Fractional HR Executive Support
Founder-led and family-owned companies rarely realize they've outgrown the way they manage people until it starts costing them — in time, money, risk, or momentum. I step in with the executive-level HR leadership and judgment to get it under control, build what the business needs, and give owners their time back.
Start a conversationWhat I Do
Not a recruiter. Not a compliance vendor. Not a policy binder. I'm an operator who spent seventeen years inside businesses, fixing the organizational problems that quietly drain margin, stall growth, and exhaust owners.
I lead the people function at the executive level — structure, compliance, systems, leadership capability, compensation, performance, and the hard conversations. I build what the business needs, fix what isn't working, and stay alongside leadership to make sure it actually works.
These aren't people problems. They're business performance problems.
Why Fractional Works
A senior HR leader can cost $180K–$250K plus benefits before they've solved a single problem. Most growing businesses aren't ready for that investment — but they're well past the point where an office manager and a payroll provider are enough.
Fractional closes that gap.
You get someone who has already handled the classification audit, the restructure, the executive termination, and the employee issue that should never have gotten that far. You pay for the judgment and experience you need — without adding a full-time executive seat.
Every engagement starts with what the business is trying to accomplish and what is getting in the way. From there, we prioritize the people, structure, risk, and management issues that matter most — not a predetermined list of HR deliverables.
This isn't a project that ends with a report. I stay alongside leadership to implement the changes, handle what comes next, and strengthen the people infrastructure as the business grows.
You Need Me When…
You've grown quickly, but nothing about how you manage people has evolved with the business.
You're the final stop for every people decision, and it's eating the time you should be spending on the business.
Turnover is high enough that you've stopped being surprised by it — and started budgeting for it.
You have a family member or long-tenured employee in a role the business has outgrown.
Someone told you your workers may be classified wrong, and you don't know how exposed you are.
You're planning a sale, leadership transition, or bringing in the next generation — and the organization isn't ready for what's next.
You've promoted your best people into management and watched them struggle without the support or tools to lead.
Labor is one of your largest expenses, but you don't have a clear view of whether you have the right people, in the right roles, doing the right work.
Where I Step In
Executive-level HR leadership and judgment, embedded in the business on a cadence that matches what you need.
Find the exposure before it finds you — and build the infrastructure that keeps it closed.
Build the workforce around what the business needs — the right structure, roles, capacity, and cost.
Build managers who can actually manage — with clear expectations, accountability, and the systems to drive performance.
Take the administrative weight off your leaders with the right systems, workflows, and information behind the people function.
How I Lead
I say what I see, even when it's uncomfortable. You won't have to guess what I think or where I stand.
I don't overengineer solutions or introduce process for the sake of process. We build what your business actually needs.
I don't look at people decisions in isolation. I consider the operational, financial, and human impact — and make the tradeoffs visible.
The work can be serious without making every interaction heavy. I bring candor, perspective, and enough humor to make hard things easier to work through.
Who I Am
Alicia Catatao
Founder, Align360 Consulting
I've spent roughly seventeen years operating inside businesses — not advising from the outside, but accountable for the outcome. I've worked across multi-site operations, hourly workforces, high-growth environments, transformation, and turnarounds where the people problems and the business problems were rarely separate problems.
That's the lens I bring to HR.
I work particularly well with founder-led and growing businesses because the people infrastructure often hasn't evolved at the same pace as the company. My job is to help leadership put the right structure, management practices, and HR foundation in place — without overengineering the business or building bureaucracy it doesn't need.
Proof
"Rhodium can be called two things. RBA or RAA. Rhodium Before Alicia or Rhodium After Alicia."
— CEO, RhodiumA short conversation. No pitch deck. We'll talk about what's happening in the business, and I'll tell you straight whether this is something I can help with.