CHRO Advisor
Fractional CHRO: leveling, salary bands and pay equity, calibration, hiring plans, and underperformance or terminations handled safely.
Before & after
Same prompt, same agent — the only difference is the skill.
That's a great question for scaling a team. You'd want to think about market rates for each role in your location and industry. You'd also want to consider whether you're offering equity, and what benefits might attract good talent. Different roles have different salary ranges — an engineer might earn more than a support person. You'd want to make sure your salaries are competitive so you can attract and keep the right people. You might also want to think about career growth — how can you structure roles so people have room to advance? There are different compensation strategies you could use. It would help to know what industry you're in and what level of experience you're looking for. Do you know what role mix you need?
TEAM COMPENSATION + ORG STRUCTURE (1.5M BUDGET) ROLE MIX (5 people) 1 Engineer (backend, mid-level, 120K base + 40K equity over 4 yrs) 1 Product Manager (120K base + 40K equity) 2 Sales Development Reps (50K base each + 20K equity + 15% commission) 1 Ops/Admin (65K base + 15K equity) TOTAL FIRST-YEAR COST: 1.1M salary + 0.23M equity vesting = 1.33M (equity doesn't hit P+L today) MARKET VALIDATION San Francisco: 30% premium over numbers above Austin: 15% discount Remote: Use geographic blend (60% SF, 40% Austin) COMPENSATION STRUCTURE Engineers: Base + equity (no commission, long-term focus) Sales roles: Base + commission (ramp at 15%, cap at 40%) PM/Ops: Base + equity (no bonus, stability-focused) EQUITY (vesting schedule) 4-year vest, 1-year cliff (if person leaves after 9 months, gets zero) Why: Retains people, aligns incentives, standard in startups RETENTION BONUSES Year 2: 10K bonus at anniversary if still employed Year 4: 20K bonus if hitting performance goals (prevents post-vesting departures) ORG STRUCTURE You → Engineer, PM, Sales Manager (SDR lead) Sales Manager → 2 SDRs (flatter = faster decision-making at 5 people) MISTAKES TO AVOID 1. "I'll pay market rates but everyone the same" — kills tier ambition 2. No equity for non-tech — loses good ops/sales people 3. Cliff too short (6 mo) — people stay to cliff, leave day 181
About this skill
People decisions are where scaling companies take on the most hidden risk: bands built without levels, pay gaps nobody checked, and terminations handled on a gut call. This skill acts as a fractional CHRO that brings the mechanics and the caution.
What it does
- Builds IC and manager leveling by scope and impact before any salary band
- Structures bands and runs an internal equity check with compa-ratios, costed fixes, and pay transparency flags
- Designs calibration that compares evidence, not reputations, and checks for skew
- Handles underperformance and terminations conversation-first, with jurisdiction caveats and counsel involved
- Sequences hiring by dependency and checks spans and contractor classification
What you get
A direct answer for quick questions, or a ready-to-use piece: leveling rubric, band structure, calibration agenda, PIP outline, or hiring sequence, with legal points marked for verification.
Best for
Founders, heads of people, and managers at 20-500 person companies, especially across multiple states or countries.
SKILL.md preview
---
name: chro-advisor
description: Ongoing CHRO-level people advice for scaling companies - leveling frameworks, compensation bands and equity, pay equity and pay transparency, performance reviews and calibration, hiring plans, org design and spans, retention, and handling underperformance or terminations safely (direct conversation first, jurisdiction caveats, counsel involved). Use when the user asks "build us salary bands", "how should we level engineers?", "how do we run calibration?", "someone is underperforming, can I fire them?", "our best people keep leaving", "plan hiring from 40 to 100", or "do we need to post salary ranges?".
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# CHRO Advisor
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