Barnett Advisory is a strategic HR consulting and outsourcing firm that helps ambitious organizations align people strategy with business performance. We provide executive-level advisory, HR transformation, and managed HR services that combine human insight with operational intelligence.
PHR Certified · SHRM-CP · Dayton, OH · Serving clients nationwide
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$40,000+
The average wrongful termination lawsuit costs this much before it reaches settlement.
50–200%
The cost to replace a single employee, measured as a percentage of their annual salary.
Already expensive.
Most compliance violations aren't discovered until it's too late — and the penalties are already accruing.
You don't need a full HR department. You need the right partner.
5–100 employees
You're past the startup phase but not ready to commit to a $120K HR Director. You need senior-level HR expertise without the overhead.
Post-acquisition or rapid growth
Your people infrastructure hasn't kept up with the business. You need someone who can move fast and get it right.
Compliance exposure
You've had a recent investigation, complaint, or you know your HR systems aren't working. You need it fixed before it gets expensive.
First-time founder
You've been handling HR yourself and you know that has to change. You need a trusted partner, not a department.
If any of these sound familiar, let's talk.
Three ways to engage. All with direct access to Kody.
Advisory
Value-based project pricing
HR as a competitive advantage.
Managed HR
$1,900 – $6,000/month · Retainer-based
Most clients start here.
Technology
$95–$150/hour or fixed project fee
How fractional HR stacks up against the alternatives.
| Dimension | Fractional HR | Full-Time HR Director | HR Agency |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cost | $1,900–$6,000/mo | $120,000+/yr + benefits | Project/retainer fees |
| Time to Impact | Days | 60–90 day ramp | Weeks to months |
| Direct Access | ✓ Always | ✓ Yes | ✗ Account managers |
| Strategic Ownership | ✓ Full ownership | ✓ Full ownership | ✗ Limited scope |
| Flexibility | ✓ Scale up or down | ✗ Fixed headcount | Partial |
| Industry Knowledge | ✓ Deep, multi-sector | Varies | Varies |
| Compliance Depth | ✓ Multi-state, current | Varies | Varies |
| Scalability | ✓ Built in | ✗ Requires new hire | Partial |
| No Long-Term Overhead | ✓ Month-to-month | ✗ Benefits, PTO, HR cost | ✗ Contract lock-in |
A multi-brand franchise operator spanning automotive retail and behavioral healthcare. 150+ employees. 22 locations across 3 states. Mid-acquisition, with people infrastructure that hadn't kept pace.
9
Locations onboarded in 2 weeks
0
Payroll disruptions
3
States, full compliance
70%
Reduction in CEO HR time
The client had acquired 9 new locations and needed full HR integration — HRIS, payroll, compliance, onboarding — across three states, in two weeks. Previous integrations had taken months.
Barnett Advisory embedded directly into the leadership team from day one. Built a parallel integration track for each location, coordinated directly with location managers, and ran compliance checks in real time — no handoff lag, no junior intermediaries.
Nine locations fully onboarded in 14 days. Zero payroll disruptions. Multi-state compliance achieved and documented. The CEO reclaimed 70% of the time previously spent on HR issues.
Kody didn't just solve our immediate HR problems — he rebuilt how we think about people operations at a strategic level. Having direct access to someone at his level, without the overhead of a full-time hire, changed how we operate. We've made better decisions faster than at any point in our growth.
Chad Q.
President & CEO, Multi-Brand Franchise (Automotive + Healthcare)
We needed someone who could move fast and think like an operator, not just an HR professional. Kody came in, got oriented immediately, and had systems running within the first week. Six months later, he's become one of the most trusted people in our business. That's not a consultant — that's a partner.
Sarah M.
Founder & CEO, SaaS Company
We brought Kody in for a compliance audit expecting a checklist. What we got was a full diagnostic, a prioritized remediation plan, and someone who stayed through implementation to make sure it actually got done. The depth of his knowledge across multi-state employment law was unlike anything we'd encountered before.
James L.
Operations Director, Regional Healthcare Group
01
Baseline Compliance Audits
Every engagement begins with a systematic review of your current HR state — policies, documentation, processes, and risk exposure. You know where you stand before we take a single step forward.
02
Documented Remediation Plans
Issues get written remediation plans with owners, timelines, and clear resolution criteria. Nothing lives in someone's head or a verbal agreement.
03
Proactive Risk Management
We don't wait for problems to surface. Barnett Advisory monitors regulatory changes, flags exposure before it becomes liability, and keeps your organization ahead of the curve.
