Bring the employee issue, missing process, or recurring pattern. Faulkner HR Solutions helps you separate facts from assumptions, decide what kind of support fits, and avoid buying an ongoing service when a focused answer or project is enough.
Many Texas companies grow past informal people management before they are ready to hire a full-time HR manager. For Texas companies without HR staff, the owner is still answering employee questions, the office manager is still handling files, and supervisors are still writing people up. Payroll may be processed correctly while the riskier HR decisions still land on someone who was never meant to be the final filter for every employee issue.
That setup can work for a while. Then the same issues start repeating. A manager wants to fire someone, but the file is thin. An employee complains, and leadership is not sure what to document. Attendance problems keep happening. A handbook exists, but no one knows whether it matches current practice. A small conflict becomes a larger problem because it was not addressed cleanly the first time.
Faulkner HR Solutions helps you identify the appropriate support, assemble the relevant facts, and decide what happens next. A focused project can address one issue; a retainer adds continuity; fractional leadership owns agreed priorities. You retain employer authority.
| If this describes the situation | Usually start with | Why |
|---|---|---|
| One live question or decision with a near-term deadline | A fit conversation or focused advisory review | Clarifies the facts, risk flags, and next step before a larger scope is proposed |
| The same issue keeps returning across managers or departments | A diagnostic or defined project | Tests whether the problem comes from policy, ownership, workflow, documentation, or manager practice |
| Leaders need recurring senior review but retain day-to-day ownership | A monthly HR retainer | Creates a defined access and response rhythm |
| The organization needs a part-time senior leader to own HR priorities and cadence | Fractional HR leadership | Assigns recurring function ownership rather than advice alone |
| The matter requires legal representation, privilege, or legal interpretation | Employment counsel | HR consulting is not legal advice; Faulkner can help organize factual HR inputs when appropriate |
See the full Coverage Decision Matrix, including internal hire, PEO, fractional leadership, and build-then-support routes.
Most owners do not start by searching for fractional HR or outsourced HR. They start with a real problem: an employee issue, a documentation gap, a manager who wants to terminate, or a question they do not want to guess on. They are trying to get answers to HR questions in Texas before the next step creates more risk.
You may need help with employee problems when the facts are unclear, the manager is frustrated, and no one is sure what policy applies. We help review what happened, what documentation exists, and whether the issue is really conduct, performance, attendance, conflict, leave, accommodation, retaliation risk, or something more sensitive.
You may need a second set of senior HR eyes on the facts, timing, consistency, documentation, prior practice, manager history, and practical risk before you write up, suspend, or terminate an employee.
Recurring employee problems usually point to unclear expectations, weak supervision, poor documentation, stale policies, inconsistent follow-through, or a hiring and onboarding process that is not doing enough work.
This service gives Texas business owners, operators, and managers a senior HR consultant to help sort the issue, review the risk, and choose the next step. The work may be advisory, project-based, diagnostic, or monthly retainer support depending on the facts, urgency, and amount of internal HR capacity available.
Get help separating facts from frustration when an employee issue involves conduct, attendance, workplace conflict, communication problems, complaints, or manager escalation.
Build documentation that explains the actual issue, the expectation, the business impact, the prior coaching, the required correction, and what happens if the problem continues.
Get HR guidance when the issue touches policy, leave, accommodation, wage practices, employee classification, protected activity, handbook language, or inconsistent prior practice.
Fix the system conditions behind repeated employee problems: unclear roles, weak follow-up, inconsistent accountability, poor onboarding, and managers who delay hard conversations.
If your company does not have an HR department, the risk is not only that you get no answer. The bigger risk is that the answer comes too late, without enough facts, without enough documentation, or without checking how the company handled similar issues before.
