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• Building startup compensation practices that clear, fair and competitive.

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• Insights and interviews showcasing startup people and compensation excellence.

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• The 1-day virtual summit delivering the playbook on modern practices for building and scaling your startup people practice.

How to Become a HR Consultant
• Sharing every detail of taking a business from zero to $500k in revenue per year.

Matt McFarlane

In 2023 I left my job. In 2024 I started a HR consultancy. In 2025 I earned more money than I've ever made in my life.
 
If you're questioning whether the traditional career path is right for you, you're increasingly not alone.
 
Ever since starting my business, I have had People professionals reach out asking me how they can do the same.
 
I wrote a piece at the end of 2024 that is still my most read thing ever.
- Ten's of thousands of reads
- Dozens of emails and messages
- Who knows how many calls.
 
So I decided to take this as a sign that more people are either doing this, or interested — but they want to know how.
 
I don't have the playbook btw.
But I know what I did to get where I am today.
 
I know what worked for me, and I'm about to start sharing that in deeply transparent detail — down to every dollar I spend and earn. Where, when, and why.
 
My latest newsletter is here, and it's called 'How to Become a HR Consultant'.
 
The first edition to follow-up that original piece is coming out Sunday.
 
Get it hot off the press here: https://lnkd.in/gCrNXM-n

Building startup compensation practices 👉 Compensation Philosophy + Job levels + Salary bands.

Here's every salary I ever earned, and the 2 things it taught me companies get wrong with how they pay.
 
Job 1: HR Assistant — $50,000
Job 2: HR Coordinator — $57,000
Job 3: HR Coordinator — $60,000
Job 4: HR Business Partner — $68,000
Job 5: People & Culture Advisor — $66,000
Job 6: Senior People Operations Advisor — $95,000
Job 7: People & Culture Manager — $88,000
Job 8: People & Culture Director — $165,000
Job 9: Head of People — $150,000
Job 10: Senior Director of People Operations — $170,000
Job 11: Director of People Operations — $200,000
Job 12: Senior Director of People Experience — $230,000
 
When I reflect on these roles and the salary I earned, I think of two things.
 
1. Money definitely isn't everything (I took pay cuts for jobs).
 
2. I wouldn't have achieved the heights in salary I did, if I didn't change employer — frequently.
 
Time and time again, I see companies get this wrong by doing the following things:
They don't realise that salary gets people in the door, but growth keeps them there.

Their pay practices for current people doesn't keep pace with the pay practices for new people.
 
I took lower paying jobs because I felt like I'd stagnated. 

'One step back, two steps forward' was my thinking.
 
I also took jobs because I got fed up with 1-2% pay increase year-on-year, when the market (and my value) were moving faster.
 
The two work in tandem.
 
Money isn't everything, but that doesn't mean you can take your eye off it.
 
What role does salary play for you in your career?

Here's the roadmap every Head of People needs to grow their compensation practices and scale their startup (incl. some free resources).
 
Compensation is easily one of the most critical enablers of your business, which means it's a critical focus for you as Head of People.
 
Here is the maturity model you can follow for growing your compensation practices and scaling your company.
 
<50 people:
 
You're likely not in need of a lot of structure, but you do need to know the salary you have to offer to get people in the door.
 
– Here's 20+ free compensation benchmarks to start pricing those roles: https://lnkd.in/gnHDSVt3
 
50-100 people:
 
You're starting to mature and you need to define how you want to pay as an organisation.

You need a compensation philosophy to define your market position.
 
– Here's 20+ compensation philosophies you can use as inspiration for yours: https://lnkd.in/gSSHpyqV
 
– Need help actually building it? Here's the only playbook you'll need: https://lnkd.in/gNNch7m4
 
You need a job level framework to help you define and plan your org.
 
– Read how to develop one here: https://lnkd.in/gZZkPDVU
 
🪴 100-250 people:
 
Time to get serious about how you benchmark, and use something more robust to find the right salary.
 
– Here's every benchmark provider you need to know about: https://lnkd.in/gWNcYWN6
 
– But there's a lot, so if you need help actually choosing one, here's the playbook for that: https://lnkd.in/gQuMuMc4
 
🌲 250+ people:
 
You're getting to the meaty part of compensation management, with a significant cohort and higher expectations.
 
