EP 475: A Fractional CHRO Explains How Culture Drives Performance

What makes Rod Querry with The Arcue Group a good neighbor?

HR becomes a problem the moment a business starts growing fast and “someone will handle it” turns into policy by memory, uneven expectations, and managers figuring things out as they go. We sit down with Rod Querry, CEO of The Arcue Group, to talk about a smarter solution for growing companies: fractional HR leadership that brings executive-level strategy without the full-time cost.

Rod breaks down what it really means to operate as a fractional CHRO. This isn’t about paperwork or compliance alone—it’s about building strong cultures, developing confident managers, and aligning people strategy with real business outcomes like retention, productivity, and profitability. He shares why he launched The Arcue Group after decades in leadership, and why this model makes sense for companies that need guidance but aren’t ready to bring on a full-time HR executive.

We also get practical about who this approach fits best. From startups needing structure early to growing teams in the 10 to 100 employee range, Rod explains how the right systems can prevent long-term issues before they take root. Instead of reacting to problems, businesses can build intentional culture from the start.

Beyond strategy, we talk about how Rod grows his business through relationships, networking, chambers, and referrals, along with the values that guide his work: integrity, character, generosity, and even fun. His perspective on leadership is simple but powerful—creating what he calls “Sunday night peace,” where employees don’t dread the week ahead.

If you’re a business owner navigating growth or feeling the strain of unclear people systems, this conversation will give you a clearer path forward. Subscribe, share it with a fellow leader, and leave a review with the biggest HR challenge you’re facing so we can cover it next.

To learn more about The Arcue Group go to:
 https://www.thearcuegroup.com

 The Arcue Group

  (817) 807-3088

Transcript

Welcome To Good Neighbor Podcast

SPEAKER_00 0:00

This is the Good Neighbor Podcast, the place where local businesses and neighbors come together. Here's your host, Sophia Yvette.

What A Fractional CHRO Does

SPEAKER_01 0:10

Welcome to the Good Neighbor Podcast. Are you in need of private HR? Are you a small business? Well, one may be closer than you think. Today I have the pleasure of introducing our good neighbor, Rod Quarry with the RQ group. Rod, it's great to have you on today. Now, so excited to learn all about you and your business. So please start off by telling our listeners just a little bit more about your company.

SPEAKER_02 0:37

Thank you, Sophia, and thank you for the invite to be on the podcast today. So I'm Rod Quarry. I'm the CEO of the RQ group, and I serve as a fractional chief human resources officer, helping growing companies build strong cultures, developing leaders, and then aligning people, uh, people strategies with business performance. So ultimately, I help organizations take core values off of the wall and I weave them into the fabric of their business.

SPEAKER_01 1:03

Wow, don't we all need that, right?

SPEAKER_02 1:06

Exactly.

Why Small Businesses Need HR Strategy

SPEAKER_01 1:07

Now let's get a little bit more into your background. What made you want to go into an industry like this?

SPEAKER_02 1:14

Well, um, after about 30 plus years in leadership roles, I saw companies needing HR strategies, but they couldn't um hire full-time employees, so they couldn't hire a full-time HR staff. And that's really why I started the RQ group. You know, HR isn't paperwork, it's one of those most strategic drivers of culture and performance. And so I wanted to go in to be able to help small to medium-sized businesses in the community that just could not afford to hire somebody full-time. In the North Dallas area, Sophia, an average chief human resources officer about two years ago, their salary was over$250,000 a year. And I knew small to medium-sized businesses couldn't afford that. So I go in and I give them a fraction of the time, about 10 hours a month for a fraction of the cost, about two to three percent of what it would cost to hire somebody full-time.

SPEAKER_01 2:08

Wow. Now, diving deeper into your industry, right? We all know when it comes to HR, there's some very, very interesting misconceptions. So which one would you like to address today for our audience?

SPEAKER_02 2:21

Ultimately, I would say that HR is not the scary department. It's not just paperwork. It's really a strategic driver of culture and performance. Ultimately, it's interesting for us because we need to be able to get in and whatever you say your core values are, let's make sure that that's happening on a day-to-day basis, holding hands between leadership and the employees to make sure that everybody is communicating. Productivity goes through the roof, retention goes through the roof, and then ultimately the bottom dollar line increases for business owners.

Who Rod Helps And How He Finds Clients

SPEAKER_01 2:58

I love that well-oiled machine approach. Now, let's go ahead and dive deeper into marketing for a second. Now, marketing is the heart of every business. Without it, you can even find your clients. So, today, ideally, what industries are some of those small to medium-sized business owners in that you're looking to help impact and how are you attracting them?

SPEAKER_02 3:23

Wonderful. So I'm really agnostic to what type of industry. I'm more working with small to medium-sized businesses that usually have anywhere from 10 employees all the way up to 100 employees. I find that most of my clients, if they have more than 100 employees, they probably already have an HR department. But I also work with startups. And so I tell them if you have one employee, I am available for you to help you and to go in and work with that. So I have businesses all over the Metroplex as well as out of state. I work with a barbecue restaurant in Florida. I work with an oil and gas company in New Mexico. Um, I work with a dog sniffing mold company in the Dallas-Fort Worth area. So they take canine dogs and they train them to sniff for mold in their in businesses. So I really am all over the place. It's more so finding businesses that just don't have that HR support, or they have someone like Betty in accounting who's good with people and she's doing that for them. And I find all of my clients right now through networking events, chambers of commerce, as well as other fractional leaders, fractional CEOs, CFOs, um, any type of business like that, and word of mouth.

Core Values And Sunday Night Peace

SPEAKER_01 4:40

I love that. I love that, Rod. Now I have to ask you, what are the core values of your business?

SPEAKER_02 4:47

Core values of my business. Well, I I have four core values, and um, it's it's very interesting for me because when I get into this and work with people, I want to make sure that I am telling them the same types of things, right? Um, I want them to have their core values, and I want us to have our core values. So, with that being said, the RQ group really deals with um integrity, character, generosity. And then one of my personal um core values is just fun. Love to have fun and love to make things um just enjoyable. I I always tell people you need to have Sunday night peace when you're walking into work every week. And if you don't have that, that's one of the things that I come in and help you create.

Where To Learn More And Nominate

SPEAKER_01 5:34

I love that. And where can our listeners go to learn more about the RQ group?

SPEAKER_02 5:40

You can actually go to my website. Um it's the RQgroup.com. And um I have all the information up there about what we do, how we work it, um, and otherwise that or even to my LinkedIn site. Um, on LinkedIn, it's Rod-Query, R-O-D-Q-U-E-R-R-Y.

SPEAKER_01 6:00

Well, Rod, I really appreciate you being on the show today. We wish you and your business the best moving forward.

SPEAKER_02 6:07

Thank you so much, Sophia. I really appreciate the opportunity.

SPEAKER_00 6:11

Thank you for listening to the Good Neighbor Podcast. To nominate your favorite local businesses to be featured on the show, go to GNP Frisco dot com. That's GNP Frisco dot com or call four six nine two two one nine three four five.