Most HR audits are checklists. They ask whether a policy exists, tick a box, and produce a score that says very little about whether your HR function can actually carry the organisation through its next phase.
Most common
Before a funding round
Investor due diligence asks for 40+ HR documents — employment contracts, statutory registrations, POSH compliance, ESOP paperwork. Most Indian SMEs can produce about twelve. Discovering that six weeks before a term sheet delays the round.
Growth trigger
Crossing 30, 80 or 150 people
HR doesn't break gradually — it breaks at thresholds. At 30 informal stops working, at 80 the founder becomes the bottleneck, at 150 you need systems you should have built at 80.
After attrition you can't explain
Two or three good people leave in a quarter and the exit interviews say "personal reasons". The cause is usually structural, and it keeps operating until someone looks at it properly.
Before hiring a first HR head
Founders rarely know whether they need an HR Manager, a Head HR, or senior capability on a part-time basis. Assessing first means hiring against a real brief rather than a guess.
After a compliance scare
A POSH complaint, a statutory notice, or a dispute that couldn't be resolved internally. The incident is usually a symptom — the question is what else hasn't been tested yet.
Preparing for an acquisition
People-related liabilities surface late in an acquisition and reduce valuation. Documentation gaps, undefined ESOP terms and unresolved disputes are all found at exactly the wrong moment.
Each dimension is scored from your answers to three questions. Here is what each one measures, and the standard a maturing HR function is measured against.
HR problems rarely announce themselves. They surface as attrition you can't explain, offers that fall through at the final stage, a compliance gap discovered during due diligence, or a founder still personally mediating disagreements at 200 people. Each traces back to a people function that didn't scale alongside the business.
HR doesn't break gradually. It breaks at specific headcounts — around 30, around 80, around 150 — and most founders discover each threshold roughly six months after crossing it.
Most founders don't know this
option exists.
The honest reason this assessment is free: the biggest obstacle we run into isn't companies choosing a competitor. It's founders who genuinely believe their only choices are an HR Manager they can afford or a Head HR they can't.
So they hire the HR Manager, expect Head HR judgement from them, and conclude two years later that the person was wrong — when the brief was.
If you complete this and decide you need an HR Manager rather than us, that's a good outcome. We'd rather be the firm that told you honestly than the one that sold you something you didn't need. That's also, in practice, how we get referred.
Frequently asked
What is an HR maturity assessment?
It evaluates how developed and scalable your HR function is across dimensions like foundation, compliance, hiring, performance, culture and HR leadership — indicating whether HR is ready to support your next stage of growth.
Can I see a sample report before I start?
Yes. There's a "See a sample report first" link at the top of this page showing exactly what you'll receive — the score, dimension breakdown, benchmark and what else is included.
Is this a legal or statutory compliance audit?
No. This is a preliminary maturity and readiness assessment only. It is not a legal, statutory or compliance audit and should not be treated as legal advice. It may highlight areas worth professional review.
How long does it take?
About five minutes — 18 questions across six dimensions. No registration is required to see your score, and you can download the report as a PDF.
Do I need a full-time Head HR?
Not necessarily. Your results include a side-by-side comparison of an HR Manager, a full-time Head HR and a Fractional Head HR — with cost and time-to-productive for each — so you can see which actually fits your stage.
What is Fractional Head HR?
Fractional Head HR gives you senior, strategic HR leadership on a structured three-month engagement — policy, compliance, performance systems and culture — without the cost of a full-time hire.
We're under 25 people. Is this useful?
Probably not yet, and the assessment will tell you so. At that size informal HR is usually appropriate. You're welcome to take it to see what's worth building before you reach 30, but we won't manufacture a problem you don't have.
What happens to the information I submit?
Your details are used only by JustHR to prepare and send your report, and to follow up if you ask us to. They are never sold or shared with third parties.
What is a fractional CHRO?
An experienced senior HR leader who works with your organisation part-time or on a defined project, rather than as a full-time employee. The same role is described as fractional Head HR, outsourced CHRO, virtual CHRO, interim HR head or part-time HR director. The defining feature is seniority — it's HR leadership and strategy, not HR administration.
What's the difference between outsourced HR and a fractional CHRO?
Outsourced HR usually means transactional processing — payroll, statutory filings, attendance, records — priced per employee per month. A fractional CHRO is senior leadership: organisation design, workforce planning, performance frameworks, compensation structure and complex people decisions. One executes, the other decides. Many organisations need both, but they aren't substitutes for each other.
When should a company hire an HR head?
Most Indian organisations start needing senior HR capability between 30 and 80 employees. The usual signals: the founder is the escalation point for every people decision, attrition nobody can explain, managers getting inconsistent answers, or an investor asking for documentation you can't produce. Below about 25 people, informal HR is usually fine.
Do I need a CHRO or an HR manager?
An HR manager executes — payroll, onboarding, compliance, employee relations. A CHRO or Head HR owns the people strategy and sits in business planning. Plenty of organisations between 30 and 200 people need CHRO-level judgement but can't justify a CHRO salary. That gap is exactly what a fractional engagement exists to fill.
How much does a fractional CHRO cost in India?
A full-time Head HR or CHRO typically costs ₹25–45 lakh a year, plus three to four months to hire and another three before they're fully productive. A fractional engagement is a defined project — commonly three months — at a fraction of that, and you keep the systems and the trained team afterwards. Your assessment results include a side-by-side comparison.
Should we do this before a funding round?
Ideally twelve months before, not six weeks before. Investor due diligence typically requests 40+ HR documents — employment contracts, statutory registrations, POSH compliance, ESOP paperwork, payroll records. Most Indian SMEs can produce about a third of them. HR documentation is the one part of due diligence you can complete entirely before anyone asks, and almost nobody does.
How is this different from a paid HR audit?
A paid audit involves a consultant on site reviewing actual documents, interviewing your team and producing findings you can act on directly. This is a self-assessment — it reflects your own answers, so it's directional rather than verified. It's designed to tell you whether a deeper review is worth commissioning, and where it should focus.
What if our score is low?
Most organisations score between 35% and 55%, so a low score is common rather than alarming. What matters is which dimensions are weak and whether they're about to be tested. A company at 40% with eighteen months of stability has time. One at 40% heading into a funding round or a hiring push does not.
Can I retake it later to track progress?
Yes, and it's worth doing after any significant change — a new HR hire, a policy rollout, or crossing a headcount threshold. Many organisations retake it at six-month intervals to see whether the work they've done has moved the score.
Do you store my individual answers?
We store your six dimension scores and overall result, not your answer to each individual question. If you request the detailed report, those scores are saved alongside your contact details so we can prepare it. Nothing is sold or shared with third parties.
Can I share the report with my co-founder or board?
Yes — that's partly why it downloads as a PDF. It's written to stand alone, so someone who didn't take the assessment can still read it and understand the findings. The company name is in the filename to make forwarding easier.
Can a fractional Head HR replace hiring an HR Manager?
Not replace — restructure. The common pattern is a junior HR executive handling day-to-day execution, with a Fractional Head HR owning policy, systems and organisation design. Broadly the same annual spend as one mid-level HR Manager, but you get execution and senior direction rather than execution alone.
What happens after I complete the assessment?
Nothing automatic. You get your score and a downloadable report. If you want to go further, it's a 20-minute call directly with Capt. Manmeet Singh, then a detailed audit if it's worth doing, then a structured engagement if it fits. He'll tell you if it doesn't.