The Fractional Revolution: Benefits of External Management for Businesses

We're witnessing a significant shift within professional workplaces.

Suddenly, many positions that were formerly reserved as full-time, demanding, and in-house roles being filled fractionally. And for good reason. Organisations routinely need specific expert help but without having to employ said expert full-time.

Fractional offerings empower businesses, as they can tap into long-term expertise at a fraction of the cost and risk of an employee.

What is a Fractional Professional?

Basically, any key C-suite or management role can be fractionalised- CEO, CFO, CMO, or General Counsel. At Beyond Billables, our founder, Mike, offers a fractional Chief Marketing Officer service to clients. We are currently helping a fractional General Counsel refresh their branding, and we've hosted a couple of fractional professionals on the Beyond Billables podcast.

Some examples include:

• Fractional Chief Marketing Officer (CMO): Provides part-time leadership for marketing strategy and execution.
• Fractional General Counsel: Provides legal advice and services on a part-time basis, often handling contracts, compliance, and risk management.
• Fractional Chief Financial Officer (CFO): This person offers financial leadership and strategic guidance, often handling budgeting, financial planning, and reporting.
• Fractional Chief Operating Officer (COO): Manages daily operations and streamlines processes to improve efficiency and productivity.
• Fractional Chief Technology Officer (CTO): Oversees technology strategy, development, and IT infrastructure.
• Fractional Chief Human Resources Officer (CHRO): Manages HR strategies, policies, and talent management.

For professionals, the trend towards fractional services started with the explosion in contracting and consulting work in the last two decades. This makes sense, given the increase in demand for flexible work. Flexibility provides professionals with the opportunity to work across various organisations.

What is the difference between a fractional professional and a consultant?

There’s nothing strictly different, and there’s plenty of overlap in the Venn diagram of the two. In our view, fractional offerings are more invested in the organisation over the long term and in helping the business achieve its broader goals.

A fractional professional will be front and center, working on key problems with an overall business outlook rather than just assisting with one-off projects.

How does a fractional CMO work?

While a CMO plays a significant role in developing overall marketing and growth strategy, another critical element is ongoing assistance to the leadership directly where they need it.

Over the years, we realised that many clients need help actioning the plans we create as part of their brand and marketing packages, as well as some accountability to stay consistent.

While much of this is consultative, it goes beyond the other project work we do as an agency.

What kind of things can a fractional CMO help with?

Some examples:

• Developing a clear marketing and social media strategy and overseeing its implementation
• Supporting individual team members in their BD efforts
• Identifying key growth opportunities across the business
• Assisting internal operations or marketing teams on key projects
• Assessing and testing the success or otherwise of a variety of marketing, advertising, and BD campaigns
• Improving vital aspects of the client journey and how marketing and branding can assist,
• Improving the employer's brand, hiring or retention

A fractional CMO drives the fundamental elements of growth, helping clients build the business they want now and in the future.

4 Key benefits of fractional professionals

1. Unbiased third-party advice

This is the most important benefit from our perspective. With a fractional professional, you get fearless third-party advice, which may sometimes be daunting but will help you make the best decisions.

2. Significant cost savings and flexibility

This is a no-brainer. A full-time executive (or even a part-time one) will cost you orders more than someone fractionally, and the costs are never just salary. Employees require a lot more, and it’s a helpful rule of thumb to add at least 10% of their salary to their cost base.

This also means fractional professionals are accessible to smaller businesses. You don’t have to compete for that one great person. Instead, you can tap into their knowledge and get their assistance.

3. Significant time savings and access to a higher level of expertise

A fractional expert can save you and the organisation considerable time and the opportunity cost otherwise created. By tapping into the experience of a senior, you can leverage their experience to avoid making mistakes. All this, without investing in a full-time hire.

4. More fulfilling client relationships for professionals

While doing one-off projects is fine, being able to meaningfully help your clients grow their business over time, celebrate wins, and be committed to their success is a lot more personally rewarding.

Use them, or become them?

Any business size can benefit from a fractional professional, particularly smaller, boutique professional firms that can now access specific expertise without the massive overheads of hiring an employee.

If you’re a professional with experience in a chief role, this is also an opportunity to better serve your clients by offering embedded, fractional services yourself.

Law firms have been leaders in this for decades, with lawyers on secondment. However, many firms have struggled to bridge the gap between being an outside service provider and an integral part of the business. This is where a lot of opportunity exists, particularly for more senior practitioners who can bring enormous value through their expertise. That can manifest across legal, risk, compliance, and strategic.

Ultimately, it’s worth thinking about how you might service clients differently if you were more embedded and trusted, even if that was periodically. How would you change what you offer clients if you could break through the wall of simply being another service provider and become a valued, trusted player in their process?

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