Time to consider getting out of spreadsheets and leveraging software that can help you administer compensation fairly and accurately.
 
Consider the following tools:
• Some of the vendors in the previous step handle compensation management, like Ravio or Pave
• HRIS like HiBob have a great integrated compensation module
 
Or, use a point solution like:
– CandorIQ, or
– Stello Inc.
 
Which stage are you at and what has been most important for you?

My brain on

31st Dec: health and wellbeing should be a priority next year
1st Jan: why aren't you a millionaire yet? time to hustle b*tch

It's the start of the year. If you're like most of us, you're starting to think about what you get paid and how to have that conversation with your manager.
 
Just in time for 2026, I jumped on the This is Work podcast with Shelley Johnson to chat about everything to do with:
- Your pay,
- Your benefits, and
- How to actually have a conversation about your value (oof)

We tackle a heap of other topics too, including job hugging (what even is it?), why it's dangerous for employee and companies alike, and crucially, what everyone can do about it.
 
We also talk about why pay conversations are such a drag and how to make them that much more manageable.
 
If you're questioning your worth, or your employees are questioning theirs AND you want to know how to deal with it, this will be worth a listen.
 
And you're in luck, This is Work is on YouTube and Spotify, so if you tire of seeing my face (understandable) you can switch to my dulcet tone's, instead.
 
Spotify: 
https://lnkd.in/giZY9pAB 

YouTube: 
https://lnkd.in/gPwtG5fh

Skills based compensation is becoming more popular, but there’s one skill I’m yet to see, and its paid more than AI engineers.

Put your hand up if you know how to fold a fitted sheet? 

That’s right. You don’t. 

And if you think you do. You don’t. 

But the people with this skill set are arguably worth top 1% compensation. 

Check this out. 

I’d pay $100 for someone to fold my fitted sheet. 

That takes them max a minute (probably 10 seconds realistically) 

$100 a minute 
x 60 minutes an hour
x 38 hours per week
x 52 weeks a year 

= $12.48 million per year. 

So stop trying to climb the corporate ladder like a schmuck. 

Learn how to fold a fitted sheet.

If you're a People person and in Melbourne (or going to be) on the 12th of February, I'd love to meet you IRL.
 
I'll be speaking at HiBob's launch of In Good Company — a community for those in the People profession, spanning all geographies and industries.
 
You'll also be treated to a fireside chat with Elise Morris and Jodi Rosenthal, discussing the key trends shaping the People profession (and how to adapt).
 
So if you're in Melbourne on the 12th, register here: https://lnkd.in/gmVsXhh3
 
If you're not in Melbourne but interested in the community, check it out here: https://lnkd.in/gbUWzCZu
 
Hope to see you there!

Me coming into that meeting on Friday afternoon

There's 7 steps you can use to improve your problem solving by 430% and productivity by 500%. Oh, and it has absolutely nothing to do with AI.

You've heard of it before, but I doubt you often *actually* get there.

It's called being in flow state.

And in the upcoming edition of the FNDN Series, legendary flow state practitioner Dave Murphy is breaking down exactly how you can get there.

Dave has helped companies like Blackbird, Boston Consulting Group and TikTok leverage flow state for their success.

And I can attest to this myself. 

Creating an environment that enables flow state is exactly how I've built a solopreneur business that earns me double what my last salary was.

I credit a lot of that to the things Dave is going to cover in this edition.

Head over to FNDN Series to subscribe, and it'll be in inbox for you to read over your Sunday morning coffee.

One of the things I’ve inadvertently started this year is resetting my YouTube feed to only insightful or helpful videos. 

A couple of weeks ago I switched from my personal account to my work account, and suddenly my whole feed was almost entirely videos about things like:
- improving productivity, or 
- using AI better, or
- being healthier. 

All stuff I want to be focus on improving. 

So now I’ve set myself a goal. How long can I stay on this account only. 

Can I fill my time by learning something instead of doomscrolling or mindless entertainment?

Can I watch deeper videos instead of shorts (this one will be the hardest). 

Don’t get me wrong, I know this probably sounds business wanky, and fuelled by a mix of start of the year energy and hubris, but I’m keen to see if I can keep it rolling. 

How long do you think I’ll last?