| Question on the Owner's Desk | What We Review | What the Support Helps Produce |
|---|---|---|
| Can I fire this employee? | Facts, timing, documentation, prior coaching, policy language, consistency, and obvious risk flags. | A cleaner decision path before termination becomes the only option leadership can see. |
| How do I write up an employee correctly? | The behavior, expectation, business impact, prior notice, required correction, follow-up date, and consequence. | A usable corrective action record instead of vague language that creates more questions later. |
| What do I do if an employee complains? | Complaint content, witnesses, documentation, protected activity concerns, manager involvement, and escalation needs. | A structured response that separates facts from assumptions and reduces avoidable retaliation risk. |
| Why do our employee problems keep repeating? | Expectations, supervision, training, hiring, onboarding, policy clarity, accountability, and follow-through. | A systems-first view of the recurring issue so leadership stops treating symptoms as isolated problems. |
| Do we need an HR consultant, a retainer, or an employment attorney? | The nature of the issue, urgency, legal sensitivity, internal capacity, documentation gaps, and decision risk. | A practical recommendation on whether advisory support, project work, a diagnostic, retainer support, or legal counsel fits. |
The right support depends on whether you have one question, an active employee problem, a pattern that keeps repeating, or a need for ongoing HR backup. Organizations without HR staff usually need one of four paths: a fit conversation, a one-time diagnostic, project support, or monthly advisory access.
Bring the HR issue, employee question, documentation concern, or recurring pattern. The consult determines the right next step.
Best fit: Owners who need to know whether outside HR help makes sense.
A focused review of HR structure, selected policies, documentation practices, supervisor workflows, compliance risk points, and recurring people issues.
Best fit: Organizations that know something is off but are not ready for monthly support.
Direct phone and email advisory access and practical decision review for employee relations, documentation, corrective action, terminations, leave questions, and policy interpretation.
Best fit: Smaller organizations that want senior HR guidance before making risky decisions.
Priority senior HR support for recurring employee relations, documentation, compliance questions, performance issues, and supervisor accountability.
Best fit: Organizations that need regular HR backup but do not need a full-time HR manager.
The $2,500 Texas HR Risk & Readiness Diagnostic is a focused advisory review for deciding what needs attention and what support fits next. You receive a risk dashboard, supported priority findings, recommended actions, and a 12-month improvement roadmap. It does not include implementation, a full six-domain sector audit, or a fixed-price repair schedule.
You receive a practical HR Risk & Readiness Report with immediate risk priorities, documentation gaps, policy concerns, supervisor accountability issues, compliance exposure points, recommended corrective actions, and a 12-month HR improvement roadmap. See a sample report →
Request a Diagnostic ReviewThe same starting price can cover different work. Choose by the evidence and output you need.
| Service | Purpose and output | Boundary |
|---|---|---|
| Risk & Readiness Diagnostic $2,500 | Focused review of selected records, policies, supervision, and recurring issues; risk dashboard and 12-month improvement roadmap. | Advisory priorities. No implementation or full sector-audit report. |
| File and policy review Business $2,500 Nonprofit $3,500 Municipal $4,500 | Sampled file and policy gaps, written summary, priority list, and 60-minute findings meeting. | No interviews or priced repair roadmap. |
| Full sector audit Business $7,500 Nonprofit $9,500 Municipal $14,500 | Six-domain review and interviews, sector-specific findings, and a prioritized repair roadmap with cost estimates. | Implementation belongs to a separate repair scope or stabilization project. |
Compare full HR audit scope or inspect the illustrative Risk & Readiness Report and download the Word sample. The sample uses a fictional organization and demonstrates the focused diagnostic, not every audit tier.
The first conversation is designed to separate what is urgent from what is merely uncomfortable. You do not need to have a perfect file, perfect timeline, or polished HR summary before asking for help.
| Step | What Happens | Why It Matters |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Bring the issue | Describe the employee problem, HR question, documentation concern, or recurring pattern. | The problem is framed in plain language before it gets buried in policy language. |
| 2. Separate facts from assumptions | The situation is organized by known facts, missing facts, documentation, timing, and risk flags. | Leadership gets a cleaner picture before acting. |
| 3. Identify the decision path | The next step may be advisory support, documentation review, a diagnostic, project work, retainer support, or legal counsel. | You avoid buying the wrong kind of help for the actual issue. |
Faulkner HR Solutions supports Texas employers that need HR answers without building a full HR department. Support is available for organizations in San Antonio, South Texas, Central Texas, Corpus Christi, Austin, Houston, Dallas, Fort Worth, and surrounding areas.
Small business HR help in Texas should be practical, direct, and usable. Get help with employee problems, documentation, hiring, onboarding, performance issues, manager accountability, and termination decisions before informal practices become expensive habits.
Protect the mission by reducing preventable workforce risk, improving documentation, strengthening supervision, and giving leadership better support behind difficult people decisions.
Get senior HR support for employee relations, documentation, supervisor consistency, policy interpretation, and workforce structure when HR issues can become leadership-visible quickly.
