An embedded leader, not an adviser
An interim HR manager sits inside your organisation chart, holds decision rights and is accountable for the Dutch HR function while the role is vacant. You get a leader in post, not a consultant leaving recommendations behind.
This is the model when the vacant position carried authority: signing offers, approving reintegration plans, chairing works council meetings, managing HR staff and being the escalation point for every line manager with a people problem.
HRhelp embeds one named senior consultant in that role for a finite period. They report into your managing director and your group HR lead, make the local decisions nobody abroad is equipped to make, and hand the function over when your permanent manager arrives.
The mandate is scoped so the interim manager can decide, not just recommend.
Agreed authority over offers, contracts, exits and escalations so the role can actually move things forward.
Your consultant represents the employer to the works council or personnel representation, including consultation procedures.
Dismissals, restructures, grievances and long term illness cases are owned and driven to a conclusion.
Any existing HR staff, payroll coordinators or assistants report to the interim manager during the mandate.
Group handbooks are adapted to Dutch statutory minimums and any binding collective agreement rather than translated.
A monthly picture of headcount, absence, cost and live risk in a format your headquarters can use.
You get a proven Dutch HR lead for exactly as long as the role is open.
A senior manager who has run Dutch HR functions before does not need a settling in period. Live cases are taken over immediately.
Dismissal routes, consultation duties and dossier standards are handled by someone who has done each of them many times.
No recruitment fee, no employer social charges, no pension accrual and no severance exposure at the end of the mandate.
The same consultant throughout, in your management meetings and known to your staff, not a rotating delivery pool.
Anonymised examples of interim HR managers placed with international employers.
The HR director left three weeks before a planned site consolidation that required works council advice and a redundancy selection exercise. The country manager had never run a Dutch consultation.
The interim manager took the chair, ran the advice procedure in the correct sequence, completed selection and settlements, and the consolidation closed without a challenge to the decision.
A Dutch entity was applying a global handbook that conflicted with local minimums on holiday, notice and sick pay. Two employees had already raised formal complaints.
Both complaints were resolved without escalation, the handbook was localised inside two months, and the permanent HR manager inherited a compliant policy set.
Rapid growth pushed headcount towards the works council threshold while performance issues in one team were being managed informally by founders.
The interim manager prepared the representation groundwork ahead of the threshold and built defensible performance files, closing two exits by settlement rather than litigation.
Client situations are anonymised. Names and identifying details have been changed.
Authority is agreed in writing before the consultant walks in.
Decision rights, reporting lines and the end condition are agreed with your managing director and group HR lead.
One named senior consultant with the right sector background is embedded in your team and introduced in the role.
Live cases and representation duties are taken over, then an agreed 30 day action plan is executed.
The function, dossiers and relationships transfer to your permanent HR manager over the closing weeks.
You get a written scope and a fixed fee before any work begins, so the cost is settled at the start instead of arriving as an hourly invoice at the end of the month.
Choose by the level of ownership you need, not by hours in a diary.
The vacant role led the HR function and carried real authority
You have a works council or are approaching the threshold
A restructure, dismissal programme or pay cycle cannot wait for a permanent hire
You want local decisions made locally while HQ keeps oversight
Scope, presence, pricing and how the mandate ends.
A consultant advises and leaves recommendations behind. An interim HR manager holds the role, makes the decisions and carries the outcome, including managing HR staff and representing the employer to the works council.
Same level of ownership, different shape. Interim is near full time for a finite period tied to a vacancy or project, while fractional is an ongoing part time arrangement with no planned end date.
Usually a mix. Most mandates involve regular days at your Dutch location with the rest remote. Presence matters most in the opening weeks and during any consultation process.
The mandate ends on the agreed notice terms and the handover is brought forward. Transfer is built into the engagement rather than charged as an extra.
Book a free 30 minute consultation. We will look at your situation, tell you exactly what we would do, and put a fixed price in writing before you commit to anything.