04
Multi-State Expertise
Operating across state lines means navigating different leave laws, wage requirements, and employment regulations simultaneously. We've done it — and we document everything.
05
Policy and Documentation Depth
Your handbook, offer letters, performance documentation, and termination processes are legal instruments. We treat them that way.
Eight years of HR leadership across manufacturing, automotive retail, behavioral healthcare, and defense contracting. Built HR functions from the ground up for organizations that had outgrown their people infrastructure — and ran them. Barnett Advisory is a strategic HR consulting and outsourcing firm that helps ambitious organizations align people strategy with business performance. We provide executive-level advisory, HR transformation, and managed HR services that combine human insight with operational intelligence.
You always work with Kody directly. No handoffs. No junior staff. Every call, every deliverable, every decision goes through one person.
Every engagement starts with a free 30-minute discovery call. No pitch deck, no pressure.
Book Your Free Discovery CallThank you for reaching out. Kody will be in touch within one business day.
Based in Dayton, Ohio. Serving clients remotely nationwide and open to relocation for the right engagement.
Filter by what matters most to you. Every card below maps to real engagements.
By Need
By Industry
By Company Stage
Compliance
A systematic review of your current HR state — policies, documentation, and risk exposure. We identify gaps before they become liabilities and deliver a written remediation plan with clear owners and timelines.
Systems
From vendor selection through go-live, we manage the full HRIS implementation lifecycle. We also optimize existing systems that aren't delivering the ROI they promised at purchase.
People Strategy
Build the people architecture that supports where your business is going, not just where it is today. We design compensation structures, job frameworks, and org design that scale with you.
Investigations
When an employee complaint, harassment allegation, or termination dispute surfaces, speed and documentation quality determine legal exposure. We run impartial investigations that protect your organization and your people.
Onboarding
First impressions shape retention. We build structured onboarding programs — from offer acceptance through 90 days — that accelerate time-to-productivity and reduce early attrition.
M&A Integration
Acquisitions create HR complexity at speed — disparate systems, payroll transitions, policy harmonization, and cultural alignment all need to happen simultaneously. We've done it. We move fast and document everything.
Fractional Leadership
Embedded senior HR leadership on a retainer basis. You get a direct line to an experienced HR executive who operates as part of your leadership team — without the $120K salary, benefits, and PTO.
Multi-State
Operating across state lines means navigating different leave laws, wage requirements, and employment regulations simultaneously. We build the compliance framework and documentation infrastructure that keeps you protected in every state you operate.
Performance
Drive accountability and growth through structured performance systems. We design programs that link individual contributions to organizational outcomes, using frameworks that are practical to run and defensible if challenged.
The right system, configured correctly, running reliably. Barnett Advisory manages the full implementation lifecycle — and fixes the ones that weren't done right the first time.
Platform Experience
Implementation Process
Needs Assessment
Audit current state, define requirements, identify integration needs
Vendor Evaluation
Weighted scoring matrix, demos, and contract negotiation support
Data Migration
Clean, map, and validate employee data before any go-live
Configuration
System setup aligned to your workflows, approval chains, and roles
Payroll Transition
Parallel-run oversight, tax setup, and zero-disruption cutover
Training
Admin, manager, and employee training tailored to each role
Post-Launch
Optimization reviews, reporting builds, and ongoing support
Why HRIS implementations fail
Mis-configured HRIS platforms are more common than failed implementations. We audit, optimize, and fix what's already in place — no rip-and-replace required.
Every sector has HR challenges that are specific to its workforce, regulatory environment, and operational model.
01
High Caregiver Turnover
Behavioral health organizations often see annual turnover rates above 40%, driven by emotional burnout, inconsistent scheduling, and weak onboarding.
Our approach: Build structured onboarding, 90-day check-in protocols, and retention-focused total rewards strategies that address root causes rather than symptoms.
02
Credentialing & Licensing Compliance
Tracking staff credentials, certifications, and license renewals across a distributed workforce creates audit risk when managed manually.
Our approach: Implement automated credential tracking within your HRIS, with expiry alerts and documentation audit protocols built in.
03
Multi-Site Consistency
Organizations with multiple group homes or clinic locations often develop site-specific HR practices that diverge from policy and create legal inconsistency.
Our approach: Standardize HR policies with site-level operational guides that give local managers clarity while maintaining organizational compliance.
04
Investigation Sensitivity
Workplace incidents in behavioral health carry heightened regulatory scrutiny. Poorly handled investigations can trigger licensing reviews and DHHS involvement.