I help companies navigate change with clarity, integrity, and a deeply human approach.

With 17+ years across high-growth startups and global companies, I specialise in restructures, workforce optimisation, and building fit-for-scale organisations in the AI era. Where others avoid the messy, human stuff - I lean in. 

Culture shifts, change, and leadership performance - this is the work I live for.

As a Head of People, I’ve partnered with founders and exec teams to scale companies, shape culture, and build high-performing, human-centred organisations. I cut through noise and misalignment so leadership teams can move faster - with clarity, accountability, and trust.

I don’t do surface-level. I take conversations into deep water because that’s where real change happens, trust is built, and performance unlocks.

I’ve delivered everything from company-wide restructures and redundancy programmes to progression frameworks, performance enablement, and process improvement project. I bring pragmatism with a human-first execution style.

I use data, tools, and AI but my edge is always human...

Context > Connection > Intuition. 

The ability to see what others miss and make change stick.

If your business is growing, shifting, or facing hard decisions I can help you lead with integrity and deliver with impact.

Let’s Go

Alan Wilson

I work for people, not companies.

Throughout most of my career, that's been my guiding principle when it comes to deciding the best places to work and grow my skills.

When I was a wee boy, I got asked to signed for Celtic Boys Club. They came to my house and the scout said, "you get to wear the strip". I remember thinking, I already get to wear the strip and I don't like that you used that as leverage.

They way it was approached didn't feel right so I signed for my local boys football team instead. Sadly, my dream of being a professional footballer didn't work out, as you can gather, but that same intuition stayed.

It's easy to get starry-eyed when big brands or fancy job titles come calling but if there's no connection with the people l'll be around everyday then I'm going to struggle to give my best.

It's not just about a shared vision or purpose, it's about the safety to go into the parts of myself necessary for the growth to happen. The key question I always have is;

Can I be authentic with this person?

If I don't feel a shared purpose and I don't feel that sense of safety and openness then it's not going to work. There's been instances in the past where I have betrayed this principle and it didn't work. 

It's taken me 17 years on my career journey to share this out loud but there's no title or salary that can make up for the space to just be yourself at work. No masks and no bullshit, just the space to be authentic and professional.

Both can coexist.

I consider myself very fortunate that along the way on my journey, and especially in my current role, I've had leaders around me that have held the fullness of who I am and have pushed me further than I ever thought I could go.

Let's Go

New Year, New Me!

It's customary to have a good chuckle at folks who may be using the new year as a springboard into something new. 

We laugh because it seems like a psychological permission slip, attached to a fictional milestone. Especially when we know that real change has to be earned and integrated everyday.

The idea that we will somehow choose differently after an event or future point in time is simply avoidance wrapped in hope - it means if we fail, it was the milestone and not the self behind it. 

It's a defence mechanism. 

Yet, we laugh without interrogating our own faulty thinking, individually and collectively.

I'm talking about the diet you will start on Monday, the career switch after your next bonus, leadership after things "calm down" or that difficult organisational change that's always going to be addressed in the next phase.

It's the same pattern but on a different scale - and we are all guilty.

Change of any kind cannot be calendared. It must be practiced and integrated moment-to-moment. The change that you are avoiding comes from the same underlying pattern of thinking, the one that protects the ego.

Maybe the question isn’t whether New Year resolutions work but rather, what it costs us when we wait for permission and who we become while we wait?

As for me, I'm back with a more grounded and considered approach to what and how I communicate. A few quiet weeks over the holidays gave me lots of time to look at my own fear-based thinking, what i'm really passionate about and how I can express my voice on these platforms authentically.

Wishing everyone a healthy start to 2026.

Let's Go

I have never backfilled anyone in all of my roles.

8 organisations, 15+ years and I have never went through the ceremonial handover from someone else. I hand't realised this until a recent conversation about my career with a friend.

Most of my roles haven't been fully formed and have often required me to design and deliver in new ways that the organisation has yet to meet. This has been true in all the organisations I have worked for - large and small.

The ambiguity brought freedom to design, to work from first principles and to bring my unique perspectives without the burden of someone else's shadow. It has been perfect for me because I have never felt like a traditional "HR" or "People" professional.

If I was to name it in myself, it's like a come alive at the edge of definition.

