From Recruitment to Fractional Talent: Yvonne Miller on Building People Foundations for Growing Businesses

Yvonne Miller spent 26 years in talent and people roles, including building and scaling her own IT recruitment business, before founding Net Talent Partners. That dual perspective, having sat on both sides of the hiring table, shaped a model built around a gap she kept seeing: growing businesses needed senior talent and people expertise long before they could justify a full-time hire, and a traditional recruitment agency wasn't the answer either.

Today, Yvonne works as a Fractional Head of Talent & People, supporting businesses across the UK and North America, embedding into businesses long-term or stepping in for focused projects and sprints. Her work goes well beyond filling vacancies. It spans hiring, job architecture, performance frameworks, onboarding, and the people processes that let a business scale sustainably, with results that speak for themselves: reduced agency fees, faster hiring, and strong retention. Alongside her client work, Yvonne also sits on the board of Scotland Women in Tech as Company Secretary.

We spoke with Yvonne about the thinking behind her fractional model, a standout example of the impact it's had, and where she sees Net Talent Partners heading next.

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Q: What inspired you to start Net Talent Partners, and how did your background shape your approach to fractional talent partnering? 

I’ve spent 26 years working in talent and people, including building, and scaling my own IT recruitment business, so I’ve experienced growth from both sides of the table.

What I kept seeing was that growing businesses often needed senior Talent and People expertise long before they needed, or could justify, a full time Head of Talent or People. They didn't necessarily need another recruitment agency either. They needed someone who could get under the skin of their business, understand the skills they needed, directly hire great people and help build the culture and people foundations around them.

That was the thinking behind Net Talent Partners and my fractional model.

My experience has also given me something I rely on every day: pattern recognition. After thousands of interviews and years of working with different businesses and leaders, I can quickly understand a culture, identify gaps and recognise the people who are likely to succeed within it.

Today, I work as a Fractional Head of Talent & People, either embedding into a business longer term or coming in for a specific project or sprint. Ultimately, I help businesses hire, develop and retain great talent.

Q: Can you share a specific example of how you've helped a business build its hiring foundations or scale its team?

One of the best examples is a growing technology business I support as their Fractional Head of Talent & People.

Initially, the focus was hiring, but once I was embedded in the business it became clear that sustainable growth was about much more than getting people through the door.

Alongside directly hiring key people across the business, I've helped introduce clearer job descriptions and career paths, structured monthly 121s, quarterly performance reviews and annual appraisals, improved onboarding, and HR processes, and supported managers with performance, development and people decisions.

The commercial impact has been significant too. My direct hiring model has reduced traditional agency fees by up to 85%, while recent hiring has been up to 89% faster and retention over the last 12 months has been 99%.

For me, that's what fractional support should do. It's not simply filling vacancies. It's becoming part of the business, understanding what it needs and leaving it with stronger foundations for the next stage of growth.

Q: What's next for Net Talent Partners?

Growth, but deliberately.

I want to continue working with ambitious businesses, particularly growing and scaling organisations, that recognise their people strategy needs to develop alongside their commercial strategy.

I'm also expanding the way businesses can work with me. Not every company needs ongoing fractional support, so alongside embedded Fractional Head of Talent & People partnerships, I offer focused projects and sprints around hiring, organisational structure, culture, performance, and people development.

The aim isn't to build a traditional recruitment agency or a large HR consultancy. I want Net Talent Partners to be known for giving businesses flexible access to experienced Talent and People leadership exactly when they need it.

The proposition is actually very simple: helping businesses hire, develop, and retain great talent.

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