Fractional Employment vs Full-time. The silent revolution nobody is talking about.
Last week, my personal story and the breakdown of my new fractional career had a profound effect.
I received many messages from people who wanted to know more about fractional management.
Today, I want to talk to you about a silent revolution in the job market: the fractional versus full-time employee world.
With the current shift in the job market, including complexity, new technologies, and remote work, there is a new way for companies to achieve success.
Understanding the difference between these trends can help you make more informed career choices.
More importantly, it can help you effectively choose what you need to build fractional employment and why it matters.
Of course, you can still choose traditional full-time employment if you prefer.
Unfortunately, many people fail to recognise that there is an option for fractional employment. Some believe that the only alternative to a normal 9-to-5 is part-time work, stuck in their full-time jobs forever, feeling unhappy, tired, and drained of energy.
They may wake up years from now and realise they could have done much more.
I avoided all this.
That's why, on December 22, 2022, when my full-time job ended, I launched my career as a Fractional VP of Sales.
Companies are struggling to rebuild and grow their businesses with their in-house resources. Increasingly, they are looking outside to fill gaps and quickly gain learnings, frameworks, and processes.
The increased complexity of business demands fresh and experienced eyes to address ever-increasing issues.
In practice, Fractional Executives work with multiple companies at once and have a 360-degree view of processes or frameworks.
This expertise can save significant time for those seeking to fill a gap or complete a project.
Most importantly, they are quick to deliver results.
They can ramp up quickly and start having an impact soon after.
They are both strategic (board level) and operational (coaching, 1:1s).
They understand that they cannot change the trajectory of a business without proper involvement.
I have been in the fractional business for some time now, here are 5 key differentiators between Fractional and full-time employment.
#1 Cost:
Despite the current situation of high-interest rates, shrinking budgets, and lack of capital in the market, it’s easy to see that hiring an employee on a fractional basis costs only a “fraction” of hiring a full-time employee.
Of course, one side of the comparison involves hiring a full-time employee, while the other side involves hiring someone who works only 1-3 hours per day.
However, the cost reduction is significant, covering taxes, bonuses, and benefits, making fractional hiring almost 1/5 the cost of hiring a full-time employee.
If your company is just starting up or struggling with capital, you may want to consider fractional hiring as an option.
#2 Founder’s Relationship
I have been Head of Sales multiple times.
During the first 6-12 months of the relationship with the co-founders, everything was always perfect.
They would listen to anything I said and implement my suggestions.
I felt sometimes even this was too much, compared to the rest of the leadership team.
However, I now understand that the initial relationship was biased.
Due to the importance of the role and the potential of the investment (Sales leaders are most of the time paid well), I found that founders were less inclined to give feedback and talk freely with their newly appointed leader.
Hiring a Fractional Executive eliminates this issue.
It provides a pure, transparent, harsh, and positive relationship with zero constraints or implications.
#3 Ramp-up time
During the startup period, it’s important to be fast and avoid over-structuring, which can be fatal. You want a plug-and-play solution that’s ready to go from someone who has experience with this type of situation.
For example, ramping up a VP of Sales can take 4-6 months, which is a lot of time at your stage.
Fractional Executives are used to working on multiple projects with multiple clients simultaneously.
They can quickly assess situations and get up to speed in no time.
They may make mistakes due to limited information or time constraints, but as the client, you are there to guide them and get them back on track if necessary.
#4 Foundations First
Just like building a house, you need to build foundations first.
For sales teams, this includes implementing CRM, dashboards, outbound and inbound cycles, KPIs, hiring and onboarding processes, tiers and segmentation.
These foundational elements can be established in less than three months with the right strategy and execution.
Fractional is an ideal solution for building your company’s basic processes, frameworks, and foundations.
5# Feedback
Giving and receiving feedback at an early stage is crucial, much like in the previous point.
The initial relationship between the co-founder and the full-time leader may be biased due to their employment relationship, fear of making mistakes, or fear of hurting each other’s feelings or losing one another.
To overcome this, a direct relationship with candid feedback flowing both ways is necessary.
This is why Fractional Executives & Founders are more likely to build that feedback flow and build sustainable businesses together.
In Summary
Fractional employment is here to stay.
The current market conditions and remote work environment have had a profound impact on this trend.
Fractional hiring, which involves technologies and decentralised talent, is a strong alternative to other forms of employment.
More importantly, Fractional Executives can execute certain tasks and projects with a strong understanding of the situation.
They can ramp up quickly and their impact is often greater despite the lower cost compared to full-time employment.
This Week’s Action Step
Think about your job and your passion. If your passion can pay the bills, you are halfway there.
Should you take that full-time job, or consider building a fractional career?
I hope this helps. See you next week, Ciao!