This ambiguity also brought challenges especially with more conservative leaders who struggled to grasp the flood of ideas and my many contradictions. There were many occasions where the expectations, said and unsaid, felt heavy for me. 

In the past, I struggled to name and communicate my value clearly, and in a way that met others where they were at, not where I would have liked them to be. In some roles, it was simply that I was perfect for a certain state of value but I wasn't wired for endless optimisation or long-term maintenance. 

I've learned that I thrive in beginnings, transition and moments where things require clarity. The irony is that the more I name it, the more this type of work rises to meet me in what I am doing right now. There is truly a connection between our awareness and what shows up in our career.

Naming this feels less like a conclusion and more like a compass.

Maybe you see the same in your own journey?

Let's Go.

I don't like a wet kitchen, I always dry mine after I clean it. 

I had a Human Design reading once and it finished by calling out that one of my preferences was a dry kitchen. I had never named it until that point but it was something that I done automatically or expected others would do.

For clarity, I'm not asking if you dry your kitchen or not.

Rather, I'm pointing to your own preferences and how they show up in the workplace. We've all had experiences when we bump up against a colleague or a leader who has a strong preference for an output, project or situation.

The difference between that being a positive or negative experience is the colleague or leaders awareness to understand and communicate that they have a preference. When the awareness is missing, preferences turn into unspoken rules.

Unspoken rules kill connection, trust and creativity. Your cultural foundation.

I find it remarkable how many leaders bang the drum on diversity but lack the basic awareness to hold space for different thinking and ways of working. I find it more remarkable that so many leaders lack the foundational awareness to understand that their preference for how things should be done is just a preference.

When we confuse our beliefs for reality, preferences become the standard rather than a spark for imagination and inspiration. Organisations are filled with great people just waiting for the safety to unleash their own unique ways of approaching problems and outcomes.

Great leaders don't eliminate their own preferences, they own and name them. They invite others by stating, "this is my preference" or "here's why it matters to me". This is how they keep resentment out of their teams.

My question to you is, what’s your dry kitchen at work?

Here's a some guidance, it's the thing you care about deeply that you’ve never actually named but silently expect others to get right.

Let's Go

My favourite AI hallucination is when I voice prompt ChatGPT and it starts responding in Welsh.

I assume it's my Scottish accent, because all voice commands are difficult when you are Scottish 🤣 

Anyone else had AI confidently switch languages on them?

I spent 2 days observing my thoughts, here's what came through.

You are probably thinking, he's nuts, but amongst all the stuff I've done over the years, this was probably the most sobering and insightful.

Firstly, the task of staying aware for extended periods, for me, is challenging. My mind wants to wander, imagine and soak up information and stimulus from the outside.

As I've learned, it's a great way for me to completely avoid what's actually going on inside me and most importantly, how repetitive it all is.

That was the sobering part.

My mind may seem clever but when I began naming the thoughts I was observing, it highlighted just how much fear and survival influences my thinking and by extension, how I actually show up every day in life and work.

Almost like clockwork, my mind tuned in to unfounded fears, future projections, frustration, past events, residual resentments and questions around my value. 

Despite all my experience, here I am still meeting the very human parts of myself. A reminder that working on myself does not make me immune to the condition of being human.

Now imagine all of this showing up in work because, whether we accept it or not, this fear-based operating system is often present for most, even if we can't name it.

It can only be changed or transformed when leaders and teams begin to name it. In themselves and each other. That's how we alchemise our humanity into a superpower that inspires our teams to rise.

As for me, it's not all doom and gloom, quite the opposite actually. My thinking has plenty of gratitude too for the ability to know myself deeper, the journey I've made and the opportunity to share this awareness with others.

They call it metacognition, I call it a gift sent to help me polish the mirror of my mind and use my talents wisely in this ever-changing world.

Let's Go

It was a pleasure to join Mark McCartney on his podcast, What Is A Good Life?, last week.

Flowing through the thought-provoking questions with Mark made me realise that the more I put my authentic perspective into the world, the more I am met with amazing people to encourage more of it.

Big thank you to Mark for having me on, you can listen to the full podcast using the link below;

https://lnkd.in/e-yZpmwz

Let's Go

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The Battle

Matt McFarlane

Alan Wilson

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Engagements

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