Falling somewhere between advisor and interim executive, fractional executives are having a moment

Gigification has fed its way up the food chain and is knocking on the door of the C-suite in the form of the “fractional executive.” The latest executive career trend sees mid- to late-career executives moving into a couple of part-time roles, rather than lashing themselves to one company.

“Fractional executives fill an executive position in a part-time or short-term capacity,” explains one fractional executive writing in Entrepreneur Magazine. “They are typically former executives or consultants and can be a great option for small businesses and startups.”

For companies looking to employ a fractional executive, the concept can hold plenty of appeal. Small- and mid-sized companies have begun hiring fractional executives for a variety of advantages, including cost effectiveness, access to specialized expertise and reduced risk of hiring the wrong executive. Many who hire fractional executives are doing it for a time-limited project, like an operations transformation or implementation. Others are hiring them as interim execs as they conduct a more thorough process.

For fractional execs themselves, the appeal of the role often revolves around lifestyle. It can require a bit of overhead in terms of incorporating your work as its own business (and other bureaucratic matters), but has its payoffs. One former full-time CFO told the Wall Street Journal that it made it easier to balance a career and a family. “I was working 60 to 70 hours a week and traveling internationally,” said Shauna Giddings Schmitz, “and I just thought, ‘What’s more important right now is being with my daughter.”

Because many of the people who gravitate towards this role are looking to improve work-life balance, it tends to skew towards those in the back half of their career (rather than early-career execs, who still tend to be sourced from within company ranks). For some, it’s given their career a timely boost, and given them a feeling of control over their job.

Content written by Kieran Delamont for Worklife, a partnership between Ahria Consulting and London Inc. To view this content in newsletter form, click here.