that's the problem.”
- ◦ Written risk report ranked by exposure
- ◦ Remediation checklist in priority order
- ◦ Wage, hour, and classification review
- ◦ Multi-state gap analysis
Price moves with: Number of states and headcount are what move it.
“The cheapest way to find out whether you have a hiring problem or an org problem — before you spend $60K on the wrong role.”
- ◦ Next three hires in sequence with timing
- ◦ Compensation range for each role
- ◦ Written read on current capacity gaps
- ◦ Live walkthrough of findings
Credited in full against a retainer if you start one within 60 days.
Not sure which one you need? Start with the free Hiring Roadmap.
Try the free version →One engagement, start to finish
A solo advisor managing $110M in Western Pennsylvania came to us about her longtime client service specialist — sixteen years in the role, with no formal job description and no compensation tied to performance or growth. She wanted to reward the work and give her a real path forward, but had no way to define the role or measure it fairly.
The employee bought in immediately. She now understands exactly how her work moves the needle — she bonused in Q1 and nearly maxed out her bonus in Q2. Firm revenue is up 11.2% over the prior six months, the working relationship is stronger than it was, and the advisor runs the entire program herself, reaching out only with the occasional question.
$110M AUM solo practice · Western Pennsylvania
This was a Compensation Plan Build →The objections we'd rather answer up front
Eventually is the expensive part. Firms that hire HR at 20 employees spend the years before it accumulating the problems that person's first eighteen months get spent unwinding. And at $85–105K loaded, you're buying generalist experience — not someone who has sat through a book transition.
They give you documents and a call center. Neither knows that your paraplanner is registered, that your comp is revenue-shared, or that you're about to acquire a book in another state. Templates are a floor, not advice.
Small firms carry more risk per employee, not less — one departure is a quarter of your capacity. Every tier is built to be the cheapest competent option at your stage, not the fullest one. Being small isn't a reason to operate exposed.
That's why every tier from Foundation up produces a written deliverable each quarter and why the first 90 days are guaranteed in writing. If the value isn't visible, that's our failure to price against — not yours to absorb.
The rest of what we do
Ideas are only as good as their execution
Tell us what's not working. If a project fits, we'll scope it on the call. If it doesn't, we'll say so.