As organizations look to reinvent themselves to spur growth, they often seek to acquire senior talent who can infuse new ideas, skills, and leadership within the organization. However, hiring and retaining senior talent is fraught with challenges. Furthermore, small and medium-sized organizations often struggle to access and afford the senior talent necessary for driving growth.

In response to these challenges, we’re seeing a new approach in which companies are hiring fractional leaders, or part-time senior talent, who occupy key senior leadership positions. These leaders typically have 20 to 30 years of experience, and they blend strategic and functional leadership with a hands-on approach. While they possess the experience to serve as full-time C-suite executives, they choose to offer their skills to multiple organizations, dedicating only a fraction of their time to each. As Karina Mikhli, founder of the online community Fractionals United, aptly puts it: “Being fractional isn’t about a specific scope or project. It’s about playing a key role in the leadership team and being included in the organization chart.” This arrangement enables organizations to benefit from senior leadership without the expense and commitment of a full-time hire, and it allows senior executives both career flexibility and stability.

Our search of LinkedIn found that as of early 2024, more than 110,000 individuals identified as fractional leaders, as compared to just 2,000 individuals in 2022. The interest in fractional working has been growing for some time, but the pandemic, advancements in technology, the normalization of remote work, and reshaped priorities have further accelerated this trend. As Rob Smith, a fractional chief digital officer, told us: “With all the technology available today, I don’t need to be physically in the same place to be effective. It’s allowed me to work for multiple companies at once.”

To better understand how organizations can effectively leverage this growing pool of senior talent, we spoke with 11 pioneers in the fractional movement and four organizations that have hired fractional leaders. Here’s what we learned.

Pros and Cons of Engaging Fractional Leaders

To date, startups, along with small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), have been the early adopters of fractional talent. Although their needs may vary, these organizations often lack the financial resources or the volume of work to justify hiring full-time experienced senior executives. To a lesser extent, we’ve seen large organizations hire fractional leaders for roles in emerging areas, such as innovation, digital, and AI, where they can provide skills that may not necessarily be found in-house and are often experimental in nature.

Beyond the financial advantages of accessing a seasoned leader for a fraction of the cost, fractional leaders can offer a different dynamic to CEOs. “A power asymmetry exists that makes it difficult for employees to tell the CEO what they need to hear,” explains Jason Voiovich, a fractional chief marketing and product officer. “As a fractional, not being dependent on a single company for my income, I have a heightened sense of responsibility and feel empowered to initiate difficult conversations.”

It’s not only CEOs that benefit. With their deep functional expertise, fractionals often serve as advisors and mentors to other C-suite leaders. Barry Hurd, a fractional chief marketing officer (CMO), describes his role as providing expert counsel to full-time CMOs: “I’ve worked with a couple of CMOs who have hired me to simply double-check their work. I act as the executive coach, bringing my 30 years of wisdom and experience.” Similarly, Katie Walter, another fractional CMO, shares an experience where she supported an executive transitioning into a marketing leadership role: “She had never led the marketing function before, so the expectation was that I would work alongside her and help her to become more effective. In this case, I was introduced to the team as her coach.”

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