Explore the service that fits the decision in front of you, or use the comparisons to decide how much ongoing responsibility you want outside support to carry.
Four ways an organization without an HR department covers the gap. The right answer depends on which problem you actually have.
| Option | Market cost | What it gives you | What it does not | Right when |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hire an HR generalist | Salary plus benefits, ongoing | Capable at administration | Usually junior to the risk decisions the organization faces | Headcount is stable and the work is transactional |
| PEO or full outsourcing | $50–$200 per employee per month | Transactional coverage and payroll | Co-employment; limited say in policy design | Benefits access is the primary driver |
| Fractional HR leadership | $3,000–$8,000 per month for 15–25 hours | Senior judgment on live decisions | Ongoing cost; no permanent internal system | Decisions are frequent and consequential |
| Build the system, then support it | Project, then optional retainer | Systems remain when the consultant leaves | Requires internal owner for day-to-day | The same problems keep recurring |
Ninety days, fixed item list, single organization. Personnel file structure and records discipline, core policy set and handbook, hiring and separation processes, compliance calendar and retention schedule, forms and tools, and coordinator enablement through the period.
Outside scope: HRIS selection or implementation, payroll and benefits setup, recruiting, compensation structure design, investigations, and support past ninety days. Anything discovered mid-build that is not on the item list gets logged and quoted rather than absorbed.
Compare the routes: HR consultant vs PEO · when to hire an HR consultant · HR software vs HR consultant.
A Texas company without an HR department should avoid guessing on employee issues. Start by clarifying the facts, reviewing documentation, identifying the applicable policy, checking prior practice, and determining whether the issue involves performance, conduct, attendance, leave, accommodation, retaliation risk, wage issues, or another sensitive concern. Senior HR help gives leadership a cleaner decision path before action is taken.
Yes. Faulkner HR Solutions helps Texas employers review the facts, documentation, timing, consistency, policy language, manager history, and practical next steps before corrective action or termination decisions are made. The goal is to help the decision hold up better if it is questioned later.
No. Faulkner HR Solutions provides HR consulting and advisory support, not legal advice. When an issue requires legal counsel, your organization should involve an employment attorney. HR advisory support can still help prepare the facts, documentation, timeline, and management questions that make legal review more useful.
No. This service is focused on senior HR advisory support, employee relations, documentation, compliance questions, supervisor accountability, and people-process decisions. It does not replace payroll processing, benefits administration, routine HR data entry, or a PEO.
The first step is a no-cost 30-minute consult. Monthly retainers are priced per active W-2 employee per month with a published minimum: HR Advisory Access is $20 per employee with a $1,000 monthly minimum, Senior HR Guardrail is $40 per employee with a $1,500 monthly minimum, and Strategic HR Partner is $70 per employee with a $2,800 monthly minimum. At 50 employees those levels are $1,000, $2,000, and $3,500 per month. A Texas HR Risk and Readiness Diagnostic is available as a one-time $2,500 review.
Yes. The no-cost consult can help determine whether your issue is appropriate for limited advisory support, a project, a diagnostic review, monthly retainer support, or legal counsel. Some HR questions are simple. Others are connected to documentation, timing, protected activity, leave, pay, retaliation risk, or inconsistent prior practice. The goal is to help Texas employers get answers to HR questions before a rushed decision creates a larger problem.
This service can support the person already keeping HR tasks moving. Many organizations do not need to replace that person. They need senior HR backup behind sensitive decisions, documentation, manager accountability, compliance, and recurring people problems.
Yes. Faulkner HR Solutions supports organizations across Texas, including San Antonio, South Texas, Central Texas, Corpus Christi, Austin, Houston, Dallas, Fort Worth, and surrounding areas.
Yes. Faulkner HR Solutions provides small business HR help in Texas for owners who need support with employee problems, documentation, compliance questions, manager accountability, hiring, onboarding, and termination preparation. For a Texas small business without internal HR staff, the support is designed to be practical enough to use and structured enough to reduce avoidable risk.
Direct answers from the Faulkner HR Solutions FAQ library for Texas employers:
Book a no-cost 30-minute consult. Bring the issue, the question, the documentation concern, or the recurring pattern. You will get a direct recommendation on whether advisory support, project work, a diagnostic, retainer support, or legal counsel is the right next step.