Our approach: Impartial, documented workplace investigations with regulatory reporting guidance included when required.
01
Caregiver Classification Risk
Misclassifying home health aides as independent contractors is one of the most expensive compliance errors in homecare — wage claims and back taxes compound quickly.
Our approach: Worker classification audit with state-specific analysis, corrective action plan, and documentation that demonstrates good-faith compliance.
02
EVV and Scheduling Compliance
Electronic Visit Verification requirements, Medicaid billing compliance, and scheduling complexity create layered HR and payroll exposure.
Our approach: Align HRIS configuration with EVV workflows, build payroll audit controls, and document SOPs for billing-related HR functions.
03
Rapid Workforce Scaling
Homecare agencies often grow headcount faster than their HR infrastructure can support — leading to I-9 issues, missed onboarding steps, and benefit enrollment failures.
Our approach: Scalable onboarding systems with digital I-9 management, automated document collection, and manager checklists that work at volume.
01
Variable Compensation Complexity
Commission structures, flat-rate pay, and spiff programs in automotive retail create FLSA exposure when overtime calculations don't account for all forms of compensation.
Our approach: Compensation structure review, FLSA compliance analysis, and written pay plans that are defensible and easy to administer.
02
High-Volume Hiring and Turnover
Automotive dealerships and service groups often run lean, with high turnover in sales and service roles that creates continuous onboarding and documentation burden.
Our approach: Streamlined hiring workflows, templated onboarding systems, and HRIS automation that reduces the manual burden of high-volume hiring.
03
Multi-Location Consistency
Franchise and multi-rooftop operators often have site-specific HR practices that diverge from company policy — increasing legal exposure and reducing operational predictability.
Our approach: HR policy harmonization across locations, with location-level operational guides and manager training that drives consistent execution.
01
OSHA and Safety Documentation
Manufacturing environments require meticulous safety documentation, incident reporting, and return-to-work program management. Gaps create regulatory exposure and workers' comp risk.
Our approach: HR-side safety documentation audit, incident investigation protocols, and return-to-work program design aligned with OSHA recordkeeping requirements.
02
Shift-Work Compliance
Shift differentials, break compliance, and overtime management in manufacturing environments carry compounding FLSA risk when not properly documented and administered.
Our approach: Timekeeping audit, FLSA compliance review, and payroll configuration that correctly calculates all forms of compensation for hourly manufacturing employees.
03
Workforce Scaling and M&A
Manufacturing companies that grow through acquisition or rapid production ramp-ups often inherit legacy HR infrastructure that isn't scalable or compliant.
Our approach: Post-acquisition HR integration with a focus on system consolidation, policy harmonization, and compliance remediation at speed.
01
Exempt Classification and Overtime
Professional services firms frequently misclassify employees as exempt, particularly in consulting, staffing, and advisory roles — creating significant FLSA back-pay exposure.
Our approach: Exemption analysis by role using the duties test, written classification documentation, and corrective action planning where reclassification is needed.
02
Equity and Compensation Transparency
As pay transparency laws expand, professional services firms face increasing pressure to document compensation rationale — and risk significant disruption if they haven't built that infrastructure.
Our approach: Job architecture design, salary band development, and pay equity analysis that prepares you for transparency requirements before they become mandatory.
03
Remote Work Multi-State Exposure
Professional services firms with distributed teams often unknowingly create nexus in multiple states — triggering payroll tax, leave law, and benefits administration obligations they aren't managing.
Our approach: Multi-state exposure assessment, state registration guidance, and HR policy addenda that address jurisdiction-specific requirements for every state where you have employees.
Five steps from inquiry to an HR function that works. Most clients are operational within two weeks.
Discovery Call
30 minutes. No pitch deck. We learn about your organization, your current HR state, and what's driving the urgency.
HR Assessment
A rapid diagnostic of your current HR infrastructure — policies, systems, compliance posture, and organizational risk.
Proposal
A clear, written proposal outlining scope, pricing, and timeline. No ambiguity. You know exactly what you're getting and what it costs.
Kickoff
Introductions to your team, system access, priority triage, and a 30-day action plan built in the first week.
Embedded Work
Ongoing embedded partnership. Direct access, real deliverables, and measurable progress every month.
Seven questions. Two minutes. Understand your HR risk profile before we talk.
Enter your headcount and average salary to see the financial case for getting HR right.
HR support for businesses in your area.
Growing companies are strengthening their HR foundation with fractional leadership. No full-time hire required.
