Fractional HR practice · by referral

Nobody plans to become the people person.

Someone you trust sent you this link. That is the only way anyone arrives here, and it is why this page confirms rather than sells.

At PRISM that part of the job belongs to Erin H. Robertson — for founders of growing startups and partners at law firms who never planned to lead, hire or manage. Retained rather than project-billed, and confidential by default.

Fractional HR that speaks founder

One senior person, no juniors A handful of clients at a time Engagements with a clear scope

The work has outgrown the founder's inbox and the managing partner's memory, but it has not yet earned a full-time department. That gap is where things quietly break.

Two rooms, one unglamorous problem.

Compensation bands your board will accept
Offers, onboarding and probation that hold up
First-time managers who do not learn on your team
Policy that satisfies diligence without theatre

“For an early stage startup, working with Erin was a godsend as we approached the challenges of aligning our ambitions, our core values and our team's own individual goals. Her help setting up the structures for regular one-on-ones, training and performance reviews relieved a lot of stress during a challenging period of growing our company, building our product and raising seed capital.” Michael Smith · co-founder & CTO · Yvesblue

Associate progression and partner-track clarity
Lateral onboarding that survives year one
Sensitive matters handled with privilege in mind
Compensation conversations, professionally staged

“As a coach for CEOs, founders, and executive teams, I often refer Erin as an advisor for my clients' HR and People needs. She is one of my greatest resources and I fully trust her to guide my clients in the directions that are best for their teams' success.” Silvia Christmann · executive coach

What clients say

“Erin's partnership was instrumental to how Forever 21 grew our thinking about talent and HR. After significant changes had been made at the company, she stepped in as an interim HR leader to help unify the team and identify some of the most important hires we made that year, taking Forever 21 into it's most pivotal chapter.”

Daniel Kulle, CEO, Forever 21

“Erin is one of the rare few that can build a vision for the future while seemingly solving the day-to-day. We hired Erin to reset our corporate values, reshape culture and bring our leadership team to the next level. Each of these she delivered beyond any expectation and her work truly multiplied our business performance. Her quality of craft, care and drive is worth the investment out of the first session and already paying dividends before you complete. If you are seeking greater commitment, productivity and a high performing culture Erin and her process is the way.”

Jordan Schenck, CEO, Flashfood

“Erin worked closely with us to build the People structures and accountabilities that have allowed our firm to grow while not only preserving but strengthening the best of our culture. She helped us put scalable foundations in place, intentional hiring, onboarding, performance management, and clear expectations, so that everyone at every level knows our values and leverages them in key moments, even when no one is looking. Our culture has become a competitive advantage, which is a rare thing in the legal profession.”

Rachel Johnson, Co-Managing Partner, J&O Law

Six facets. One people function.

01 / 06

Foundations

Structure & compliance

Contracts, handbooks, classifications and the documentation that makes diligence uneventful.

Intake

Hiring & onboarding

Scorecards, interview loops and a first ninety days that actually produces a productive hire.

Reward

Benefits & foundations

Enough expertise to set direction on benefits and pay foundations — and the judgment to bring in a specialist the moment a question truly needs one. PRISM isn't a comp-and-benefits shop.

Growth

Performance & progression

Levelling, review cycles and promotion criteria people can read without having them explained.

Risk

Employee relations

Grievances, investigations and exits handled calmly, documented properly, closed completely.

Continuity

Culture & retention

Engagement signals, manager capability and the quiet work of keeping the people you fought to hire.

How it goes

DiagnosticUp front

Interviews across levels, a document review, and a candid written assessment of where the exposure actually sits — not where it is assumed to sit.

BlueprintScoped block

A sequenced plan with owners and dates, ordered by risk and by what unblocks the next stage of growth. Every phase ends with something in operation.

EmbeddedRetained, ongoing

Days per month in your tools and your meetings, and availability for the conversation you would rather not have alone.

Erin.

Erin H. Robertson · founder & principal · PRISM

Twenty years ago I started as an executive assistant at a grassroots nonprofit inside the United Nations system in New York, helping community leaders around the world reach the resources they needed. From there: grant writing, then in-house fundraising, which is where I started working shoulder to shoulder with founders. When a fast-growing organization needed leadership it didn't have yet, I took on HR before I really knew what HR was — and found I had a knack for it. Founders started bringing me into their portfolio companies, and I saw it clearly: early-stage companies need HR, just not full-time. So I built my own practice around that.

I keep PRISM deliberately small. A handful of retained clients at a time, every hour delivered by me — the person you meet on the first call. No account managers, no template libraries, no work handed down.

Track record5 years

Client retention100%

Typical ROI5–10X

CredentialSHRM-CP · Everything DiSC

Erin H. Robertson, printed as a cobalt and pale-yellow duotone

Start with a conversation.

Let's talk about what's not working. The honest feedback starts immediately.

Book twenty minutes →

Twenty minutes, no obligation. If it is not the right moment, that will be said plainly on the call — PRISM would rather be the second conversation you have this year than the wrong first one.

What to send: the shape of the company, the thing that is breaking, and when you noticed it. Three sentences is plenty.

What does a fractional engagement look like?

A fixed number of days each month, agreed in advance and spent on the sequenced priorities — plus availability between sessions for the things that cannot wait.

How is this different from hiring an HR manager?

Seniority and breadth, and someone who speaks fluent founder — comfortable in the gray, not a rules-first hire. The engagement is built to hand over to the in-house person you'll eventually be ready to bring on.

What does it cost?

Every engagement is scoped to the specific need, with a clear timeline and a finite commitment — never open-ended. Cost is quoted after a real conversation about what's actually going on, not off a price list.