Get the structure you need. Without the HR you don’t.
We install plug-and-play performance systems that boost output, tighten accountability, and clean up people problems—slice by slice.
If you're a founder or CEO of a $15M–$50M company, this might sound familiar:
Your team is bigger than ever—but somehow, you’re still the one holding everything together.
Execution is slower.
Urgency has disappeared.
Slack is constant noise, but progress is hard to measure.
Your calendar is packed—with things other people should be owning.
Managers bring problems, not solutions.
And despite spending millions on payroll... you can’t clearly tell who’s producing—and who’s just coasting.
Everyone’s busy. But you're still the one pushing things across the finish line.
You’ve hired the people. Built the departments. Maybe even brought in HR.
But nothing’s really changed.
You're still the backstop. The bottleneck. The system.
And the worst part?
You can feel the drag—but you can’t quite see where it’s coming from.
You’re not imagining it.
You’re not a control freak.
And it’s not your fault.
This is what happens when headcount grows faster than systems.
You don’t have a people problem.
You have a performance infrastructure problem.
And that’s exactly what we fix.
Hi, I’m Michele McDuff — and I don’t believe in traditional HR.
I’ve built stealth hiring teams at Meta, scaled a CPG company from $18M to $30M without hiring a single person, and rebuilt performance infrastructure for scaling companies across SaaS, manufacturing, AI, health tech, and agriculture.
Every time, I saw the same thing:
Teams weren’t struggling because they lacked talent.
They were struggling because no one had installed the systems that make performance inevitable.
That’s why I built HR By The Slice. We install lean, modular performance systems that:
Expose friction in your org
Align comp with real outcomes
Calibrate your leadership team
Codify culture into daily behaviors,
Make accountability the default—not the exception.
And here’s the kicker: Our entire model is built to make us obsolete.
We come in, install the systems that matter, teach your team how to run them, and then?
We get out of the way.
This is structure, built for scale.
Slice by slice.
The Performance Slice System
A modular, installable framework that turns people problems into profit-drivers. Each slice targets a specific performance gap, and stacks together to build a self-sustaining, high-output org.
1. Strategic Org Audit
We run a forensic audit of your org structure and people spend, cross-referenced with your financials. This reveals misaligned roles, redundant layers, and bottlenecks hiding in plain sight—so you stop over-hiring and start operating with precision.
2. Outcome-Driven OKRs
We codify your company goals into role-specific outcomes and clear timelines. Every person knows what they’re accountable for, how to win, and how their work drives the business forward.
3. Leadership Calibration
We interview key leaders and evaluate their effectiveness—not by how loud they are, but by how well they drive outcomes. We identify top players to elevate, blockers to coach or exit, and align everyone around performance, not politics.
4. Culture Operating System
We translate your values into daily behaviors, rituals, and feedback loops. This creates self-reinforcing culture infrastructure that scales without requiring your constant presence to uphold standards.
5. Compensation Realignment
We rebuild your comp systems to reward actual results—not just tenure or optics. Variable comp gets tied to outcomes, earnings become transparent, and performance management becomes objective.
6. On-Demand Triage
For high-stakes messes—like leadership conflict, toxic hires, or internal drama—we handle discreet issue resolution while protecting trust, retention, and reputation.
1. Strategic Org Audit
We run a forensic audit of your org structure and people spend, cross-referenced with your financials. This reveals misaligned roles, redundant layers, and bottlenecks hiding in plain sight—so you stop over-hiring and start operating with precision.
2. Outcome-Driven OKRs
We codify your company goals into role-specific outcomes and clear timelines. Every person knows what they’re accountable for, how to win, and how their work drives the business forward.
3. Leadership Calibration
We interview key leaders and evaluate their effectiveness—not by how loud they are, but by how well they drive outcomes. We identify top players to elevate, blockers to coach or exit, and align everyone around performance, not politics.
4. Culture Operating System
We translate your values into daily behaviors, rituals, and feedback loops. This creates self-reinforcing culture infrastructure that scales without requiring your constant presence to uphold standards.
5. Compensation Realignment
We rebuild your comp systems to reward actual results—not just tenure or optics. Variable comp gets tied to outcomes, earnings become transparent, and performance management becomes objective.
6. On-Demand Triage
For high-stakes messes—like leadership conflict, toxic hires, or internal drama—we handle discreet issue resolution while protecting trust, retention, and reputation.
You choose the slices. We install them. We train your team. Then we get out of the way.
This works best for founders who...
Run a $15M–$50M company in SaaS, manufacturing, health tech, cannabis, or agtech
Have 50–250 employees
Feel stuck in execution or like the "glue" holding it all together
Are spending millions on payroll—but not seeing clear ROI
Are preparing for growth, investor scrutiny, or even an exit
Don’t want to build a big HR department—but know they need structure
If that’s you, this system was built to make your life easier.
What makes us different
We don’t build HR departments. We make them unnecessary.
The truth? Most HR is bloated, reactive, and full of buzzwords.
We install the minimum effective dose of infrastructure so your people systems perform—without adding layers of overhead.
No long retainers. No lifetime contracts. No binder full of ideas that never get implemented.
We fix the system. Train your team. And leave.
What happens when you install the right systems?
When you install performance infrastructure that actually works, you stop firefighting—and start scaling. Here's what changes:
Output goes up—without adding headcount
Clear accountability, visible performance metrics, and comp tied to outcomes means your team produces more… with fewer people.
Managers lead—instead of escalating
No more “passing the buck.” Leadership calibration gives managers the tools and structure to own their roles and drive results.
Payroll turns from cost center to profit engine
You’ll finally see real ROI per seat. High performers get rewarded. Low performers step up—or self-select out.
Organizational bloat disappears
Forensic audits expose redundancy, role confusion, and friction—so you can clean up without layoffs or politics.
Culture becomes scalable
We codify your values into clear behaviors and rituals that drive accountability—even when you’re not in the room.
You get your time back
No more bottlenecking execution. No more babysitting leaders. You get to step back and focus on the business again—with systems that keep running without you.
Results we’ve delivered
Flipped a cash-burning manufacturer from the brink of insolvency (owed back taxes, couldn’t make payroll) to banking $1M every 6 months.
Cut attrition from 50% to 15% for a solar client who needed to hire 150+ reps fast and had no hiring process. We installed pipelines and retention systems that stuck.
Reignited urgency and performance for a 75-person manufacturing company that hadn’t fired anyone in three years. We exposed hidden drag, surfaced top performers, and installed OKRs to bring accountability back.
Neutralized c-suite crises (CEO–EA affairs, rogue comp systems, PR blowups) in under 60 days—quietly restructuring leadership, mapping stakeholders, and protecting company reputation and valuation.
The outcomes above aren’t outliers—they’re what structure makes possible.
Wondering what this could unlock for your business?
Book your free diagnostic call, and we’ll:
Review your org structure
Map where friction and bloat are hiding
Recommend the right slices for your company
You’ll walk away with clarity, whether you work with us or not.
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