HR Services beyond Compensation
Compensation is my spearhead, but fifteen years across startups, scale-ups and corporates cover most of what a People function does. Everything below comes from real engagements - and it is delivered the same way: decision-ready, implemented rather than just recommended, and priced transparently (packaged where the scope allows it, at clear rates where it doesn't).
Performance management
Review cycles that people do not dread. I have designed and run complete cycles at scale-ups - from the proposal deck leadership signs off, through calibration and merit-increase logic linked to the pay structure, to the manager communications that make the outcome land. Including the difficult parts: low-performer processes that are fair, structured and legally sound in Germany.
People operations
Onboarding to offboarding, sick leave, time tracking, working students, HR-team setup and sizing. I have run Swiss people operations end to end for months at a time - work permits, payroll coordination, reference letters, terminations - and built the process documentation that let the client take it back in-house. Germany and Switzerland in depth, EU-wide in practice.
Multi-country and remote setups
Most of my clients employ people in more than one country - through entities, EOR providers, or both. I have built pay structures spanning 60+ countries, maintained country-law trackers covering 17 countries, and run five-country compliance triage. The recurring questions have patterns: entity vs. EOR trade-offs, location factors that survive scrutiny, benefits equity between local and remote staff, and which country differences are real versus which are habit. You do not need a Big Four network for this - you need someone who has actually run it.
HR project management
Strategy is the easy part; my clients keep me because things actually ship. I run HR projects end to end - project charters, stakeholder management, vendor coordination, risk logs, communication plans - whether the topic is one of the above or something your team simply needs driven across the line. Remote-first, async-friendly, with a weekly written status that takes you two minutes to read.
HR tooling selection
Vendor-neutral evaluation of comp tools, HRIS and performance platforms. My method: a written requirements catalog, structured vendor questionnaires answered in writing, demo evidence discipline, and a comparison matrix that doubles as your negotiation record. I have run these evaluations for companies from 40 to 400 employees - and I publish independent tool reviews, so you can check how I think before you hire me.
Goal setting and OKRs
From first-time OKR rollouts at startups to fixing frameworks that stopped working: training, cascade design, tracking templates, and the honest conversation about what OKRs can and cannot do for a company your size.
Ways of working
Four modes. Every engagement fits one of them, and we agree which one before we start - not on the invoice.
Fixed-price packages
Defined scope, price known upfront. The readiness checks and sprints work this way: you know exactly what you get and what it costs before you say yes. If the scope grows, we re-scope openly - the price never quietly drifts.
Project-based
For work with a defined outcome: a bonus redesign, a salary framework, a tool evaluation. You get a clear estimate up front and a transparent rate behind it, plus a weekly written status that takes you two minutes to read.
Advisory hours
Ongoing sparring at a clear rate, in capped scopes so the budget stays predictable. The right mode when your team is capable and just needs a compensation brain on call - a second opinion before the decision, not another project.
Interim & embedded
Part-time ownership of a people function or workstream during gaps and transitions - a departure, parental leave, a build-up phase. Hands-on and async-first: I run the work, document as I go, and hand it back in better shape than I found it.
How to start
Most engagements begin small: a fixed-price check or a few advisory hours at a clear rate. If it grows, it grows because the first result was worth it.