Whitfield Crane Group

Executive leadership, without the executive overhead.

Fractional and interim CHRO leadership from Garrett Lawson, a healthcare HR executive who has built, scaled and integrated HR functions across multiple states.

Service-disabled veteran-owned, based in Annapolis, Maryland.

Garrett Lawson, founder and chief executive of Whitfield Crane Group
Garrett LawsonWCG Founder and CEO
  • Healthcare HR executive since 2014, Director through Vice President
  • U.S. Marine Corps veteran
  • MHA; BBA, James Madison University
750+
employees in an HR function he built from about 20
3
acquisitions taken through HR due diligence and integration
30%
approximate cut in labor cost from a standardized pay structure
12 years
as a Director and Vice President of Human Resources

Garrett Lawson's HR record as an HR executive

What we can provide to your organization

Choose a service to see what Garrett does and how the work is set up.

Fractional & Interim CHRO

A Chief Human Resources Officer on your leadership team without a permanent hire. Fractional means set days each week on an ongoing basis; interim means full time for a fixed term, usually while you fill the seat.

Book a scoping call
  1. Steps inThe open HR seat
  2. Takes overInvestigations, deadlines, payroll
  3. RunsThe HR team and leadership calendar
  4. Hands offTo a permanent hire, or stays on
When you need it

Your HR leader has left, or you have outgrown HR without an executive. An experienced HR executive steps in, takes over what is open, and keeps the function running without a gap.

What Garrett does
  • Takes over open matters: investigations, deadlines, payroll and benefits issues.
  • Keeps the HR team and the leadership calendar running.
  • Helps you define and hire the permanent role, or keep it fractional.

Vice President of Human Resources at three healthcare organizations since 2018.

From Garrett’s record

How it’s set up Interim, full time for a fixed term, or fractional, on set days each week.

How interim and fractional work

Executive & Healthcare Recruiting

Finding and hiring senior leaders and clinicians, from the C-suite, vice president and director levels to physicians, dentists, anesthesiologists, CRNAs and nurses.

Book a scoping call
  1. DefinesThe role, with you
  2. RunsA defined search process
  3. UpdatesYou, on a regular schedule
  4. ClosesThe hire you can’t miss
When you need it

For the leader or clinician whose absence the organization feels every week, searched for by someone who has made these hires himself.

What Garrett does
  • Executive search at the C-suite, vice president and director levels.
  • Physicians, dentists, anesthesiologists, CRNAs and nurses.
  • A defined search process with regular updates.

Cut staffing cycle time 40% by redesigning the talent pipeline, and staffed and opened four new facilities.

From Garrett’s record

How it’s set up A single search or a set of related hires.

Executive and healthcare recruiting

M&A Workforce Integration

The people side of an acquisition: HR due diligence before you sign, then bringing two workforces together after close.

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  1. Before signingHR due diligence
  2. FindsLiabilities and key-person risk
  3. PlansPay, benefits, policies, systems
  4. After closeLeads the combined workforce
When you need it

A deal is in diligence or has just closed. Know what you are taking on before you sign, then bring two workforces together without losing the people you paid for.

What Garrett does
  • HR due diligence: liabilities, pay practices, key-person risk and compliance gaps.
  • An integration plan for pay, benefits, policies and systems.
  • Leads the workforce through the first months after close.

Directed HR due diligence and workforce integration across three acquisitions.

From Garrett’s record

How it’s set up A fixed-scope diligence project, with interim leadership through integration if you need it.

M&A workforce integration

HR Function Build-Out

Building the HR department a growing company doesn’t have yet, including the systems, policies, pay structure and processes that let it scale.

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  1. BuildsHRIS, onboarding and policies
  2. SetsPay structure and reviews
  3. ReportsWorkforce data for the board
  4. Hands offTo your own team
When you need it

A growing organization that has outgrown ad-hoc HR and doesn’t yet need a full-time executive.

What Garrett does
  • HRIS, onboarding and policies that hold up in every state you operate in.
  • A compensation structure and a performance management process.
  • Workforce reporting that leadership and the board can use.

Built an HR function from about 20 employees to 750+ across a multi-state platform, about 1,000 counting contract labor.

From Garrett’s record

How it’s set up Fractional leadership for the build, handed off to your own team.

HR consulting and compliance

Compliance & Investigations

The people matters that carry legal risk, including workplace investigations, reductions in force and multi-state employment-law compliance.

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  1. InvestigatesEmployee-relations matters
  2. PlansReductions in force
  3. DocumentsEvery step, so it holds up
  4. CoversEEO-1, AAP and VETS-4212
When you need it

The decision carries legal exposure, so the process matters as much as the outcome.

What Garrett does
  • Workplace investigations and employee-relations matters.
  • Reductions in force, planned and documented.
  • Multi-state employment-law compliance, including EEO-1, affirmative action plans and VETS-4212.

Owns employment-law compliance and litigation exposure across multiple states, including investigations.

From Garrett’s record

How it’s set up Usually a fixed-scope project.

HR consulting and compliance

Results quoted here are from Garrett Lawson's roles as an HR executive, not Whitfield Crane Group client engagements.

Contact the WCG team

Grace Han, Garrett Lawson and Mateo Alvarez of Whitfield Crane Group
Grace HanContracts Specialist Garrett LawsonWCG Founder and CEO Mateo AlvarezAdministrative Assistant

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