Fractional: Solve Real Talent Gaps, without Breaking the Bank

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Across the US, companies big and small are suffering from critical and immediate skills/talent gaps. This article found that 43% of all respondents had immediate and significant talent gaps — right now! And, another 44% were anticipating gaps in the next few years. (Specific areas where gaps exist: 25% in executive leadership; 26% in IT; 22% in sales operations.) This lack of necessary talent causes real business impacts, from missing key client commitments, to missing revenue targets. In small companies, these key gaps can be the difference between success and failure of the startup.

In addition to gaps in current talent and skills needs, companies in the survey predicted that 25% of key roles would be disrupted and/or redefined in the next 5 years. So, not only are current needs unmet, but these companies are predicting that the situation will only get more complex over time.

The traditional solution to talent gaps is to recruit and hire new employees. (Two-thirds of the responding companies in the above survey plan to hire to address gaps.) Yet, this is not only a very expensive way to solve this problem, it is also potentially only effective in the short-term. The anticipated role disruptions mentioned above will, in many cases, mean that today’s solution will not work well tomorrow.

Hiring to solve short-term Talent Gaps can be expensive and risky!

Just to recruit, hire, and onboard a new employee costs, on average, over $4,000. This is whether you are hiring an entry-level engineer, a clerk, or an executive. Of course, the real costs are the salary and overhead. To bring on good leadership staffing, plan to add 40% overhead (benefits, bonus, etc.) to a 6-figure salary. Add on to all of this, you need to factor in turnover, which in the US in 2018 was over 20% per year! Hiring your way out of a leadership gap gets really expensive, really quickly! Is all this cost and financial risk, really worth it — at least until your company has confirmed the long-term need?

Bringing on a Fractional CxO reduces risk and financial load!

In times of transition for your business, bringing on fractional leadership can be a great option! You get the benefits of experienced technical and strategic leadership, at a critical time for your company, but at a fraction of the costs of a full-time, permanent resource. Plus, a good fractional CxO can help you define and fine-tune the longer term needs, work with you to define your long-term staffing solution, and even help you recruit and onboard these employees.

Just as you might lease a high-end sports car, to get the benefits of a Ferrari, at a much lower cost, you can bring on a great CxO to help you weather the uncertainty of the immediate transition and growth of your company. You get high performance, at lower risk, to help get you into that next great phase of your business.