There has been a lot of noise about “fractional” interim leadership solutions and an emerging trend of seeing highly experienced “c-suite” working on a part-time basis (for example, 1-2 days per week with 3-4 different clients).

According to an article in the Times, the LinkedIn profiles mentioning fractional leadership has rocketed from 2,000 in 2022 to 110,000 last year.

At Russam we’ve always placed “part-time” interims especially, for example, in the Not-for-profit sector where we can put in a superstar interim on 3-4 days per week to make the budget go further whilst maintaining impact and results. And last year we placed two very senior and quite strategic people into fractional roles 1-2 days per month. 

We ran a poll on “Fractional” a few weeks ago and here are the results:

To be honest, I was surprised with how high the percent was for “Yes”,; but perhaps we are seeing a trend for one fractional role alongside a 3-4 day per week interim (normal) role? Or perhaps fractional is a whole new category and involves doing different work (perhaps more advisory than delivery)?  Some of the more interesting comments from the poll:

• Interesting poll – lots of discussion and talk of it but little translation into active interim roles – it’s more common amongst CFOs, perhaps we will see it extend to other functions too?

• Thanks Jason. Having ploughed this field since 2018, can i say there’s no such thing as a fractional interim. Fractional embeds and drives the people strategy on a part-time but typically outcomes basis. Interim, which I’ve done also, is a time limited assignment typically in lieu of a return to perm. Subtly different and not for everyone.

• I have worked with fractional senior directors in small businesses (<£5m turnover, < 50 people, where, for example, an expert view on HR matters occasionally has been extremely valuable.

• Definitely a moving trend, providing benefit both to the client companies as you have described, but also enabling the fractional interim the satisfaction of knowing they can support businesses that would not be able to consider them on a full-time basis. The other benefit not always identified is the knowledge transfer to the client’s team. As you say, often there is a greater degree of guidance and know-how provided supporting the change, but it is then embedded with the client team.

• Jason Atkinson your fractional percentage seems high, in this year’s INIMA survey the UK was 20% in January.

Some of these comments point to a demarcation between “interim” and “fractional”. With the latter being more strategic, less hand-on, longer-term, and more prevalent in SME’s. I agree with these points.

There are undoubtedly some great benefits of fractional interim leadership including organisations having cost-effective access to expertise and lots of flexibility for their changing business needs. And we – in my opinion – would see more “outside IR35/limited company” determinations.

And there are some disadvantages of the fractional solution, including:

1. Fractional executives will have other clients; therefore, the option to call upon their expertise is limited to set days
2. They may not integrate as fast and seamlessly into the client organisation and their culture as full-time Interims
3. Arguably less hands-on than full-time Interim
4. One issue with the growth in fractional will

Both full-time Interim and fractional are all about experienced executives who can help during times of transition or crisis, or run special projects. In my opinion, the growth of fractional is a useful innovation and is only set to increase in popularity. It is all about providing more options and choices for how skills and resources are accessed. That can’t be bad. I do worry about the supply pool for full-time interim and how the popularity of fractional will impact this. As we know, sometimes there are not enough hours in the day or days in the week to deliver a project.  

Finally, we must ask AI for their definition of “fractional” and here it is:

A fractional interim manager is a seasoned executive or manager who provides leadership services on a part-time or limited basis, offering expertise to organizations that need temporary or specialized leadership without the commitment of a full-time hire.

And here is the Russam definition of an Interim Manager – first written in 1982!

An Interim Manager is a senior-level independent business leader or project manager; an expert in their field; a high-level performer with a track record of quantifiable achievement.  A possessor of drive and energy; a perceptive individual capable of adapting to new environments and delivering immediate results.

I think these definitions narrow down the distinction.

Author: Jason Atkinson – Managing Director