Fractional Executives

If you haven’t heard this phrase before, it’s basically a high-level executive contractor, on a part time basis. The best way to understand this type of structure/role is to look at the types of roles on both sides. The first category is Advisors. An advisor gives you direction but isn’t involved in the implementation (we’re advisors to you.)

An Interim Executive is on the opposite side and is essentially a contract employee working full-time in a temporary role. They are involved in all day-to-day activities and are typically hired for a set duration.

A Fractional Executive is different from Interim and Advisors because they work part-time but are still involved in the implementation and deliverables. They focus on filling specific strategic and executional gaps in the leadership team. They typically work approximately 20 hours per week, but they are paid 60 – 70% of a full-time executives’ salary.

Often, a Fractional Executive will be brought in for one of two main reasons. The first is to right the ship and the second is to build a foundation. Once they fixed what’s broken and set the right framework, they transition their work product to the existing management team.

This is relevant to CoES members for two reasons. One, you have an opportunity to place Fractional Executives with your clients. This is a relatively new buzzword, and in some circumstances, it might make sense to suggest this model to a prospect during discovery.

The second reason this is relevant is because YOU can be a Fractional Executive in the recruiting space. There are many young companies who desperately need someone like you to come in and fix their recruiting process, and then design a new one from scratch.

I would encourage each of you to set up a page on your website discussing your Fractional Executive Recruiting Package. There are three main advantages to your clients in hiring you in this role. It’s significantly less expensive (you can get this up and running in under 6 months, done part-time), they have access to your specialized skills, and they reduce the risk of hiring the wrong person.

In a smaller company, the person qualified to fix and re-establish recruiting is likely not the same person who will manage and run the recruiting process post-deployment. The first person is highly qualified and expensive (you!) and the second person is a staff level recruiter. By hiring you first to assess and redesign, they save money on hiring a lower-level person to manage the process. Heck, you could even include the recruiting, training, and onboarding of their new recruiter.

As the economy is shifting, we need to adjust to it. Companies are going to become squeamish about our fees and we need to adapt accordingly.